michaelsbagley

Hey M.A. d'Dogge, I contacted Linda (the director of the ship) regarding any items found on the ship after the event (there doesn't seem to be any), so unfortunately your glasses have not turned up there, although she has asked the staff to keep a look out for them in case they do turn up. As for the tax deductable question, I posed that question to her as well,... And judging from her answer it does appear cash donations are tax deductable, but her response was such that she thought I was inquiring as to the deductability of the items donated to the auction, so there was some mixed signals. I have sent her a hopefully clarifying email to get a more solid answer on this though.

Oh I am sooooo with you guys on this account... while there are a few (very few) top notch SCA folks, I have gotten a bit of grief over wearing my perfectly researched and very well made gear, because it is 100 years (+/-) after the SCA period... It's hard to be patient with people ribbing you for being 100 years post period when said person is wearing a "T-tunic" which has no real provenence in history that I have ever been able to find. On the whole though, I do like the SCA, most of the folks there are really laid back and good to talk to. It is only a very few rare jerks that will say something unpleasant about being SCA period correct... It is just a shame those few mouth-pieces do such a good job of making themselves look like some sort of majority when they are in fact rather rare.

Tankard Police... Ugh.... And people wonder why my enthusiasm over this years festival is almost non-existant. As for next year's festival, unless the School of the Sailor is happenning in conjunction with the Hampton Festival, I don't think next year I will be found in Hampton. Editted as omment may have come off not as intended.

Hey although we will be there as "pressed" men and women of the Archangels, since we are bringing a boat, and 6 of our members, can we unofficially recognize the Scioto Pirates (the Ohio bunch)? No seriously thanks for giving us the nod above. We are very pleased to be coming out again this year, and even more happy that we were able to round up a few more to drag with us (kicing and screaming no less). What is the deal with the Crown Plaza Hotel? I've not heard anything about that yet?

I'd agree with you on the four styles of hats thing, but looking at those coats, I would say all four are the same style, with perhaps one of the four having a different style of pocket on his very similar coat. The main thing about this image is those are soldiers. Infantry soldiers at that. Not sailors, not pirates. If anything that image is a good example of the "almost but not quite" uniformity of the soldiers of the 1690s. As for the comment about shot boxes, I recently picked up a new book, while it is as home and I can't quote it right now, it lists no less than 10 types of shot carriages used between the 1680 and 1710s, most of which were boxes and not shot bags/pouches. The research for the variety of shot carriages was all taken from colonial inventories (if memory serves me well). To take this a step further, and back onto the focus of this thread (hats), there is a book you can find linked on that same forum (I have linked to it from here as well somewhere), anyways, the link is to a drill manual dated to a 1702 (+/- a year or two) that clearly reads that soldiers were to have their hats firmly and properly cocked (or something similar to that). So it seems a large step was taken in more standardization of the armies in the 1690s or perhaps the first years of the 1700s, at least regarding hats... I imagine the colonies were a few years behind in that regards though, specially when you read the accounts of how badly the colonial soldiers were equipped and how slow replacement gear was to come (if it ever came).

Another thing one sees very little of (and has become a bit of a personal fancy) is the snaphaunce. Having done a great deal of research on colonial militias and soldiers over the last year, I am starting to come to the conclusion that snaphaunces were still very much in use right up to the early 1700s, and were likely one of the more dominant weapons of militias and soldiers at least up to the 1670s, if not the 1680s. Captain Mark has a nice snaphaunce, but I'm guessing if I try to obscond with it, he won't let me play on his boat any more... So for now I just admire it and try to plot how to get my own. Another style that one sees very little of, is the wheel lock... However this may change as I saw some buss on some of the colonial forumks that I am on that Loyalist (or perhaps one or some of the other India mad gun importers) are working on getting a production wheel lock pistol made and sold through them.

Having recently participated in my first uprigging of a ship, I can attest to this, I was wearing a tighter fitting later period pair of breeches on the day I helped with the uprigging of the Santa Maria, and I felt the breeches were probably more comnfortable to wear than a pair of my jeans would have been (tight or loose I have both types of jeans). In fact the only contrictive part of wearing breeches was the waist band and that has more to do with my expanding waistline than the style or construction of the breeches. Now back to eating my yoghurt and berries for breakfast... Must lose those extra couple of winter inches.

Top of this page has a copper version of what I am looking for... They have taken the picture with the burr (basically a washer) around the shank, and that particular rivet may be a bit short for what I want (as well as copper and not brass), but it should give you the idea... I definitely need a retail source that can ship to me in the next handful of days. I do really appreciate the source you sent to me via PM Dutch! It may help for when I have more time, and have not been an idiot and failed to realize that I am almost out of a supply before I have searched for a new source. And a much better picture of what I am looking for, but again in copper and not brass. See here It looks like This Place might be able to help me... I am just trying to find contact information for them so I can speak to someone and make sure.

Thank you both for the suggestion! I found Weavers online and already spoke to them, while they were very nice and had exactly what I want and need... They only sell wholesale... I will lookup some of the local saddlers though, that is a good suggestion, because I very much want the brass over the copper (I think I have some copper ones, and Tandy sells them if I dont). Failing a local saddler having them, I will check out Witmer coachworks in PA. Thanks again for both of your suggestions!

I need rivets! And bad! And soon! Okay first off, I need solid shank rivets, about one inch long, with a 3/8 to 1/2 inch flat head and 1/8" to 3/16" shank diameter, I am somewhat flexible on thes dimensions. The huge bag of them I bought at Pennsic 2 years ago has dwindled down to a pretty low level. The hollow shank "pop" rivets that Tandy Leather (and other leather stores) carry are too weak for my purposes, so I am very adamant that it be solid shank brass rivets. I have been looking online, and I have found a few places, but I am unsure about these places, and prefer a trusted source that comes with a recomendation, specially a place where I can order them with a reasonable guarantee of a quick delivery. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

They don't exist. I have been to many pirate re-enactments in the last year and a half, and I have yet to be to one where hand sewn garments are a requirement. The whole hand sewn thing is something us nutters do to ourselves to challenge ourselves and attempt to take it to the next level for our own benefit... And to a lesser degree to show off. Many re-enactors never take it to the level beyond machine sewn clothing, and that is fine... There will always be those of us whole try to do it to the nth degree, and there will always be those who don't have the time, resouces etc. and that is fine... The hobby is (and always should be) more about the history and getting along and having a good time, and not stitch counting!

Not getting good sparks, and the metal on the face of the frizzen seems to be developing deep scratches... If you are just not getting sparks, and the metal does not seem to be gouging, then it is more likely a flint adjustment or other tuning issue.

Bess, I would soooo agree with you, had I never seen the "Lost in Space" remake... Even a stellar actor like Oldman couldn't make a good impression with that script.... But on a more positive note, I do so love "Immortal Beloved", it is probably Oldman at his absolute best acting wise. Although I still like the overall move "Leon: The Professional" better....

Do you happen to know of any retail chains that might carry it? I am uncertain if I can get it ordered in time for this weekend, and I am fairly uncertain that I will be able to find the time on a weekday evening next week to do it... And I really want to bring my doglock long arm to the Hampton Blackbeard festival... I do have my pistols as a back up, but I do so love my long musket. Edit: While I have heard Kasenit is better, ordering some is why I was thinking of using borax instead... I was just wondering if the difference is so big that I would be better off waiting the possible extra time for the Kasenit?

Well if Haunting Lily and Kate aren't going, then I am NOT going... (just kidding I've tried to wash cats before and quite frankly a weekend with you and Cousin Robbie sounds safer, Mr. Edwards, are you in?) I can teach how to not fire a musket to great effect! Whooooofffff!

I think this topic has come up a few times before, but I don't think it has it's own thread yet... Anyways, because of time (or rather a shortness thereof), I am going to have to re-harden the frizzen on my doglock long arm this weekend. I do have some limited experience working with metal, and have forged a few knives, fire strikers and other simple things before, so I am not too nervous about it... My main question is about a hardenning agent, is borax good to use? Or is there a better alternative that is still easy to find and not too expensive? I have access to a good torch to get the metal red hot, and I am sure I can get my hands on some used motor oil for the quench, but advice on hardenning agents, and maybe some suggestions as to process would be most appreciated. Cheers

This book available from Track of the Wolf and other places online is both cheap, small, easy to read, and has a ton of good information on making springs for muzzle-loaders of all varieties.

NICE work!!! Yeah, I can't see why such buttons would not work for a Justacorps, outside of not knowing the real timeline for the Death's Head buttons... I think they are appropriate for our time, but I am uncertain... I learned about them on a 18th century forum that focusses mostly on later 18th century stuff, and not having done any research on them, I can;t say they are correct for GAoP or not... But speaking for myself, if I saw those on a coat at an event, I would be too busy being impressed by the amount of work and artistry that went into them than caring if they were absolutely correct for the period or not.

It looks great! Nice colour choices! You could have shown off the belt a bit more... (just kidding).

Just waiting on Chrispy's and Pyrate Leather's card, but I got a note from Chrispy last week saying that he was sending them out... I presume I will hear from Pyrate Leather soon, or perhaps he has just sent them as he likely has our address from the Sketchbook thing. Sorry life has thrown you a curve ball (or a few) Sjöröveren, thanks for letting us know!

Glad to hear you found it Silas! On another note and carrying on with the whole "Lost and Found" theme.... I found a pair of loose short pants, pretty big size, khaki green colour, look like they would be about mid-calf length on an average height person. Do these belong to anyone?

Does that mean we are going to have to start calling him Dr. Cousin Robbie? Or is he still working on his Masters degree?

I don't want to be discouraging, specially since I have never done it... But I have considered it and read up on it a fair bit... But making a pistol and/or blunderbuss, if you are a pro, or semi-pro, or at least experienced maker, okay ignore this. BUT, if you have never carved a flintlock stock before or done the other steps in making a pistol or blunderbuss, from everything I have read, most hobbyists (guys who make these occasionally, or just are just learning), tend to spend three to four months on a single project of that nature. Now you have to firearms on your list, PIP/Fort Taylor Pirate Festival is 6 months out, do the math, that doesn;t leave you time for the other items on your list, unless you are an experienced builder, or have way more time to dedicate to the pistol and blunderbuss builds than your average hobbyist. One thing you may really want to do with your list, is itemize it more in depth as Mission advised, but also do some serious research on how long it took other people to achieve those same goals or at least similar ones. cheers

I think they were posted around October last year (?)... You won't see or hear of the registration forms until a few month before the event anyways.... It's far too early to worry about that yet.

I think they are made on 3/8 inch wooden beads? The total diameter is about 1/2 inch? Although you could aim for larger or smaller bead depending on your needs, I just really like the finer buttons. I guess I should have thrown a penny or other coin into the picture for scale when I took that. As for pronouncing the word... I will try... PASS-i-ment-tar-ee If you say it with a French accent (don't overdo it though) you will likely be saying it correctly.