Black Deacon

Well Tori ifinya make it this way again. Please let me know.

Bilge if you get down here by all means send up a flare before ya comin'. I'll buy the first round. Ya be more in welcome to board with the Texican Privateers.

Post me a pick and I can let you know. I've been doin' work for a few years.

I've dealt with Loyalist and their very up front and carry quality. I like their Blunderbuss just don't have the 8's to be spendin' right now.

I be trying to get into next years volunteer list for the only true tall ship in the Houston/Galveston area. Thought I'd post the info on the ship here. The Elissa If only the Royalist woould want to come play in warmer waters. Here be her Specs

Oh you mean this one Plan's Site

Your best bet is to read all you can from the old manuals. Yes you may have to find an old book and not just pull it up on the net. Since I grew up around them allot of it comes as a second nature. But check out some of the re-enactors. Civil War, Mountain man, etc. Start small with a signal cannon and work your way up. Try muskets first. Even Brown Besses, Charliveele's, will give you a good working knowledge of use BP. Then head for the bigger stuff.

Oh, I've been the Civil War, American Revolution, 16th Century Living History Association, French Revolution, Texas Independence route. Seen quite allot along the way.

Feel free to take issue. Just a difference in taste. You stated newspaper. I said paper. i should have stated damp toilet paper. The Spanish moss is historically accurate for land firing. I never use foil unless it's buried deep in a tape roll for a simulated ground hit. I've been doing pyro for over 17 years and I've never had anyone hurt at a show or re-enactment by my work. Plus, they pay me to blow shit up. How grand is that?! It's all in your event as to what you need to do. I have a little signal cannon mounted on a pier beam that i use at my outdoor pirate sword fights. Great little attention getter.

For bodices try www.livelydjs.com/cc she's is my ex and one of the best seamstresses you'll find. We redesigned them to increase cup size by two cups, decrease the waiste by two to three inches but you can still breath, move, ride and fight in them. This is a "biker" site but you pick the material you want "as long as it isn't a two way stretch".

Well allot of that depends on the type of canon. Muzzle Load, Breach load, Beer mug breachlaoder, etc. Beings we's pirates I'll just use the basic muzzle loading variety. In most cases the gunner and quartermaster would make sure they had plenty of pre-made powder rolls measured and wrapped. Usually in a cloth sack and then stored back into the powder kegs the raw powder came in. You usually had a "Ramrod or Push rod, a Swab and a Worm." On the first shot, the powder roll is placed in the barrel and "Driven Home" by the ramrod. Then the ball is added and driven home. The powder roll is pricked and the touch hole is primed with loose powder. Then a lit piece of match cord (cotton rope soaked in salt peter) which is wrapped around a serpent (long stick with wire on the end to hold the match cord) lites the priming powder and whoosh boom. Then for the second shot the swab was dipped in shoved in, (usually damp with water. Not soaked) to kill any lingering embers. Then repeat the above process. Now, that being said, sometimes you ran out of powder rolls, lost swabs etc. in battle so then you just use whatever you could get hold of. In the absence of rolls, they would pour the powder directly in the barrel and then shove any piece of cloth they could find in to act as a wadding. This helps in creating the pressure that makes enough velocity. Now days we mainly use blanks, so you can still make your rolls, but I always put some damp wadded paper or Spanish moss in after that. and really drive it down. The more pressure the loader the boom. Remember... Black Powder is an Explosive. Pyrodex, shotgun, pistol and rifle powder are propellants.

Folkware

Allot of them listed on ebay.

I just started it. Interesting having to buy your goods and barter, etc. Of course the last game system I had only had 4 games and one of them was PONG.

Um, that goes down in the Ooops category. In the re-enacting world we always have a weapons check of everything you bring to the battlefield site. Ram rods are dropped and push rods are pushed to make sure your weapon is cleared. Seems the "Big Brains" at the museum need to get a clue.

Let me know if I can help. Lloyd's Resume

AH, God Bless his greasy little soul.

I hate hearing that. I wish them luck and calmer waters.

Ok, didn't read all the posts but this is a good source for hat blanks.

Ok, found them. Blue The Pipe Maker They are wooden.

Remember that a pipe is can be made from almost anything. Now, weather it lasted long was one thing. You had Brier pipes. Glass was also used. Clay or in some cases stone was used. There is a shop at the Texas Ren Fair (TRF) that makes them. I saw them this weekend. Wooden bowl and long stems. About $50. Booth is near Sherwood Forest. This year Renboots has a huge new shop and The Pirate's Treasure has expanded. Tri-corns were in abundance and very over priced. The best made one I found was actually not the most expensive but was still $95. I'll see if I can find a website on them.

Thanks be to all that remembered this old dog on 'is birthin' day. I hoist one to those that have given me a good thought on this day.

I have one. Swiss War Axe. Made by Chris poor. I'll post a pic later.

Most of the clay pipes were for tavern use. You still have briar and wood pipes. A cap was either made of silver, tin and in some cases leather. Sometimes it was also a Plug. To keep the tobacco from falling out as it could have a deep ember. They were also known as Wind Caps.

Well, glad you escaped unscathed. But controlled fire bars are cheap and easy. Have fun tonight.