Black Deacon

With much talk about cannon, sword and such. I want to be startin this thread on safety. There be a few that be wet behind the ears on such things. Here is an article with some great info and examples. Muzzle Blast Feel free to chime in with questions or answers. We be wantin' no loss of life or limb out there.

That's it. Thank ya lass.

Happy Holidays to you as well Sir.

Animal renderings (i.e Lard) And they did have petroleum products. They just weren't refined. But oil/grease in various forms has be used for centuries.

Ok, one of my areas of knowledge here. If you are given MP3's by the artist or have the permission of both the artist and intillectual rights holder of the song to post a MP3 you recieve you're good to go. But, posting without permission can get you into some major problems with the artist, IR holder and the RIAA. These guys are the copyright police. Maximum fine is 11k per song and 11 years in a federal penitentury. Amoung other things I'm a DJ and this is an issue that I deal with on a weekly basis. Just a FYI.

Works now. Well, Bess? Any thought?

Congrats. I've been tauting their praises since I came to this board. One thing to consider, If you are ever going to knock blades and swing steel with someone don't sharpen it. You will turn the blade from smooth into a saw blade very quickly. Yes originals were sharp. Had to cut through, skin, bone, rope, wood. I've handled and molded originals over the years. But if you are using it for demo purposes or "simulated" combat. Don't sharpen that edge.

Link don't work.

You might be able to get parts from these guys Tattershall Arms or Albion

Got a good friend of mine with a beer mug breech loader. What are your terms on that banded breech loading murderer?

One word will answer most of your questions. Quality. The better your equipment is made. The longer it will last if cared for properly. Depending on the cannon size I generally favor hardwood. Oak, maple I've even used ash and cherry in some cases but they were for smaller pieces. Banding and iron supports in the right places can go along way as well. The biggest difference between naval and field work is in the wheels. Field cannons at first were generally strapped to a beam and the beam strapped to an axel. Then later the trunnions were better cast and made and better carriage designs came along.

I need the words to a Parady Pirate Song I heard years ago called (at least by the singer) The Man Song. From my recollection: Oh, it's great to sail on a ship with men and sail across the sea o'. With "name, name, name" and "name" and one guy we call Mary. Any help out there?

I try and stay as accurate as ossible. Even at Fairs I'm usually more accurate than most. I remema time at fairs where accuracy was strived for. But that seems to be a way of the past.

Aye, If I didn't have a corporate Christmas Party on the 13th and a wedding on the 14th to DJ I would make the 4 hour trip. Good luck with your show.

I've seen them at Auto Zone. Mate, do a google search. Best bet ifinya ask me.

A biker finally decided to try something besides riding for a vacation. He booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life... until the boat sank! The man found himself swept up on the shore of an island with no other people, no supplies... Nothing. Only bananas and coconuts. After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to him. In disbelief he asks her: "Where did you come from? How did you get here?" "I rowed from the other side of the island," she says. "I landed here when my cruise ship sank." "Amazing," he says. "You were really lucky to have a rowboat wash up with you." "Oh, this?" replies the woman. "I made the rowboat out of raw material that I found on the island; the oars were whittled from gum tree branches; I wove the bottom from palm branches; and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree." "But-but, that's impossible," stutters the man. "You had no tools or hardware. How did you manage?" "Oh, that was no problem," replies the woman. "On the south side of the island, there is a very unusual strata of alluvial rock exposed. I found that if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into forgeable ductile iron. I used that for tools and used the tools to make the hardware." The guy is stunned. "Let's row over to my place, " she says. After a few minutes of rowing, she docks the boat at a small wharf. As the man looks onto shore, he nearly falls out of the boat. Before him is a stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white. While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man can only stare ahead, dumb-struck. As they walk into the house, her beautiful breasts bouncing with each step, she says casually, "It's not much, but I call it home. Sit down please; would you like to have a drink?" "No thank you," he says, still dazed. "Can't take any more coconut juice." "It's not coconut juice," the woman replies. "I have a still. How about a Pina Colada?" Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepts, and they sit down on her couch to talk. After they have exchanged their stories, the woman announces, "I'm going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to take a shower and shave? There is a razor upstairs in the cabinet in the bathroom." No longer questioning anything, the man goes into the bathroom. There, in the cabinet, is a razor made from a bone handle. Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge are fastened onto its end, inside of a swivel mechanism. "This woman is amazing," he muses. "What next?" When he returns, she greets him wearing nothing but vines and a shell necklace-strategically positioned-and smelling faintly of gardenias. She beckons for him to sit down next to her. "Tell me," she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, "we've been out here for a very long time. You've been lonely. I've been lonely. There's something I'm sure you really feel like doing right about now, something you've been longing for all these months? You know... " She stares into his eyes. He can't believe what he's hearing. His heart begins to pound. He's truly in luck: "You mean...", he gasps, "...you've actually built a motorcycle??"

When ya get time, "Arg, Arg". And if you still want to make a cast of the other figurehead. Here is a great set of instructions on how to do it properly. Mold Instructions You will need to modify them a bit because you are doing a "all around" casting. I've done them for years so sometimes when I try and type out all the instructions I miss a step. But using this document works pretty well. Now I would do this as a "box mold. First doing one side and letting it set. Then Build another box do the other side. Using a release agent on the plaster. Then when it fully sets. "Break" the mold apart and remove the figurehead. Then you put a release agent on the inside of the mold. Put them together and do a "Slush mold. Which is basically pouring in liquid latex. Slushing it around. Once a few good coats have been done and pretty dry. Use a two part expandable foam or in this case get that spray foam insulation and fill it and let it expand. Then when it's dry. Bust the mold and Voilà. BTW one of the best release agents I've found is Pam Cooking Spray. Easier to clean off the latex as well. To paint I use an air brush with the largest needle it will hold. Then use a mixture of One part rubber cement, one part Red Devil Latex paint and Ten parts Rubber Cement Thinner. Shake well and spray. Keep another bottle of just thinner and every-once in awhile clean your needle. Goes on gloopy but it dry very smooth.

Send an email to Redd Oktober. He's pretty good.

You can get the hornblower series on amazon and also at www.schoonerman.com

Try this one Pan

Seems they could float her if she's in that good shape. SHould be interesting. Kepp us posted Coastie.

Their only real drawback is they don't take credit cards. I've talked to them about setting up a PayPal account but don't know if they did.

I've bought two. And use them on a regular basis in my Comedy Pirate Sword Fights. The are quality. Blunted edges and full tanged. The flintlocks should come ready to fire.

There are some very shallow waters in the area being as Galveston is one big sandbar. But the channel is clear all the way to kemah and clear lake. I would love to sell the idea to the Kemah Boarwalk on a REAL Pirate show next year. They do a Buccanneer Days where I do a Comedy pirate sword fight show. I've been trying to talk them into a real pirate stunt show.

Ya know, with a little fiberglass work on the back ya could make it "lake" worthy. Just a thought.