Commodore Swab

Any plans for working with the metal bits or just the stock?

Well we just went off the grid last week as well, we try to get into land at least once a week but cant guarantee internet access. As for our accomodations we are on a 31 foot sailboat anchored off rowing to and from shore in good pirate fashion.

Should be about a month or two before I get the first mini blunderbuss finished. The locks I've een using are nice however with the last pistol I built I tore the lock down and reworked the springs even though they arent nearly as tight as the India guns and when it was done boy did she work beautifully never misfiring (inverted or on her side) and always throwing the frizzen foreward beautifully. I must of flashed the pan 20-30 times in a row without knapping the flint or even wiping it beforre I gave it a break. It looks like I am going to have to rework the springs on all the locks like this one from now on.

My family is from the Azores and yes I have sailed there. When the Azores were settled they were settled by anyone who would live there so long as they remained loyal to Portugal. Different people from different countries settled the Islands, if memory serves there was even an Island settled by Germans that spoke no Potuguese. All in all the Islands were an inhospital place with not much in the way of anchorages, a place to resupply if you must. The last battle between an American and British ship (1 vs. 4) if memory serves took place in Horta under the Portuguese fort.

Dang, I see some familiar stuff, first the 75 cal. snaphaunce musket I made for shay at 6 feet, next the grenade launcher Im working on using original lock parts, and finally the "hip" fired blunderbus and boxlock that Im starting to cast very soon. Beautiful original pieces

For those of you who might be interested in some flintlocks slightly different than what is normally offered I am working on 2 small arms and should have the first ready for sale in the next month or so. The first is as many of you have seen a bronze barrel blunderbuss like what I had at PiP, short enough to be tucked in a belt. The other is one for the ladies, also in bronze as a blunderbuss it is a boxlock which should be under a pound and 6-8 inches in length. I will have 2 boxlocks for sale first and then start working on the larger pieces. These are American made and not India imports. If you are interested in one of the boxlocks feel free to send me a message and I can tell you more about them.

I browned a lock (browning solution from dixie) and I must say it took a long time but did not require heat. Heat could be used as an option. On my pistol (before I got the browning solution) I tore it down sanded and cleaned it down to bare metal. I then applied 1 light coat of bluing. I used this gun, left it out sometimes didnt clean for long times letting it rust. I tore it down again and cleaned all the rust off with steel wool and have kept it oiled. I must say it looks more authentic and much better than the browning I recently did, of course "aging" a gun this way takes alot of time.

Well Shay returned home last night which included a trip worth telling (the drive home alone), for those concerned about her musket the problem was located and put in order right quick.

Sansanee

I had Q. James

Ive done my share of deliveries as well as working on dive boats and must say that in the past couple years when I used to hear about jobs fairly regularly not any more. In fact Im not even hearing about the ones that don't pay.

Thank you Santa, Sansanee has always loved poetry and when I told her it was a collection of poems her face was priceless. Sir, You humble me. Thank you for the exquisite gifts! QMJ The funny bit thats flat on the bottom is a powder measure that can havve the top cut off so that it measures the ammount you need to shoot, any questions on the other bits let me know

Whats your breech diameter in that piece?

beautiful pictures, you are my hero tonight

Well my gift is sent out, unfortunatly due to weather conditions I was unable to finish it completly in time. I hope whoever gets it understands and takes the time to do a little paint/varnish/oil and screw some screws in. Any questions feel free to email me and merry christmas

Happy bd, you should of received your box by now

Yes it was from me, send me an email.

Actually her grandfather had the knife, he did not make it. The knife works well from splitting kindling to hacking bamboo. The fire pit was purchased locally having been imported from Thailand aka Siam to be more PC.

After living 6 years down here (Key Largo) I have yet to see one . . .

It is a Thai cooking stove made out of clay, there is a flat section in the middle with holes in it. On the bottom there is a window which can be turned into the wind or away from the wind depending on how much air you might want. Fanning this window works wonders when starting a fire, the ash falls thru the holes into the bottom section. The top has 3 rests that support a wok or Thai BBQ (I'll let others tell you about that) as well as a removeable section that can be left out so that you can feed the fire while cooking. This works well with birquettes, wood, or coal depending on what is available. One night we just tossed a bunch of coals from the camp fire in it as we too lazy to start it from scratch.

Here are a couple of shots of her with the musket.

From a friend's camera

I should have some pictures tomorrow of the buccaneer musket I made for Shay

Of course for those of us making things it helps to know who you are making it for instead of just making something generic.