New impression Idea

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

OK, so I know this is not pyratey but I am looking for an impression I can do anywhere, anytime besdies my late colonial hide-hunter. I have settled on building myself a portable knife grinding rig based on these ideas. I figure this impression will put me in any time period from Elizibethan to post American Civil War just by changing clothes. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Thanks...

Bo

Edited April 15, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

And can anyone help me identify and date this image??? Ever seen it before? This is the one that fits my current clothing the best:

Thanks again...

Bo

Edited April 15, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[Darrel Morris]

What a great idea! Will you be building your own grinding wheel?

[Silkie McDonough]

I think it is a great idea! My character isn't a sailor or a pirate. I own an ordinary/tavern/inn/coffee house. Life went on around the port city even when the ships were out. Come to think of it my cleaver needs to be sharpened.

[Duchess]

We've got one of those in our shed here. Fair warning, despite the name including the word "portable", they are heavy as hell and not terribly portable.

But I do think it is a great idea!

[Cuisto Mako]

Love it! Very cool idea!

[Mission]

Most surgical outfits were purchased from cutlery shops during period.

As Duchess notes, that wheel is basically a big, dense stone. If you were going to take it around to events, you'd probably be wise to just mount it on a trailer and then cover the base of the trailer up once you got to your spot at the event. It would look like you were grinding from a platform, which could actually be advantageous for presenting to crowds. It would certainly give you a unique presentation, though.

[jendobyns]

No idea of origin of the top pic, other than that it looks rather late, possibly Victorian in style.

The second pic is most likely second half 18C, probably continental if the sabot being used as a water reservoir for the wheel is anything to go by afaik. I've seen it somewhere else on the web, but can't remember where.

Good look finding the source.

And can anyone help me identify and date this image??? Ever seen it before? This is the one that fits my current clothing the best:

Thanks again...

Bo

[Jas. Hook]

'Bo the Grinder'...

Sounds like a plan. I think maybe downsizing the stone might help in portability. The painting with the sabot being used as a water reservoir the grind stone seems a bit smaller than the others illustrated.

Jas. Hook

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I have the stone picked out and yes they are heavy, we had an iron pedal grinder on the farm with a tractor type seat and double pedals. it dodint go very far. If you will notice, most of the rigs I am looking at are built on wheelbarrow type structures, and as veteran contsruction worker, I am sure I can build something I can handle. My stone is only about 16-18 inches instead of the bigger 24-30 inch ones.

The top picture in the second post is a *Francisco De Goya (1746-1828) from the late 18th century(?)or early 19th.* It is the second one I am most curious about, appears to maybe be French from about 1740-1760?

*edited portion*

bo

Edited April 15, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[michaelsbagley]

OK, so I know this is not pyratey but I am looking for an impression I can do anywhere, anytime besdies my late colonial hide-hunter. I have settled on building myself a portable knife grinding rig based on these ideas. I figure this impression will put me in any time period from Elizibethan to post American Civil War just by changing clothes. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Thanks...

Bo

Love the idea and concept.... as it is a portrayal that will get you through hundreds of years with only different clothes.

Sorry I can't help identify the provenance of the picture you are wondering about, but I would love to know the year and artist of the picture above! If anyone has the details on that.

[Cuisto Mako]

the one with the sabot reminded me of Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, but a google search of his painting didn't come up with the knife grinder scene, so propbably not him...

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Michael, I'll go back to the site I got it from and see iff there is any more information.

OK, the best I can do is the painters name and lifespan, none of the galleries offering repros give the date of the image itself. It was painted by Antonio Puga, 1602-1648. I tried several different searches but cannot find the date of the painting itself. Hope this helps some.

Bo

Bo

Edited April 16, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[Gentleman of Fortune]

GREAT Idea!

Not only is it super cool, but I bet you could actually MAKE MONEY by sharping stuff at the events!

**For those of you who have yet to figure it out, if you can get the hobby to pay for itself, you will have the system licked! AND it will keep your spouse off your back (somewhat!)***

Can't wait to see pictures of you plying your trade!

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Found my grindstone today! My best friend and I were going through his junk piles in the back forty, and out popped a 14" wheel on a metal stand with modern type rigging. he forgot having it. I will need to do some re-facing and of course make it all more primitive/period, but the stone was the most important and elusive item. This one came free, so that makes things go a lot faster! I already have my oak lumber, and metal aplenty to make all the hardware I will need. I may have it operational by Ft. DeChartres if all goes well.

Bo

[William Brand]

That's a great idea. I used to sharpen all the tools at the American West Heritage Center on a very similar rig. It was a great gig, because I was in the shade all day and I enjoyed the work.

[Dutchman]

hey bo,

great find! I love the picture with the wooden shoe being used as the watering can. Find an online book called market faire- i'll find the author when i get home. He has a section on the different vendors found at a colonial market and i think almost two pages are dedicated to descriptions of sharpeners and their stones. I think the book is $10 or so. he has it locked so you can't copy any of it unfortunately. I think it would go over well as there tend to be a lot of dull blades and axe heads at encampments and lots of people don't have the equipment/patience to sharpen a blade properly.

[Iron Hand]

Damn Good Idea Bo. I was gonna suggest a smaller stone pump driven by foot, but hte bigger one sounds too cool....

[Cuisto Mako]

Found another one, late 17th century

le rémouleur

by Giacomo Francesco Cipper dit Il Todeschini

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

WOW! That is fantatsic!!! He has three different grinder/buffer mandrel set-ups! That's pretty amazing for the period. this guy is a true professional grinder.

As an aside, is it me or does anyone else notice the frequent number of monkeys that appear in many GAoP paintings/images?!? (That is a monkey above the people isn't it?)

Bo

[Dutchman]

ah I learned this one from one of those touchy feely art appreciation classes I had to sit through for work. animals and plants were used as symbolism. it's in the background so it is a symbol rather than a subject of the art itself. depending on the source monkeys stand for agility and playfulness or mischief, mimicry, cunning, benevolence.

Sorry Bo, blondie says no to a pet monkey

[capn'rob]

Either wot Dutch sez or wun ugli nipper!

On a serious note. As a kid, a man would come through our neighborhood fairly regular with a cart drawn by a pony. He was rigged to sharpen anything you'd have in that age of antiquity, the 50s. He did knives, scissors, scyths and lawnmowers. I only remember one neighbor with a power mower and he sharpened his own. If I recall, his various stones were on a treadle powered shaft. I would walk a while and watch him until he moved on from our neighborhood. We had a Fishmonger, Fruit and Veg. Man and the Rag Man. They all had horse or ass drawn carts. The Tinkers, although you could find them to do the work they did, no longer plyed their trade by cart. My father-in-law was one of the last of the men who could mend the copper leaders, gutters and flashing. A Tinker.

Edited May 10, 2011 by capn'rob

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Here is my wheel. It has a chip in it that I hope I can resurface. I won't be doing other peoples knives unless I can get it repaired, but axes and tommyhawks will be OK I think. Anyhow, I have set a goal to have it "functional" by Fort DeChartres.

I'll try to keep photo-track of my progress on this one, but I'm not very good at taking pictures. Once I get started on something I pretty much go start-to-finish if everything is going well.

Bo

Edited May 31, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[John Maddox Roberts]

As part of your impression, remember that being an itinerant knife-and-scissors grinder puts you pretty close to the bottom of the working class, about the equivalent of a 20th century shoe-shine boy. This could entail a lot of forelock-tugging. On the plus side, the calling had quite a few nice street cries, "Knives to grind! Scissors to grind!" being about the simplest. There are some good studies of British street cries to be found, some of them including recordings. This is something often lacking in reenactment. Most of us don't imagine how noisy cities were during the day, with everyone with goods or services to sell bellowing at the top of their lungs, trying to outshout the competition. It's a great idea. As an aside, in "A Tramp Abroad" Mark Twain describes a German grinder whose specialty was sharpening the swords used by the Heidelberg duelling fraternities. He said, "After he was done, you could shave with a blade he'd sharpened."

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Well, I managed to make a little progress but not much. Today was too humid and sticky to work the forge so I went back to this project. I was hoping to get the thing resurfaced today and off the original stand. I got halfway and the old bearings shelled. At least it isn't egg-shaped anyore. I didn't get past the chip though. So I got out the pullers and penetrating oil and took it off the stand. I set it up on my temporary stand but decided it is too cheesy looking to use so we now have another saddle stand.

I was hoping to have it ready for this weekend but that isn't going to happen. I'll have to re-mount it and hook it back up to the electric motor to finish resurfacing before I can mount it permanently and use it.

Dangitt!

Bo