michaelsbagley Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 While Sawford made his bales a little more elaborately, and truly improved... The similarities matter more regarding resiliency. And having had made and used mine since 2016(ish?), outside of some good natural ging and mild staining, over regular use for those 6 or 7 years, I think it is safe to say the benefits to rewards of any potential extra steps for treating the canvas might be more effort than what it would be worth. But this would be a very worthy addition to the "Crafting Kit" section, as while many of us have made various versions of these over the years, this is one of the cooler takes on them I have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Diamond Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Agreed, this would be a very good addition to the Crafting Kit Forum. What say you, Captain Sawford? Oooh, shiny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Jack Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 At one time 182 was an allusion to this movie … (A huge hit, with a sizable cultural impact at the time, which many have forgotten about now.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turk_182 I’m going to need to make something like this … After I figure out how to store them … My temporary idea us slip-covers over collasible totes (I have 4 Clevermade ones, in 2 different styles) -John "Tartan Jack" Wages, of South Carolina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyBarbossa Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 So, I spoke with 18th Century Cleophas on Instagram ( and highly recommend that you follow him if you are on Instagram because he's an 18th c Fabric Seller Living Historian and researcher of 18th c fabrics, and he's based in Europe)... Anyways, he said "The fabrics were, after all, only narrowly woven and were wound on thin boards so that the woven fabric became small bales of fabric." Tempt Fate! an' toss 't all t' Hell!" "I'm completely innocent of whatever crime I've committed." The one, the only,... the infamous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madPete Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 10 hours ago, LadyBarbossa said: So, I spoke with 18th Century Cleophas on Instagram ( and highly recommend that you follow him if you are on Instagram because he's an 18th c Fabric Seller Living Historian and researcher of 18th c fabrics, and he's based in Europe)... Anyways, he said "The fabrics were, after all, only narrowly woven and were wound on thin boards so that the woven fabric became small bales of fabric." I suspected something like that, just couldnt find it. Thank you! Aye... Plunder Awaits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 20 hours ago, LadyBarbossa said: 18th Century Cleophas on Instagram @LadyBarbossa, Excellent! Pyracy is following Cleophas & Cleophas 2.0 - thanks for the suggestion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 On 2/23/2023 at 10:57 AM, Captain Jack Sawford said: Photos... Photos 9 and 10 - The cargo bale photographed in the wild. Mister Sawford, my apologies for hijacking this most wonderful thread... On 2/24/2023 at 1:34 PM, michaelsbagley said: The similarities matter more regarding resiliency. And having had made and used mine since 2016(ish?), outside of some good natural ging and mild staining, over regular use for those 6 or 7 years, I think it is safe to say the benefits to rewards of any potential extra steps for treating the canvas might be more effort than what it would be worth. But this would be a very worthy addition to the "Crafting Kit" section, as while many of us have made various versions of these over the years, this is one of the cooler takes on them I have seen. But Mister Oatmeal, I'm once again talking with William and looking down this path to making some faux cargo bales. I'm not sure that I've seen the bale examples you mentioned - do you have any pictures/knowledge you can share? Also, I love the idea of having a Cargo Bale Construction thread in "Crafting Kit"! As soon as I have gathered material and actually get my butt moving on it, I'll be sure to post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tudor MercWench Smith Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 Y'all are giving me ideas....nothing so nice as is already posted here but I have these nice little sturdy foam shipping coolers that I picked up for free last week before a camping trip and I can't help but keep looking at them and thinking "I could cover you in canvas and you wouldn't look like a small cargo bale, and it would be a great way to keep cold items handy in the camp kitchen without looking modern...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelsbagley Posted June 24 Author Share Posted June 24 (edited) On 6/19/2024 at 1:06 PM, Stynky Tudor said: But Mister Oatmeal, I'm once again talking with William and looking down this path to making some faux cargo bales. I'm not sure that I've seen the bale examples you mentioned - do you have any pictures/knowledge you can share? Also, I love the idea of having a Cargo Bale Construction thread in "Crafting Kit"! As soon as I have gathered material and actually get my butt moving on it, I'll be sure to post. I started with the "heavy duty" crates that use to be found at craft stores (pick your local chain)... However, I've not seen those "heavy duty crates" in the crafts stores in years. The first and foremost advice I can provide, is to NOT to use the typical craft store crates for this type of project. The typical crates are fine for college dorm storage, and other light-duty stuff.... but faux-reenactment bales WILL get sat upon (and take other hard wear) which the standard craft store crates WILL NOT stand up to. While it will increase cost and/or level-of-effort, build wooden slat-based crates out of whatever cheap dimensional 1"-by wood you can find/buy/acquire (through definitely legitimate means). In the attached photo there are three of them. Two built up from the "heavy duty" crates, and the long one I made from scrap lumber to be a double length one (it doubles as a bench, as well as storage crate for my pavillion tent). All three of these examples lack an enhancement I made to a later one I made, and that enhancement is putting some sort of batting between the wood frame and the canvas. Wife was resistent to the idea of adding batting, because of concerns with weather, and them taking forever to dry if wet, and the risk of mildew. The ones shown here are 9 years old now, and have picked up a lot of dirt and mild staining since, but are still going strong. The one not depicted with the batting, is about 6 or 7 years old, and has been used regularly since, and survived a couple of bad-weather events, with no signs of mildew or other wet related damage. Which has me thinking of going back removing the canvas from these in order to add the batting. The batting makes them work a lot better as seats. We pack most of our gear for events we do the "bigger setup" with in these crates, and it makes setup, break-down, and storage of gear a lot easier. These get stacked in a corner of the garage for most of the year, and when we prep for an event, we now most of what we need is in these. (originally we stored spare tents in them, but since we gave all of those away since we no longer run events, they are now used for our gear). In fact, I think I need to make another one or two for use exclusively for when I travel alone with the smaller/lighter setup, as it just makes transporting gear that much more convenient. Edited June 24 by michaelsbagley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 This topic erupted from a post made by Captain Jack Sawford from the Crew of the Scavenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 A while back I bought a couple of these these things from the local thrift shop - I've got 4 of them now. I just ordered a couple sheets of 1/2 inch foam and some spray adhesive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madPete Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 were you planning on leaving an opening so they can be used as coolers? asks the cook sheepishly... Aye... Plunder Awaits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 16 hours ago, madPete said: were you planning on leaving an opening so they can be used as coolers? asks the cook sheepishly... On 2/24/2023 at 7:27 PM, Tartan Jack said: My temporary idea us slip-covers... Hmm, I don't know. I don't have a plan/design for getting back into them once they've been wrapped in canvas and rope, I'm not sure how accessible they'd make them. My initial thoughts were to just cover them in foam/batting and canvas and use them like benches. I love Tartan Jack's slip cover idea, I was saying to William that we could sew elastic on/around the bottom of the canvas to snug-up the fit. I suppose you could pull the cover off every time you wanted to get in 'em. Would that work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madPete Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 If you wrap and glue the canvas directly to the styrofoam and then just cut around the opening, it would still be usable. The shape already works without the foam padding, it just wouldnt be cushy without the foam. Maybe leave an inch of overhang on the top piece to cover the split (opening). Not sure about the ropes unless it was tied on the bottom Aye... Plunder Awaits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tudor MercWench Smith Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 So the coolers I have are just a smaller version of what @Stynky Tudor has. I had not intentions on using foam, cause shape is about right on its own, they are too small for sitting, and since it's intention would be to use around the kitchens I wouldn't want it getting waterlogged. 3 hours ago, madPete said: If you wrap and glue the canvas directly to the styrofoam and then just cut around the opening, it would still be usable. The shape already works without the foam padding, it just wouldnt be cushy without the foam. Maybe leave an inch of overhang on the top piece to cover the split (opening). Not sure about the ropes unless it was tied on the bottom This was more or less what meant to do with mine. Perhaps subtley glue the ropes on and also have a small slit in them so the lida come off....or, it just struck me they could be tied on the sides and act as latches of a sort....keep the kids on in transit but easy to untie and open as needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 3 hours ago, madPete said: The shape already works without the foam padding... 36 minutes ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said: I had not intentions on using foam, cause shape is about right on its own I had thought the same when I purchased them, but someone insisted I use foam - though I don't know who @William Brand. 39 minutes ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said: Perhaps subtley glue the ropes on and also have a small slit in them so the lid... I actually like the rope hinge idea too. Since I've got 4 of them, I'll probably make them all slightly different. In the end I'll be sorta happy with one and annoyed by the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Diamond Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 Love all the ideas floating around! Oooh, shiny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 I actually like the foam batting idea (thanks @Captain Jack Sawford). Aside from adding cushion to what would otherwise be a hard (styrofoam) shell/surface, it makes it more tactile. Anyone else making cargo bales, please share pictures and your working insights. And for a little more inspiration, here's some modern cargo bales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madPete Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 I've got one of these coolers in the utility room, but too many projects right now. Let's see what you come up with. The rope hinges are a great idea! Aye... Plunder Awaits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madPete Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 The idea of making something like this without using the internal space to hide modern contraband... kinda, sorta puts me in a state of disorder. Maybe its just the smuggler in me... Aye... Plunder Awaits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Dreadlocke Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Just curious as to what a 1680-1780 cotton bale would look like. The reason I ask is because there's tons (literally) of raw cotton to be scooped up and utilized in this area. PIRATES! Because ye can't do epic shyte wi' normal people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tudor MercWench Smith Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 On 6/25/2024 at 4:50 PM, Stynky Tudor said: I actually like the foam batting idea (thanks @Captain Jack Sawford). Aside from adding cushion to what would otherwise be a hard (styrofoam) shell/surface, it makes it more tactile. Anyone else making cargo bales, please share pictures and your working insights. And for a little more inspiration, here's some modern cargo bales. Looking at these, I am wondering if it could be done to somehow disguise the slit where the lid opens up as one of the seams..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 18 hours ago, Morgan Dreadlocke said: Just curious as to what a 1680-1780 cotton bale would look like. From what I can tell, the process of shipping bulk anything hasn't change a whole lot between the mid 1500s - mid 1800s. In fact modern cotton bales look pretty similar, maybe more uniform in size/weight, with ropes replaced by plastic tie straps and canvas replaced by plastic sheeting. 1500s Store German. 1650s Merchant Trade Market German. 1651 Dance of Death after Holbein Etcher Wenceslaus Hollar. 1700s? Dockside. 1700s Unload Ships at Arkhangelsk, Russia. 1722-1750 French Naturalist Bernard de Jussieu arrives in England with rooted Cedar of Lebanon. 1850s Replica Fur Bales at Fort Langley British Columbia Canada. 1902 Cotton Bales in Egypt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stynky Tudor Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 6 hours ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said: Looking at these, I am wondering if it could be done to somehow disguise the slit where the lid opens... I was thinking something similar, but had planned to create an obvious straight cut hem. Loving how rough and irregular these look, I'm now thinking of having a ripped/frayed/tattered overlapping edge. But with the way things are going, I probably won't get back to this until late fall or winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Diamond Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 On 7/2/2024 at 1:12 PM, Stynky Tudor said: From what I can tell, the process of shipping bulk anything hasn't change a whole lot between the mid 1500s - mid 1800s. In fact modern cotton bales look pretty similar, maybe more uniform in size/weight, with ropes replaced by plastic tie straps and canvas replaced by plastic sheeting. 1500s Store German. 1650s Merchant Trade Market German. 1651 Dance of Death after Holbein Etcher Wenceslaus Hollar. 1700s? Dockside. 1700s Unload Ships at Arkhangelsk, Russia. 1722-1750 French Naturalist Bernard de Jussieu arrives in England with rooted Cedar of Lebanon. 1850s Replica Fur Bales at Fort Langley British Columbia Canada. 1902 Cotton Bales in Egypt. My word, this is excellent reference! Thank you for the beautiful images… Oooh, shiny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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