Sea Chests

[JoshuaRed]

Or buoyant & bodiced.

Sorry, someone just HAD to go there at some point in this thread, so I thought I'd get it out of the way!

[blackjohn]

I'm glad someone did that. Mine was going to be something like "flat in front, but very rounded on top."

Oh! Chest 147 has a slight curved on top. Very slight.

[kass]

<sigh> Boys...

Speaking of chests, I'll have pictures of the girls to post tomorrow. Grab your drool collection devices!

[blackjohn]

And if anyone is interested, I can try taking a picture of chest 147 with my digital camera and post it (Blackjohn sans scanner).

[kass]

As promised, here they are: Scylla and Charybdis

Girls flanking Jay

(I'm not responsible for the guy in the middle.)

Where shall we start the bidding?

[Gentleman of Fortune]

Cool stays... did you make them?

GoF

[JoshuaRed]

Boy oh boy this sure isn't the same thread it began as!

[kass]

Just remember, Josh, we were talking about wooden trunks until you piped up. So it's all YOUR fault.

Greg, I didn't make their stays. They made them all by themselves. Of course I taught them how. Aren't they cute?

<proud mama face>

[blackjohn]

I took a picture of the slightly round topped chest (don't laugh!!! ) and put it on the Pirate Brethren site.

http://www.piratebrethren.com/Chest1698.jpg

[Deadeye]

(I'm not responsible for the guy in the middle.)

I hope not, he looks like an sherbet factory exploded on him!

[Diego Santana de la Vega]

Or buoyant & bodiced. 

Sorry, someone just HAD to go there at some point in this thread, so I thought I'd get it out of the way!

Grammercy fer that thought!

just in case and fer what it be worth fer looks and the likes cheap yeh free frieght even better try these on!

wood trunk at Target

Bouyant! God bless ye matey!

[Pirate Petee]

Just remember, Josh, we were talking about wooden trunks until you piped up. So it's all YOUR fault.

Greg, I didn't make their stays. They made them all by themselves. Of course I taught them how. Aren't they cute?

<proud mama face>

There were wooden trunks in that picture.

[blackjohn]

And Not So Young Jim Hawkins is way off in the background, staring at the saucy ones...

:)

[Diego Santana de la Vega]

I'm jes reliving the idea of bouyant! Nice thought I tell ye!

[Misson]

I have been reading The Age of Sail by W.R. Thrower (1972) and he said something I found interesting regarding seamen's sea chests:

"Many men joining a ship had little more than the clothes they stood in and the 'bundle' containing their few possessions. More senior men and petty officers, as well as apprentices and first-timers, had a sea chest. Sea chests were not necessarily plain wooden boxes, they were often very well made and fitted inside at the whim of the owner. A fine example of one believed to have been used by [Admiral Robert] Blake [1599—1657] in the 17th century, is shown in Fig 25." (Thrower, p. 74)

Here is the figure, scanned from the book:

It actually looks to me a bit like various descriptions I have read of Medicine Chests. Although my impression is that they often had a top compartment with a hinged lid for storing bottles.

I would like to note that Thrower has at times (IMHO) a tendency to make sweeping statements that I'm not certain other sources I've read would completely agree with. He also does a less than stellar job of citing some of his sources which I find annoying. (I wonder if the above info also came from a placard or description in the Blake Museum in Bridgewater, Somerset? Alas, he doesn't say.)

Still, I find this book quite comprehensive in its way as well as being very interesting. So I wanted to share the comment.

[Captain Jim]

Just my humble opinion but that seems to be more of a sea desk than a sea chest.

[Mary Diamond]

Agreed, Captain Jim. Lovely specimen, though, and would seem fitting for a Captain, to contain documents, etc.

Thanks for the image and info, Mission!

[Misson]

Hmm. I'm starting to wonder if I can trust Thrower's research. It's too bad, because this particular book contains an extensive amount of info on the day-to-day life of seamen from the Navy, merchant ships, privateers and pirates. (Although it is not organized quite as nicely as that list, but it still has more info than any similar book I've seen.) I wonder how the museum has the chest labeled?

[Silver]

i saw the movie treasure island. it was the later one made. in it they show the sea chest belonging to the pirate who was rooming at the inn. it wasn't very large something a sailor could pick up and carry on one shoulder. having been in the navy and having to move your whole worldly possions in one tripand on your back if it didn't fit in the sea bag or on your person there was no room in your life for it. you learn to keep only what you had to have.

[Dorian Lasseter]

That's ok John <sniff> I don't mind you not agreeing with my every word...

Ed... haha... too bad there's this big pond in our way, because I'd really like to shake your hand someday.

Ok, I wouldn't be suprised if you felt this way. If necessity is a spur to ingenuity and the mother of invention, then disagreement is a spur to research and the mother of new ideas.

I've seen a sea-chest from the Vasa (roughly contemporary with the Plymouth colony) which was basically a square box like the ones in the pictures I posted. Are the Plymouth ones radically different John?

I don't know, I'd have to look at Lisa's Wasa book (she lived in Sweden for a year and has actually seen the Wasa). Since there is so much in this Plymouth book, I'll have to do a little bit at a time.

"The simplest form of construction of case pieces is the nailed configuration. It was quick, efficient and less expensive than joined furniture."

"Dovetailed joints on boxes and chests were not commonly seen until the end of the century, and rarely then. Nailed construction was used well into the nineteenth century in the more rural and isolated communities in the United States." Bold, my addition...

This is from A Cubberd, Four Joyne Stools & Other Smalle Thinges: The Material Culture of Plymouth Colony. It's a great book, and don't let the title fool you. There's a wealth of info on things later than the Pilgrims.

The book has a good 15 pages on chests, though only the first few resemble anything close to a sea chest. Frankly, I'm surprised that nailed construction was so popular.

Digging up an old thread....

Nails used for chests, any ideas what?

The old square, forged style? Copper or brass?

Think their were ever brass wood screws used?

I know copper and brass nails/tacks were used aboard ships, just wondered if the same goes for sea chests...

most of the images I've found of sea chests, they are painted so you can't see what might be holding them together...

[Dutchman]

as i recall from a class i took a couple years ago. nails were more common than turn screws, but they were both used. iron fasteners mostly, copper nails would bend too easily in this application- not sure about brass. copper or brass rivets would have been used in some finer pieces.

[callenish gunner]

Another method that can be used which I learned from my Great Grandfather is a locking pin dowel rod joint where you use a larger dowel to originally join the boards of the chest and then drill through the sides through the side and dowel rod and place a smaller dowel through both pieces of the sides to lock the peg permanently ...solid and rugged wearing joint for uses that require a joint you can depend upon! Just my humble opinion

[Joe Pyrat]

WRT construction methods, have any of you taken a look at the Foxfire books? Seems the first one had an article on building using wooden pins. I think it was building a cabin, but the method should work on smaller projects.

[Dorian Lasseter]

as i recall from a class i took a couple years ago. nails were more common than turn screws, but they were both used. iron fasteners mostly, copper nails would bend too easily in this application- not sure about brass. copper or brass rivets would have been used in some finer pieces.

So, using these would be the ticket...

[oderlesseye]

well reading this thread ..Eye learned that older chest more to our period were a 90 ' box and not slanted in like the ones illistrated on marlineSpike.com.. The guy from that site said he is not accepting orders...We he wants to many duckets any way... The finger joint was brought up also being too modern.. reguardless I can still customize...