Aye Matey! It be a linstock!
One might ask, “but what is a linstock?”.
If you are familiar with some popular pirate films, you will have seen one in the hand of a pirate captain about to fire a cannon in order to make his escape from a foe’s ship.
In essence, it is a stick with a match on the end which is used to light the gunpowder in the vent hole of a cannon which, in turn, burns through the hole and ignites the main charge thus firing the cannon.
This “stick” came in different lengths depending upon the use on land or sea. Too, it came in a myriad of designs from the ornate to the utilitarian.
The “match” or more properly “slow match” was actually a length of hemp twine soaked in potassium nitrate. The chemical inhibited the twine from burning quickly, and reduced its fiery consumption to a slow glowing ember.
The modern slow match, made from cotton cord, I have used in this project will smolder away at about an inch an hour.
I have chosen the land based artillery style linstock for my design as it has one advantage over the naval design in my application: it has a spike on the end which enables one to stick it into the ground so it is held upright, remains dry, and quick at hand.
The 1937 Sears Craftsman lathe limited the overall length of the poplar dowel used to 38 inches. An error on my part reduced the overall length to 34 inches.
The turning took about an hour with water breaks and other distractions(cat).
Once turned and sanded, an “old oak” stain was applied followed by a “plantation walnut” tinted linseed oil finish.
The spike was taken from the legs of a funeral bouquet stand and hammered to a point at the blacksmith forge. It was inserted into the handle of the poplar dowel after painting with black engine enamel.
Holes were drilled to hold the slow match and that cord wound around the upper section of the linstock.
Overall length is a serendipitous exact 40 inches as I neglected any actual measuring beyond “well, that looks about right”.
One might then ask, “why?”.
This is where the fine art studio comes into play.
I used to be an active professional fine artist and did sell many paintings and a few pieces of sculpture. This is something I am revisiting as a way to rediscover that of myself long neglected.
The paintings were abstracts, non subjective mind you, which were based on the explosion of gunpowder upon paper. Using inks, paints, pencil, and other media, I added my influence to the dynamics of the explosion. Balking at the current trend of ugliness and shock value, I focused on harmony, beauty of balance and depth of emotion.
But that is for future entry to The Aethereal Cat when we explore the art itself.
