bandolier, musketeer, joseph Moxon, lathe, 17th century, seventeenth century, english civil war

About Me

BREXIT Price Hike

Only current orders will be fulfilled at the old price

I could explain in great detail but it is modern politics so I’d be preaching to the converted or stroking the fur the wrong way of those who’ve placed their flag in the earth for Brexit.

 
Trust me, I’ve tried and tried but I cannot run my reenactment business in the same way under Brexit. My stock of blanks is already over committed and I’m slightly short of meeting the orders I have in. I have a lot of orders and I’ve not been able to maintain the stadard of service I prided myself on ever since Brexit, which disappoints me more than you can know but I will not drop the standards of my final product and that is the only way I see the future unless I buy my wood supplies in much smaller (hobby) quantities, and at amuch greater price.
 
I maintain my commitment to only recreate historical items with the correct tools, on the correct equipment, with the correct materials, the correct methods of production and to the correct dimensions both internally and externally. I can no longer do that on the scale I once did.
 
Those who know me well enough, I do not do compromise. There is one way and it is the right way and that goes for my general approach to life too. In a world of shifting and sliding, that is not the normal way. It filters down from the very heart of our Government I’m sorry to say. I have no choice other than to double the price of all my items and to reduce the range of products I once made.
 
If anyone would like me to make any specialised historical reproductions on a very small scale; like one our two items, I’m always interested in that – it is the passion that started me on my course in the first place and that has not gone away. I will also bring my Early Modern lathe demonstrations to show off the Guild status quality of the wood turner during the Early Modern period of history.
 
People who will simply not ‘make do’ with something that looks right or something they already own that is ‘good enough’ have been my customer base. I’m delighted to have met and worked for those people and I’m heartened there are so many of you out there. Museums up and down the east coast of America, entire C17th regiments, historians, archaeologists, film studios, phd students, balistics experts are too many to name but I thank you all. You are from the USA (almost 40% of my customer base), all over the UK and I mean every corner you might mention, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Russia, France, Germany, Holland, UAE, Republic of Ireland (Gaeilge i mo chroi), Sweden – the list goes on an on.
 
Thankyou from the bottom of my heart for making my dream come true and I apologise for he massive price increase. In my workshop, I’ve worn C17th clothing wielded C17th created tools and worked a C17th lathe. Real living history. YOU have made me a real C17th woodturner and bandolier maker.

bandolier, musketeer, joseph Moxon, lathe, 17th century, seventeenth century, english civil war

English civil War bandolier black powder boxes made on a Joseph Moxon 17th century lathe

My name is Graham Webb. My workshop, in Sheffield in South Yorkshire; a place  famous for being the most central part of England, is in an Edwardian building overlooking peak district moors to the front and Gillfield woods to the rear. My four children have followed my passion for 17th century reenactment by being drummers, pikemen, maidens and apprentices. My wife does all the leather work for the powder boxes I make and little Molly strings up the boxes to make the complete bandolier. Bandoliers and other wood turned items are not how I began. As a  northern English man, indeed perhaps like all English men, I  have a fascination for the underdog.  Charles I, King of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as a United Kingdom that was not to become one country until the Act of Union in 1707,  had no army, few friends and very powerful enemies when he fled London to preserve his family. Modern historians continue to kick the felled King even hundreds of years after his death. Seeking out the truth from primary source information such as letters, decrees and bills, led to a website which I updated almost daily. Many students of the Early Modern Period ‘Road to Civil War’ used the resources freely. In time, I will copy all of that information over to this site. All my products are hand turned on a period 17th Century lathe. I have been involved in historical re-enactment since 1977 and I’m so passionate to get things exactly right that I have been involved in BBC programmes and have items in museums around the world. It is not enough to cut the trees down, use an axe to quarter them, wedges to split them and a shave horse to round the billets, I have to do it with authentic tools and in the authentic way. Then, after many months of air drying, the turning begins on a reproduction Seventeenth century lathe that has been made by myself from locally felled oak (quarter sawn) following Joseph Moxon’s Treatise on wood turning. Finishing is with period techniques too.

17th century Moxon lathe and Great Wheel being turned at Newstead Abbey 2013

My Joseph Moxon lathe and Great Wheel, turned by my apprentice!

The English Civil War, even the Thirty Years’ War, were probably not intended to last long. Trained Bands drilled on Sundays with equipment that was well stored. Though I have been making bandoliers for several years now and I have never once had to repair or replace one, I offer a full guarantee for twelve months. Any or all items will be replaced in that time. Before sending out, all wood is immersed in thinned linseed oil (salad oil), three times over three days. After three working days, items are posted out first class. Please look at my YouTube videos to see how the Joseph Moxon lathe works.

and how the powder boxes were originally made.

Graham Webb.

English civil war bandoliers for musketeers