Dustin11B Report post Posted July 24, 2013 Recently the US Army Artillery Museum located at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma asked if I could make two reproduction leather axle boots for their WWII US M1 and M1A pack howitzers that are currently being restored. The first task was to save as much of the original boot as possible for conservation. Very few of these leather axle boots exist today due to the nature of their use as lawn ornaments and salute guns at military installations after WWII and Korea. After removing the original boot to make a pattern from I was off and running. There are 13 total leather rings that I cut free hand then stitched the inner portion of the bellows and then the outers, sort of like acordion style. This was done so the leather could expand and contract. The purpose of this cover is to protect the worm gear side of the axle which is the traverse portion of the Pack howitzer. See photos below of my work and final boots. The leather boot / cover is on the right side of the axle in the photos as your looking at them. And just so you know, there are six different sizes involved with the rings. Bellows cut out ready for stitching, compared to originals. Stitching the bellows, this was quite fun... not really but it was a learning experience which is invaluable. Finished leather axle cover installed on the axle, you can clearly see the worm gear axle. Note, I was having difficulties with the how to mark this cover as reproduction and not to later be taken as an original cover. I decided to do two things, to make one row of stitching and to make with letter stamps and marker on the inside of the cover and stamp the outside with REPRODUCTION 2013 and my mark. Also the information file on each piece has been added to the history of each pack howitzer to show that these reproductions boots are just that. I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing some of my work. I hope to have more military related work posted soon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
olds cool Report post Posted July 25, 2013 Well that's something you don't get to do every day. Thanks for sharing. Very cool! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
benlilly1 Report post Posted July 25, 2013 Very interesting...Nice work!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
David8386 Report post Posted July 25, 2013 Interesting work, good job. David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
