troy

If its the quivier with the black horn your refering to, I used small screws to attach them, as for the cow horn, this involved a long winded process which I would hate to repeat but remarkibly worked, i.e they are sewn on with tiger thread and all the holes in the leather and those very smalls one's I drilled into the horns matched up - could'nt believe it! here's another little weird idea I've been playing with - a quiver totally made from cow horn; made this from 2 truely huge horns about 40 inches long and cut them so that one would slide into another, then polished, securing each together by paracord. The strap is webbing coated with tweed cloth which for some reason I thought would look good (i.e it was cheaper then buying leather for the job!) which is afixed to the horn by the paracord you see hanging down - there is no real belt loop, rather I left it as it is enabling the user to adjust angle, height. I think it turned out OK, following the ethos of my imagination - i.e gotta be weird and completley different.

after a longish pause from the marble slab, have unfortunatly lost touch with previous suppliers here in the UK for good carving leather and wondered if any of the UK or Europe carvers, or even from the US could point this old hand towards suitable places. Preferably I like shoulder with a uniformity of over 3.5mm and of a tan that holds mositure for a few days until surface soaking is needed (for larger carvings. I do largish carvings, over or about A2 size and like to be able to do very fine detail as well as the normal deep cuts/definitions. I don't do painting (like any thing electricity I avoid it like the wind) but like high definition such as pushing leather up from back, etc etc - something like below; My link My link Any help will be rewarded with a broad smile and a hearty slap on the back. Cheers Paul

when it comes to dying rawhide I have had some experiance, but more to dyeing the whole hide or strings - because of rawhide characteristics I tended to use natural dyes which I soaked into the rawhide for differing periods of time, I guess treating it like leather in some way - as for creating patterns I do remember the authgor of this book - Deerskins Into Buckskins - mentioning ways to use natural dyes on buckskin - afraid thats all I know but I guess rawhide will soak up a water based paint - maybe thats worth trying one of the thick acrylic types. sorry

In referance to the patterns by ron, the first sheath on this thread - http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=33393 - is made from this knot - it does produce a hole at the narrow end but as long as the knots longer then the blade it works fine - wish I could give dimensions but probably gave it away ages ago. The patrons and whip braiders of the australian whipmakers association seem to be the best at coming up with great knots and solution for covering round objects etc - apart fro ron look out for a guy called bedford belford, he's a genious.

attached a few photos which might help show the possibilities - made the knives as well; A small dirk knife - used a small extended pinapple for the sheath leaving the both ends open slightly - but is long enough to hide point. Another small knife, this time I made two long flat braids - one for back and strap and another wider one for the front, sewing them together. A viking knife - braided one flat braid adding strings to make it slowly wider, then doubled over and sewed edges together.

Not had to repair any saddles for awhile it was a shock come pleasent surprise for advise from a friend. Must admit uptil seeing this saddle I had not even handles a treeless saddle and the problem they had intrigued me and as with most repairs, I ended up taking the offending piece off to find the cause of the problem. I idea of treeless to me before this was like a native american saddle of basically two blankets sewn together with the straps running through them, but this stock saddle had a fork like on a wester saddle made out of moulded hollow fibreglas and a high seat made out of the same stuff I presume. Anyway onto the problem - they were complaining that there was a loud squeaking noise being made around the fork area when ridden which spooked the horse - initially I thought it could be from friction of the leather and had thought that the fork mould was solid, but obviuosly found it hollow and had cracked along from constant movement I presume (the thickness of the fibreglas where cracked was only 2mm). My method to treat this, and perhaps not the best so any better ideas would be welcome for future use - afixed temporay straps around the fork (to help prevent the two pieces coming apart) then drilled hole on the underside on half way mark and filled with glue (construction type from tubes)waited a few days for it to set, then filled either side of the fork with expanding foam to fill up empty space, then lined outside with strips of fibreglas tape to help hopfully prevent it from cracking again. It has seemed to work but I wonder if it was worth it and that in the end it may crack again after a few hours of use - time will tell I guess. cheers troy.

I like it, must admit I also had a bit of a play with making sheaths out of pineapples etc, did''nt go down well here in the UK but it was fun trying two different flat braids sewn together to long knots and even adding straps - I found doing things like this helps you figger out the complexities of knots as well. cheers for showing

well learn something new every day - uptil now I thought rawhide from all hides stretched like deer - as it was the only readily avaliable from my parts its all I have used apart from a couple of cows for ropes but even they stretched slightly (due I think mostly to being coreless). So ye, I guess it does stretch and I tried to over come this as best I could by allowing it to dry quite a bit until it was a sort semi cardboard consistancy before tightening a braid such as below; but as can be seem from this; the stretch factor does deteriate the whole effect slightly. Usually I use or did use rawhide for its strink characteristics once tied and I do tend to tie my knot tight altho I did find that dyeing the hide with veg dyes like black oak did slightly stiffen the hide as a whole up a bit - I used to treat my hides like buckskin as well by soaking it in a kind of brain mixture and hand stretching for a bit but this was only to create a softer appearance and obviously made the stretch problem worse by loosing up the fibres even more. In the end black hammer, like you I had a ready supply of the hides and it cost alot less to make my own then buy. Of course if you freese the hide when de-haired and still wet, then de-frosed and stretch, this did tend to stiffen it a bit - Refs de-hairing, after about my third hide I used ash from my fire in a big waste bin (instead of the chemicals which were not avaliable near to me)and soak the hides in that for about a week or less in hot weather (not a often occurance here)stirring around about twice a day to ensure all the hide got covered - found the neck hair the worse to remove where the skin is thickest and sometimes I would cut this off rather then wait a few more days when the hide might of gone off (your know by the smell - its terrible). Another thing that might help with keeping with inproving the stiffness of deer rawhide is to leave the thin whitish layer of skin on on the hair side - usually this is kept on for making buckskin which gives it that textured appearance - I have never tried it but it might help. so are you all telling me that horse hide does not strink even when damp?

just listed other stuff on ebay - here including the Craftool Professional Leather Splitter, assorted buckles, western saddle spares, pieces of leather/pelt/snake skin and rawhide lace. cheers

Had my usual xmas clear out and some of the item include the rawhide (which can be found here on ebay) - plus a few odd lengths of rawhide lace, a Craftool Professional Leather Splitter and assorted hardware which I will be listing on ebay tomorrow. If there is any climbers amongst you - I have also listed some ropes and harnesses. cheers Paul

been creating again. This time using para cord to create some patterns on a latigo quiver and some odd pieces of buffalo horn on a veg tan quiver.

Finished just in time for xmas but to late to deliver (2 feet of snow, cold outside, warm in). This is another of my walking staff projects involving only 36 strands braiding in a series of celtic knots, a thistle and the word 'scotland' (could be any word but its short, sweet and smack bang in the area I'm in). Previous projects have been on broom sticks but did have a problem with attaching the ends secure enough so that they did not ride up or down. This time I have used a nice piece of chestnut and used various knots to secure the bottom by first wrapping around the stick a few of the fid work loose ends, tightening with tape and using the remainder of the string for contionious knot. On later sticks I plan to incorporate a scew top for camera's but for now I just again wrapped some of the fid around the top, taped and placed a 4 strand heel on top ensuring that to leave a gap on the top for the compass. The strap I made from a knot found in ashley (523 and 528). The para cord I used is similar to that used for whips except this is only 3 to 3.2mm wide with 7 strand inner which can be taken out (as I did for the fid work) or left in (as I did for the strap). I get it from here - http://www.fivestarcord.co.uk/index.php.Its the best para cord I've managed to find over here in the UK.

I've never used roo for braiding as such, but have used cowhide for many things including whips, but the way I strectch it could be used for roo. In the end all hides have uneven thicknesses and density - years of experiance may allow for easy referance to where to cut wider or narrower to allow for this but if your like me, your inpatient, and hopless at remembering where to cut wider etc - thus why I do the following (creates some waste but hay) generally all the lace I use (for whips, reins, bridles, knots edging etc)I stretch by first cutting the lace to a width wider then needed, (start at perhaps 3mm wider then reduce as you get to know the hides your using) then I pull it while evening the thickness, then I bevel one side which stretches it more, cut again to the final width needed, then bevel other side and then your ready. I generally use a hide per a certain width of lace needed, i.e I buy double shoulders using one for say 5mm lace, (making the initial lace to 7mm wide)and another hide for 3mm lace,(cutting the initial lace to 5mm) that way I found the waste is miminal. try to cut the initial lace to a whidth 2mm wider then needed as I found if you cut it too narrow, after all the stretching it may only be slightly wider then you need which makes the last cut differcult and could produce uneven edges. Lastly I found that after getting the lace ready, dyeing it tends to strengthen the lace (tandy dye) and aussie conditioner (atho very sticky) is very handie at making the dye stay and lubricating the lace. Please note that this stretch method works well on veg tan cowhide, could use it for rawhide but you have to keep in mind the moisture content (too much and it will stretch alot, to little and won't stretch enough) as referance in the few years I've played with rawhide I think I only got the moisture right once! As for roo, it is very thin but denser then cowhide so you could use it for that I guess.

cheers for the comms Glad you liked the knife lilpep, the design came from an idea for a gurhka type style after some recent fund raising but in general the whole thing was just made so I could try out the handle and sheath idea's - the metal is only 3mm diameter and not the usual 5 - 6mm I use so the edge detail is not as good as it could be. I used my angle grinder to cut out the shape - something I thought I might not of been able to do especially around the concave parts so that saves a fortune on specilalised equipement for future try outs. Paul

finally found a use for the new fid knothead gave me ......ages ago it seems. been playing again with rope metal and rawhide (altho leather could also be used)and made a sort of knife; as you can see below the braid or rope work is just continous crowns with a few diamond knots, a 10 x star knot and finished with a scobie hitch (rons name) - did try a variety of reversed crowns etc to add some zest plus to try and evenm up the braid to keep in with the curve of the handle. piccy of whole knife piccy of knife in sheath I hate sewing, despise it with red hot hate - thus keep trying to come up with ways to not do it - hence this sheath; Have used rawhide but leather could be used as well, managed to cut the pattern from one piece of rawhide including the short lace bit for the lacing with (obvious duh!!!!!), for the belt loop I just cut as shown and thread it in. sooo, whats the census - weird, stupid or kinda onto a very clever thing here!!! Paul

Just got started with the training in the form of longer walks with the dog - but managed a stroll into the cairngorms the other day without getting rained on to loch einich which sounds german to me. heres a panoramic I took of my lunch time stop; This photo is not to far from where I plan the charity walk but involves alot more of a climb - little trips like this one are hopfully gonna help get the old legs used to high ascents again. Oh and have had the old leather tools out to finally finish off another project;

Hi All 20 years ago I served in germany - 20 years on and family members are now serving in Afganistan and having a much more hectic time of it then I did - So I've decided to help in the only way I can (seeing as I'm too old now to serve) and do some charity work. If you can donate towards my little walk it will be very apprechiated by many - further details about it are on the webpage linked below along with a means to donate online. http://www.justgiving.com/Paul-Carpenter cheers for any help. Paul

Do love this sort of braiding especially those rings you included - they are not easy but the look they give is well worth it. good job - wish I was near enough to do some work with knothead. Paul

Just an update - have just changed my website (www.mtn-m.co.uk) to suit this new venture I'm getting into. Plus don't wanna step on any ones delicate feet here - but as I'm a student any 'live' job is better then just stuff I made for college etc - so no charge for most things except if you wanted a whole web-site or brochure done. cheers

Hi all Have been doodling with leather for 5 years, Corel/Adobe software since their conception and with cameras since I was young!!! If anybody needs patterns, emblems, logos, stationary, typographical work or even web layouts planned and designed that is something I could sort out for you - please drop me a line with any questions - paul@mtn-m.co.uk. Have been a part of this forum for a while now and have written a few tutorials - see more of my leather designs here -www.mtn-m.co.uk. some recent and past computer designs are below; layout design in photoshop for a leather carving page using asortment of png's and jpegs along with div's to create a page with a differance. Used names of 30 horse breeds in different fonts and types to re-create this horse picture, even the shades and head outlines are in words. Made this a few years back for a local bikers club to make a stamp from. This is a brochure I made for my old bussiness. A few logo design ideas for a local place. Hope to hear from you soon Paul

Cheers Dickf Well it could be I'm chewing more then I should at again - I use PS,Ai and ID alot as it is for graphic stuff and seeing as DW came with the package I thought I'd try it instead of the netobjects I've used in the past. Admitingly there is alot more code word involved which even I have understood thus far but must admit the code you showed me could very well be klingon? Will see when the time comes if I'll do my own or cheat and use the template my web-host provides. cheers again Troy

Hi All First off hope everybody had a great xmas and all the best for the new year. As resolutions go making a new website ain't exactly great but I've hit a snag - got most of the graphics I need and how to make them into a page in dreamweaver sorted out but for the life of me (and a lack of understanding code at all)I don't know which action or server-side script I need to process the data entered into my form and hopfully send to me via email. I know this is very technical stuff but in the past folks from here have solved other problems in a language even I can understand so am hoping some one knows. It really is'nt an emergency to have a form on the site but some one told me that it enables those poeple who use external email to send a message to me (i.e don't write emails with outlook express etc but use AOL or something) Cheers for any help Paul

Hi Luthiel First time I made armour for my youngest he was about 7 years old (photo below shows another set made for my 9 year old) I used 3-4mm tooling leather for them and hardened it slightly with beeswax altho for a 5 year old just wetting it and letting it dry will stiffen it enough probably - your notice I went for the plain chest pieces made popular at the time by the film troy - scale armour would mean adding alot more weight to the whole thing so using thinner tooling leather might help. rather then using the method descibed in my tutorial - http://blog.mtn-m.co.uk/__oneclick_uploads/2009/11/leather-armour_l.pdf - it might be better if you use an old t-shirt of his (which would be better it slightly too big for him)to get a pattern from. Hope this advise helps Paul

just had an email from a beginner and has asked if I had any info on braiding 2 x 4 round strands into one 8 round strands (to create a loop) - same old problem, I did have a drawing/pdf somewhere but can't find it now - has any body got something or know of a previous thread that deals with this? cheers for any help plus hope every body had a great xmas and have a great new year. Paul

Like most creations worth creating, months of morning sickness and pains finally paid off to produce the next age of fids!!!!! Today may have started just like any other - half dased zombie like behaviour until the first coffee, dragged around the field by the dog and those little darlings of ours playing their favourite game 'no I won't get up' then the tiny but rough sound of footsteps aproached our door producing a package full of promise of things to come. Thanks has to go to brian kidd for all his hard work and generosity, I just hung around and drank beer - it sure is a beauty and I can only hope my braiding is up to the challenge of matching its grace. The next photo is me playing around with adobe illustrator, just part of the other type of things I do - its a portrait of me and the wife done completly with just words!! Cheers again brian and will post again once I use it.