Historybuff

Very nice work. Did you do the bead work also?

My kind of stuff. I like the hearts on the dark pouch and the lacing and madallion on the light one. Exactly what is the madallion on the modern pouch? It looks like hematite.

These are the kind of items I enjoy looking at.. I've made a half dozen or so pouches, horns, powder measures, etc... over the years and this one looks great. I use the stuff I make because of being a living historian circa 1750-1814. Great stuff.

Check out some of the muzzleloading sites-I recommend Track of the Wolf- and pick up a book called Recreating the 18th Century Hunting Pouch by T.C. Adams. It takes you step by step thru one type of pouch and gives patterns for three more. Gives a list of tools needed, type of leathr, how to stain, etc....

You should see a moon like that shining over the Gulf of Mexico. We live about a mile from the gulf in Florida and a full moon like that seen from a pontoon boat with the porpose playing about is like a little slice of heavan.

You started your rant with one of me and my wifes friends (paraphrase) She's obviously not. Sometimes you can get to know someone you inatially like but later find out way too much about them and wish you had never met them. Happened to me recently.

try some clock repair supply stores or some of the big steel suppliers across the U.S. They sell 'spring' or ribbon steel by the roll.

For the boots. Go to a local sporting goods store that sells fishing tackle and look for 'spider-wire' fishing line. Its sold just like regular fishing line, but its really a kevlar like thread. Use heavy guage stuff. 20-50 lb test. or higher. The messanger bag, I'd use a good waxed linen thread. For the sheath, I'd go with black leather and copper or silver rivets but only if you do not want to cut or stamp designs into the leather. If you use a belt loop, no problem, for a belt clip. Find an old spoon with a pretty design on the handle, Break or cut the handle off then bend into a spring clip shape. Attach to the sheath with small rivets. Theres a thread around here somewhere that shows an eye glass clip made from an old spoon handle. Check out threads by Treereaper. For the blacksmithing. Check out some of the schools or classes across the U.S. I took the begginers class at the JC Campbell Folk School in Brass Town NC. Its a week long and I stayed in the camp ground. Other than that I'm pretty much self tought.

Before buying anything you must ask yourself, am I going to specialize in any particular type of leather work? If so, what? Then you can get into the essential tool thingy. I sepcialize in leather gear from the 1750-1815 time frame in American history specifically frontier life, therefore a swivel knive would be a waste of money for me. Of prime importance to me are needles, type and style and special use. A good knive. I use an old straight razor. I do a lot of riviting, mostly copper so a good pair of heavy duty wire cutters, an appropriate sized monkey tool and a small but heavy ball peen hammer, plus a small steel block are a must.. I do not use any thread that was not available during the time frame indicated, therefore waxed linen, hemp, jute and sinew are basically my only options. Think about what you want to do THEN buy your tools accordingly. BTW I'm also a blacksmith, so I make a lot of my own tools. It has been said that a blacksmith is the only craftsman that will make a tool to help him make another tool.

All my stitch markers and awls are made from either two, three or four pronged forks from the early 19th to early 20th century. I remove the center prong from a three pronged fork and use the fork for a wide stitch spacer and the prong for a sewing awl. Cut the prongs down on a four prong fork and I have a 5 to the inch stitch spacer. For heavy leather I use an awl made from a sharpened copper rod glued into a piece of antler. I make my own leather knives either on my forge or from old straight razors I run across and i have made my own bone needles but must confess I really like the steel ones. I do however have some very old iron needles that I use occasonaly just for grins. I use either hide or fish glue for gluing leather and make my own water proofing/conditioner from beeswax and mineral oil. I have even made my own sinew thread sometimes. My wife and I are both living historians and enjoy the 1750-1814 time frame.

This is the kind of stuff I love. Really great pict and detailed info. I primitive camped in a cold rain and woke up to ice and some damp gear last weekend, and absolutely loved every minute of it.

I've worked with raw hide but never made a maul from it. I suggest piick up a cheap used one at a flea market if possible and use that as an example. I'e also never found a glue that works on anything while its wet.

Nice job Tree Reaper. That would make a great clip for a knife sheath, and since I'm a cheap SOB, I take the spoon portion, flatten it out, put leaf 'veins' in using a hammer and chisel, bend and fold slightly, add some color with heat treating or acid and foila! I now have a leaf I can tack weld to any of my BSing-BSing for the uninitated is BlackSmithing- projects.

I've never had a spoon handle break so far. Of course repeated bending over a short period-minutes-will weaken the metal and eventualy break it. For good spring steel to be used as clips I have used old mechanics feeler guage blades. Heat the piece to a cherry red where you want it bent,bend, let cool. The bent area will be softer than the rest of the piece unless you retemper it. I personally have never bothered to reheat and temper a clip made from these blades and never had one of them break either. 'soft' is relative.

You can get small rosin blocks at music stores, Its what violin users use to 'rosin up the bow'. The clearer the rosin the purer and more expensive. My main problem seems to be the ratio of rosin to bees wax.