karlpv

I was impressed with the thought and care into getting the core just right for flex and function. Bucksnort - the foothills.

Came across a recent video on bosal making. Well done and superb craftsmanship, IMO!

I have an ancient metal lathe that runs leather belting between countershaft and headstock. I installed a "temporary" replacement belt made from a 1/4" undersized, veg tan belt blank 15 - 20 years ago. It lives in an unconditioned shed, and I've applied neatsfoot oil exactly once ten or more years ago. Point being I don't think you have any worries within reason. Plan for lots of stretching when you size them, and the more sheave contact the better with regards to belt slippage. One of these days I'll install the correct latigo strap I purchased ....

You have a Stanley-pattern bench plane blade there. The grinding marks on the bevel won't hurt a thing, as long as they're away from the edge, and some would argue that. A bandsaw won't get to first base cutting on it, as the hardness of the saw blade will be less, or about equal to, the plane blade. Much over boiling water temps in grinding, and there will be a danger in drawing the temper from the blade (softening). There used to be a Remington-branded hacksaw type blade available at Wally with the cutting edge comprised of carbide grit. I used one to take a 1/2" slice off the width of an axe head once, so if you're determined ...

Springfield has a few others in addition to holster clips. I ended up with a model that runs about 1/2" wide by 2 3/4" long for some case projects a few years back. I like the blued one in your top photo.

Nice job. They look great. I saw him demo those on an episode of the PBS series, The Woodwright. You ought to pose one with a leg on a book. I was impressed with that feature.

I've only used mallets and hammers for the limited stamping I've done, so can't help with dimensions. However, from your drawing, all the components are cylindrical. The volume formula for a cylinder is Pi * (Radius^Squared) * Length. A machining text of mine lists the weights for metals as steel - .283 lbs / cu in; brass - .307 lbs / cu in; 6061 Aluminum - .098 lbs / cu in. In example, if you used 1/4 steel rod 10" long for your center shaft, the weight should be about 2 1/4 oz for that alone. .125" (half of 1/4) squared = .015625. Multiplied by 22/7 (Pi) = .049107. Multiplied by a length of 10" = .49107 cu inches. Multiplied by .283 lbs / cu in for .139 lbs or 2.22 oz. At least if I didn't botch my numbers You would do better to search out a European material supplier, who will most likely publish weight specifications in metric units you're used to. ~M

On my 9" benchtop metal lathe, I'd only attempt a groove up to 1/4" diameter, and then only in brass or aluminum stock. And that would be in back gear, or turning chucked stock by hand, due to the half round form tool likely used. Lots of force involved. An alternative to consider might be roughing the grooves with chainsaw files. They're cheap, and available in a variety of diameters useful as a burnisher. I've had good results polishing grooves with appropriate diameter cord charged with an abrasive. Both would negate the lathe requirement, only needing the burnisher stock to be spun. Note that both potentially dangerous practices! My experience with raw aluminum has been that it's soft, and leaves grey and black metal deposits with minimal handling, if not anodized. But I think hardwood on a metal shaft would be ideal. Woods traditionally used in the textile and weaving industries come to mind: dogwood, maple, pear, apple, ect. Most of these take an excellent polish, and become smoother with use. ~M4324396

Super nice basket stamp. I hope my belt project comes out a fraction that good ...

A new belt project provided an opportunity to experiment with block planes versus a dedicated skiver on the buckle area of the blank. I used a 09 ½ and a 060 model, both equipped with Hock replacement irons. Both have the bevel sharpened to 30 degrees. The 09 ½ frog is made at 20 degrees, and the low-angle 060 is at 12 1/2, for blade cutting angles of 50 and 45 ½ degrees respectively. I started with the blades moderately dull (likely sharp by some casual standards). Neither would pick up a cut much beyond severing some loose fibers. After sharpening both blades to a 6000 Jap grit edge, they would slice a decent shaving the width of the blade. The low angle 060 cut noticeably better than the 20 degree 9 ½. The narrower 1 3/8” width of the low angle blade was a trade-off on the 1 ½” wide belt blank though. Then I broke out a regular skiver. This a cast aluminum or pot metal, pull-type that takes replaceable blades. It functions a lot like a cheese plane. The blade has been in there for some years, and isn’t particularly sharp. It cut better, even in comparison to the sharpened low-angle. Mostly due to the blade angle I would guess. So, IMO, the planes will work OK if you don’t have a better methodology. But skiving tools would be my choice, being designed for the purpose. As some described above, the planes give very precise control of the cut. More care was necessary in controlling the skiver.

I've used one a fair bit with another hobby. They generate a nice low to medium heat, depnding on how your wick is set up. If you burn the rubbing alchahol mentioned above, try and find the 90% type with its lower water conent and better burn. The yellow bottled gasoline additive, Heet, sold in cold country during the winter, can be found cheap at times too. A metal cap for the burner of some sort, is a good addition to snuff the flame and slow evaporation.

Agree with the two responses above. Looks like rosewood. If mine, I would clean with a solvent such as alchohol, followed by a dishwashing detergent scrub, to remove the years of hand grunge. Then protect with lindseed oil, tung oil, and/or wax. McMaster-Carr carries nearly every fastener stll made. Nice looking tool.

Here's a favorite video of a Howard Hill type of backquiver, in concert with an asiatic release, for a rather impressive rate of fire. Looks to be single strap rigging worn fairly high on the shoulders for arrow access. Nice shooting. Archery - Fast Shooting (Murmansk) - YouTube Plus, the archer reminds me of a pretty redhead woman I know : )

11 deg might not hold up straight. Some of the high end kitchen knives are said to be sharpened into the twenties, and known to roll an edge with heavy use. 30 deg is commonly used for plane blades and wood chisels. A nice upgrade for planes is a replacement bade by Hock. They're a bit thicker, harder, and excellent high-carbon steel. Sort of like Barry King verses Tandy from reviews I read. The effective blade angle of a plane can be lowered by holding it askew to the direction of the stroke. Well sharpened and tuned, a good block pane can make sub thousandth thick shavings, at least in wood.

Looks good. My answer to your notch question is "it depends". But here's some math that may help. Lets say your brim is 11" diameter and you roll over 1/4" to cover the wire. The diameter changes by 1/2", which means the circumference is reduced by about 1 1/2" ((Pi x 11") - (Pi x 10 1/2")). So your notches would need to add up to the 1 1/2". If you used equal sided triangles of the 1/4" hem depth for your notches, you'd need about five to make up the 1 1/2". Clear as mud?

Agree with everyone above; very nice. An upgrade from kydex for sure. Thanks too, for button terminology. Was having trouble locating those, and have some sourced now that I know what they're called!

Hi Ross, I've been planning to build some small cases (if I ever get going), and don't care to use a snap closure either. One idea I've had is a stud and kehole, as was used on some older cases. They seem to have gone out of fashion, as I haven't found the hardware in a casual search of suppliers. Here's one used on an old compass case. I think I'd try skipping the keeper loop. They work quite well IME. Edit -forgot to add, this closure works very easily one handed, especially without the keeper loop.

Nicely done. I have a Wheatly that would be perfectly at home in one of those One comment . on your toggle closure system. I always seem to end up with flyline tangled around anything projecting like those.

Troy, Nicely done. The snake wood is beautiful. Probably a typo, but Black Oak and Black Walnut are different woods. Black Oak, a true oak, is a member of the red oak family. You might find the french walnut species tend to have more of the grain contrast you like. If you can find stock, try some olive wood. It turns well, and the smell alone will make it worth it!

"Linen is surprisingly tough. Plenty of old horse tack is still held together very well many years after its production -- and you should see how filthy a lot of it gets before being put away wet. It doesn't rot as easily as some will have you believe, especially when treated with natural antimicrobial substances when waxing; beeswax, pine rosin, tars and whatever else people use all contribute to this, including in repelling water." That's been my experience too. I've gone through a goodly number of boots in work and leisure. In the past, I've had the welt stitching in the arch area give out after a certain number of years, both linen and synthetic. Somewhere along the line, I read the suggestion to coat the stitching with epoxy, and that has proved to be an effecive remedy. I have a pair of 15 year old Whites (non-rebuilt) that will be retired soon. On their website, I see they still list "Irish Linen Thread" as a feature. Too, if conditions are enough to rot stitching, without care, the leather can't be far behind?

Nice job. Did you heat treat and temper then? I ask after having poor luck with an attempt at a lathe tool using 1/16th W1 drill rod.

Really nice. Perfect proportions to my eye. Seems to have a subtle concavity to the taper. Bet the stiching took a bit of time.

How about hitching it, ala Bruce Grant? Thinking of the flat stap headstall he detailed for rigging a hackamore, in his second book.