dhaverstick

I made my good friend, Brian Peterson, a lock cover a couple of weeks ago and he asked me if I could make him a gun sling to go with it. This is for his elk hunt in mid-September and I just can't say no to my buddy! Below is the finished product. This sling is made from thin oil-tanned cowhide that I doubled up and then laced with deer hide. Everything was sewn by hand using artificial sinew. I made it in two pieces so he could adjust the length if needed and I wanted to used something unique to hold the two pieces together. At first I tried buttons carved out of deer antler but I could see that the stress would be too high at the button sew-on point and the thread would fail eventually. So I thought for a while and came up with antler hooks instead. The stress would be more evenly distributed and the connection between the two pieces would be better. Brian was happy with his sling and he said it fit very nicely. Can't wait to eat some fresh elk meat now! Darren

Thanks! Here's another one I just finished for a friend of mine. This one is elephant hide backed with vegetable-tanned cowhide and trimmed in deer.

I made these for a couple of guys I met on the traditional archery forum, TradGang. Both are made from ostrich leg skin and backed with vegetable-tanned cowhide. The trim is deer hide and I carved the lace hooks from deer antler and then stained them with aniline dye. Everything was sewn by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

A friend of mine asked me to make him a cow's knee (lock cover) for his percussion cap rifle. I am an engineer by trade so I used some 3D modeling software at my disposal to come up with a design. But before I made his, I thought I had better try out the design on one of my flintlock guns. Below is the 3D model I made for my lock cover. My wife always says that the computer model looks better than the finished product. You just can't please some people! Here is the finished product. I don't think it looks too bad and it does what it is supposed to do, keep my lock dry. After proving out the design, I made my friend, Brian, his lock cover. I was amazed that it actually fit as well as it did considering that all the design measurements were taken from some photos he sent me. The strap could have been a little longer but it looks like it's gonna work. The covers were made out of oil-tanned cowhide and trimmed with deer. I carved the buttons out of deer antler and everything was sewn by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

Here are a couple of arm guards I finished that will be part of the can raffles next weekend at the United Bowhunters of Missouri Rendezvous in Marshall, MO. They are both made from ostrich leg skin and backed with vegetable-tanned cowhide. The trim is deer and the lace hooks were carved from deer antler. I didn't have the colors I wanted in artificial sinew so I sewed everything up with B-50 Dacron bowstring material. Darren

I can see the armguard photo in the post with both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Does everyone else see it?

The Conservation Federation of Missouri has their annual fundraiser auction this weekend and I made this armguard for them to hopefully make some money with. The armguard is made from a polished stingray hide and is backed with vegetable-tanned cow hide. The trim is deer hide and I carved the lace hooks from deer antler. Everything was sewn by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

Thanks, Bibo! It didn't bring as much money in the auction as I had hoped but that's the way it goes sometimes. A friend of mine bought the custom vest I was offering but he bought it with the stipulation that I throw in a leather loincloth. I will have fun with THAT project! I see black and hot pink leather in his near future. Darren

Sjohnsone, those "eyelets" are lace hooks I carved out of pieces of deer antler that I got from my farm. I see that you are a banjo picker; 5-string or 4? My brother picks. He's got a nice Gibson with an Odes pot. That thing will ring! Darren

Here are some photos of three archery arm guards I just finished. The first two will be given as gifts to two speakers at the upcoming United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival. They are made from cane toad skins, backed with vegetable tanned cowhide and trimmed with deer hide. I carved the antler hooks out of deer antler and hand-sewed everything with artificial sinew. I donated this full-length arm guard to be an item in the live auction at the UBM Festival. It is made from ostrich leg skins, backed with vegetable tanned cowhide and trimmed with lambskin. The lace hooks are carved from deer antler. Darren

I finished this full-length armguard a couple of days ago. It is cowhide backed with ostrich leg overlays. The trim is lambskin and I carved the lace hooks from deer antler. Everything was sewn by hand with artificial sinew. It will be an item in the live auction at the 2014 United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival. Lots of good stuff this year; 2 bear hunts, 2 bowfishing trips and a bunch of bows. Come join us the weekend of February 7th-9th at the Country Club Hotel and Spa in Lake Ozark, MO! Darren

These are some photos of a leather vest I just finished for the 2014 United Bowhunters of Missouri auction happening this February. It is made from 4 oz buffalo leather, trimmed in deer and lined with fleece. The logo on the back is a collection of leathers; deer, shark, ostrich and embossed cowhide. Everything was sewn by hand using artificial sinew. The size is 44R. To keep the smaller and bigger people from feeling left out, I donated a second vest that will be made to the winner's specifications and my limited artistic ability. Darren

My nephew, Caleb, loves knives so for his 14th birthday my dad made him this Bowie. For my contribution to the present, I made the sheath for it. As you can see, the blade is quite long, (about 10") so I made the sheath as a cross-draw model so it wouldn't get in the way. The core of the rig is some old veg-tanned leather I had laying around. I wrapped the sheath in caiman to make it pretty and then wrapped the belt loop in ostrich. The whole thing is trimmed with lambskin and sewn by hand. The blank the knife is made from is out of some old tool steel Dad had laying around from his tool-and-die days in the '60s. He did the tempering on the forge his grandpa built and the antler handle came from one of the bucks killed on our farm. I gave Caleb his present last Saturday and the boy was speechless. I can't wait to see him put it to use this fall on a home-grown whitetail! Darren

Yeah, it comes in whatever colors they have scraps of. Usually it is black, various shades of brown, oxblood, etc. They have a bunch of undyed pieces you can buy for $5-$15 each. Most of them are rectangular in shape and are 4-8 oz in weight. Then they have the bargain-bin bags of dyed scrap where most of the pieces are irregular in shape. The bags go for $5-$10. You can pretty much see what's in them so you're not completely buying a pig in a poke. You just have to be good at guessing whether the pieces in the bag are going to be big enough for whatever you are making. I am very fortunate to have a store like that in my vicinity. I can pick and choose what I want and they have some good in-store deals going on from time to time. We also have a Tandy store in town but they are a lot more expensive and I don't think the quality of their leather is as good either. Here are some more photos of other armguards I have made from exotics. Two are out of caiman and one is ostrich.

I don't do anything about sealing the dye. The veg-tanned cowhide I use are scrap pieces I pick up at Springfield Leather. They will put a bunch of pieces in a bag and sell the bag for under $10. I can usually get 3 or 4 armguards out of a bag. I don't care what color they are since it doesn't really show. All I care about is the stiffness of the leather. The main reason I keep my price low is because you know how "frugal" the traditional archery crowd can be. They'll drop $400 on a Lone Wolf climber without a second thought but $100 for a custom-made armguard? No way!

If it's something that someone is going to wear, I always put the flesh side of the leather towards the skin. That's just how I was taught to do it and I think it's more comfortable that way. I'm glad you like the armguards, MTH! I've sold a couple of the regular sized ones like the stingray item for $60 a piece. Yeah, I know I'm pretty much giving them away considering the cost of exotics and the time it takes me to carve the lace hooks but I do it more for fun than anything else. If had wanted to make money with a hobby I would have taken up pole dancing;)

MTH, I don't have a picture of the underside of that particular armguard but this is one I made a month or so ago. While the shape and size are different, the underside looks pretty much the same as the full-length armguard in this post. I hope this helps! Darren

I finished this full-length armguard last week; just in time for Missouri's archery season. I will use it when I wear my ghillie suit. Now if it will just cool off enough to put them both on! The body of the armguard is made from Honduran caiman and backed with vegetable-tanned cowhide. The trim is lambskin and I carved the lace hooks from deer antler. The whole thing was sewn up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

This is a pair of moccasins I just finished for a friend of mine, Lester McCoy. Lester is a member of the Miami Indian tribe and has been after me for a couple of years to make him a pair so he can wear them to dance in the powwows he attends. Lester is also a knife maker by trade and said he would trade me some of his wares for some of mine. Since I have more knives than I can use, I declined his offer but he kept after me until I said, “Lester, I’ll just make you a pair and you can give me whatever you think they’re worth after you get them”. He hasn’t even received them yet and I’ve already gotten two handmade knives in the mail. Lester wanted them flashy so I made this pair pretty colorful. My wonderful wife, Leah, insisted that they needed beadwork on them and did that job all by her lonesome. I have to admit, the beads really do add something to the finished product. I’m just glad it wasn’t me sewing the little dudes on! The body of the moccasins is 8 oz buffalo leather. The trim, lacing and fringe are deer leather and the heel and toe caps are Honduran caiman. The lace eyelets are deer antler. Everything was sewn together by hand using artificial sinew. Besides the satisfaction of making something for a friend, I also received an invitation to bow hunt on Lester’s farm in Kansas. That, to me, is payment enough. Maybe this fall I’ll have some different pictures to share involving me, Lester, and some meat for the freezer. Darren

I purchased some buffalo leather from them once for a purse and ended up sending it back. It was not as flexible as I was used to; not their fault, just my preference. They were easy to deal with for my return. I buy the vast majority of my buffalo leather from The Hide House in California. Their chrome-tanned stuff is top quality. I get their 8 oz leather for moccasins and 4 oz for bags and such. Another good source for buffalo leather is Rocky Mountain Tanners. They have a great EBay store where you can see the exact hide you are buying.

Thanks, Karina! I probably enjoy making moccasins the most but I always worry about getting them to fit well. I ask the folks I make them for to give me a whole boatload of measurements but you never know until they try them on for the first time.

Hello, my name is Darren Haverstick and I stumbled across this site while searching for suppliers of exotic leather remnants. This looked like a great place to learn about all things concerning leather so I figured I'd better join up and start soaking up some of that knowledge. I started hand-sewing leather a few years ago after I took up traditional muzzleloader hunting and wanted to make myself some buckskins. Now I'm ate up with the "hobby" and spend most of my spare time planning out or sewing up a new project. I've made some new friends all over the globe who took the time to answer my newbie questions and I hope to make some more here. Below is a link to a photo gallery of some of the things I've made. I hope you like at least one of them! http://s137.photobuc...y/Leather Goods