ChuckBurrows

River Junction Trade Company carries the solid brass with nickel plating that was the most commonly used in the Old West and are copied from an original (not all were exactly alike anyway) - at this price it would be hard to reproduce your own especially considering they need to be nickel plated to be "right".... http://www.riverjunction.com/catalog/butto...eltbuckles.html They also carry the plain rectangular style which is also very nice and is a good alternative for a change of pace......... FWIW - Tandy's are not solid brass, but rather pot metal (at least the only one I ever tried) Weaver sells the solid brass with nickel plating, but is of course wholesale only. Will G's buckles are very nice and I do like his fancier ones, but FWIW the RJTC clip corners are in fact more historically correct..........

On a lot of the recent posts re: vinegaroon I've seen this about rusting the iron first and I'm curious as to why? While I have used old rusty iron at times, I normally use new iron/steel (mostly scraps from my knifemaking or de-greased steel wool ) and it works just fine - the whole process is after all to have the iron dissolved by the acetic acid in the vinegar to produce ferric acetate - which by the way can be purchased in crystal form from science supply companys, if you don't want to fuss with making the mixture... I don't claim to be an expert, but I have been using this process for staining leather (as well as woods such as curly maple) for 35+ years and have never intentionally pre-rusted the iron???? FWIW - here's an original recipe from 1875: VINEGAR BLACK (aka Vinegaroon) For giving color to the grain of leather there is no blacking that will at all compare with the well known vinegar black. This may be made in various ways. The simplest, and, without doubt, the best, is to procure shavings from an iron turner and cover them with pure cider vinegar; heat up and set aside for a week or two, then heat again and set in a cool place for two weeks; pour off the vinegar, allow it to stand for a few days, and draw off and cork up in bottles. This will keep for a long time, and, while producing a deep black on leather, will not stain the hands. Note no rusting mentioned.......heating speeds the process some what, but is not absolutley necessary....... As for changing the structure of the leather - not exactly - vinegar black is what is technically known as a chemical re-agent - the ferric acetate reacts with the tannins in the leather to produce the black color - in fact washing the leather with a strong black tea or coffe solution will speed/enhance teh blac color - this can be done first or after applying the vinegar black..... And sorry I DO NOT mean this to sound negative at all - the tutorial is otherwise a very good one, but I have been meaning to ask "why"? especially since pre-rusting may possibly be counterproductive since by doing so you have changed the nature of the iron from the blue/black stage to the red/brown stage As always others mileage will vary....... PS - I've got a gunrig I just finished with vinegaroon made from new iron and as soon as I get picks I'll post them.....

No more problem with vinegaroon than with the tannic acid in veg/bark tan when it's used properly and FWIW - I've been using it for 35+ years with no problems. Neutralize with baking or even better washing soda and water, which also helps darken the leather and helps remove the odor, and then rinse thoroughly with clear water. Let air dry until all odor is gone - the acetic acid in vinegar has a VOC rating and once the odor is gone so is the acid.......

1) Because it's traditional and some of us prefer that - plus when making exacting repros ANY synthetics are a no no for the customer base which can be quite lucrative..... 2) Handwax locks the linen and/or hemp threads tightly - it is NOT used to lubricate per se - it also strengthens the thread 3) The pitch is antibacterial/anti-fungal and especially for shoes that is important when using natural threads....... It's not a difficult or time consuming process - I make my own and in less than 1/2 an hour can make up a couple of years worth......... finally different strokes...........

You can either pre-dye or in my case I reduce the dye until it's concentrated (with coffee leave the grounds in) and apply like any other dye with no long soak..... They are lined with full grain buckskin so no flesh side and yes I did seal with Tan Kote........

Yep that's it - I've got the second edition........that looks like the first edition......

VERY nice piece of history - And yes those loops are for a rifle cartridge - most likely for his 30-30 Win..... The book "Guns and the Gunfighters" by the Editors of Guns and Ammo, published by Bonanza Books 1982, has a good chapter on Heck - it's out of print, but interlibrary loan should find a copy... If very dry my suggestion is to clean well with a PH balanced saddle soap and then add a LIGHT coat or two of conditioner - my favorite is Lexol

FWIW - I polish/strop utility blades that same as I do any other blades......

Jeff - Thad Rybka's advice to folks who didn't want wear on their gun - "Leave it in the box!" Always thought that hit the proverbial nail on the head........

Nice job Karl and Firefly/Serenity is an all time favorite - heck where else do you get to see a "98 pound girl" whoop butt on a whole saloon full of goons and beat up Jayne in the process......BTW - there are some fairly strong rumors of a Serenity 2 so anyone interested let Joss Whedon know........and I'm 56 - way out of the demographic although I've been a sc-fi geek since the early 60's, reading Stranger in a Strange Land at age 9 twists ones brain a bit and for tasha - I've been an on and off SCAdian since 1969.......mostly off now though - back to my first love the frontier west...... That strap and the overall look/feel of the holster is IMO a nod to the fast draw rigs of the late 1950's and early 1960's worn so often in the western's of the time such as Gunsmoke- a good bunch of those rigs were made by the famed holster maker Arvo Ojala (who Matt Dillon shoots in the opening credits of Gunsmoke)..... BTW - Karl did you get my email re: the trip??? if not I'll PM you......

Yes an interesting conversation but a couple of observations if I may. 1) Yes round/head knives were purpose designed for cutting leather, but are mainly traditional to saddlery and harness making and are much older than 100 years or so. They were and are seldom used in other leather trades such as luggage making, bag making, shoe making, and book binding. In these latter trades the traditional knives are more often straight knives or clicker knives - both blades being not much difference in thickness from the modern utility knife and in the case of the clicker knife the blades are much narrower so possibility of breakage is higher than with good utility blades So while head/round knives are traditional they are not the only traditional leather knives and are mainly traditional as noted for saddlery/harness where one encounters thicker leather frequently and they do shine for that purpose in particular, but whether they are the best for all usages depends on the user and materials as much as the tool. FWIW - I'm pretty much a dyed in the wool traditionalist and have been studying leather craft, mostly historic from medieval times to the 19th century for 48 years (as a pro since about 1970), and often what we consider traditional tooling is in fact fairly modern in the grand scheme. 2) Safety - yes utility knife makers cover their back sides with safety warnings, but that's more due to the possibility of litigation in today's society rather than some massive number of accidents. It makes me laugh/cry when I see some of the safety warnings put on products these days. Good quality utility blades (I like Persona brand) are as safe as can be and yes there is always the possibility that they can break, but frankly the thought of an amateur leather crafter using a head/round knife without proper hands on training is much scarier - they are not a tool for the uninitiated, the possibility for a serious accident is much higher in my opinion and yes I used then for many years, but due to various circumstances I now prefer other knives, including utility knives, even though I have been a pro knifemaker since the 1970's and can and have made my own leather knives of various types. Also one should consider the numbers of utility blades users in all trades as compared to the use of head knives - I'm willing to bet that it's thousand to one - there are a fair number of leather crafters using head/round knives, but the numbers are small compared to the number of people every day using utility knives and often using them for much tougher jobs than cutting leather - cutting sheet rock and carpet are two off the top of my head. So yes having a utility blade break should be a safety concern, but frankly in some 35+ years using utility knives for working leather as well as in construction I've only seriously broken a couple of blades, more often just the tip breaks off when cutting a tight corner. So IMO the idea that they are some how more unsafe than a head/round knife doesn't compute........ Steve - with respect this is the part that caused some hackles to raise - the implication being that you're not a quality maker unless one uses the tools that you deem as proper - an opinion "colored" IMO by you being a saddle maker using the tools traditional to that trade, which as I noted are far from being the only traditional leather working tools.......and perhaps not so oddly any time the use of a head/round knife comes up in these discussion it is almost invariably saddle/harness makers who tout their sterling qualities as being the "best". FWIW - Technically or semantically anyway a razor knife or box cutter isn't the same thing as a utility knife. I do agree with the latter part of your statement, but what is the right tool can depend on the user as well as the end use .....for instance there was a gent back in the 1930-40's, whose name escapes me, who did some of the most fantastic leather carving ever done - his carving knife - a sharpened screw driver (oddly a tool whose blade shape was not too dissimilar to the knives used for carving prior to the introduction of the swivel knife in the early 20th Century). One of my earliest teachers in the craft refused to use a mallet for tooling, he used only the to him traditional dapping stick - something I never could get the hang of. These tools worked for them and isn't that's what counts? As you stated use IMO everyone should try various tools and find what works best for them - there is no single best way to do anything and after studying old tools for years it's amazing how many variations and individualized tools there are so I reckon I'm not the only one that sees things that way....... Back to the subject: As to cutting fringe - again there's more than one way, but here's how I mostly do it ... In my work, which these days is most often 19th Century Indian style, which uses soft leathers such as elk or deer (mostly braintan or chamois) and is quite often 24-30" long or longer, I dampen and pre-stretch the hides for fringe and leave hang for a couple of days in the sun - if need be I re-stretch. This helps immensely and does no damage. I then use good sharp industrial scissors, but I DO NOT saw my way through (no blisters!)- rather I start the cut and slide/glide the shears through the leather - with practice it's easy to cut even very fine fringe. No it's no 100% perfect, but then nothing I do anyway is - only the "Great Spirit" is perfect... The other option I use when cutting shorter lengths is similar to Luke - I dampen the backside so it "sticks" to the surface of the cutting board ( I use those one of those self-healing boards fro fringe). Then dampen the face so that the straight edge (I use a 1" wide galvanized metal strip) will "stick" and then cut with a sharp knife (your choice of course!). In both cases I keep a strop handy and continually strop my cutting instrument...... as always - other mileage WILL vary.........

Thanks for the link and all three of those ingredients are avalable from natural dye resources such as www.aurorasilk.com - they come from South/Central American trees......

Josh - a couple of questions... 1) type and style of knives you're interested in 2) forging or stock reduction or both 3) Where at in Utah? With those answers we can pinpoint your needs/desires better and direct you to resoruces fitting those needs/desire - also IIRC there are a couple of makers in Utah and western Colorado......

www.hideandfur.com

For what it's worth - both styles have been made for centuries (despite some folks idea of "common" knowledge - not pointing fingers...) - side seam pouches go back to at least the early Saxon period, often with a metal cap along the blade edge side........historic American patterns often used rivets along the edge rather than sewing and a welt......

Any of the standard sealers (Neatlac, Tan Kote, Satin Shene, etc.) work just fine.......

You answered you're own question - it was historically done both ways - no single right way........ FWIW - my answer is based on inspecting several thousand original pieces as well as several thousand more images........

You're welcome Karl and if you have any questions you can email me chuck@wrtcleather.com or PM me here - it might take a few days to get an answer but I do answer all questions as quickly as possible.....glad you liked it and I wish it was as easy as make it look!

For the history of early eastern US leather work (stylistically different than the Spanish influnced work here in the west) contact Jay Howlett at Colonial Williamsburg - he's a great guy and I'm sure could offer some info. Anotehr gent to contact that may be of help is Steve Lalioff - he has a website. While the Moors and later Spaniards had an effect on all of western European leather work, Northern European work has it's own separate background - the books by John Waterer on the history of leather work are also a good resource if one can find them - interlibrary loan is your best bet on them.

check out www.nativetech.org - they will give you info on the three basic methods of beadwork: loom, applique stitch, and lane stitch. Doing the design you plan the only two methods to use would be the loom or applique stitch. That design is going to be complicated to do in beads so I suggest the loom for a complete beginner since you will need to use quite small beads in order to get any real definition. It can be done with the applique but would be a bigger learning curve. Books and supplies are available from www.crazycrow.com - Along with the website I strongly suggest getting a couple of how-to books or videos Good luck and wish I could offer more info - I've been beading for about half a century now and it can be addicting.....

I'm on the run so only have a moment - 1) My sequence does not have to be specific per se - adapt as needed 2) Ray can you post a pic of the fittings by chance - while some fittings look to be all of one piece many were "squeezed" shut after attaching although they look as if of one piece. 3) Part of my info come from a bit later period - how bayonet scabbards were made in the late 18th/early 19th centuries, but researching backwards there were enough hints to show it was the same basic procedures from about the late 15th century on (most medieval period and earlier scabbards were leather covered wood). With bayonet scabbards they were formed over metal........ This is a distinct possibility and may in fact be that they used so-called half-tanned leather which in and of itself dries hard without "boiling". more later got to run........

Another option (for other folks) is to make your own - actually quite easy - here's a how-to I wrote up for making a simple pony - a horse is a bit more complicated and there is a pattern for one in Stohlman's book "The Art of Hand Stitching Leather" http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/tutorials/_stitchpony.html

Ray - I'll add more later but a few things........ 1) First clear you're mind of the mis-conception ( a widely held one) that folks 200 years ago were not technical - large scale factories of all types including weapons factories were in place as early as the middle ages. Water power and later steam power (mid-1700's) were in use. Take a look at some of the old engravings/woodcuts and you can see how technology was used. 2) re: cuir bouilli - http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Carlson/leather/hl.html one of the best examinations on line - note that boiling is not necessarily needed or wished for - leather polymerizes (basically turns into a form of hide glue) at around 160° F - the article gives more specific info - once hard PROPERLY made cuir bouilli is virtually unable to be softened since as noted it polymerizes and is this changed at the molecular level 3) re varnish: yes they had varnish it goes a long ways back - there were two types, linseed oil based and spirit based - for more see the history of violin varnishes 4) I have both repaired originals and made several period sheaths and will explain more later - got things going in the shop right now - basic procedure was to sew while cased over a form (no pounding flat) , dry at the proper heat to harden, finish, apply fittings......... hope this helps........

Check with Moscow Hide and Fur & Eidnes Fur - both are in north, Idaho, and both have a website........

For cutting when dry - try tin snips.......