Sheilajeanne

One summer, I was working as an outdoor education teacher in a park in downtown Toronto where there had been a number of rapes. One woman had died. When I finished my teaching for the day, I had to walk through the park, alone, on my way to another school where I was studying to get my French as a Second Language teaching certificate. Needless to say, I was not very comfortable doing this. I had an old WWII gas mask bag that I used as my carryall when teaching. I also had a hunting knife with a wooden handle, and a 6 1/2 inch blade. The handle made it look like maybe it was something other than a knife. It could have passed for a gardening tool. It fitted nicely in a leather sheath, and was mostly hidden inside a pocket in the bag. I probably would have been in trouble with the cops if they had ever stopped me, but they never did. It was one of the very few times in my life where I'd felt the need to carry a weapon.

Before our ancestors figured out how to knap flint, they made spears out of sharpened sticks that had been hardened in a fire. That looks like a pretty useful weapon you made her, and no one's going to complain about her carrying it!

There's still a few good ones out there!

I found that wetting the leather before dyeing would help in getting a more even coat. Before I found that out, here's what the FIRST coat looked like! The finished product looked a LOT better...

The casing has to be just right. Too dry, and the figure won't have good definition, and your cuts won't be deep enough. Too wet, and the cuts will tend to close up. It takes practice to get it just right.

I got a large number of stamps at a pawn shop a couple of years ago. When I finished sorting them out, I found I had a number of duplicates, plus some I knew I'd never use (some picture stamps). I listed them on the board here by number and manufacturer, and said I'd sell them at X dollars individually or X dollars for the lot. There were no pictures - if you wanted to know what a stamp looked like, you had to look up the number on Tandy. Most of the stamps WERE Tandy, and those that weren't were Tandy clones, so I could say 'looks like Tandy stamp number xxx.' Someone on the board bought the whole lot. Actually, I had a couple of offers, as I'd priced them quite cheaply, just wanting to get back what I'd paid at the pawn shop. https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/85348-stamps-for-sale/?tab=comments#comment-578870

Garyak, then you're going to have to get Bear Naked: https://www.bearnakedwonders.com/pages/store-locations They have several suppliers in the States.

Drumhack, do you have Microsoft Paint on your computer? If so, it's dead simple to resize your photos! Open it in Paint. Select "resize" from the menu at the top. Select 'pixels' and choose a size somewhere between 500 and 800. You only have to enter the one dimension - the other will resize automatically to keep the picture in proportion. Looking forward to seeing if we can figure out what went wrong!

Chuck, I think its worth is in its history with the family. Doubt he'll part with it. It really doesn't look in bad shape, but yeah, any rigging would need replacement if it was going to be used. I used to hang out with a member of Canada's Governor Generals Horse Guards Calvary Squadron. He told me his newest piece of equipment was a curb bit dated 1916. So, tack and saddles can last and still be functional if well taken care of. http://www.gghgsociety.org/cavalry/

If I were going to use it, I'd also check the fleece lining to make sure it's in good enough condition to protect the back of the horse. Not so big a concern with a western saddle, due to the thick saddle cloths they used, but better safe than sorry! Saddle sores take a long time to heal. And the horn definitely needs a bit of attention - maybe replacing the stitching would be enough to fix it.

Well, even if he's not coming back, I'm curious to know what y'all think about restoring the saddle! Always hoping to learn something new. I rode English for many years, and one of the saddles I used regularly belonged to my instructor. I have no idea how old it was, but I'm guessing at least 40 or 50 years, as it dated from his days in the cavalry. It had been well cared for and was in excellent shape.

Won't let me upload the last one, as I've exceeded the number of allowed MB. Maybe the OP can do it now that I've explained how to reduce the size. I could have made them even smaller by reducing the number of pixels further. Even 500 pixels gives a nice sized clear picture, suitable for posting on the internet. Right-click on the photo to get the option to open it in Paint (or whatever other app you choose.) And you don't have to give the picture a new title unless you want to save the original photo at its original size. Just save the smaller one and it will over-write the original. It would be interesting to see what the saddle would look like after a good cleaning and treatment with some leather balm/NFO. You'd definitely want to replace the stirrup leathers and rigging for safety's sake, if you were going to use it, but the seat and skirts might be salvageable with some TLC>

Okay, here's how I resize pictures. All MS operating system computers that I've owned have an app called 'Paint' Open the picture in 'Paint' and from the top menue, choose 'resize'. Since the pictures are so large, I resize by reducing the number of pixels rather than going by percentage. In this case, I chose 800 pixels. The other dimension of the picture will resize automatically. Hit 'save as', give it a new title, and bingo, you're in business! Continuing...

I sold my kennel in 2015. Took down the website, and all relevant advertising I could find. I STILL sometimes get calls from people wanting to board their dogs! I've been tempted to take a dog or two into my home, just to make a few extra bucks, but my cat might have a problem with that, if the dogs weren't cat-friendly. The net is a powerful tool!

CONGRATULATIONS!! Great work! Lovely! (And I think I see the 'rookie mistake' - the latch isn't 100% line up with the horseshoe, but no one's going to notice when the latch is closed!)

I haven't heard anyone mention this supplier, but I think they are really great. Tribal Spirit Leather https://tribalspiritmusic.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw4c-ZBhAEEiwAZ105RXsg0ssq0FF0s04HJcHkLlahNyJG2l4ITvd4PHvVLCzlWohSleQp5xoC2fMQAvD_BwE They specialize in moose and deer leather, but today I saw where they now have cow leather available, tanned using the same method they use on their deer and moose leather. They are owned and operated by Canadian indigenous people, and all moose and deer hides come from hunters who have killed the animals for food. They offer split leather as well as full thickness hides, and have an absolute rainbow of colours. Prices are reasonable, especially if you watch for their specials, or are buying in bulk. Their leather is much better and cheaper than what I've seen in Tandy's stores. They also have bison leather, rawhide and hoops for making drums, sinew, and native medicines, plus too many other products to mention. Shipping is very fast, and my first shipment included a CD of native music. Not to my taste, but it was a nice gesture! Some of their products such as bear grease, certain medicines, furs and feathers cannot be shipped to the States

Cool! When I first started archery, I remember reading that about the feathers having to come from the same wing of the goose. I think Ernest Thompson Seton's book Two Little Savages goes into quite a bit of detail about how to construct bows and arrows. That might have been where I saw the info. Hmm...still have that book somewhere! Both my brother and I tried making our own bows and arrows as kids. We weren't old enough to be very successful at it though! I remember my brother ramming a splinter of wood all the way to the base of his fingernail during a failed attempt to make an arrow. A trip to the hospital followed...

Okay, as a result of this thread, I am looking at dusting off my bow, and joining a local archery club! I can't remember the last time I shot. My shooting companion was my husband, and I quickly lost interest in it after he died. Not a lot of fun doing something like this alone, though for awhile, I was encouraging his older son to shoot with me. Fred, you've piqued my interest in learning the traditional longbow style of shooting, but it looks like I will probably have to join the local S.C.A. in order to learn that (Society for Creative Anachronism.) It is a totally different style from what's being taught in schools and archery clubs in N. America. Hmm...this could get very interesting! How are things going with the shooting glove? If you are planning to copy my glove, the biggest challenge is likely going to be finding a piece of elastic wide enough! I guess you could substitute some stretchy thin leather, if you can't find elastic that's the right width.

The cheap steel knives need frequent sharpening and stropping. This is pretty much anecdotal, but I've noted high carbon steel will ring like a bell if you strike it/flick it with a finger. (Have a quality round knife I paid big bucks for, and noticed this.)

If you do a search re. the Al Stohlman round knife, you'll find the newer ones are made of poor low-carbon steel, so they don't hold an edge well at all, and are a waste of money. That may have changed in the last few years, but I doubt it. ftnpenlvr, awesome work!

Guess it's way past time for me to dig out Hardy's book and re-read it! Wow, never knew that about the Queen! I certainly doubt I could do that, even when I was at my best.

Well, England being where the longbow was invented, it doesn't surprise me there are more longbow archers there than anywhere else. And Fred, you definitely have knowledge about archery that is not taught anywhere I've been shooting on this side of the pond! Very interesting! I'm the only archer I know that has never used a bow sight and shoots bare bow (except for the arrow rest). Everyone else seems to have every imaginable gizmo attached to their bow, from kisser buttons to bow stabilizers! I just came across this picture on FB. Who are the men in uniform holding longbows, as they stand vigil over the Queen's casket in St. Giles Cathedral? I figured you'd probably know.

Cool! And very pretty! Have yet to meet an archer that uses one, though I have seen archers use a caliper release.

What's the purpose of a thumb ring, Chuck? Yeah, I knew that about the traditional longbows. I have a book about the history of the longbow, and it covers what they found on the Mary Rose in depth. Actor Robert Hardy was the author - I didn't know up until then that he was an avid archer and historian! I just knew him as Siegfried on All Creatures Great and Small. https://www.amazon.ca/Longbow-Military-History-Robert-Hardy/dp/0750943912 Edit: VERY glad I bought the book when it first came out, and only cost $20!! Wow! My bow looks like a broomstick type medieval longbow, but it's actually laminated wood, and has an arrow rest.

Fred, for a left handed archer, the arrow rest should be on the right side, as when they loose the string, it tend to throw the arrow to the left. This would make it go off target if the rest were on the right. Does your bow not have an arrow rest?