hivemind

Finally finished this today. Quiver and scabbard are 5-6 oz vegetan dyed with Fiebing's tan, buttcap is 3/8" plywood, strapping is 10oz cordovan latigo, solid brass buckles and rings. The shoulder strap is adjustable, and attaches with a snap-link (like a dog leash), and the waist belt is permanently attached to the bottom ring. Modeled by my unwilling wife. This isn't for hunting, it's for medieval battle games.The tooling:

The flap is utterly changeable. Sometimes I add some fur, different shapes, raggedy look, whatever.

This here is sorta, kinda a sporran: http://picasaweb.google.com/david.haldenwang/CelticPouch# There's pics of the pattern in there with some dimensions and a ruler for scale, and some pics of finished ones. More pics of finished ones here: http://picasaweb.google.com/david.haldenwang/Pouch# and here: http://picasaweb.google.com/david.haldenwang/Cokraffle# and here: http://picasaweb.google.com/david.haldenwang/SerisPouch# and here: http://picasaweb.google.com/david.haldenwang/IdesPrizes# I make a lot of these...

It's much more purple than it should be with Fiebing's Dark Red dye.

So back on 18 September I bought a side of the above mentioned white leather from Zack White Leather. I have not yet received any leather. PayPal says they got their money. I have emailed them twice now with no response, and I can't call them except after hours, and you can't leave them a message. Anyone know an email other than sales@zackwhite.com I can try? I think if I don't get some kind of response by tomorrow, I'll have to start a chargeback.

It's 12oz saddle skirting from Tandy, dyed with Fiebing's black, buffed with a dirty rag impregnated with Neatsfoot oil, and sprayed with Super Shene.It ain't fancy, but it's four hours from thought to completion now that I have a pattern worked out.

Just finished this, it's a tournament prize for an event this weekend: The visor is hinged on the conchos on the sides, and it shaps in place up and down.

Nice work man. What's that, about $20 worth of copper rivets and burrs? I'd never peen all those just for decoration...

Thanks for the responses guys. I finally found some sides of 6oz chrome tanned white at Zack White Leather for $80 apiece.

I have a customer who wants some armor, but he wants it based on white leather, and I'm having a hell of a time sourcing some. I don't care at all about the finish (smooth, suede, whatever) and I don't even care what animal it comes from, I just need some 6 ounce white leather with minimal stretch (so something like deerskin is probably out). I tried my local place, D&L Leather in Utica, and I called SB's Trading Post, no luck either place - in fact they were more discouraging. Seems like white leather gets used in golf shoes, purses and Native ceremonial dress and not much else. Any ideas?

If you have one that's a great idea. Another would be to simply mold it on the metal armor you're trying to replicate. I do not recommend trying to mold it on your body if you do wax, but if you just water harden you can just do that.

I stand by the statement that an armed society is a polite society. Throughout history, most people have been armed - it is only the last couple hundred years where this has changed significantly. In the 1800's, most people had a rifle on their horse or on the backboard of their carriage. In the 1600's, everyone carried a dagger, and people of any social status whatsoever also carried swords. These were duelling swords, specifically designed and carried to make people be polite. This goes back throughout history. The first thing any tyrannical regime wants to do is disarm the population. Look how hard the Northern Irish are fighting to keep their weapons as part of a peace agreement there, and I don't blame them. As soon as there's proof they're disarmed, they'll get screwed. I'm not just speaking from personal belief. I have read on this. Before you retort, go look at information available about the rates of violent gun-related crime in the UK before and after they enacted their draconian gun laws. Then go examine the information available about crime rates in Switzerland for the same years. Note the disparity. Then see that Switzerland not only encourages gun ownership, but after each male citizen serves his mandatory time in their military, he takes his military issue semiautomatic rifle home. I put forward Kennesaw, Georgia as an example. http://www.homesurfer.com/crimereports-2004/view/crime_report.cfm?state=GA&area=Kennesaw http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Kennesaw&state=GA Hell, just do some reading here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=crime+statistics+kennesaw+georgia This town experienced rapid population growth in the 80's, and with it, an commensurate increase in violent (and other) crime. The town enacted a novel solution: a law requiring all households to have a gun (with certain exceptions). Now, their crime rates are lower than both the national average and the Georgia state average by a significant amount: 1981 (Year prior to Gun Ordinance) Population: 5,242 Burglaries: 54 Total Part 1 Crimes: 228 1982 (Year Gun Ordinance Passed) Population: 5,308 (+1% ) Burglaries : 35 ( -35%) Total Part 1 Crimes: 165 ( -27%) 1998 (Compared to 1981) Population: 19,000 ( +275%) Burglaries: 36 (-33%) Total Part 1 Crimes 227(+0%) There you have it. Ipso facto, we need more guns, not less.

Honestly man, for 20 spots? How much is your time really worth? I'd just junk them and buy something less brittle.

Bob, are you guys actually allowed to have these pistols in Sweden, or are you making them for replicas?

Yeah, post pics here please, not on Facebook.

I think it's the same tool. I have the same memories of high school metal shop (we made candle holders and hot dog forks) but I remember using a ball pien hammer to pien the rivet, then using a rivet setter to planish the head smooth. I use the same rivet setter now to set and planish copper rivets in leather, and aluminum, iron and copper rivets in armor. When you're setting the copper rivets with leather, you should use the tool to ram the burr down tight on the leather, then snip off the excess, but leave maybe 3/16 or a quarter inch behind. Pien that with your ball pien hammer, then use the concave part of the rivet setter to planish it smooth. Don't just put it over the rivet and beat on it, work it around a little bit as you're tapping and it'll smooth out the copper rivet real nice. Takes a little practice, but not much. My tool has three parts: a convex depression for planishing rivets, a straight hole from the face up into the body that I use to drive down the burrs, and a larger hole that goes across the body that I use to mash the leather down sometimes before I place the burr. It's a hardened steel tool, and I hit it with an 8oz ball pien hammer mostly, not a mallet.

Remember also Ray that if you get a retail space, you either need to have someone on-hand to deal with walk-in customers, or you need to interrupt your production to do so. Like most here, my experience is US-based, but here, commercial charges for utilities (electric, internet, phone, etc.) are at least double what you pay for a residential connection, so if there's a way to keep it a "home business" do so, because business expenses are... expensive.

They're different kinds of rivets. The ones you used in school had smaller heads, and the underside of the head wasn't conical the way that copper rivets for leather are. I have some "regular" copper rivets down in my shop. I use them occasionally for armor repairs. I have some with flat heads, and some with domed heads - but the undersides of the heads are all flat. I can take some pics if that helps.

Went to the local ren fair today, there's a booth there with a couple guys who do some neat stuff, and it's actual leather work - they're stamping by hand right there in front of you, no "genuine leather" garbage at all anywhere. They do some neat acorn pouches with cobbled edges, some leather barrettes, and a bunch of belts. Most of their stuff is pretty nicely tooled and stamped, good solid professional work all around. Anyways, they had some belts with a meander down the middle of them, selling them for $45. That seemed a little low for all the work that goes into stamping three or four feet of beautifully straight meander, and I said so to them. The guy grinned at me, and went back to the other guy's bench, and picked up one of his stamps, and handed it to me. It was a double meander stamp, with one repetition of both sides on one stamp. I'd never seen such a thing before. He said he got it from an old-timer that was retiring for health reasons. Where the hell do I find one of these gems (other than waiting for people to die and pass them on)?

If you don't want to hit it with Tan-Kote, get some spray shene and use that. I seal all my stuff, including armor and quivers, with Fiebing's Super Shene.

She's in New York, but she's still 4-5 hours from the only Tandy in New York, up in Syracuse. Leather resources in NYC/Long Island are pretty hard to come by...

Keep the belly. It was only $20 and you'll use it for something eventually. You're not just going to make collars and leads all the time. As far as better hardware, I'd suggest you check hardware stores for more heavy duty stuff. I'd also suggest boatyards and marinas for nice solid brass hardware, but you're not really near any water...

Aren't the bottoms of holsters usually left open for drainage?