chuck123wapati

I agree with this Making "good" steel is much like baking a cake. different recipes of steel produce different types of steel but its mostly in the baking how well the recipe turns out. In the case of awls you can easily, due to the small size and exactness needed in annealing and tempering of the blade make one to brittle or to soft from the exact same piece of stock. Hardness also affects how easily the tool can be sharpened, I prefer to have a tool i can sharpen as well as one that wont break when dropped or snap when it gets in a bind for any reason. The difference from old tools and new tools is a matter of quality control of the product. old tools = more hands on, smaller production rate is more quality control. New tool + mass produced less hands on less ability to find mistakes in any one of the many processes that go into making "good" steel.

I have to disagree plastic won over simply from a manufacturing cost savings and profitability. Find any tool you have thrown away or is broken and if there is plastic used its usually the broken part. It was "sold" to the public as better and many believe it because it is all they have known but in reality was a way to switch to disposable to sell more product cheapr. Its all about money simply if a drill will last a lifetime you only buy one.

they are replica firearms used to build holsters.

you could make a wooden one similar to a stitching pony then add the brass jaws and form the teeth easily with a hand file. Its very cool indeed and the spring would make it quicker to use but I'll bet it replaced a wooden one sometime during the industrial age.

What I do when I think of these things. Go for it, build it and give it a try!

Here is the set i made , both are stainless steel. The 1 oz solid silver border tool not included lol.

The joke here in Wyoming is we have two seasons, winter and construction season lol The hiways are worked on all summer then closed due to weather most of the winter.

I meant dont let the comments of some upset you, your experience and love of the craft are needed and wanted on the forum i look forward to seeing you work.

dont let the comments of one ruffle your feathers friend Sometimes the written word can be mistaken.

Thats a great idea!

It was 34 degrees here this morning i don't think you have long to wait lol.

Those are nice wish I had a friend like you lol.

You are the future and an inspiration to everyone here and to the craft! Don't ever stop your work is magnificent.

Gotta show that steel lol. Great work on the sheath!

LOL well I wasn't exactly planning on making these but i have always loved a good self induced challenge. Thank you.

Thank you.

Here is 1/4" by 1/3"

remarkable work indeed!

Yes as Matt said the native Americans tanned with the brain of the animal harvested. I mentioned those different hides more so you could get a reference on the thickness of the hides used for each part of the moc. The bottoms were much heavier than the tops. If you've ever seen a pair of Mocs made traditionally they are very soft, thin and comfortable tops with heavy soles, each tribe had their own construction designs as well. the Apache even had a toe guard of rawhide for use in cactus. One thing to understand about older footwear is that they were cherished much more than now and native Americans as well as other races would take them off and go barefoot before ruining them in mud or water. Good luck with your project and look forward to some pictures!

I feel much the same The time taken to create a tool is just as important as the work it does. here are a couple tools I made for myself.

Thank you I appreciate that.

beautiful awls

8 oz will be pretty stiff for the uppers. Traditional mocs were made of Moose or Bison soles with deer or elk uppers.

OK i get it! I'll rephrase my comment. If you want to know if you are in danger of ANTHRAX then do you own real research don't try and find the answer on social media or take someone's word on it until YOU read the data FOR YOURSELF then if you cant understand it go to YOUR doctor and ask him/ her to explain. I researched and found its one in three hundred million chance in the US to even get it then there is medicine available to fight it so its not even worth thinking about IMO.

almost done