chuck123wapati

Here ya go folks this is my great granddaddy Isaac Montgomery he homesteaded here in Wyoming from Ireland back when the state wasn't even a state lol. What is important to know is this is a staged picture and very common of the time those guns and the costume as well probably weren't his as was also common in the day. You can see the bullets in the belt don't match the weapons. Back then photographers would go to community gathering, barn dances and such and set up their props, they would bring costumes as well as firearms for the people to wear and take their pictures with. I am lucky enough to have found other peoples pictures with the same set at the museum where he lived, it was taken around the turn of the century, 1900,. He was every bit the true west cowboy he started out by moving a herd of cattle from Illinois to California, yes not all cattle were herded from Texas then some how found Slater WY on his way back. lol. and raised Percheron Horses as well as cattle, and carried mail to and from Slater Wy. to Hanns peak colo. By horse or snowshoes depending on the weather, about 30 miles. His ranch still exists today in fact, He didn't wear a pistol and he didn't dress like that in real everyday life. As well if you ever peruse old photos in museums you will see most folks didn't carry and women back then didn't wear dresses that show their boobs, all that is tv! I will add those are real weapons and clothing of the day as well as indian items and I'm sure my granddaddy wore clothing similar to work or carry the mail but not on a daily basis the gloves and chaps for instance were winter gear. I guess my point is we really cant judge how people acted or what life was really like just by looking at a few pictures especially in books or articles as they cherry pick what will sell the book and it may not be correct as this photo shows a stereo typical idea but not really who the man was. Don't you wish you could make out the tooling on those chaps lol.

I agree with everything except number 3. Don't give me a chance at 30 yards they are as accurate as any average modern handgun, you just cant load them as fast lol. In fact the sights were built at 100 yards on the early Colts and had a optional Butt stock. The trooper twist came about due to the fact that the gun was carried on the right backwards to allow use of the sabre with the right hand which was carried on the left. People like Hickok weren't the average joe and most folks in the wild west didn't wear pistols all that much simply because they didn't want to get shot or shoot themselves by accident there were few doctors and no hospitals. The bad guys or hooligans, youngsters, etc, were just like todays dumbasses and were buried pretty early in life if they didn't respect their personal safety.

"Beads and beadwork of the American Indians" by William C. Orchard is a good reference book if you can find it as it shows many styles of Indian made and trade/ glass beads as well as how they were sewn on leather goods.

What isn't mentioned a lot and something I find interesting was that the civil war soldiers carried their pistol in a crossdraw covered holster made for left handed use, so they could use their sword in the right hand while the pistol was used in the left hand. The sabre was carried on he left and the pistol on the right. I think there were probably as many self made holsters or stuck in pants as there were bought holsters back in the day due mainly because of cost, the Mr. average guy back then didn't have a lot of extra money but they did have time and i'm sure many pistols for the average came from their life in the war as a battlefield pickup same with the holsters I imagine a lot were war relics with the flaps cut off and doctored up the way the owner felt. From what I have read most folks if they were average bought a shotgun as their first affordable weapon as it had much more use for the family. We all see the good holsters suitable for books and handing down but I think we rarely see actual working rigs that wore out or were so poorly made they were tossed away when newer could be bought. Old junky holsters and self made holsters don't sell books or movies except for lil Mattie who kept her hog leg in a flour sack lol.

true words there friend the forest here has so much deadfall due to the pine beetle infestation a couple decade ago that its just a matter of time, then adding to that the development of wilderness areas has stalled any vehicle access for fighting fire crews. Last year we had one and the fire crews just had to watch it burn, they had no safe way to get in or out. The deadfall is sometimes 6 to 8 feet high with downed trees and impossible to navigate. Good luck and god bless to the folks down under!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great info there! Thanks

Pretty good video showing the proper sewing techniques but I'm still not buying one lol, the takeaway for me = hole size affects the looks of the stitch dramatically , finishing the stitch work with final seating of the stitch via hammer is important to a good looking stitch. I agree I think with a heavier thread the slant would be more natural looking on both sides, the side with the bigger holes was to big for the thread size while the other was marginal. Is there a rule of thumb for thread size compared to hole size?

that's really nice! Nice job of dying and contrast.

LOL its beautiful!! and agree it would take some time indeed no matter how you did it. Your right I do tend to talk to much, its ok to tell me to shut up I get off track easily.

There is a reason they believe that, the importance is what makes the stitch, the diamond cut that doesn't detract from the leathers strength or integrity, the angle of the cut, diamond shape, provides that when the stitch is pulled it seals the hole and provides the tension that keeps the lock stitch locked and the thread itself sewn correctly provides the lock stitch that doesn't fail. Its a micro-system if you will developed over hundreds of years by folks that used leather on a daily basis. Some times we fail to realize that there is much more to such a simple thing as a stitch and why it matters. On a handbag no biggie on the reins of a horse well maybe a biggie ifn he goes off. I an not an expert at stitching or leather work by any means but always strive to learn and understand and am very guilty of over studying the process but for me I have the urge to know why something is the way it is and why it done that way.

yup it depends if your stitches are needed for looks or work! Punch 4 I/8 th inch holes in a one inch strap and you have a I/2 inch strap. cut 4 slots with a chisel and you still have a one inch strap. To each his own. Remember those plastic bags are one use bag, and no they don't work well, is that what you make leather products for? Don't get me wrong I don't care how anyone else does it and if dumbing it down makes dieselpunk a profit then good for him, doesn't mean its the tried and true way to do it all or the correct way, it is the easiest way and why people go for it. Your bag is beautiful stitching and all! I was just saying there is a reason why the methods used for stitching came to be, a lock stich is more than just the thread it is the combination of the leather and the thread and how they work together. There is also a reason why holes came to be, ease of sewing and or used for decorative stitching etc. I use both but depending on the job.

beautiful work!

Thats a great looking bag

Traditional? How about time proven, like in thousands of years of actual testing! The leather helps hold the lockstitch in place and is a much stronger stitch because of that also that the loss of the leather weakens the leather. Your example is awesome, try and read our nations constitution without knowing cursive then ask yourself if your children need the ability to understand it themselves or have it read to them by an "expert".

Hey Frodo were you able to get the 3 second stitch time?

I think the chisels produce a parallelogram type cut that creates or emphasizes the zigzag pattern of the stitching, these in conjunction with producing the same stitch every time that makes the stitch look clean and even, when I use round holes it becomes much more important that all stitching is done exactly the same as well, the force used in setting the stitches must be closer or the pattern looks messy. I know I have fought this as well and when I really started making better looking stitches is when I got got the right needles so I could use the right chisels without breaking the needles or having to pull them through with pliers lol. I will add when you pull a punched hole to tighten the stitch it stretches out of shape so the stitching can be shorter or longer depending on the amount of force used in each stitch. When you pull a chisel cut with the thread it closes making it appear cleaner as you can see in Tugaduds post compared to yours in yours you see the shadow and shape of the hole which detracts from the appearance of the work IMO.

Always try to get a bit of nfo soaked into dry straps like these or they may crack when you try to undo them from the buckle. Apply let soak in a day or so to get some moisture back into the leather.

Here is my project for the next few days, its an old swiss army rucksack I bought a looong time ago and have used and abused it. Its time to restore the leather and clean it up for another round of livin in Wyoming. You know I think I paid about 20 bucks for this and now they are "in" and worth much more to some folks, I still have all the straps but the leather is dried out and if you look closely the harness has been repaired at some point but I like the repair so will just attempt to restore the leather and fix a few stitches here and there. I have already saddle soaped the bottom and a few of the straps and the leather seems to be coming out of it pretty well.

great looking indeed.

https://www.fdjtool.com/53189-bezel-setting-punch-set-18pcs-plus-handle.html

Awesome and its a beautiful thing to bring back to life.

could be needle thread combo. ice been using my 401 for some light leather sewing and it was skipping due to wrong needles, when I got the leather needles and right thread it works great now.

https://archive.org/details/Encyclopedia_Of_Rawhide_And_Leather_Braiding/page/n1 Here is the link to the free ebook by Bruce Grant

great find at a great price!

give it to your 18 year old son to wear for about two months.