Fred's ramblings

[fredk]

No. As I said, this was owned by a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary - a cop. Looking up the Ruger I see they did a .357 Magnum. I think the plod would have had one of those. Most plods I knew chose to use Magnums as PPW. They were influenced by Clint Eastwood's 'Dirty Harry'. At that time the RUC  standard issue was an old Webley 38. According to my friends, it had the stopping power of a marshmallow

[Klara]

In Germany and France we are allowed to have and wear as many holsters as we like, as long as we only use them to carry a banana (like the Costa Rican police at one time) - or similarly inoffensive items.

[Handstitched]

19 hours ago, Klara said:

In Germany and France we are allowed to have and wear as many holsters as we like, as long as we only use them to carry a banana

That made me laugh.  Unless you  make a gun look like a banana .
" Go ahead....make my ...smoothie" 

HS

[Sheilajeanne]

Klara, you mean like this??  

This was in Norway.

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Sheilajeanne

[Klara]

Carrots for the horse, that's really nice!

[Handstitched]

18 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Klara, you mean like this??

Just noticed, they both have ' pony tails' 

HS

[Sheilajeanne]

47 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

Just noticed, they both have ' pony tails' 

HS

Yep, I noticed that too! 

[fredk]

@Sheilajeanne @Handstitched - there was a video circulating on youtube a while back showing a female police rider with a ponytail riding along and both her and the horse's tail swung in unison, like two metronomes. afair the rider was from Norway, maybe this same rider

I've started to make a scabbard for a trowel. Its still at the early stages. Before I go any further I have to decide if I should, or want to, put on retention straps over the back edge. This trowel will just be laying inside a tool box until needed. Opinions on straps? yes, no?

The trowel sits on the base of the scabbard with welt pieces fitted and the top part lies in front, yet to be shaped

 

[Klara]

If you will either move the whoole box from time to time or dig through it to find a certain tool, a retention strap makes sense. If there's no movement ever, you can probably do without. My two cents...

[Handstitched]

9 hours ago, fredk said:

Opinions on straps? yes, no?

If its in and out of the scabbard frequently, then no straps. If it only gets used occasionally, then yes, put straps on .  My  2 cents  worth + tax   

HS

[fredk]

The trowel may not be used on too many occasions but maybe quite a bit on those occasions. Confused? Its for my number 1 favourite dottir's archaeology kit, so on the few occasions she'll be on a dig the trowel will be / might be used a lot.

Easier to make without straps, nicer with straps? I'll go now and cut leather for them

[chuck123wapati]

13 hours ago, fredk said:

@Sheilajeanne @Handstitched - there was a video circulating on youtube a while back showing a female police rider with a ponytail riding along and both her and the horse's tail swung in unison, like two metronomes. afair the rider was from Norway, maybe this same rider

I've started to make a scabbard for a trowel. Its still at the early stages. Before I go any further I have to decide if I should, or want to, put on retention straps over the back edge. This trowel will just be laying inside a tool box until needed. Opinions on straps? yes, no?

The trowel sits on the base of the scabbard with welt pieces fitted and the top part lies in front, yet to be shaped

 

im for one retention strap and a belt loop.

[fredk]

A belt loop might be a good idea but in this case I don't think its required

[Sheilajeanne]

Fred, having taken part in a dig or two myself, where has your daughter been digging?

I've also watched Digging For Britain, and found it very interesting! 

And did you know that the Drumheller dinosaur museum will allow you to take part in a dinosaur dig? That was one of the two digs - the other was part of a credit course I took at University. Profs love to use students as unpaid labour to do their digging for them...lol!

The dinosaur dig took place on our honeymoon, and was very much enjoyed by both of us. I was excavating a dinosaur vertebrae. The central part of the vertebrae was the size of a dinner plate!    I can tell you the exact date - as I was soaking my weary sunburnt bones in the jacuzzi of our B&B afterwards, my husband came into the bathroom to tell me Princess Diana had been killed in a car crash. 

Speaking of pony tails - love the tail lights on these mustangs! 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Sheilajeanne

[Handstitched]

... 1 HP and they have 4 on the floor , Ha !! 

11 hours ago, fredk said:

A belt loop might be a good idea but in this case I don't think its required

You could compromise and make the straps removable? Just a thought.

HS

[fredk]

22 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Fred, having taken part in a dig or two myself, where has your daughter been digging?

#1 favourite dottir is still at Uni. I think she's been out on a few digs as part of her course but getting detailed info from her is like impossible. She takes after her maternal grandfather who only answered questions with, no, yes or silence

I bought a pattern for a leather tool box-bag off dieselpunk and I'm now getting things and making cases for them. I have to start on that tool bag too

11 hours ago, Handstitched said:

You could compromise and make the straps removable? Just a thought.

I'll sew straps on the bottom part of the scabbard and have poppers on the top side to hold them closed

[Sheilajeanne]

2 hours ago, fredk said:

#1 favourite dottir is still at Uni. I think she's been out on a few digs as part of her course but getting detailed info from her is like impossible. She takes after her maternal grandfather who only answered questions with, no, yes or silence

I bought a pattern for a leather tool box-bag off dieselpunk and I'm now getting things and making cases for them. I have to start on that tool bag too

I'll sew straps on the bottom part of the scabbard and have poppers on the top side to hold them closed

Sounds like a good way of doing it! Those trowels get pretty sharp with use!

[fredk]

A lot of recent talk on the form about certain skivers reminded me that several years ago, maybe 7 or 8, I bought one of these. Never used it yet. I must set it up and larn how to use it

And more recently, like only about 5 years ago I bought one of these. and again never used, or maybe just the once

Another 'machine' skiver I have and do use for straps is this one. Not used too much recently but it was used a lot when I made battle-ready medieval shields and made the straps for them

But most of the time I just use my two old simple types which I started off with; The safety beveller and the super skiver

 

 

 

 

[chuck123wapati]

i love natural history in all forms. Ive been watching a show called time team, its a bunch of Scottish archeologists, who spend three days digging sites. they aren't very good at it due to the time line they work in and spend most of the time drunk i think but they are funny to watch and do dig up some good information and history about Ireland, Scotland and Briton. 

There are several places here in Wyoming that you can go and dig for dino bones and fossils, Fossils of invertebrates or fish can be kept but bones and such are illegal. I have found fossil bones, fish scales, leaves etc. I find many on the surface lol. When i was a boy my dad had an archeologist friend down in the four corners region. His house was full of pottery and bones that he was working on. the coolest thing i ever saw was a 1000+ year old baby he found, still in the papoose and still very much mummified. The hair skin and clothing was all still remarkably well preserved as well as the body. That was in the 70s and laws have changed now the native tribes wont allow their ancestors remains to be dug. I'm sure his life's work has all been reburied.

[fredk]

The original Time Team with Tony Robinson, Mick Aston and Phil Harding* was the best. It gradually went bad. It fed our family its weekly dose of history lessons. I think, watching a lot of that and all the CSI tv series was what made my dottir go study forensic archaeology. When she qualifies, she'll be one of those who go to old crime scenes to get evidence. Sites like war crimes scenes. Head of her faculty is one of the worlds leading forensic archaeologists, Dr Sue Black, who was born and bred and grewed up not far where #1 dottir lives now and went to the same Uni. But they've not met yet

When I was a kid a family friend used to take us up to his cabin in woods in  Wisconsin for fishing trips. Up there I found some native arrow heads, just laying on the ground. A few were obsidian. I had about 20 or 25 and over the years the number went down. The last few were stolen when a small safe I had them in was stolen

* in my early days of leather working a chap came to me and asked me to make a 'finds' bag just like Phil Harding's one (or it might have been Mick's bag). Just a simple shoulder bag with a rounded bottom,  on the gussets loops for pens & pencils, and a pocket for a small note book. The client chap was a new qualified archy

[Handstitched]

10 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

i love natural history in all forms. Ive been watching a show called time team, its a bunch of Scottish archeologists, who spend three days digging sites.

I've often thought about getting a metal detector and just go around my property , just out of general interest, might find some of the tools Dad lost over the years,  lol   

I enjoyed Time Team when Tony Robinson  and the other regulars were on it.One of the TV series I really enjoyed was ' Worst Jobs In History '  hosted by Tony Robinson. He takes a hands on approach and gets involved . Some jobs  were just totally gross, and some were just down right dangerous. 

On 8/1/2023 at 10:23 AM, fredk said:

But most of the time I just use my two old simple types which I started off with; The safety beveller and the super skiver

The safety skiver is what I use, haven't really needed anything else. 

HS

[Sheilajeanne]

My dad found this arrowhead not far from the farm where he grew up, near Bradford, Ontario. I've been told it's from the archaic period and  may be about 2000 old. It's made out of chert, not flint.

My parents had a property that had been a Presbyterian church in the pioneer days. My dad/ found an old harness bell when digging fence post holes near where the drive shed had been located. I still have it - it's a real beauty! Solid brass, and about 3 1/2" in diameter. Except for one quarter of it being bent in it was in excellent shape. I pried out the bent part with a screwdriver, polished it up, and it's good as new!

The big sleigh bells were called chimes, and there would be 4 of them in a row across the horses' withers. You had to be fairly well-heeled to afford a set! The smaller bells were much more common.

One of my uncles went over the site with a metal detector, but found nothing else of interest. I did find an inkwell with the cork still in it, and an old sugar bowl that  had been smashed. It was Meakin pottery, probably the most common brand name for early Canadian pottery. It was a British firm that catered mostly to the export market.

The inkwell probably belonged beside the guest book in the church entrance. Nice little piece of history! I use it to display my feather collection. 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Sheilajeanne

[chuck123wapati]

On 8/3/2023 at 8:55 PM, Sheilajeanne said:

My dad found this arrowhead not far from the farm where he grew up, near Bradford, Ontario. I've been told it's from the archaic period and  may be about 2000 old. It's made out of chert, not flint.

My parents had a property that had been a Presbyterian church in the pioneer days. My dad/ found an old harness bell when digging fence post holes near where the drive shed had been located. I still have it - it's a real beauty! Solid brass, and about 3 1/2" in diameter. Except for one quarter of it being bent in it was in excellent shape. I pried out the bent part with a screwdriver, polished it up, and it's good as new!

The big sleigh bells were called chimes, and there would be 4 of them in a row across the horses' withers. You had to be fairly well-heeled to afford a set! The smaller bells were much more common.

One of my uncles went over the site with a metal detector, but found nothing else of interest. I did find an inkwell with the cork still in it, and an old sugar bowl that  had been smashed. It was Meakin pottery, probably the most common brand name for early Canadian pottery. It was a British firm that catered mostly to the export market.

The inkwell probably belonged beside the guest book in the church entrance. Nice little piece of history! I use it to display my feather collection. 

In my book it appears to be a Dickson point and 2000 is about mid point of when they were made 1500-3500  some of them were heat treated. 

Very cool point.

 

[chuck123wapati]

On 8/3/2023 at 8:26 PM, Handstitched said:

I've often thought about getting a metal detector and just go around my property , just out of general interest, might find some of the tools Dad lost over the years,  lol   

I enjoyed Time Team when Tony Robinson  and the other regulars were on it.One of the TV series I really enjoyed was ' Worst Jobs In History '  hosted by Tony Robinson. He takes a hands on approach and gets involved . Some jobs  were just totally gross, and some were just down right dangerous. 

The safety skiver is what I use, haven't really needed anything else. 

HS

i have a detector  and a small tin of old coins and other metal stuff  i found in my yard, Three rings, one is a very old silver ring that is a cross with Jesus, it turned sideways,  the long part of the cross goes around the finger. On our family homestead i found an axe head which my dad cleaned up and re fitted a handle, unfortunately it cracked along the weld one day while i was using it. I've found some cool stuff around the country with it including arrow heads lol as your eyes are always watching the ground you find all kinds of non metallic items.

[fredk]

On 8/4/2023 at 3:55 AM, Sheilajeanne said:

The big sleigh bells were called chimes, and there would be 4 of them in a row across the horses' withers. You had to be fairly well-heeled to afford a set! The smaller bells were much more common.

Now there's a phrase based in leather work; in early times shoes did not have heels. Men got heels on their riding boots, to keep their feet in the stirrups. A rider only needed a low heel riding a slow nag but for riding the more expensive and livelier hunters the rider needed a deeper heel. Thus a rich man, who could afford a good hunter was 'well heeled'

now you know

I'm full of interesting (read useless) information like that