From a long time ago

Then, 1982

This was me, at my very first event in the early fall of 1982. I spent the summer working on putting together my Mountain Man outfit and I was looking good!!
  Now 31 years later I am still try to put together a period correct outfit but, for a different place and time. I am now trying to be a early ranger of the 1750 French & Indian war, patrolling in Pennsylvanian.  And still looking good!!

Now, 2013

The wife & I 1986

Brian, age 6 now 31

Craig, age 4 now 29

Eric, age 2 now 27

 

Simple Shot Bag #16

 This is the second bag like this that I have made for Capt. Wulff. The two bags are pretty much the same, simple in construction, they are both 8" wide by 7" deep. Made from one piece of 3/4 oz. veg. tanned leather, folded to size and sewn with waxed linen thread with a outside seam. The difference between the two is the first was made with a full inside pocket also acting as the welt, the second ( shown in photos) is made with a full width pocket made only 4 1/2" deep and sewn down the middle splitting the pocket in half. He intend to carry lose ball on one side and buckshot on the other. The strap is 1 1/4" wide tapering down to fit a 1" iron buckle. The leather is dyed a dark brown and treated with neets-foot oil and bee's wax. Brass button closer.

5 Coin Purses

Here are five coin purses that I just finished up. I have found many different uses for these little purses.
I use them for a flint wallet, also for carrying shot cards for my fowler. A friend of mine uses his to carry his cleaning tools for his fowler in.
I use one for my period coin and my rosary that is in my waistcoat pocket and it works great for ones pipe tobacco. I'm sure that one could find other uses for them.
They are made from 3/4 oz. veg-tan leather, hand stitched and tooled. Dyed and treated with oil and bee's wax (2 3/4" x 3 3/4")

New Shot Bag #15

I just finished this bag for a gentlemen who like a style of bag that I had made once before. The bag is just a simple leather bag made from 3/4 oz. veg. tanned leather, no lining or inside pocket. The bag is

6 1/2" wide by 7" deep with a 1 1/2" wide gusset tapering off to the top of the bag, seams are welted also.The flap is double sided, front having some tooling done and a button closer. Strap is 1" wide and fitted with a forged iron buckle. All done by hand with waxed linen thread.

New axe and sheath

I received my new axe on Monday from a young man who does some outstanding work on making and reproducing 18th century knives and axes. His name is Ben Hoffman of Hoffman Reproductions. I met Ben and his wife Lynsey at the Fremont trade show this past February. Ben is very knowledgeable on the items that he is making, and all are hand forged and well made.
He had a few axes displayed on his table and one kind of caught my eye and through out the weekend I kept walking over to talk to Ben and at the same time looking at this axe. When the weekend was over I left not buying the axe. So for a few weeks of thinking about it, I gave Ben a call to see if he still had the axe in stock, as luck had it he did, and now it's mine.

So I spent last night and this morning working on a new sheath for the axe and something to carry it in, slung over my shoulder. I don't like just stick it in my belt, don't want to spend a day looking for it if I happen to lose it .As you can see in the first photo this is what I came up with.

  The axe is a semi poll axe and is a nice size for camp use and other lite duty stuff. The semi poll is good for hammering in nails, wooden tent stake. The head is 4 1/2" with a 2' cutting edge, not sure of the weight but it is well balanced. The handle is a nice curly maple 14" long and well fitted to the head.

The carriage that I made for it is small and it is balanced so that the axe stays upright and not wanting to flip upside down . The strap is at a length in which I can tuck the handle in to the back of my belt to help keep it in place when running or bending over. I hope to give my new axe a good workout this spring when I take to woods hunting for that spring gobbler.
If you would like to see what Ben has to offer you can send him a e-mail to  hoffmanreproductions@yahoo.com

A Few things made

Here are some photos of a few of the project that I have been working on this past month.

New Project

This is the start of my new project. The owner of this fine looking belt/bag axe wanted to be able to carry the axe either in his coat pocket or on his belt, so I came up with a way that he can do both.

 From the photo you can see that the size of this axe is not that big. I made up a sheath to cover all of the head, formed it so that it's a tight fit and wont fall out when he wants to put it in his coat pocket. I then made up a belt carriage so that he can carry it on his belt. The carriage will allow him to carry it on his right or left side, edge front or back, it is then held in place with a strap and stud closer.

Ready to go.

   

Axe & sheath.

Formed to fit the head.

Carriage.

The next part of the project is to make a sheath for a small belt knife that was made to go along with the axe. 

       Well here is the knife with the finished sheath. Project complete!

The axe and knife where made by Contemporary Maker, Brian Barker.