heres the canvas riggers bag full of my ...well alot of my leather stuff...

Well...Im real busy these days...I have lots of bags on order, and lots of writting due, but so far its working out...one of my projects is a small leather covered campaign chest. I have an original Im patterning after, but all of the leather from that one is missing...its pretty neat though, its lined with old news paper from 1812.

this is a candy box that convieniantly holds all of my necessary stuff to sit and stitch with...
notice all the neat little goodies....mmmm mmm.

Theres some more awl pictures being posted....Im getting server errors so that slowing me down. Thanks for your patience..
Tim

These are some harness awls...they work well, but dont taper from the spear point, but rather get wider as they go...thus making a wider slit
the farther you push them...thats a bit less controlled than the other awls and I dont really use them much. They are more suited to harness and coarser work...

I have been thinking...I live in a pretty accessable area, and its pretty touristy...they want to make it a little Wisconsin Dells....so lodging etc...is available year round...

Well, on a small scale, I wonder if theres any interest in a bag makin' seminar at my place? I know the gun makers and knife guys all have thier "hammer in" type events...but leather work is usually relagated to a peripheral side class at a multi-class type event.

I wonder if anybody would be interested in a pouch event?

Heres a neat picture of an old old old awl...looks pretty unhandy to use actually, but as an ultra rare example of an ancient leather working tool it cant be beat. Im just posting it to keep the page interesting...thanks..
Tim

I have finally got a few more awls posted up in the tools section. I have quite a few more in various styles I plan to post after these, kind of a study of awls....I also popped in a picture of an early rotary punch since the topic of them came up....With early leather tools, I think you should collect them if you can, even if they are not very servicable. Antique leather tools are pretty rare, and genuine 19th or even early 20th century tools are generally professional grade tools, and rival some of the best leather tools being made today.

Speaking of rotary punches...heres an oldie....its a "Caravel"...4 holer...the holes are numbered for size....2, 4,6,8...and I assume they corresponded to harness rivet sizes....This was made in NY....NY. So I expect its early 1900s or so. The spring is replaced, and the barrels though replacable, are dul and chipped. I keep this for display mostly, and use a newer 6 hole "Dunlap4304" as my work horse for normal leathers.....I do hane a few belting punches as well, but for general hole punching they are over kill....
Tim

heres a side view of my favorite awl...and the little leather point sheath I use for most all of the awls....its just a narrow bit of scrap leather wrapped with waste cord. Its wrapped tightly enough so that slides securely over the point and a bit of the ferrule. A bit of clear tubing also works, but its a bit harder to get off....I have a few tip covers made of that too, and would post a photo of those, but have you ever tried to get a photo of clear little bits of tubing? I couldnt get one....go figure.
Tim
Tim