How NOT to make a leather flask

[mikemeteor]

well... tried to make a leather flask (to carry roundballs for my .50 caliber actually) by "following" the instructions linked in the "How To/Links" section of the Member Resources section of this forum.

Spent most of a whole dang day cutting, shaping, and sewing (mostly sewing :shocked2: ) the two halves together.

Tonite went to do the soaking and stretching part.
Well, when he says "warm water", he means WARM water, not HOT water.
I put it in a pan of water that had just stopped boiling - :shake: - and the thing immediately shrunk to about 75% it's original size and turned hard as an oak plank.

Bummer.
I think I overcooked the leather fibers...?
I don't suppose there's any reversing that process....?

Well, live and learn. I have a bunch of the raw veg tanned leaher left to try again.

Can anyone tell me more precisely what the temp of the soak water ought to be, to make it soft and stretchy ?

Wifey says I can use this piece to re-sole my hunting boots. She's a reg'lar comedienne. :grin:

 

[rabjr]

Is this raw hide? Just resoak and fill with shot or rice, just keep tamping it in until you get a nice formed bag, then let dry. If this is not raw hide and is processed leather, the above will not work.

 

[gmww]

The leather sheaths and holster that I've made were dampened with room temp. water. After it gets soft, I would put the knife or pistol in it and form the leather around the knife or pistol. The pistol was in a zip lock bag to protect it from the water.

I also used a hair drier to help dry it out. Here is a link to Tandy leather on some tips.
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com.../Leathercraft-ABC.aspx?navlocation=breadcrumb

I usually finish it off with Neatsfoot Oil. Here is a photo of a holster and sheath.

 

[BrownBear]

No clue on reconditioning your par boiled leather.

I gotta say I go about building my shot flasks a little different. I do all the sewing first, then soak the flat "flask" in room temp water for about half an hour with the opening propped open so it gets inside, too. Shrinking will happen, but not as much as you describe. I also do the following to take advantage of it. And yeah, the leather hardens some.

Drain the water, start pushing #6 shot into the flask to swell the sides as far as I want. Let it dry a couple of hours, then shake out the shot and replace it with uncooked rice to further the drying. Push in a cork the same size as you want the finished mouth to be.

Let it sit overnight, shake out as much rice as will come, then add half a dozen cast balls and rattle them around real good to jar loose any sticking rice. Let it dry some more, then dye and put on whatever finish appeals.

I've never had them lose shape after doing it this way, long as you've got the finish on the outside. If I was more worried about it, I suppose I'd slop some finish inside and shake that around to really waterproof the leather, but I haven't seen the need yet.

 

[hpbear101]

When I am forming leather for holsters (and one pig skin ball bag) I just soak them in rubbing alcohol (put the leather in a zip lock bag with alcohol). This makes them nice and pliable, and the alcohol dries off of the pistol so no worry about rust.
Tom

 

[Owen]

Really good advice on what happened ... may show how to make it softer as well

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/leather/hl.html

 

[gmww]

I'm needing a pouch or flask for bird shot. Would this be a good project?

 

[mikemeteor]

thanks fellers.

BrownBear - I was basically doing what you describe, except where you first soaked yours in room temp water, I erred and soaked mine in very hot water -and it did it's shrinking/hardening thing --- I never got to stuff the shot inside to shape it into a flask.

The link supplied by Owen describes nicely what happened - my soak water was way too hot. I kinda polymerized the leather structure and it was history at that point.

On to attempt #2 ...

 

[Robert Egler]

Tonite went to do the soaking and stretching part.
Well, when he says "warm water", he means WARM water, not HOT water.
I put it in a pan of water that had just stopped boiling - :shake: - and the thing immediately shrunk to about 75% it's original size and turned hard as an oak plank.

Yeah, it will get pretty hard if you put it in boiling water. They actually used to make some medieval armor this way, both before steel and iron was used for plate armor, and even after for a lot of people who couldn't afford steel plate armor.

 

[BillinOregon]

That's also how some of the tribes in South America made shrunken heads ... :shocked2:

 

[Black Hand]

That's also how some of the tribes in South America made shrunken heads ... :shocked2:

Sorry, but the heads weren't boiled. They were however filled with heated gravel initially and as they shrunk, the gravel was replaced with hot sand. Sorta shrunk by a controlled heating from inside...

This was after skinning the head (slit cut up the back) and sewing the lips, eyes and slit closed.

 

[BrownBear]

I'm needing a pouch or flask for bird shot. Would this be a good project?

It's an excellent way to carry bird shot. I'd make a couple of smaller flasks rather than one big one, though. Just lots easier to handle and measure. Measure out a pound of shot into a ziploc and look at it to give you an idea of approximately the right dimensions. A pound of shot adds up to lots of shooting, and plenty unless doves or ptarmigan are on the schedule.

While I've been using simple corks for stoppers, I saw recently (somewhere) that a guy made a stopper from antler and hollowed it to double as a shot measure. Now THAT would be really handy in the field. Next project, new stoppers!

 

[rabjr]

I didn't make the stopper, just the shot/ball pouch. Left the stopper up to Rick. But I think it's about the right size. Any bigger, they start to get really heavy.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...ost/711714/hl/shot+pouch/fromsearch/1/#711714

 

[BillinOregon]

Black Hand: By gad I believe you are right. I knew there was hot sand in there somewhere. It has been more than 40 years since I marveled at the shrunken head collection at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on a pier in Seattle ...

 

[Black Hand]

Black Hand: By gad I believe you are right. I knew there was hot sand in there somewhere. It has been more than 40 years since I marveled at the shrunken head collection at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on a pier in Seattle ...

Came across that information somewhere in my literary travels...