Making stuff

[Rock Home Isle]

@smo You are so much fun.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

The list of things I had made is way shorter than the list of stuff I have made.

My frock & breeches I bought the patterns, and cloth, but had a seamstress sew them up.
My belt bag is an English flower bag, I bought from a cobbler in Londonary.
The powder horn a passed friend gave me. So I never made one.
Did not make my hawk & knife either, someone made much better ones than I ever could.

Other than that, Ive made everything else.

 

[smo]

Thanks RHI..
I try too have a good time!

 

[Dude]

Making your own stuff is only cheaper if you don't value your own time very much.

I disagree. There are things more valuable than money, and that's what is referred to here. Personal satisfaction is one, and can't be bought at any price.

Reminds me of a quote that went something like "Any time spent doing something that makes you happy isn't wasted."

 

[smo]

I mainly work in things while watching tv…
At least I’m only wasting half my time.

 

[Timber Wolf]

I mainly work in things while watching tv…
At least I’m only wasting half my time.

Which half? ; )

 

[user 49399]

I just traded away some short (ball) starters. But, I was piddling in the garage this morning, saw some odds and ends and thought, these would make a nice short starter.

 

[DixieTexian]

I disagree. There are things more valuable than money, and that's what is referred to here. Personal satisfaction is one, and can't be bought at any price.

Reminds me of a quote that went something like "Any time spent doing something that makes you happy isn't wasted."

I agree with you, but I think you kinda missed the point of what I was saying. With the amount of time I spend making stuff, there is no way I could sell it and make a decent hourly wage. So I make it for myself and maybe some friends or family for the reasons you listed.

Some parts for a hunting bag I am working on. Between coming up with the design and putting everything together I will probably have 20 hours in it by the time I am done. I make over $60 an hour on overtime, so there is no way I would make something like this to sell for the going rate instead of just picking up an extra shift.

 

[Dude]

I agree with you, but I think you kinda missed the point of what I was saying. With the amount of time I spend making stuff, there is no way I could sell it and make a decent hourly wage. So I make it for myself and maybe some friends or family for the reasons you listed.

Oh, but I do understand. Completely! I've done the same my whole life. I'll spend hours figuring out how to take some broken thing apart, fix it, then put it back together better than new, when a replacement might cost five or ten bucks. Rather than 'wasting time' on a puzzle, I've wasted it on something that was actually useful. LOL

Useful or not, it was the challenge and the creative juices that make it worthwhile.

 

[appalichian hunter]

I have made horns, knives, bags, rifle tools and that sort of thing. some clothing, winter mittens, canadian hats, leggins both wool and leather ones, mocs, diamond shelter, most items for the fire pit cooking, that sort of thing. Thought about building a rifle gun. For me its these type of things that are a part of the craft, sold a few things but mostly gift items to fellow shooters and blanket shoot prizes.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Made this quickie ‘hawk cover a couple of evenings ago.

Took me less than a hour and that includes getting the holes in the wrong place and redoing them. The material was leather from a Hobby Lobby scrap bundle and latigo lace. Did I “make” money making this? Heck no, but then I did not feel like working when I was making this, I felt like making a hawk cover.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Threads like this are intimidating…cuz I get to show the whole community my lack of skill. One of the most fulfilling facets of this hobby is making and creating. I’ve made several types of shooting bags. I love making my own powder horns. I’ve made several knives…a shooting frock (I really like my shooting frock, proud of that one. I wore it to my daughter’s wedding)…shirts, etc.

This is my first shooting bag that is intended for smoothbore. I made templates of all the parts, took the better part of 3 weeks of drawing, cutting…throwing it away and starting over…before this bag was finally made.

Lashed to the front end attachment of the shoulder strap is my hunting knife, that serves double duty as a patch knife.

It has an attached powder horn, filled with 2fg. High on the front strap of the powder horn is my pick, probably one of my most important tools when shooting a flintlock.

On the thongs that hang down from the powder horn, I’ll attach a powder measure/shot measure. I have several for each gauge, as I have used these guns to hunt everything from rabbits, squirrels, upland game, geese, up to deer & elk.

My intent was to make the bag out of canvas, use it for a couple years, then update my templates with changes and make a final version out of leather. I have been hunting with this bag for going on 12 years, and I now have 4 of these canvas smoothbore bags, one for each gauge of smoothbore, and a loner bag.

I have the leather, but I just have yet to get around to making the leather version of this shooting bag.

There is a main compartment, and two large pockets and a skinny middle pocket, sewn into the back panel.

The right pocket has my flint wallet. The skinny middle pocket holds an adjustable brass powder measure. The left pocket holds ear plugs, and tools for taking the gun & lock apart.

The main compartment holds my shot-snake, extra tools and lock parts, & a muslin cloth for wiping sweat or wiping the frizzen and the pan.

The front of the pouch has a flap that covers 3 pockets on the front panel. The right pocket has heavy nitro cards, the center pocket has an Altoids Tin with fibre wads soaked in moose milk, the left pocket has overshot cards. Once I added these front pockets, to separate the wadding components, I went from fumbling in the main compartment, to loading without looking…really big deal when doves are zipping in, geese are turning towards your set, or quail are thick like a field of grasshoppers.

 

[DixieTexian]

(I really like my shooting frock, proud of that one. I wore it to my daughter’s wedding)

Lol, you must live in a different world than I do. Nice work on the hunting pouch, BTW. Looks like something very functional and keeping with traditional lines.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Lol, you must live in a different world than I do. Nice work on the hunting pouch, BTW. Looks like something very functional and keeping with traditional lines.

Yeah…that is different. I’ll admit.

I had just finished making the shooting frock, and it was pristine. My daughter knows my love of history & muzzleloading…so she asked me to wear it, when I walked her down the isle. I was surprised…but happy to do so.

Good memories….

 

[smo]

Great looking bag RHI

 

[Willy]

I got the urge to make a stick dulcimer, but by the time I was almost done with it, it'd got mixed up with a gitfiddle resulting in this. Minutes after I took this pic, it fell out of the chair and broke the tuner head. I did get it fixed though and it plays nice although it's more a 3 string baritone guitar now. (If you could call my playing nice) I'm working on the second one now along with a few other projects.

 

[user 49399]

I don’t know if Simon Kenton or Jim Bridger had one, but I do. Made this starter from some scrap hickory and cedar in just a few minutes.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Here’s my 1st attempt at Scrimshaw on a powder horn.

The images that I etched into the horn are images that have special meaning to me. I read the journals of Lewis & Clark, and I was impressed by the entries on the American Grizzly…so yeah, here’s my grizzly.

My most memorable moments out in the field, have been while hunting Elk. These majestic animals are captivating.

I made this horn in my mid-twenties. It’s a big horn, a friend gave the horn to me…he had wanted to make a powder horn from it, and never did. Probably the 3rd or 4th horn that I made…fit is rough. The wood is cherry, from a tree that grew on the home place, when I was a kid.

Here’s the first horn I ever made. I was 14 or 15…the push button is on the wrong side, I’m right handed, and it’s more of a left handed push button. It worked for many decades…still does.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Rock Home Isle, I like your horns. I do have one suggestion to make them better. To be sure, the horn valves are not period correct, but I do like them for their utility. But ditch the measuring spouts and get a pouring spout like this one from Track of the Wolf. I use them when I am filling my volume measure. I think the pouring spout looks better than the measuring spouts and I am not likely to be holding a handful of powder when pouring the load into the muzzle of a just shot rifle.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/70/1/SP-000
This is the pouring spout in use. Yeah, I wove the strap too. Jute thread.

 

[Capnball]

I've said on here I don't take stuff into the wilderness with my muzzleloader that wasn't available "back then" for a mountain man or woodsman. No plastic, batteries, modern stuff in general. Of course I didn't mean stuff that would be foolish to leave behind like a phone or first aid stuff.
And stuff I can conceal in or behind period cover. So I make stuff that does not look like I bought it at Cabelas. Hatchet and knife sheaths, round ball bags, etc. Today I made a simple case for my Leather man multitool. On .y belt it looks period but is oh so useful during an outing. Looky. It fits tight but can easily be retrieved by pulling the lanyard. Fake rabbit fur clouds over a handmade sheath.

Yeah, most of what I got I either made or was gifted to me. I'm so-so period correct. I've got a couple Damascus blades (both look gorgeous and cut like a razor) but I know they didn't exist back in 18th or 19th centuries. Not to a mountain man or colonialist anyways. I also added some things I just think are smart ideas like brass powder measure to the horn I made. Some embellishments to my ball flask etc