Questions on Hunting Bags

[peashooterJoe]

I have a couple questions on making a bag. What type of leather (deer,cow) oz weight (amount needed per bag. Source for needles, tandys bend just lulling the waxws thread thru. Do you line it and with leather or cloth, linen? 0 Rings, source, Brass or steel (I've looked around and all I found is brass or nickel plate. Any input is appreciated. Thanks PeashooterJoe

 

[Norskie]

6 oz cowhide is as heavy as you need to go. Amount will depend on your pattern. 3 square feet should be enough unless you need gussets and welts. Buy precut strap until you get good at cutting strapping.
If your needles are bending you need to push the awl in farther to make the dang hole bigger. Don't try to horse your needle through with a pliers. The hole will shrink back up fine unless you've sharpened the sides of your awl too much.
Line if it you want. Some bags were lined, some not. I don't believe the old guys glued the linings. Rubber cement hadn't been invented.
Solid brass rings work fine. If they're plated, burn that off in a fire outside, then dunk the rings in motor oil. Instant fire blued iron.
Check out Zack White Leather in NC. They have a website which pops up on google.
Moose

 

[Spot1540553049]

I would suggest you look into Al Stolhmans book on hand stiching leather, Its a craft guide type of book. Good information with lots of illustrations to follow. Leather Moose has the right idea about the awl hole. A good idea is to get the right size awl for the needle and thread
combination you are using the same as you do when using a machine.
As usual

 

[peashooterJoe]

I want to put a gusset in the bas. The needles ben with hardly any pressure. I have seen brass stiffer tahn these chrome plating is flacking off all over. This leather is stiff as a wash board. I am not new to leather work, I've made knife sheaths, ball bags, gloves,beltsand took several class in leather work.I use the hole punch and this leather wants to crack even whe wet. Do I have bad leather?

 

[Norskie]

Sounds like bad leather, is it veg tan? Would be pink to tan in color. How thick is it? An eighth of an inch is plenty for a bag. Zack White has good steel hand stitching needles. Use an awl, not a hole punch. If you use the awl properly you shouldn't have to use any pressure at all.
Like Spot said, check out Al Stohlman's book, I learned a lot from Al.
Your gusset should be thin leather, especially if you stitch your bag inside out and then wet it and turn it rightside out.
Moose

 

[PreglerD]

What about colouring? I use brain tanned red deer leather and that looks like very light brown (cremy). I take black tea to make it darker. Are there other easy methods?

 

[Norskie]

I believe they usually darkened brain tan with smoke. If tea works then bark extracts should also work. If you have some braintan to experiment on, try walnut hulls. Wait, I just realized I've never seen European walnut hulls, so I do not know how black they are. Can you enlighten me on that score, Kirrmeister?
Moose

 

[peashooterJoe]

It is veg tanned the color yor described, and about + 6 oz. I had Als book years ago and was a one real heavy into leather crafting. I'm afraid that a lot of stuff is forgotten. I've beem making my flint wallets, ball bags, knife sheaths etc. Thought I would try a Longhunters bag, will try more leather from different source. Thanks all. PeashooterJoe..

 

[TANSTAAFL]

These guys are good to deal with, free shipping too.
[url] http://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather[/url]/

 

Line if it you want. Some bags were lined, some not. I don't believe the old guys glued the linings. Rubber cement hadn't been invented.

FWIW - while rubber cement wasn't invented - starch and water were. In discussing this subject with Steve Lalioff, well known student of all things leather and a man who has seen far more originals than most, linings were "usually" glued in (on commercially made bags anyway) using flour (generally rye flour - corn starch or wheat starch avaialable from bookbinding suppliers will work just fine) and water mixed as a paste.....

 

[peashooterJoe]

Was wondering about that, they also had milk,bone, hide glues(oldest invention). You could also use pine pitch and beeswax mix I suppose too.

 

[jasontn]

hey joe heres a couple i made recently the first one is out of 4-5 ounce cowhide made to look distressed its lined with pillow ticking single pocket the flap is a seperate peice of leather so the only binding need was at the mouth of the pouch the second is made from 3-4 ounce pigskin double pocketed also lined with ticking the flap on this one is made of the same piece as the pouchs back so it had to be bound around the edge of the flap as well a guy at our local flea market sells these pigskins average 15-19 sq ft or so for 10 bucks

 

[crockett]

Hey Peashooter Joe: I'll just run through a few ideas. 6 oz leather is pretty heavy for a hunting pouch so forget the lining, it will only addd more bulk. You can soften up the leather by rubbing it over a rounded edge of a board in a shoe shine fashion. On heavy leather the gussett is mandatory so that is a good idea, taper the sides of the gussett up to the flap so the flap fits over the top of the bag. Tandy sells a hole spacing tool that rolls along the leather, such as 7 holes to the inch. This tool doesn't make the holes, it just lays out a good spacing pattern. You use a small hand awl to make the actual holes in the leather. Then use waxed linen thread and put a regular needle on either end of the thread and lace up the bag in a shoe string fashion, going through the same hole with both needles but from opposite sides, this leaves a solid line of stitching on either side(its called a saddle stitch). Sometimes it will be hard to pull the needle through, even though you made a hole with the awl, use pliers if necessary.
Good luck- if you have more questions-ask.

 

[crockett]

On the Rings: I just finished reading Dillen's "Kentucky Rifle" and a few had rings but most did not. Buckles on the strap were pretty common, both center bar and the "D" type buckle with a leather loop for the tag end. The buckles were on the back portion so as to not create a snag when using the horn.

 

[ffffg]

hard to see in my photo, but antler rings are a nice touch, these were probably made out of a pretty hefty elk antler base.. ...... i like a fairly stiff leather for my bags, dont know what weight it is, but they hold their shape, dont sag, etc.. heres a photo of the antler rings ........ [url] http://www.geocities.com/funkyjs/ffffg.html[/url] ..... dave