Strap for new horn

[elee]

Hey all; as per BillinOregon's earlier comment about woven inkle straps for my new horn, I thought you might be interested in the progress I have made in this area. After considerable research, I managed to build an "inkle loom", and locate the the correct linen (flax) material to work with. Also carved the shuttle out of rosewood. Had a few bad go's in loom design and use, but have the strap going pretty good now. It is woven from 16/2 linen. It took 96 warp threads (longitudinal threads)to make a strap 1 5/8" wide. The finished weave is very fine and tight, and I think extemely durable. The color choice is due to the club colors of my brothers college final club, the emblem of which is the bull scrimshawed on the horn. The actual weaving is pretty mindless once you get the hang of it, but setting up (warping) the loom is quite difficult. Design possibilities are endless. Attachment to the horn is the next question...I think I will use about a two foot section of the woven linen, faced and stitched on the ends with leather, leading to thin braided cords of the same linen which can then be spliced to the horn spout and staple...have to see how that works out when I get there. Pretty pleased so far as the materials and methods used are completely in keeping with the period. I don't know if the strap design is correct for the mid-eighteenth century, but I imagine there was an awful lot of variation there! Actually, I now have more time invested in the strap than I do in the horn, but I have learned a tremendous amount in the process. Now it is a fairly simple process to make some really fine durable straps for my hunting bag and other stuff! Here are links to the pics....
http://www.members.aol.com/l82859/pics/inkle1
http://www.members.aol.com/l82859/pics/inkle2
http://www.members.aol.com/l82859/pics/inkle3
http://www.members.aol.com/l82859/pics/inkle4
Good Shooting!
ELee

 

Sorry elee, no colonial entity ever carried his horn on an inkle woven strap!

Inkle weaving entered the U.S. in the early 20th century as part of the arts and crafts movement. 1930s era.

The natives did some finger weaving in various patterns.

That means that most horn straps were leather or finger braided.

:sorry:

If it dosen't matter to you then enjoy your horn and strap. Looks good!

 

[elee]

Oh well Ghost...I guess I stand corrected. From all the posts I have read about inkle woven straps, I just assumed that was the way it would have been done. Thanks for the history lesson!
Good Luck
ELee

 

[Powderhorn]

Elee: Your loom looks great! I have been collecting photos of original woven straps (both horn and bag) and have many that were woven by inkle looms or ones similar, that is a full warped face loom. Inkle looms have been around for centuries; the ones we use today may be slightly different than earlier ones. You are period correct. :m2c:

 

11,700 hits on a google search say it came to the U.S. in the 1930s.

 

Could it be that the straps were shiped here from across the pond long before the looms were?
If someone knew how to make a loom it is possiable they were here before they actually seen one unloaded from a ship.

11,700 hits on a google search say it came to the U.S. in the 1930s.

Did one hit say that or did 11,700 say that?

Woody

 

[elee]

Actually...both Woodhick and Ghost are correct. The inkle loom as we know it today was introduced into this country in the 1930's from England, by Mary M. Atwater. However, there are references to inkle weaving as early as 1545, as well as references to inkle weaving by Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Swift. Did the looms look exactly like the loom I made? Most assuredly not. Most likely they were close faced looms, tape looms, and slot and heddle boxes. BUT the woven straps from those looms were warp faced weave inkles. Given the established fact that this type of weaving was in existence in England and Europe during our colonial period, and the fact that many of our colonial citizens were first generation English or European, I find it highly likely that warp face weave products were in use in America during the colonial period. The fact that almost all our commercial trade was with England and Europe reinforces this hypothesis. No, I cannot prove that strap horns were ever ever made this way...but the fact remains that they could have been. In my humble opinion, this makes warp faced weave products period correct for this application, although perhaps not in common use in that time in this country. It does seem a rather small fact to argue...my intent in posting the pics and discussing inkle weaving was to further the enthusiasm this forum generates about hand making high quality re-creations of colonial products and methods.....not to start a disagreement over a point that really has no definitive answer!
Thanks
ELee

 

[bovey]

More food for thought... Robert Austin's publication "A manual of Fingerweaving" has an interesting discussion indicating that warpface fingerweaving was introduced by European and English trading companies. Unfortunately my browser (Mozilla) is "Photoshop Elements" ignorant... I bet the photos look great. One of the problems with being unconventional I guess
:winking:

 

I'm sure someone was weaving narrow stripping on a loom somewhere, even if it was not an inkle lomm as we know it today.

Dodridge speaks of "weaving sashes and garters" in his writtings and speaks of looms being common, even on the frontier.

 

[Powderhorn]

Ghost: I believe that there were many different types of woven fabric straps available in the 18th century. Finger woven, corded, commercial tapes and listings, and warped face. Whether or not you call warped face weaves inkle or not is moot. I have photos of all of these different types. My computer literacy is low and I have not yet learned to attach photos yet. Look at THE ENGRAVED POWDER HORN by Jim Dressler . Check out page #39 and you will see a strap that was woven on a full warped face loom.It is dated on the strap 1771. My wife has woven and sold lots of straps over the last few years and we are interested in early fabrics. I didn't mean to be argumenitive. eace:

 

[Slamfire]

11,700 hits on a google search say it came to the U.S. in the 1930s.

How long did it take ye to count 'em? :master:

 

Slamfire,

Have you ever done a Google search?

If so, the next time take a look at the top of the page and it will tell you how many hit it found.

Woody

 

[Slamfire]

Yes it says how many hits, but not how many said 1930 or later vs how many said earlier. eace:

 

[Jimrogers]

I found some burlap webbing used by furniture makers and edged it with cloth and sewed leather inserts at each end to put thongs through to attach the horn with.

 

[Kaw Trooper]

I found some burlap webbing used by furniture makers and edged it with cloth and sewed leather inserts at each end to put thongs through to attach the horn with.

I bet burlap was used often because of it's availability. It might not of lasted as long as a leather strap, but from my experience it has to be much more comfortable than leather.

 

[shmrck1]

Slamfire,
:agree: sometimes it takes a lot of searching to find
what you are looking for, but it is usually there on
google if you keep re-defineing the search :imo:
snake-eyes :thumbsup:

 

[Slamfire]

I appreciate the fact that y'all are tryin' to help me, but I were pokin fun at Ghost. He committed the sin of assumin' that all 11,700 hits supported his interpretation. Of course he doesn't know that because he hasn't had the time to read all of them. You can tell when I'm bein' facicious by checkin the smilies at the end of the post. :nono: This one isn't a funny one it means I'm bein' serious.