about those flasks again... would chrome tan leather work alright for them? As I look around, its all I have 
What I've made today
- Thread starter Eric_Methven
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about those flasks again... would chrome tan leather work alright for them? As I look around, its all I have
No, is the simple answer. Chrome tan won't stretch, or even wet properly. It certainly doesn't soak up wax. It needs to be veg tan.
Eric
Hiya Eric
Can I pick your brain for a minate
I'm really interested in those bottles, I'm assuming that you stich them as two flat bits and then soak them and fill with something like sand to shape them...am I right so far ?
So, how do you wax them, do you pour wax inside, on the out side or (as one of your posts implies) stick them in a big bucket of molten wax?
How much do they hold BTW (and can I blag a pattern ?)
Can I pick your brain for a minate
I'm really interested in those bottles, I'm assuming that you stich them as two flat bits and then soak them and fill with something like sand to shape them...am I right so far ?
So, how do you wax them, do you pour wax inside, on the out side or (as one of your posts implies) stick them in a big bucket of molten wax?
How much do they hold BTW (and can I blag a pattern ?)
Yup,
Yup,
Nope,
Yup,
1 ltr,
Yup.
OK, seriously. I stitch them as two flat bits. Then I wet them till they go floppy (that means they are stretchy as well). Then I open the neck and pour barley or wheat in. When the barley fills to the neck, I put my mouth over the opening and blow. This sort of inflates it and the barley drops down into the void. When it gets about half full, I start whacking it down with a bit of dowel. I keep filling it with barley and keep ramming it in and the sides swell right out. I keep doing this until I can ram no more barley in. I fit a wine cork into the opening to keep it round in shape.
Then I take it into the living room and prop it up on the mantle piece to dry. This is an overnight operation and maybe well into the next day too.
When it is completely dry, I remove the cork and tip the barley out. I use a spoke from a bicycle wheel to poke into the corners because some of the barley that was in contact with the wet leather will be stuck there. Once I have all of the loose barley out, I drop in half a dozen small metal nuts, place my thumb over the opening and shake it like I'm shaking a cocktail. The nuts knock all the stuck on barley from the sides.
Tip out the barley and the nuts, and pop the nuts back in and shake again. Keep doing this until there's only nuts falling out.
OK, at this stage I have a flask, but it's not waterproof. If it gets wet, it'll go floppy again.
I get a bit double boiler and put water in the bottom part. It gets put on to boil. The top part is full of beeswax (about £200 worth). When the boiling water pan has melted the wax completely, I know that the wax will be hot enough to soak into the leather. If it is not hot enough, the wax just coats the leather in a yellow goo. Too hot and it will cook the leather and make it shrivel up. Using the double boiler means the wax can never get hotter than boiling water, which is what you want.
I tie a bit of twine through one of the holes in the flask and dunk it in the wax bath, completely immersing it. The leather will expel air bubbles as it soaks up the wax. Once the bubbles have stopped I know the flask can come out. I lift it out carefully by the twine and tip it so the wax inside drains out. At this point it is very hot and shiney. I take a few sheets of kitchen towel off the roll and give the flask a gentle rub down to remove the excess way. Remember the flask will still be soft at this stage, so don't press too hard with the towels or you'll collapse it.
Once it has cooled, and the wax has hardened, the flask will be hard as iron (almost). Run some cold water into it and check for drips. Sometimes you get a few drips from individual stitch holes - that's normal. Tip the water out and upturn the flask for a couple of minutes to drain out the water.
Take a small cup, or an old ladle and pour a small amount of hot wax into the mouth of the flask. As soon as the wax hits the cold innards it will start to set, so rock the flask from side to side so the setting wax will run around the stitch line making a watertight seal.
Then when it's good and cold, take a boot brush and give it a good brushing to bring up a shine. Attach a carrying strap, make a plug for the mouth and that's it.
Hope that was useful.
I'll sort out a pattern as a PDF so you can print it straight out onto A4 paper at the right scale and post the link in a new post.
Eric
This is different then the paleo planet version, which involves the oven... why the change?? and Im fairly excited for a pattern, so thanks muchly!
Lovely work Eric. Very intricate looking those peasant shoes ... you sure you didnt let the elves finish them off for you!! lol
The oven is what I used before I bought the big double boiler. A one off can be done in the oven, no problem. But when you are making four or five at a time, you get some grief from 'er indoors if you hog the oven for hours on end - and if you manage to spill wax onto the bottom of the oven - arghhhhh!
That's why the change.
Eric
I'm not allowed to let the elves finish them. It'd be a breach of elf and safety rules.
Eric
Eric,
those boots are absolutely great. I'm trying to work out how the soles go together though. Are the uppers sewn onto the first sole layer with the stitching on the outside or the inside? How do you then go about attaching the extra sole layers? Do they get sewn through?
Also, is the line of stitching down to the toe purely cosmetic?
cheers,
M
those boots are absolutely great. I'm trying to work out how the soles go together though. Are the uppers sewn onto the first sole layer with the stitching on the outside or the inside? How do you then go about attaching the extra sole layers? Do they get sewn through?
Also, is the line of stitching down to the toe purely cosmetic?
cheers,
M
Absolutely love the boots mate first rate ! did you make the pattern up or did you have something to copy ?wouldnt mind having a go at some if only we had dry enough weather not to ruin them!!
The uppers are sewn onto the sole inside out then turned right side out. The two outer sole layers are then glued on to the inner sole with impact adhesive, put on a cobbler's last and hit with a big hammer to make the bond. They won't come off. The stitching down the toe is cosmetic. The originals I copied from were centre stitched and would have been in two parts but the client didn't want that.
You can avoid ruining them by waterproofing the leather to some extent. Castor oil works, as does neets foot and beeswax 50/50. There will always be water getting in, it was just a price you paid in times past, but by oiling the leather it helps stop them going as soft and floppy as when you don't oil them. Give it a go. The main advantage of wearing these types of footwear in damp conditions is that they quickly mould to the shape of your foot and become extremely comfortable.
Eric
Eric, yesterday I spent the afternoon at an exhibition of work by Alfons Mucha and much to my surprise I noticed that one of his models is wearing a pair of your shoes!
Full image here.
Full image here.
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