Trad Gang
Topic Archives => Build Alongs => Topic started by: adeeden on November 24, 2006, 09:57:00 AM
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Well, I have been wanting to do this for a while now after following along on other build-a-longs and have finally got some free time to get this started.
Let me start off by stating that I am far from an expert on this but have made several of these and I'll do my best to explain everything in detail. This will be my first build-a-long so please be patient!
This will be a Lakota or plains style quiver that will hold about 5 arrows comfortably. As for materials I'll be using some leather about 1/16" thick and 30" by 16" for the body, Contact cement, Artifical sinew, small pieces of tooling leather for reinforcement, and Various beads and teeth for Decoration.
First off cut a 30" long by 16" high piece of leather. Use a carpenters square to keep the corners square!
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong002.jpg)
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I'm looking forward to this adeeden. I have made one backquiver that turned out pretty good. So I am far from an expert. Is 1/16" leather what they would call 6 oz.? or would it be lighter?
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Now that the body is cut out, we need to mark a line 4 inches up from the bottom of the 30" side. Make sure you put this line on the rough side of the leather. And run it the entire length and just make it light enough so that you can easily see it. I'm going to mark my lines a little darker then normal so they will be easier to see in the pictures. Use that carpenters square again and it will be an easy task! I'm doing this line in blue ink.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong003.jpg)
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Snag,
I am not sure how leather is measured in ounces. I just use thickness for reference! Most any thin leather will work for this project This is leather I picked up from a rummage sale But it is real close to the same thickness of deerskin. But I suspect That 6 ounce would be pretty thick.
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Next were going to cut out our fur trim. This will be 12" wide and 7 inches long. The hair needs to run in the 7" direction! (head of animal at one end and tail of animal at the other) In order for it to lay right when the quivers finished. I'm using faux fur for this one which is a synthetic fur. It can be bought at Wal-Mart or most craft stores for just a couple bucks. It comes in a variety of colors but I choose a dark brown for this particular project. Real fur works just as well I just didn't have anything suitable at the moment. Once again use that square! Heres the fur cut to shape.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong004.jpg)
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Nice start Dennis, here's a chart thats helpful when ordering leather.
http://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/conversions.html
Thanks for takeing the time for this buildalong, I know they are alot of work.
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Now that we have our fur cut out we need to mark our leather again to position it. On the left side of our quiver body (for a right handed quiver) measure in 4 inches at the top and 4 inches at the blue line we made earlier. Use your square and mark a line connecting the marks top to bottom. I did this line in red.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong007.jpg)
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Dano, Thats a great link thanks! So it appears this is around the 3 1/2 oz range.
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Now that we have our line laid out it is time to apply some contact cement in the rectangle created by the red line we just made. I use the loctite brand contact cement it's available at most craft stores. First apply a goad coat of contact cement in our rectangle. and let it set for about 5 minutes.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong008.jpg)
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After the contact cement has set for around five minutes apply the fur in the rectangle. There will be 4 inches on the leather and 3 inches hanging off the side. The fur should run towards the quiver! Be careful doing this as this contact cement is almost an instant bond (similar to super glue). So make sure it goes on nice and even becuase your only getting one shot at this. Run your hand over it a few times with a little pressure to insure theres good contact everywhere. Then I like to run a light bead of duco around the inside edge. It doesn't take much. Let this sit and dry for 20-30 minutes.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong009.jpg)
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After this has dried, Flip the entire piece over. Apply a good coat of contact cement to the fur that is hanging over the quiver let it set 5 minutes and then fold it back on to the quiver. Once again position it carefully as you'll only get one chance! Apply a little pressure with the palm of your hand to make sure you have good contact everywhere. Let this dry for 30 minutes.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong011.jpg)
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Now that we have attached the trim and let it dry, we need to flip the whole piece over again to attach the tooling leather. This leather is quite a bit thicker then our body leather at 1/8" and will be inside the foot and bottom of our quiver to protect us from those scary sharp broadheads. The first piece we need to cut will be 12" tall and 5" wide. It will be on the opposite end of the quiver from the fur. The next piece will need to be cut 1" wide and 22" long. It will go just above the blue line we made earlier. Apply contact cement to both pieces let it set for 5 minutes then line up and settle them in position. use your hand to smooth them out and apply a little pressure for good contact. Heres the first piece applied.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong012.jpg)
And heres the second applied.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong013.jpg)
Tooling leather can be picked up for around $3 for small scrap pieces at most craft stores. This came from hobby lobby I beleave. Let this set up for 20 minutes or so.
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Snagg....
1/16 leather would be about 2-3 oz. 5-6 oz is about 1/8....
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Now we need to make a line 1" in from the edge (back) of the bigger piece of tooling leather. Use a good straight egde to make the line. Then apply a good coat of contact cement along the area and on the 1" piece along the bottom. Give it 5 minutes to get tacky then carefully fold the top of the quiver down to the bottom edge of the 1" piece and along the back where you applied the cement. Go slow This is kinda tricky to line up and you will only have one shot at it! use your hand and run it along the glue area to make sure you have good contact. Let this set for 20 minutes or so. Here it is folded over.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong014.jpg)
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After the cement has set up it's time to punch the holes for the stictching. I use some high tech equipment here (a hammer and small nail). Punch holes about 1/8" up from the bottom edge (outside edge)of the tooling leather I space them at about 1/4". Then put another row 1/4" above the first. Keep them as equal as possible. This needs done on the back as well. I have found that when punching the holes if I place a piece of cardboard under them it is much easier to get the nail out! I also do this on a piece of plywood so I don't accidently put nail marks in something I shouldn't! (like the kitchen table!)
Heres the holes I am punching.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong015.jpg)
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While punching holes I realized that I messed up a bit! I forgot to put a piece on the back of the quiver to cut for fringe! This should have been done after the tooling leather was glued in and before folding the quiver over. I went ahead and added it to the back of the quiver instead in this case. It won't look as good but it will be better then leaving this out so we'll see how it works out. I simply put it on with contact cement and we'll stitch over it when we do the edges. heres a picture with the holes punched and back piece for fringe added. It is 4" long and 6" wide for reference.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong016.jpg)
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Now it is time for the stitching. I'm using artifical sinew for this and a large needle with a big eye. Cut a piece of sinew anout 16 feet long. Thread it through the needle and double it up tying a knot on the thread end. This should leave you with a legnth of 8 feet or so. Now if you look at the last picture you want to start the stitch on the bottom left hand corner. Bring the needle through the back hole closest to the edge. Then from the top take the needle through the top 2nd hole so it is at an angle. Then back to the edge hole and repeat the entire lenght. Here's a picture that will probably explain it easier than I can with words. Heres the front view of it.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong017.jpg)
And here is a view fdrom the back.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong021.jpg)
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When you reach the end hole simply tie the sinew back to the last stitch to hold it in place. I put a drop of suerglue on the knot to be sure they don't come undone.
Then cut another piece of sinew the same legnth as before for the next stitch. Start it on the hole above where you started the first, and follow the opposite pattern as before to make a nice cross stitch. It should look like this from the front.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong020.jpg)
And from the back.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong021.jpg)
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When I finish the stitching and have glued the knots. I go ahead and give the leather a good rub down with mink oil. I have found this is the easiest place to do it. Because after the fringe is cut it's a pain to do. Heres a shot of the final stitching and getting ready to be oiled up.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong022.jpg)
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Next i cut the fringe. I prefer to do this with a box cutter as a utility knife blocks my view of the leather (make sure you have a new blade). I try to cut the fringe width between 1/8" and 1/4". Heres the begining of the cut. This takes awhile.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong023.jpg)
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The fringe is cut, next we move to the strap notches. Here is a picture of it so far.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong.jpg)
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Now for the strap notches, I measure in 5 1/2" from each end. Here I put a small mark. Then Measure 2 inches to the inside of each mark and put another mark, Measure down 1/2" Connect your marks and cut this area out. This will leave room for our 2" strap later on. Punch a single row of holes along side the long side of the cut, and stitch it up. I start from the back go through the leather then back over the edge and come through the back again. I also put a drop of duco on the knots so they don't come untied.
It should be similar to this.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong001-1.jpg)
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Next take a 3/8 dowwel rod or an arrow shaft and stain it and taper one end. Insert the rod inside the quiver going above the stitches you just put in. This is a pretty snug fit but twist it as you slide it in and it will go. Once it is in all the way, Mark the end sticking out even with the fur trim. Then slide it back out a couple inches, cut the dowell at the mark then slide it back in.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong002-1.jpg)
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Next I'm putting a row of black hairpipe beads (1") and some buffalo teeth on. I just punch the holes as I lay these out so that it all matches up. And sew them on with artificial sinew.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong003-1.jpg)
Tomorrow I'll make a strap for it and put a few finishing touches on. Were almost there!
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Nice work. Keep it comming.
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Really impressive.
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Now, it is time to begin cutting pieces for the strap. As I do not have any pieces long enough to make the strap from one single piece I'm going to cut several pieces and splice them together. These will also be doubled up in thickness. I like a strap around 68" long, and 1 1/2" wide. Here are the pieces cut out.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong004-1.jpg)
next apply contact cement to the pieces (on the back side) and start putting them together. I normaly overlap the pieces at least 6" when doing this. Make sure the finished side of the leather is facing out on both sides!. Once thats done let it dry for a bit then punch a single row of holes about 1/8" in from the edge around the whole thing. Then take your artifical sinew and begin stitching it up. Just run your needle through the holes on one side then go over the edge and back through the same side you started on. Make sure you also stitch across the spliced areas! You can use a cross stitch for that to make it look nice. Once again put a drop of glue on all the knots. Heres a picture of it glued up and stitched.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong006-1.jpg)
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Now slide it through the notches we cut on the quiver going under our dowell stiffening rod. Go through the front first so that the end is hid behind the main strap. Then punch a double row of holes and cross stitch it together. Repeat for the other end.
Here's a close up of the strap going on the quiver and holes being punched.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong007-1.jpg)
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And here it is with our strap attached. and a few beads added to the fringe, I put these about every 4 or 5 inches because I don't want them to be able to touch each other and rattle. Next we put on a few finishing touches!
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong008-1.jpg)
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Now for a few finishing touches. First I am going to Attach an obsidian head I knapped to each end of the strap. I simply punched a couple holes and ran sinew around the head. I knapped these on thanksgiving for just this purpose there a nice mahogany with black flake. Then we will run a row of 1" black hairpipe beads along the legnth of the strap with 1" spaces inbetween. And last but not least, I attached a pair of goose wing feathers along the body with a legnth os artifical sinew! This picture is of the beads and head on one end of the strap.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong010-1.jpg)
And here is our finished quiver with 4 arrows inside. Theres room for maybe 5 max.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong009-1.jpg)
one more taken outside with the help of my 5 year old Arron where the lights better!
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/buildalong011-1.jpg)
All thats left is to drop this in the mail heading for a fellow tradganger, Houska.
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Adeeden, I asked for this build-along and I want you to know that I appreciate it very much. I'll be saving this in my own archives, and intend to print it out for more study. I fully realize how much work goes into a project like this, and you have done this one in exemplary fashion. Thank you again. - Roy.
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This was fantastic. Thank you very much for doing this.
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The quiver looks great, I can't wait to give it a try. It wil be perfect for my small game hunts I have planned for after deer season. I will send you some photos of the hunts. Once again thanks and I will be sending you a gift for this gift.
Take care and thanks for going above and beyond what was expected.
Matt Houska
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Matt,
I'll get it in the mail on Monday, And thanks for the kind words!
Adeeden
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Where did you get your supplies like the buffalo teeth and the beads?
Nice quiver.
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Talondale,
I get my beads from netbeads.com The buffalo teeth I got in trade for some knapping supplies, but if you do a search online there pretty easy to find. Also most craftstores (Hobby lobby) carry big assortments of beads.
Adeeden
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where do you get leather like this, ZI checked out some craft stores but they didnt have anything? Mike
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Mike, I got mine from a local upholsterer. He sold me his "scraps" for $10 and I had enough to do two quivers.