Brass tacks in mountainman sheaths

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Apr 14, 2008
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Does anyone know now to bend the steel shank back into the leather when making one of these sheaths so they will look consistent. I have heard that you can anneal them with the brass stuck in cardboard then cover the head with water and the shank out of the water then heat it with a torch to soften. Haven"t had much luck. Regards, Loosearrow
 
Paging Chuck! Chuck, you have a call on line one!

Hopefully he will be around soon, he is the one to answer this one. :)
 
I don't crimp them, the ends are peened like most of the originals were. To do it properly you need a piece of brass flatstock say 2-3" wide by 3/4-1" thick by at leat 8" long (the wider and longer the better) to use as an anvil, a double thick piece of the rubber poundo board or similar, a light weight ball pein hammer, and a pair of end cutters ground so that the face is flat.
Lay out your pattern - I just sketch the lines in with either a red mini ball pen or a soft lead pencil. For spacing I put in a few of the major points and then eye ball to fill in the pattern.
Once the pattern is layed out use a leather awl to start the hole - BTW the leather needs to be a GOOD grade of veg tan and although I have used thinner I recommend it be least harness weight, 8/10 or 10/12 oz with a nice tight grain. Drive in three of four tacks at a time and then turn the piece over with the heads on your brass "anvil" - the anvil should be mounted on a heavy piece of wood or layed over a nice firm piece of poundo board. This cuts down on noise and also keeps it in place. Take your end cutters and clip the shank off flush with the surface of the leather. Then using the flat face of the hammer tap LIGHTLY on the shank until you flatten out the center ridge left by the cutters. Then using the ball end tap a few times to flare the end of the shank and drive it slightly below the surface. Run your hand over the piece and make sure the shank is not poking out. Turn the piece over and make sure the tack heads feel solid - no matter how careful you are some shanks will want to bend side wise - if they do yank em out and do it over. Still no matter what over time and with much uses some tacks will pop out - most original pieces are missing a few tacks here and there so it just makes the piece more authentic!
This sounds more complicated than it is and it goes pretty fast once you get the rhythm

Personally I am starting to use the solid brass tacks for this type, not only is more historically documented for this type work, from what info I have garnered steel shank tacks weren't used until some time around 1870 or so, and even after that the solid brass was the most used. They are expensive but well worth the extra cost.
Currently the ONLY supplier I know of, of solid cast brass (actually bronze), square shank tacks is the Trunk Shoppe www.thetrunkshoppe.com. They are not cheap - starting price is $0.45 each - but they are well worth it when one wants to be historically correct to the nth degree. A word of caution: the cast tacks are SOFT - so one must pre-drill (I use an awl and punch a hole). The rough square shanks hold very well.

some originals..on the right you can see the back side and how they are peened rather then crimped
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Thank you Chuck! I have admired your work and have read your posts on other forums for a number of years now. Don't know how you have the time, but thank you for your efforts to help others. Regards, Loosearrow
 
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