Adventures of an Imperfect Man In Search of a Handmade Life
Here is a couple of photos of the new horse. It is made up of mostly recycled and scrap wood. If I am lucky enough to find time from work, I intend to put it to work on some bow staves and spoons later this fall.
The horse is made of pine and fir dimensional lumber. The working portions are red oak, white oak, hickory, and popular. The large bolts are salvaged from an old Ford spare tire holder.
Some new yucca fiber sandals. One narrow leaf yucca, after processing, will easily yield one large pair of sandals and straps. Ethnographically and archaeologically, we know this type was worn in northern Mexico, the American southwest, and California. After wearing these and the plaited style, I think the loose fiber provides more padding for rough terrain and better protection against most thorns.
I still prefer my bison rawhide sandals for running and walking. They provide more protection against sharp rocks and thorns. However, the yucca are extremely quiet, especially on hard ground, and much easier to procure than bison.
This is a link to other shoes and sandals I have experimented with. I will get more up in time.
I have begun adding a few more shoe photos on the footwear page. I am still gathering information about pre-industrial footwear, especially prehistoric types. I hope to make and experiment with these more in the future.
Some new Winter Count photos available here:
https://paleotool.wordpress.com/primitive-gatherings/winter-count-2010/
Finished a new bow as a gift. An unusual Osage orange wood that didn’t have the yellow-orange pigmentation. I am only certain that it is Osage since I cut it down myself. This is the first bow from the tree. It doesn’t seem quite as hard as regular Osage (but still very dense) and took a minor set after a couple days shooting. Otherwise it is a sweet bow. Fast but fairly smooth at a draw weight about 35# @ 28″. Made for a teenage shooter.
Bows are very difficult to photograph but this one shows a nice curve to the tiller that maybe another enthusiast can appreciate.
The stave has a little kink to it and a slight “S” twist end-to-end centering the string at the mid-point. Construction is basically a traditional English target longbow design with a low “D” cross-section.
More photos are now available on the Rabbitstick page within the Primitive Gatherings section of this blog. I will keep adding photos of older events as I get time.
I have returned from Rabbitstick 2009 and will upload some photos of the event. For those who don’t know or just stumbled into this page, this event is a gathering of people who are seriously interested in primitive technology. Its a place to learn, teach, and exchange ideas on subjects not easily found elsewhere. Photos from past Primitive Technology events are posted here.
This is a view of a beautiful skin-on-frame kayak made by Kiliii of Dancing Hawk.
I am double posting this from my professional blog because I think it is really remarkable. A cave find from southeast New Mexico.
From time to time, we receive donations from private individuals. After a few phone calls back and forth, I arranged to meet with someone who wanted to show me a dart she had found in a cave when she was young. We have agreed to accept this remarkable find and intend to display it in the near future. The preservation is beautiful, although it has apparently been handled over many years. There was apparently a spear-thrower (atlatl) found with the dart but it was unfortunately lost in a house fire.
The foreshaft/point is hardwood and fits into a socket. the hind shaft is split in order to contract when seized with sinew (still attached. The barb is lashed on with more sinew. I will put more description and better photos when I get time.
I am all about the DIY. After making a pair of sandals for Winter Count this year (I arrived with only work boots) I got re-interested in making shoes. I have made many moccasins for woods walking, especially when I was into mountain man and F & I re-enactment and decided to make some new ghillies. I like these because there is almost no sewing and I think they are cool. Much of Europe wore a variation of this theme for millenia. I then took it as a veritable sign when I saw this on the Instructables web page: http://www.instructables.com/id/Viking_shoes/. Even though these are listed as Viking style, I think they are commonly associated with their Celtic cousins in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. And they are very nearly the same as Roman carbatina. Essentially, a basic European shoe.
I made a set of these many years ago with a little instruction from an acquaintance and they were great. These new ones are a little more thought out and I will likely make a better pair based on what I learned here. Click photos for larger picture.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 