Wooden Pack Frame

~ George Crawford ~ 18 Comments

One of many projects happening around here this yule-tide season.  A new classic-style rucksack is being sewn, much leatherwork is occurring, and this pack frame is being finished.  The wood is shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) made from a bowstave section and some other scrap from the pile.  All was split before finishing so the grain is perfectly aligned with the lumber.  This made for easy steam bending.  As I was working from many examples but no actual plan, there was a lot of mock-up and tweaking of the design to fit my size and intended needs.  There’s no metal in the construction.  The freight bar and cross members are half-lapped and lashed with rawhide.  The bar is also pegged to prevent slipping under load.  More to come as it gets finished and field tested.

packframe

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Here’s a few older frames I could find around the ‘net:

gamepackframe2alaskanpackboard

packboard2

DSCF4607

úkata

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

An interesting and excellent business idea. Maybe this will help keep the huaracheros’ tradition alive.

huaracheblog's avatarHuarache Blog

For the past 3 years Huarache Blog has been documenting and promoting the craft of Mexican Huarache footwear. This year I will also be developing a specialty e-trade business to offer more immediate support to the craft of Huaraches.

ukata coming soon WP

Introducing úkata, an online Huaracheria selling only the best Huaraches in Mexico. Rare designs crafted by the most talented Huaracheros. Timeless Huarache styles that have been made the same way by the artisan and his family for generations. Footwear with a low environmental impact, made with naturally processed and recycled materials.

Click back in February for a more detailed post on úkata and to visit the online store.

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Durante los últimos 3 años Blog Huarache ha estado documentando y promoviendo la artesanía de los Huaraches Mexicanos. Este año voy iniciar un negocio de comercio internet para ofrecer un apoyo más inmediato a los Huaracheros y a la artesanía de los Huaraches Mexicanos.

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30,000 year old mammoth

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

A couple of months ago, Yevgeny Salinder, an 11 year old Russian boy, discovered a 30,000 year old mammoth thawing from the permafrost in the arctic Krasnoyarsk region. I have been hoping to hear more about this remarkable find but, of course, these things take time.

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There is already some important information coming out about this find, including the discovery of large fat storage in the form of a hump on the mammoth’s back, confirming images from the Pleistocene depicting the humped back.  Previously the hump in the art work was attributed to large thoracic spines but now it seems to be more camel-like soft tissue.  Intact organs should tell us more about the animal and it’s environment than we have known.  As the Arctic ice recedes, it seems we will find more and more of these specimens being exposed.

Links to this story can be found here:

http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/04-10-2012/122353-mammoth_remains_found-0/

http://themoscownews.com/russia/20121004/190314709.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/zhenya-mammoth-find-russia_n_1940791.html?utm_hp_ref=unearthed

The Shoemaker

~ George Crawford ~ 4 Comments

the-shoemaker_follower-of-david-teniers-ii_1800

A real treat from the Sifting the Past blog.  It is worth checking out if you are interested in researching the past through images of the period just prior to mass industrialization.  The Townsend’s have a couple excellent websites including an interesting 18th century cooking blog with videos.  There is so much in this painting that describes the time and the craft of the cordwainer.  There is a palm awl and lasting pinchers in the lower right, the ever critical strap for holding the shoe while sewing, the sewer’s palm for pulling tight the lock stitch, as well as the hammer, mallet, and knife of the trade.  He is holding the sole awl in his left hand.  The basket on the work bench contains a great bone tool made from a metapodial bone as so often found prior to the 20th century when craftsmen made their own tools.  I want my shop to look this great sometime soon.