Action Photos

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

Just a quick follow-up from yesterday’s post…

The sporran is complete and ready to go so, of course, I had to model it to show the size and wearability.

Here is the Maker in his workshop sporting the new bag.  I didn’t bother to “kilt up” but that is the belt I frequently wear when kilted.  Overall, this design is great and I’ll probably start making a few more right away.  I like this one better than my own day sporran so I guess I’ll need to make one for myself as well.  I should note that a truly traditional sporran would be ornamented with leather or hair tassels.  I pondered this addition, but it isn’t really my style.  Maybe on the next one.

Sporran in Progress

~ George Crawford ~ 3 Comments

I have been wanting to make a few sporrans based on the classic 18th century style.  This type, often referred to as a Rob Roy style, is a fairly simple, single pocket design that can have a number of variations.  The one I’m making here is from 6 oz full-grain hide and should outlive it’s owner, even under hard use.  A versatile belt pouch like this was originally intended to be worn with kilt or trousers as built-in tailored pockets are a rarity in history.

At 6.5 inches wide by 6 inches tall it can hold a fairly complete fire and survival kit in a handy position on almost any belt.

As with most of my leatherwork, this bag is hand sewn using a double-needle saddle stitch for strength and longevity.

The dye is wet in these photos, looking a bit uneven, so I’ll try to shoot a few more in better light when the weather improves.

The bellows design I chose stays flat but will expand to fit more gear as needed.  Look for a follow-up soon.  It is listed on my Etsy page so it will, hopefully, be finding a new owner in the near future.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LostWorldCrafts

Ida Tarbell says:

~ George Crawford ~ 1 Comment

Here is a great and insightful quote from over on Musclehead’s blog by Ida Tarbel.
“Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers of the progressive era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and pioneered investigative journalism.”

The Muscleheaded Blog's avatarThe Müscleheaded Blog

“If it has taught us anything, it is that our present law-makers, as a body, are ignorant, corrupt and unprincipled; that the majority of them are, directly or indirectly, under the control of the very monopolies against whose acts we have been seeking relief.”

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A Concise History of Home Distillery

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I’m sharing this little introduction to home distilling. If you’ve never thought about this before, it may be worth looking into. Enjoy!

Convivial Supper's avatarConvivial Supper

Distillery.

The science of distillation has been around since 3000 BCE. There are four types of distillation: laboratory, industrial, herbal/perfumery, and food processing. These last two, herbal/perfumery and food processing, are the two we concern ourselves with today.

What Is Distillation?

Distillation is a process of purifying liquids through controlled boiling and condensation. A liquid is converted into a gas/vapour through heat, and then recondensed through cooling to return the vapor to a liquid form.

How Do You Distill?

You’ve probably seen an apparatus called a retort, or alembic, a glass container with a long, bent neck sloping downwards. As the substance heats up, the vapor travels down the neck and cools. A separate container catches the vapor as it returns to a liquid state. Figures III and VII below show two vessels that could be used to distill (1727).

Chemical_Vessels_1727-Alembic-Retort Fig. VII shows a distillation setup. 1727

As you can…

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Wilderness Time – Wise Words from John Muir

~ George Crawford ~ 3 Comments
Photo from The Daily Beast.

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life. Awakening from the stupefying effects of the vice of over-industry and the deadly apathy of luxury, they are trying as best they can to mix and enrich their own little ongoings with those of Nature, and to get rid of rust and disease.” — John Muir (1838-1914)

The serenity of the forest. Photo from The Outdoor Project. Click the image for more information.

These thoughts are over 100 years old when the human population of the world was about 1/4 of what it is today…  We need to take heed of these thoughts more than ever.

John Muir

Follow on Instagram?

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

If you are an Instagram user, I started posting there last year.  My address was hacked from a Russian IP and I ended up starting all over.  We’ll see if I can make it work this time…

https://www.instagram.com/paleotool/

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I was a skeptic at first because I don’t use a phone as a primary platform to reach the internet but it does have its benefits; especially for my friends who are real photographers and artists.

Real Comforts

~ George Crawford ~ 5 Comments

“Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden.

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Photo by Alex von der Assen as featured on Kent Griswold’s Tiny House Blog.

Heavy words when you think about them.

I like nice stuff.  I buy good clothes, decent shoes, and drive a new(ish) vehicle.  We all like new, nifty, better, and clever things.  The problem is that we are trained from a young age to grab the newest gizmo and gimmick presented to us.  We are programmed to stockpile and hoard.  Advertisers know this.  Bankers know this.  We spend what we earn, and then a little more.

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When we pick up an object, we don’t always think of how this thing will add value to our life; or whose life was devalued to make it and bring it to us.

More stuff is not the path to happiness…