What I've been up to.....

[ChuckBurrows]

I've been meaning to post some stuff but been real busy - now I'm taking an enforced "vacation" (tore up my right achilles tendon - can't stand on it long and I'm pretty drugged up - at least my back and shoulders don't hurt   

anyway here are some pics of various things that I hope ya'll enjoy....
A turn of the century gun rig with a double riveted loop.....




A  couple of beaded sheaths...




Another turn of the century gun rig with a low throat Cheyenne loop holster and minimal catridge loops.....

[Irish Dave]

As always, nice lookin' rigs. Very nice.

[ChuckBurrows]

Step through shotgun chaps...




 

Two tone botas de alas with beaded edge....


A double Slim Jim rig - full carved...........

[Major 2]

Holy GOD ! those are beauties

I'm nuts about the twin Slim jims...what are those little bitty spots and where do the come from ?

[ChuckBurrows]

Got interrupted.....

Not a cowboy piece...18th century rifleman's knife and quilled/beaded sheath...


Belt pouch for a cap n ball...


Gunbelt.....




1890's spur straps ala Miles City Saddlery...

[ChuckBurrows]

And finally...(well for now anyway!)

Dove wing spur straps.....




and a couple of knives and sheaths by moi..........

I call this dagger type a Taos Toothpick - it's inspred by several orginals from that area........




an 1850's American styled Bowie......




Hope ya'll enjoy the show....

[ChuckBurrows]

I'm nuts about the twin Slim jims...what are those little bitty spots and where do the come from ?

Thanks Major - I get all my spots from either Crazy Crow www.crazycrow.com or Standard Rivet Co http://www.standardrivet.com/spots/round-spots/2-round-head-harness-spot.php - Standard Rivet is the only place I know of where you can get spots with 5/16" legs - most are 1/4" or 3/16" - both places sell them in solid brass and nickle over brass (these are nickle over brass and then aged which "wears" off some of the nickle depending on how far you age them. Standard Rivet I believe also sell solid nickel ones......

Those on the holsters IIRC are 3/16" - the small ones on the spur straps are 1/8" which I like but 6/7 oz leather is about the maximum the legs will lock to.

[cowboywc]

Awesome work Chuck.
WC

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy Chuck 

        Will Pal i'm sorry to hear your in pain , I hope you get some relief soon , seems to be lots of pain going around for a lot of us lately, anyway thanks for sharing your work with us , as usuall it is beautiful and fantastic to say the least.

                                                       Get Well Soon Chuck 


                                                            tEN wOLVES 

[Forty Rod]

Okay, first, where can I get conchos like those sunburst types on the first rig?  Cloak Drummer had them but I haven't been able to find her for a month of Sundays.  I have maybe a dozen left, but not enough in the larger sizes.

Second, same question about thr ones on the BP belt pouch.

Third, man that is some really great work.  I like your styles and finishes better than any I have seen elsewhere.  Thanks for letting us see them.

[HorsePen Henry]

Beautiful work, Chuck. You sure can get a lot done when I ain't pesterin' ya on the telly. I sure like those dove wings.

X Horse Pen

[Johnny Dingus]

I agree with all the other posts,  Beautiful work.....

Love your color of the belts.  What thickness do you use?  And how do you age your spots?

Also do you run a stiching wheel around the perimeter to give it that sewed look even though it isn't stiched?

Thanks for showing us what talent looks like.


Johnny Dingus

[Dalton Masterson]

Chuck, that work is beautiful. I always love your great photos too. Do you have special lighting for those shots?
Hope you get better soon! DM

[ChuckBurrows]

Howdy All - glad ya'll enjoyed the look see....now for the questions.......

Okay, first, where can I get conchos like those sunburst types on the first rig? 
Second, same question about thr ones on the BP belt pouch.
Forty Rod

Those are all Buffalo Brothers  www.buffalobrothers.net - the big one on the pouch is no longer made

Love your color of the belts.  What thickness do you use?  And how do you age your spots?

Also do you run a stitching wheel around the perimeter to give it that sewed look even though it isn't stitched?

Thanks for showing us what talent looks like.
Johnny Dingus

My coloring/aging is sort of a drawn out process and there is no single way of doing it - each piece has a mind of it's own!
For single thickness belts I use 8/10 oz unless heavier is requested. If lined I use 6/7 oz lined with 2/3 oz - most of my bark tan comes from Wickett & Craig
Aging spots is easy - dunk them in Birchwood Casey's' Super Blue (not their Perma Blue) - leave until they turn dark, drain off the Blue (save it even if it looks crappy - it can be re-used), Dunk in baking soda and water, drain and dry....If the aging gets worn off just use a fine brush and re-do. If you want some of the brass to show through rub lightly with 4/0 steel wool or a coarse cloth. To finish off rub the whole piece down with a LIGHT coat of your favorite oil/conditioner.
Yep - I use the overstitch wheel for deco - it shows up on quite a few 19th Century pieces.
As for talent - we all have our own - like the old US Army add used to say "Be all YOU can be" - don't EVER sell yourself short. FWIW I've  years - gone through all the stages of learning my craft over the last 47+ years - I've hit the wall at times and couldn't make anything "right" or so it seemed to the point I  just wanted to say the hell with it - I actually gave up beadwork about 10 years ago for I though good, now I LOVE doing it....But the "need" to do my craft wouldn't let go so I just kept sort of trucking on (taking a vacation from "it" can help though - stagnation happens to all of us).
Then after one such agonizing spell somebody once said about my stuff that "You have captured that elusive Zen concept of perfection within perfection." That made me smile because what had gotten me out of that dry spell was that I had finally (I'm slow sometimes!) realized that perfection is a journey not an end and like the Dine, only the Creator is perfect. Also like them I leave a small, but intentional "error" someplace (I don't count the real ones LOL!) to let my "spirit" free - while making things one imbues it with ones spirit and you don;t want to get stuck there so to speak........It's tough to explain, but I hope this helps and my main reason for sharing my work like this - it's not for self aggrandizement but rather that hopefull it will inspire some one else to find their own talent(s)..........I don't consider myself a master just an eternal student........

Dalton all my photos are taken with what would be considered real Mickey Mouse set-up by the pros. I use a light tent sometimes, but mostly reflected light.
The source is several (4-5) chicken brooder lamps (those cheap aluminum clamp on shop lights) with 100-150 daylight 5500K CFL bulbs (the only use I have for those things  ). My set-up is in a corner of the room which has white walls and ceiling which I use as reflectors - one of these days I'll break down and get some regular umbrella reflectors.
Because of time constraints and possible bad weather I do everything inside with drapes drawn so I'm always using pretty much the same light source. I try to use mostly "flat" backgrounds (suede works good) without shiny stuff as much as possible - i.e the ole K.I.S.S. principle
My current camera is a 10 year old 3MPX Sony point and shoot I traded for - nowadays you can buy much more camera for around $200.00 or less (for instance the Canon PowerShot A470 is a great 7MPX camera with an MSRP of $129.00). I'd like a good SLR but for the price..........
Best advice is learn your camera (read the manual and then experiment!!!!), use the best lights you can afford (4 brooders and 4 bulbs should run you around $80.00), and get a decent photo processing program. Adobe Elements is a good one as is Arcsoft's Photostudio - both were under a $100.00 bucks the last time I checked or Irfan View is a good solid freebie. FWIW  I have the high end Adobe Photoshop but it is NOT necessary - nice but for the money saved I can buy a lot of leather.
I shoot using a tripod and use the self-timer - helps prevent the shakes. I get the best shot(s) possible - the ones that will need the least amount of tinkering, and then go to the program - I crop to size, sharpen if need be, adjust color, brightness and contrast if need be. With my camera I de-saturate the color a bit and then play with the brightness/contrast to give it the mood I want if it didn't come out of the camera quite right, but IMO the less tinkering you do the better - too much and to me they lose vibrancy........
There's more real good advice elsewhere on photographing at http://knifenetwork.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=26 and on www.About.com - it's important how to learn to work with JPEG files (they are lossy files which means you can lose quality so you need to follow a certain simple process)

The downside for me - no matter how good something looks on "film" it's just not the same as holding it in your own hand and eyeballing it!

Hope this helps........

[Major 2]

One more question ..the 1860 Army in severals photos..

Knowing you abilities ..I have to ask aged or original ?

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Very outstanding work, Chuck. As always, your stuff is really enjoyable to see. Taking the time for good photos really makes the presentation even better.

Holy GOD ! those are beauties

I'm nuts about the twin Slim jims...what are those little bitty spots and where do the come from ?

This just about sums it up. I really like the way you tooled those. The use of the seeder with the knife cuts on the blossoms really does accent the flowing lines of the design.

I may have to take a shot at some beadwork one of these days. It sure comes out well. At least the way you do it. Thanks for sharing all those photos.

[Forty Rod]

Thank you.

[Johnny McCrae]

Many thanks for your kind generosity in sharing your talents with us! It is always a genuine pleasure to view your work. I just can't say enough about your Frontier Holster DVD. When I get stuck or start to get discouraged, I watch your DVD again.

[Don101]

Nice work dito to all above, i just love the antike finish, Don

[ChuckBurrows]

One more question ..the 1860 Army in severals photos..

Knowing you abilities ..I have to ask aged or original ?

Howdy Major - not an original - I did file off the barrel markings and replaced the varnish on the grips with a PC violin varnish but other than that it's been mostly rode hard and put away wet so to speak. I do age them though - got a 2nd model 1851 Navy I'm working on now, but since it's for me it keeps getting put on the back burner LOL!


Johnny glad the DVD is helping out and offering some inspiration...for inspiration I got to the books and search the internet - from there I build my own style rather than making exact copies - nothing wrong with that,  just I got bored making exact copies and don't do them anymore - after over 200 hundred copies of the one on the cover of Packing Iron I hid the cover so I don't have to look at it ! - makes me cringe even if it is a VERY nice piece - which BTW is machine sewn on the main seam....

For those thinking of doing beadwork there are several good books available (www.crazycrow.com) and the website www.nativetech.org has some good info also. FWIW - the majority of my beadwork is done in the 1830-1860 styles which differ somewhat from teh later Indain Wars/Rez period work. Not only are the beeds generally larger (8/0 pound beads - often mistakenly known as pony beads - and 10/0 size), but the patterns are generally simpler due in part to the size of the beads. Like everything I do the beadwork is also aged so the colors won't look like those in the catalog exactly.

Don - that aged look is something I've always naturally had a knack for - I spent years tearing my hair trying to ge the new look - now finally I'm in style!