Indian War rig

[Boothill Bob]

John, thats the pattern I've used
Thats a ball/cartridge pouch, but thanx for the help..
BTW, its a great pattenpack

[davemyrick]

Thanx pards, I'm glad you like it. Next up is a full flap CS rig I think. I will try to make a cap pouch, any if you that have a pattern for it or van talk me throu how to make one?

Bob,
Cap pouches are a bear to make, especially Federal ones. You will need a two part wooden block mould to form the pouch body. Wet form the pouch front and when fully dry, coat the inside of it with 2 or 3 coats of orange shellac. Also don't use the artificial shearling from Tandy. Use 100% natural. If you use the artificial stuff, it will stick to the wax on your thread when you stitch it to the back of the pouch.
The basic assembly steps are:
1) cut, dye and form all pieces
2) attach the belt loops to the back of the pouch 8 spi with rivets or without. Rivets should be #12
3) attach the football ear pieces to the rain flap
4) attach the rain flap and shearling to the back (10 spi)
5) attach the finial to the front of the pouch
6) attach the front to the back at 10 spi without forgetting to inset the pick loop on the left side of the pouch.

Besides the wooden form for the mould, you will need a second form slightly thinner to insert into the pouch when stitching the front and back together in order to clamp the piece into the horse without collapsing it.

Which version cap pouch are you going to make? There were three Federal patterns issued during the civil war

Dave

[davemyrick]

Whats the leather weight on the pouches?

5 no more than 6 ounce

[Boothill Bob]

Davemyrick, what do the modell lookes like? I have looked att two modells. Want to try to make the One with the US stamp.

[Skeeter Lewis]

Beautiful work, Henrik. Congratulations.

[Boothill Bob]

Thanx Skeeter... I like to learn more about the civil war/indian war leather. I can find alot of photos on US leather but almost nothing on CS.. What I understand the Confederat Army dident have a CS stamp on the flap holsters or outher gear, and no CS buckle. Did they have black or brown leather, or did they took what they had?
Many Q's, but I want to learn.

[davemyrick]

Thanx Skeeter... I like to learn more about the civil war/indian war leather. I can find alot of photos on US leather but almost nothing on CS.. What I understand the Confederat Army dident have a CS stamp on the flap holsters or outher gear, and no CS buckle. Did they have black or brown leather, or did they took what they had?
Many Q's, but I want to learn.

A good place to look at lots of original Civil War era stuff is the Time Life book series, Echos of Glory. It is out of print now but frequently available on Ebay.
To get a good look at some very high quality reproduction US and CS items, look at Duvallleatherwork.com. All of Nick's stuff is hand crafted using the same tools and methods that the original artifacts were constructed with.
It is truely a great help to have an original artifact on hand when making a copy. It allows you to draft an accurate pattern, see construction details not often visable from photos and a known piece to make a comparison against. Original US cap pouches can be had for around $100 as well that would serve this purpose. If you are serious about making reproduction items, I cannot stress highly enough the value in this.
As always, if there is anything else I can be of service with, just ask.
Dave

[Trailrider]

Thanx Skeeter... I like to learn more about the civil war/indian war leather. I can find alot of photos on US leather but almost nothing on CS.. What I understand the Confederat Army dident have a CS stamp on the flap holsters or outher gear, and no CS buckle. Did they have black or brown leather, or did they took what they had?
Many Q's, but I want to learn.

At the beginning of the war, Confederate troops mostly consisted of state militias. Their equipment mostly followed Federal patterns. Thus, most leather was black.  As the war progressed, Confederate troops took what equipment they could from either abandoned or captured from Union troops.  Again, this equipment was black.  Still later, when the Confederacy began producing some of their own equipment, or using what could be smuggled through Union blockades, and due to the limited, or non-existant supplies of carbon black to make black dye, Confederates began to use "stuffed russet" (oil impregnated) leather, which exhibits the tannish color we call "russet".  But it wasn't dyed that color per se.


In point of fact, there were belt plates (buckles) with "CS" cast on them, as well as a number of state belt plates, including, but not limited to the Texas star, South Carolina's palmetto, Lousiana's pelican, etc. For details you might try to locate a copy of Albaugh & Simmons book, "Confederate Arms".   Tim Parsley makes a number of these plates, plus Union plates. Also, I have somewhere a photo from a magazine article of a CS marked holster. But they were rare. Some cartridge or cap pouches are known with CS stamped on them.  Otherwise, many Confederate troops just turned the belts and belt plates with US on them upside down.  Hope this is of interest.

[davemyrick]

At the beginning of the war, Confederate troops mostly consisted of state militias. Their equipment mostly followed Federal patterns. Thus, most leather was black.  As the war progressed, Confederate troops took what equipment they could from either abandoned or captured from Union troops.  Again, this equipment was black.  Still later, when the Confederacy began producing some of their own equipment, or using what could be smuggled through Union blockades, and due to the limited, or non-existant supplies of carbon black to make black dye, Confederates began to use "stuffed russet" (oil impregnated) leather, which exhibits the tannish color we call "russet".  But it wasn't dyed that color per se.


In point of fact, there were belt plates (buckles) with "CS" cast on them, as well as a number of state belt plates, including, but not limited to the Texas star, South Carolina's palmetto, Lousiana's pelican, etc. For details you might try to locate a copy of Albaugh & Simmons book, "Confederate Arms".   Tim Parsley makes a number of these plates, plus Union plates. Also, I have somewhere a photo from a magazine article of a CS marked holster. But they were rare. Some cartridge or cap pouches are known with CS stamped on them.  Otherwise, many Confederate troops just turned the belts and belt plates with US on them upside down.  Hope this is of interest.

Could you share your source of information about the "Carbon Black" used in dye? I am unfamiliar with this as the Ordnance Manuals of both US and CS called for an iron based dye. Iron filings dissolved in a weak acid set with logwood as a mordant specifically.
Dave