YOUR VOTE IS NEEDED . . .

When last we left you, Mr. Legendary Leather was creatively thinking of a primitive sheath that would compliment the mighty fine knife he had crafted from Mr. Hot Tamale's generous donation of bleached elk antlers. Well, here it is and I think you'll agree that he was a crafty little devil at that.

Take note of the unusually shaped buckskin added to the right side of the sheath.

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather crudely carved a floral design on the front of the sheath in keeping with the rustic look the bleached elk antler handle and primitive blade gave to oveall look of the set.

By "crudely" carving the design instead of "tooling', a more primitive and rustic appearance is given.

Now here's where your vote is needed. Regarding the buckskin piece that has been added to the right side of the sheath . . . do you think Mr. Legendary Leather should leave it the way it is (unusually shaped) or do you think he should cut it into a "fringed" edging?

VOTE!

ELK ANTLERS . . .

Mr. Hot Tamale from New Mexico was a little hesitant to ask Mr. Legendary Leather if he would be interested in some elk antlers that were discovered on his New Mexico spread . . . after all, Mr. Hot Tamale was a little worried that this sunbleached rack of antlers might not be any good. Mr. Legendary Leather informed him that he would be most gratified to take them off his hands.

The experts are still out on the best way to bring color back into sunbleached antlers . . . oil, stain, dye, soaking them in coffee, and even rubbing them with pine or aspen branches (the natural way elk take care of the problem) have been tried and true for some taxidermists. But for now, Mr. Legendary Leather has decided to stick with the old, rustic, sunbleached look for his next project. 

 After his first cut, Mr. Legendary Leather was happy to find that the antlers were still solid inside and look mighty fine with the primitive blade he picked out.

Once the hole was drilled to fit the full tang of the blade (using epoxy), Mr. Legendary Leather wrapped copper wire and a bit of solder to add strength and character to overall appearance of his new project. Are you as curious as I am to see what Mr. Legendary Leather envisions as his next step?

FROM BELTS TO KNIVES . . .

Well, Mr. Fur Trader from Georgia has agreed to hire Mr. Legendary Leather for retrieving the lost six inches from his well-loved belt. However, Mr. Legendary Leather will be using another method than the one mentioned in the previous post. Stay tuned for updates on the method Mr. Legendary Leather will be using.

Meanwhile, back at the shop, Mr. Legendary Leather is embarking upon another project whilst he eagerly awaits the arrival of Mr. Fur Trader's belt to be repaired.

Enter Mr. Hot Tamale from New Mexico, who came upon a nice pair of sun-bleached antlers on his property upon moving to the homestead. He knew Mr. Legendary Leather  . . . a scrounging varmint by nature . . . could put them thar antlers to good use someday.

Mr. Legendary Leather has made the first cuts and is eagerly crafting a new knife and sheath from the generous rack Mr. Hot Tamale so kindly donated. Stay tuned for more details on how this most recent project progresses!

ANOTHER BELT REPAIR . . .

Some of you may recall back in March Mr. Legendary Leather had just finished up a special request project from someone in Michigan who wanted a cartridge belt made to replace his old worn out one. That was quite the project for Mr. Legendary Leather, however it turned out right fine and the gentleman was quite happy with the result.

Well, Mr. Legendary Leather has another belt-related request. Fur Tradin' Bob, situated in Georgia, has a belt that has mysteriously shrunk six inches in size since he last wore it right around 7 years ago. Fur Tradin' Bob wants to know if there is any possible way to splice in those extra six inches he lost. Mr. Legendary Leather has sent these photos of just one way anyone might be able to add some inches to any well-loved belt that they aren't quite willing to part with.

This second photo shows the "decorative" possibilities for those 'reenactors' in the crowd who sometimes require a bit of 'authenticity' added to their garb.

Stay tuned to see of Fur Tradin' Bob will hire Mr. Legendary Leather to reclaim those lost belt inches!

WEST END OUTLAWS COWBOY SHOOT . . .

Well folks, here's your chance to take a look at Mr. Legendary Leather in action. He and his shootin' buddy, Mr. Irons, headed out early Saturday morning, dressed in western gear, for a day of competitive cowboy shootin'.
A fun time was had by all.

http://youtu.be/39Kf3ELEOkA

Take a peek at Mr. Irons . . . you can tell that this varmint loves his shootin'!

http://youtu.be/tyW7I6VtRa0

The Missus is proud to mention that match winner/clean match, Fredrick Jackson Turner (alias), brought special attentiion to Mr. Legendary Leather's hand crafted leather recoil pad (mentioned in the previous post) with some mighty fine kind words . . . you're a good kind of varmint, Mr. Jackson!

RE-ACTION & RE-ADJUSTMENTS TO THE RE-COIL . . .

How many of you varmints have had to deal with bruising from the recoil on your rifles? Ouch! Those of you with a little sense up in yer "cowboy shootin' pea-brains" have probably adjusted to the problem by adding a recoil pad to your rifle. Well, Mr. Legendary Leather has designed one for his Marlin 1894.

This one is more decorative than resourseful, however it does include a nice leather piece at the butt end that can be fitted with extra padding to serve its purpose.

Now that he has completed his prototype, Mr. Legendary Leather hopes to create a design that will fit the more commonly used Winchester 97.

BELLY UP you varmints! It's almost like "dressing up" yer rifles for playtime!

THIS HERE'S ONE UNIQUE KNIFE!

Now here's a project that you varmints will definitely get a joyful hoot out of. Mr. Legendary Leather got wind of a very unique type of knife and thought he'd take a gander at tryin' to put one together. First off, he got a hold of a cheap pair of sheep shears . . .yup, you heard me correct!

 Nice patina that can be "steel wooled" later on if needed. He then cut one blade of the shears off, leaving approximately an inch and a half of the shaft above the blade itself. He used a hack saw to do this and assures the missus that it was not an easy feat.

Mr. Legendary Leather then drilled a hole into the shaft and soldered a copper rivet into that hole. He then drilled a corresponding hole in the stag antler that would become the handle. Upon glueing the riveted shaft of the blade into the hole of the antler, he then clamped them together to let them dry.

He then fashioned a sheath with a primitively carved floral design (no stamping or tooling) . . . keeping the sheath relatively simply as to compliment the primitive nature of the newly fashioned knife blade.

Historically, this was actually done in bygone days . . . there are a few (very few) originals floating about. They are generally from the late 1800's (this was referred to as the Reservation period and Indian Wars era). Don't let anyone tell ya that them thar vintage varmints didn't know anything about recyclin'.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Happy Fourth of July to all you "freedom lovin' varmints"

BE SAFE!

MR. WILD GAME HUNTER PROJECT REVEALED

Howdy folks! The time has come for Mr. Legendary Leather to show off his mighty fine creation for Mr. Wild Game Hunter situated in Wisconsin. You see, Mr. Wild Game Hunter is a kindly soul who has very generously handed over some of his bettermost craftin' supplies to Mr. Legendary Leather for use in his uppin' comin' projects. For this kindly deed, Mr. Legendary Leather felt obliged to show Mr. Wild Game Hunter his appreciatives and did so by craftin' this "fine as cream gravy" knife and sheath set.

Yup! Mr. Legendary Leather crafted the whole kit and caboodle on this one. He specific-like picked the blade he believed would best fit Mr. Wild Game Hunter's needs. He then cut the most precious piece of stag antler, highly sought after by many crafters, for the handle. He cleverly attached the antler to the blade and guard with "stacked leather" (a slick lookin' process that Mr. Legendary Leather hopes to document on his blog at a later time).

Next came the craftin' of the sheath. This was a no-brainer for Mr. Legendary Leather. He wanted to create nothing but the finest crafted/tooled sheath for Mr. Wild Game Hunter. In addition to his ace-high carving, he added a bit of Mr. Top Brass's buckskin (dating back to 1965) as fringe along the edge of the sheath.

The missus likes to claim this project as one of respect, gratitudes from the heart, and mighty fine craftsmanship!



TOP BRASS PROJECT COMPLETED!

Fittings were successfully completed and now Mr. Legendary Leather would like to reveal the special requested project for Mr. Top Brass in Arizona. Drum roll please . . .

You guessed it! The project that had Mr. Legendary Leather tied up in knots was a vest . . . completely out of the realm of "comfort" for Mr. Legendary Leather. However, sometimes that big Cowboy in the sky has some other ideas. He will stretch us whenever He feels the need.

Mr. Top Brass had an old buckskin from 1965 (dating back to his deer hunting days) and requested that Mr. Legendary Leather fashion him a vest. Cutting the pattern around bullet holes, Mr. Legendary Leather found that there wasn't enough usuable hide for the backside of the vest. So he and the "missus" made a trip to the fabric store to pick out a matching color to complete the pattern.

Afterwards, the missus fell back on her "home economics" classes from way back (waaaaaay back!) and was able to sew the backing to the vest, complete with a lining. Together, they were surprised to find that the old Singer Featherweight was able to handle the stitching through buckskin . . .

. . . creating a nice "finished" look for the outside edges of the vest.

With this project under his "cartridge" belt, Mr. Legendary Leather made the comment,

"Don't try this at home buckaroos!"

I think Mr. Legendary Leather prefers to stick to fashioning a good old holster or knife sheath!

Stay tuned for the big reveal of Mr. Legendary Leather's special project for Mr. Wild Game Hunter in Wisconsin!

BARE ROOT STUDIO

Father's Day came early to the Legendary Leather household. As Mr. Legendary Leather travels the dusty old trail, craftin' that bovine hide and trading with other cowboy varmints, he has come to the realization that some good ol' advertisin' will do him good. What better way to do so than with a sign "statin' yer business"?

The "missus" had that there very idea in mind. She was determined to find someone who would be able to craft the perfect custom sign that would define Mr. Legendary Leather and his persona just by lookin' at that sign. Not many people are talented enough to create such an all-encompassing sign. Would she be able to find such a fine craftsman and artisan?

. . . Enter BARE ROOT STUDIO! Located in Denver, Colorado, Johnny D of BARE ROOT STUDIO was able to do the job! Not only was he able to capture the Hispanic roots of Mr. Legendary Leather, his passion for the old west, and his SASS alias (Blademan), but he was able to do it in a matter of days  . . . and with such courteous customer service via his lovely wife Angie. The two are partnered perfectly. Johnny with such obvious talent (who was out back scrounging for the perfect piece of wood before the deal was even finalized) and Angie with a talent of her own, tending to the final details and customer satisfaction.

The "missus" could hardly contain herself. Would she be able to keep her secret until Father's Day? Would the package arrive on a day when Mr. Legendary Leather happened to be out on the dusty ol' trail? How does one even begin to hide a 6 foot sign? As luck would have it, everything worked out for the best and Mr. Legendary Leather was left speechless upon opening his gift. What better compliment can be paid to Johnny and Angie over at BARE ROOT STUDIO? Much thanks to both of you varmints!

Check out their online shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BarerootStudio

Website:

Barerootstudio.com

Twitter:

@BareRootStudio

We highly recommend you "take a gander" and pass the word along!

UPDATE ON TOP BRASS PROJECT . . .

Well, for those of you who have been diligently following Mr. Legendary Leather and have been wondering what ever happened to the secret project for Mr. Top Brass in Arizona . . . here's the latest update. Following many "bumps in the old dusty trail", Mr. Legendary Leather has almost completed the project. Here's a few sneak peaks . . .

Some of you may have already guessed what the project is. Shhhh. For those of you who are still hazarding a guess, you will have to wait a little longer for the final pictures. You see, Mr. Legendary Leather still needs  to do a personal fitting on Mr. Top Brass before he can complete the project. Final fittings are scheduled for Wednesday, June 22nd and pictures of the completed project will follow within a few days after.

Meanwhile, Mr. Legendary Leather has been working on a special project for "Mr. Wild Game Hunter" located in Wisconsin. This project is back in the "comfort zone" of Mr. Legendary Leather and promises to be one of his spectacular eye-poppers! Stay tuned . . .



STAY CALM AND RIDE ON.

Sookie (Irene) Avila-Negrete

May 15, 1950 - June 2, 2011

Bow your heads and say a prayer. A wonderful, inspirational, and encouraging woman has taken her last ride. What a graceful ride she has had!

"I know for certain we never lose the people we love . . .even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought, and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love." (Leo Buscaglia)

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Irene-Negrete&lc=2393&pid=151476407&mid=4696716

COWBOYS, COWBOYS, AND MORE COWBOYS!

There he is folks . . . Mr. Legendary Leather . . . in the flesh (or would that be "rawhide"). What a weekend he has had! Mr. Legendary Leather spent some time with the Cowboy crowd out in Norco this weekend. Mr. Legendary Leather was invited to join the "mercantile" posse and sell his wares. What a great group of people! One would have thought that this was still the wild west! There were cowboys everywhere you turned! Yup, the code of the west is still alive and well. With the Ambush at Mill Creek, this weekend's SASS match was dedicated to the "bandidos" of the west . . . I think Mr. Legendary Leather themed in pretty well, don't you? I'd have to say his leather goods were a hit! He's going to have to work hard to make up his inventory. I couldn't tell you which was moving faster . . . the compliments, the money, or the wind! Mighty breezy out there considerin' we're city folks! We were whipped around like a tumbleweed on the tail of a bobcat! That didn't stop them thar cowboys . . . thems are sum serious shooters! And Mr. Legendary Leather thanks them all for the opportunity to participate in their little part of the old west and for 'giving him occassion' to rub elbows with 'sum mighty fine varmints'!

WesternSpice took the opportunity to partake in the western atmosphere, also.

Can you believe she's wearing Mrs. Legendary Leather's old prom dress in this one??

A PAUSE FOR THE CAUSE . . .

Well, Mr. Legendary Leather has taken a quick break from his "special request" project for Mr. Top Brass in Arizona. Mr. Legendary Leather couldn't supress his latest creative vision any longer and decided to craft it for sale in his Etsy shop. Take a look at this pair of "Hair on Hide" Spur Straps, complete with spurs!

Yup, this is another "first" for Mr. Legendary Leather. He knew he could work the raw bovine hide, but was curious what it would be like to craft the "hairy hide" of that good ol' bovine. I think Mr. LL has been readin' too many of them thar cowboy books, cuz his vision was rough-crafted style spur straps, as though they had been crafted all those years ago . . . maybe along the trail at the campfire, or perhaps in the bunkhouse after a long day's work out on the range. Not only did he craft the spur straps, but he also stripped the paint off the spurs, embellished them with pounded copper pennies, and then finished those spurs off with a touch of gun blueing giving them that old antiqued look . . . straps complimenting spurs, spurs complimenting straps.

 For more details on this set, or if you are interested in purchasing them for your next work-out on the ranch, visit www.Etsy.com/shop/MrLegendaryLeather

FABRIC IS SELECTED . . .

Well, I know it's a little hard to tell from the photo, but fabric has been selected for the "Top Brass" project. Up until this point, Mr. Legendary Leather has yet to reveal the specified project. However, I can assure you that it is not in the realm of Mr. Legendary Leather's typical leather crafting. No sheaths, spurs, holsters, hatbands, or chaps. It has already been revealed that an old deer buckskin (minus the bullet hole) is involved and fabric is also needed. In this case, Mr. Top Brass (from Arizona) has requested a coordinating color similar to the buckskin as opposed to a darker contrasting color. Mr. Legendary Leather found a shimmering mustardy gold color to compliment the deer hide. It has a satin/silky feel to it but is actually a polyester. Mr. Legendary Leather was given some advice as to what type of material would be best being that this project eventually will have to endure 'sweat' . . . got any clues yet?

THE FIRST CUTS HAVE BEEN MADE . . .

Well, Mr. Legendary Leather worked through his hesitations and has made the first cuts on the new project that Mr. Top Brass (from Arizona) has requested. This project will require some additional fabric additions and a few consultations, however Mr. Legendary Leather is confident. Even though this project is way out of his normal realm of crafting, he is willing to prove that it can be done!

OCCASSIONAL APPREHENSION WITH THE FIRST CUT . . .

Have you ever noticed that some creative projects come with such ease, it's like you've hit the lottery? Other projects turn out to be harder than you thought they would be, and you wonder why you even attempted such a journey? And yet another scenario is that you've got the ideas flowing, but you're not quite sure how to take that first step? Well, even Mr. Legendary Leather runs into this problem "once in a blue moon". Sometimes it's not so much the execution, but the valuable materials that you are working with that cause the apprehension. Mr. Legendary Leather ran into this problem when making his cowboy boot chaps (botas). The ideas were ready to explode like a volcano, but the latigo leather he would use for the project was not easily found and prevented him from comfortably making the "first cut". As you can see, he overcame his apprehension. The cowboy boot chaps (botas) came out wonderful and are highly praised.

Well, Mr. Legendary Leather finds himself in the same predicament. He has an elite customer requesting a very specific project done by Mr. Legendary Leather. Not only is this guy "top brass", but he has supplied the one-of-a-kind leather he would like used for his request. What makes the leather so special? Turns out that it is a vintage deerskin. Mr. Top Brass, from Arizona, shot this deer over 45 years ago and has kept the hide all these years. Now ladies, don't be so sad. I would be the first to be feeling meloncholy for the deer, however, this "deed" took place so long ago, we don't need to go there. This is one nice piece of deerskin. I can understand why Mr. Legendary Leather is so hesitant. Not only does he have to answer to Mr. Top Brass, but he wants this nice piece of leather to continue on in a specifically requested "new art form". Honor the beautiful animal who gave its life. I'll let you know if I see Mr. Legendary Leather "sweating bullets" over this project. If so, we'll just gather up them thar bullet casings and save them for a future project!

Is that a bullet hole I see smack-dab in the middle of the deerskin?

THE LAND OF KNIVES . . .

Oh my goodness! Have you ever seen so many knives in one place before? Well, Mr. Legendary Leather took his "wares" to the Cowboy Swapmeet held in front of Walker 47 at Hobby City yesterday. In the process, we found some old knife/sheath sets that Mr. Legendary Leather had crafted years ago. It was interesting to see his old primitive sheaths compared to his recently carved, western versions. They sure make for a wide variety of "personalities". The good thing for Mr. Legendary Leather's Etsy Shop fans, he will now make some of these knife/sheath sets available in his shop! You may also view them right here on his blog. He will be adding them to his long list of photos posted in his side bar . . . "happy perusing"!

This is just a "portion" of Mr. Legendary Leather's knife/sheath sets.

Do I see a . . . is that a . . . I do believe I see a coyote jaw in there!

Older primitive style knife sheath compared to most recent western style carved sheath.



THE BIG REVEAL . . .

Well, here it is . . . the big reveal! What was it that Mr. Legendary Leather was "a craftin' for them thar cowgirls?"

Yeeeeeehaaaaaw! Them thars is some mighty fine cowgirl cuffs!



Yup! That's what Mr. Legendary Leather has been working on. Did you see that one coming? Had you guessed correctly? Now that the project is finished, we're all "ooooooin' and aaaaaawin" around here on how cool they look. I think Mr. Legendary Leather has outdone himself on this one.

The permanent lacing and star snaps, complimented by the western carving, sure add a nice touch to this project. Any SASS competition shooting cowgirls out there need a pair of cuffs?

DETAILING . . . CHECK! DYE JOB . . . CHECK! ON TO THE LINING!

Mr. Legendary Leather has completed the detailing and the dye job. He has chosen to put a "lining" on this particular project and that is the next stage. For those of you who may not understand this concept, it simply means he will be using a thinner sheet of leather to finish off the back side of this project giving it a finer, finished look. This involves a little more work, but the result is a more polished looking handicraft. He will occassionally line some of his knife sheaths and holsters depending on the nature of the project.

Still no ideas as to what he's making for "them thar cowgirls"? I have a feeling his next blog posting will give you a better idea and most likely reveal the project. I think you're really going to be pleased with the "reveal".

With detailing and dye job complete, Mr. Legendary Leather prepares to add the lining (seen laying underneath the leather) to the back of the project.

This photo shows the wonderfully detailed relief of this project.