Camper The Traveling Muk (aka: Pass The Muk)

[JM2]

The boy was outside after it got dark and found this huge toad!

We played with him a while then let him go. We both love toads.

A couple days later we found this little guy.

 

[JM2]

Oftentimes Camper gets help with lure changing duty.

These are all at a private lake.

One of my confidence lures; A Zoom 4” Fat Albert Grub.

He was fine.

 

[JM2]

We make it down to the river pretty often.

This was yesterday. My first success with a Carolina rig.

My first Ned rig success.

 

[Bloodloss]

That's awesome, John! I can't wait to see more of Camper's adventures. I can't believe he rode on the car that long! It's good to see him getting some character. Camper is blazing sharp too, he sure will bite if you give him a chance. I actually had to get stitches after attaching that lanyard!

 

[JM2]

Well I've been busy at work, fishing some more, and have had a run of bad phone service so I wasn't able to post much. I'll clean Camper up soon and have him headed out to get the ball rolling.

 

[JM2]

A little while back, I took Camper on one last trip to the river, I didn't catch anything.

There was an old mill there, and some ruins, along by a concrete walkway, were these flowers.

 

[JM2]

Saying goodbye to his daily companions.

A little mineral oil and a he feels refreshed.

These scratches that are parallel must have come from one of the times we used Camper in the kitchen. They show up in pictures much more so than in person.

One final sharpening.

Surprise! I made lanyards for everyone to take.

One last bible study for Camper before he embarks.

I have put Camper in the post, headed towards Horsewright 's ranch.

 

[315]

Somehow I missed this thread when it started and just saw it today. Don’t know if it’s too late to jump in on this or not but I’ve got an Elk hunting trip coming up in Idaho this October I’d be more than happy to try and get some use out of it. If not by then, k could always find somewhere else to take it.

 

[JM2]

Somehow I missed this thread when it started and just saw it today. Don’t know if it’s too late to jump in on this or not but I’ve got an Elk hunting trip coming up in Idaho this October I’d be more than happy to try and get some use out of it. If not by then, k could always find somewhere else to take it.

Love to have you on board, I added you in.

Man, elk hunting would be a blast. I've never hunted larger game than whitetail deer.

Last year I was handgun hunting for deer and I saw a beautiful doe, great pelt color. I had a nice clean shot, but I waited just a second, and when she raised her head I saw it was a spike buck. I thought it over a second and passed, just for the reason that if I'd seen a monster buck I wouldn't be able to take it. I have regretted it ever since. I didn't get a shot at another deer that season, but I'd have loved to have that pelt and memory. Maybe I'll be blessed to get the same deer this year but with a bit bigger rack and a bit more of that beautiful pelt.

 

[Horsewright]

Camper got here yesterday. He's been hanging in the shop and we were discussing which of my sheaths I should make for him. I'm leaning towards the Slotted.

 

[JM2]

Camper got here yesterday. He's been hanging in the shop and we were discussing which of my sheaths I should make for him. I'm leaning towards the Slotted.

Glad to know he arrived safe.

Whichever sheath you think best suits him is just fine by me.

 

[Horsewright]

Camper found himself a nice perch to hang out in while watching the shop activities. That his coffee in the background, black no cream or sugar.

So he helped me dig through my pile of sheath patterns till we found one that was suitable. We laid it out on some heavy Wicket and Craig saddle leather (10-12 oz) and did our tracing:

While cutting out the sheath required some precise work Camper got to play with scraps and had a good time. I used my roundknife top to cut out the sheath. They are real specific tools and work well for that because they are designed too. I make my roudknives out of .040 stock so they are lasers on leather. Ol Camper he's a very robust type, lil muscular to cut leather for a living. But he had fun anyways:

Here we're prepping the sheath prior to it being allowed to day over night. The sheath has been dampened to fold it in half. This dampening also allows me to transfer the welt line through to the other side so that I know where to make the stitching grooves. Here it has been folded, stamped with my maker's mark and if ya look close ya can see where the inside stitching groove will be. I've also creased the top edge and rounded it, (bevelled or edged).

Here's the inside with the welt marked. This is the tailoring of the sheath specifically to Camper. He's getting some bespoke pants!

Now we're gonna to burnish the top edge or the throat of the sheath. Ya cans how rough the leather is after edging.

I use some water and some paraffin and it smooths right out with some burnishing:

I use a machine to burnish this but it can be done by hand too. So now we let the sheath dry overnight so that we don't mark it up sewing it.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

All these adventures posted so far are absolutely awesome!

 

[Horsewright]

Well Camper has been busy since our last installment. He helped me get his new pants finished.

The next morning I glue in the welt and the two halves together and sew er up:

After sewing I use a soldering iron to melt the threads and then in for dip in the swimming pool they go. Camper has a couple of Compadres that are getting new pants too.

Round the edges with an edge beveller, here shown on one of the other sheaths:

Paraffin on the edges and working it on the burnisher side of the finisher:

This piece of cocobolo is spinning very quickly and rounds the edges and melts the paraffin into the leather.

Now it's time to wet mold the sheath around the knife. I use a stick of ligume vitae the hardest wood in the world for this:

These three are wet molded now:

And in the oven they go! No I'm not kidding I bake all my sheaths and most of my holsters too:

178 degrees for 3 hours and 45 minutes, flipping them at every 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Then out of the oven and oil the sheaths. After the oil has set then we'll rub the edges again. Here is the finisher. The left side is a sander and the right side is a burnisher. This is a variable speed tool. Dampen the edges and some more paraffin and now they glisten and glow:

I apply a finish to our project. I've been a fan of Bag Kote for years. It makes leather look like leather, not plastic:

One last thing. It's got to pass our retention test. The sheath must must retain the knife while being shaken vigoursly upside down. Camper's pants passed:

You'd be surprised at how many knives I get in for a sheath and you just turn the original sheath upside down and the knife falls out. We make a lot of sheaths for other folks knives. Stay tuned for some adventures with Camper. We's going riding on some cabballos!

 

[JM2]

Awesome information on sheath making, thank you very much for sharing Horsewright I've baked some of my sheaths and holsters too. I found that it caused the leather to get stiffer and really take the moulding well. Is that your findings as well Dave?

 

[Horsewright]

Awesome information on sheath making, thank you very much for sharing Horsewright I've baked some of my sheaths and holsters too. I found that it caused the leather to get stiffer and really take the moulding well. Is that your findings as well Dave?

Ya bet. I got that baking idea from an old time saddle maker who got it from an older holster maker. I did modify their idea though. They were baking em overnight and I cut my time way down. But after 25,000 plus now I've really found what I do ideal. Yes both items benefit from the firmness and durability that the baking provides.

Camper been helping out with chores around here:

Ya know us cowboys we're always doing glamorous stuff like, kissing the girl and riding off into the sunset and all that kind of stuff. Well....Camper helped out with some of the glamour stuff.... ya know that job that somebody gots to do:

But then we did have a respite once the pens were all cleaned:

Nichole was still working. She's painting the fascia boards all around the house. Getting the primer on:

So Camper and I were in charge of grilling the trip tip for dinner. Camper had never heard of try tip before he said. Told him it was very important to let it come up to room temp before grilling:

He thought it was done just about right:

After dinner we sat around in the cool of the evening cussing and discussing and having a cigar!

Stay tuned Camper gets involved in some roping practice and coaching!

 

[Horsewright]

Camper been helping out both in the shop and outside. Recent evening we rode over to a friend's house to help a young friend prepare for a junior rodeo coming up. Kinda coaching her a lil. Nichole was also riding her young horse Hatari just for the exposure.

Us old guys chilling:

The girls are working on the Smarty. A Smarty is an artificial calf on sleds that can be pulled behind a quad. The girls warming up. Amelie is borrowing one of my horses. Nichole is in the green shirt on the blue roan horse. Amelie has a nice lil mare but she's not yet trained enough for competition. So she asked if she could ride one of ours. She's on Sputnik, Spud for short.

Amelie's boyfriend Mac is driving the quad:

Spud had worked on a Smarty several times before. Hatari not so much. So a lot of time was spent just getting the horses used to it.

We rode to a lil after sunset then rode back home, a mile and a half or so.

Next day we were working in the shop. Ya remember from some of the above, that when Camper and I were working on his new pants we were also working on two sheaths for his compadres?

These were prizes, the knees and sheaths for a memorial roping being held at our annual rodeo. The sponsor that had ordered the knives also had me make one for himself and had ordered a belt too. The three knives:

Well the funny thing was he was competing in the roping too. Yep you guessed it, he won the knives! So anyhoo Camper and I were working on the belt. The order for the prizes was placed just ten days prior to the event and while I was able to get the knives and sheaths done, no way could I get the belt done too. Trimming the lining:

Beveling both sides of the belt:

Then we were working on the edges:

Finally it was done:

The customers coming the next morning and so we rode over and helped Amelie some more. It was paying off:

When the customer came he stripped off his belt and knife and put his buckle (from another memorial roping) on his new belt.

 

[Horsewright]

Camper wanted to help me put a ride on my colt. He went and hid on my saddle in the tack room and refused to get down until I agreed to take him with me.

I suggested riding in my boot as that would be a great place of him to try out his new pants. After all that's where I carry my phone when I'm riding. So I introduced hime to my boots with their roughout Horsewright Spur Straps:

So I got Mitchy out of his pen and got him saddled up. Camper jumped up on the back of the saddle but I explained to him, from there ya can see where we've been but not where we're going. Camper being of a philosophical bent, understood.

Camper was impressed when he learned that Mitchie's dad, Call Me Mitch (Mitch) was the 2023 World's Greatest Horseman and Horse. Ya really want to see what a good western cow horse can do, take a few minutes and watch this lil vid. Phillip Ralls is the trainer and rider and he has done the training on Mitchy. Mitchy will go back and see Phillip again when he's a little older for further training. Mitchy's registered name is Mitchy The Kid btw. Here's the link for the vid. 200 plus horses and riders start this deal. The top 25 go to the finals and Call Me Mitch won. What has impressed me about him is his consistency. He's come in second two or three times! This horse has his own fan club and the standing ovation as Phillip and Mitch leave the arena is pretty darn cool. It was history being made!

Not only did Call me Mitch win but he set a new all time cumulative score and was at the time the highest money winning horse of all time in the National Rein Cowhorse Association!

So I stuck Camper in my boot and we went for a ride on Mitchy:

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Well Camper has been busy since our last installment. He helped me get his new pants finished.

The next morning I glue in the welt and the two halves together and sew er up:

After sewing I use a soldering iron to melt the threads and then in for dip in the swimming pool they go. Camper has a couple of Compadres that are getting new pants too.

Round the edges with an edge beveller, here shown on one of the other sheaths:

Paraffin on the edges and working it on the burnisher side of the finisher:

This piece of cocobolo is spinning very quickly and rounds the edges and melts the paraffin into the leather.

Now it's time to wet mold the sheath around the knife. I use a stick of ligume vitae the hardest wood in the world for this:

These three are wet molded now:

And in the oven they go! No I'm not kidding I bake all my sheaths and most of my holsters too:

178 degrees for 3 hours and 45 minutes, flipping them at every 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Then out of the oven and oil the sheaths. After the oil has set then we'll rub the edges again. Here is the finisher. The left side is a sander and the right side is a burnisher. This is a variable speed tool. Dampen the edges and some more paraffin and now they glisten and glow:

I apply a finish to our project. I've been a fan of Bag Kote for years. It makes leather look like leather, not plastic:

One last thing. It's got to pass our retention test. The sheath must must retain the knife while being shaken vigoursly upside down. Camper's pants passed:

You'd be surprised at how many knives I get in for a sheath and you just turn the original sheath upside down and the knife falls out. We make a lot of sheaths for other folks knives. Stay tuned for some adventures with Camper. We's going riding on some cabballos!

Thank you for taking us along on the method for your sheath making, fascinating and of the highest standard sir

In regard to hard wood, my understanding was that buloke (which grows locally to me) was the world’s hardest wood? I may be wrong.

 

[JM2]

I too appreciate the primer on sheath making. I make sheaths myself on occasion. Sometimes they turn out just great, othertimes, with something to be desired. I am learning a great deal, thank you.