Some leather craft

D

Don Luis

Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
2,473
Just thought you guys might like to see some Mexican leatherwork.

First pic is a typical machete sheath from Oaxaca and two knife sheaths that I got years ago at a small local shop, unfortunately the guy who made these isn´t there any more.

Second pic are some belts and buckles, these embrodered belts are handmade and go for about $100 to $300 U.S. at local charrería shops, the one on the left with a cast horse and horseshoe buckle is over 20 years old, as is the matching folder sheath on top of it (the sheath looks new because I realy haven´t used it), the belt in the middle with silver plated Mexican eagle and horseshoe buckle is from the late 80´s (buckle is newer), the belt in the right with hand tooled monel buckle I just got last month. I´ve included two other handmade buckles, the small one is sterling silver, the big one is nickel silver.

The last picture is strictly for forum content, the sock is from a pair that I knitted myself for my daughter, with double strands of yarn to keep her warm in her camping trips, the ping-pong paddle is a Stiga clipper from Sweden with a Chinese penhold handle, old model from before they started making them with hollow handles, the top pin is from the International Table Tennis Federation, the bottom pin is from the United States Table Tennis Association.


sheaths1.jpg


belts1.jpg


sock-pp.jpg
 
Works of art...

Don Luis, you are an amazing man. You can knit? That is so great.

Love that leather work. And the silver. And the... I feel like a kid in a candy store. My Becker BK9 would look so good in that machete sheath. Thank you for posting the pics.

To our newer friends here that might be curious about our fascination with Ping-Pong equipment, please bear with us. When you become an official member of "Uncle Henry's Lost Souls", email me and I'll try and clean it up enough to tell you about it.

Phil
 
All beautiful stuff, Don Luis.

It's obvious that you are well versed in knives, leather, lanyards, braiding, and of course.....ping pong.

Phil probably spilled his margarita when he saw that classic paddle. Nice!

Oh, you didn't get that at the same establishment that LT told us the story about, did you?........I didn't think so. :D

Bill
 
My last trip south ( Mexico ) was a few years ago the leather and silver work were amazing I see it still is. LT
 
Great pics, Don Luis.

Nice 'forum' content, too. :D
 
Great pics. I see Mexicans wearing similar belts and sheaths (about the right size for 8OT) like that all the time around where I live. I need to ask one of them one of these days if they bought it locally. There are several little stores that sort of cater to Mexican fashion. Are the knife sheaths like those in your belt picture just called 'cubiertas'?
 
Suerte said:
... Are the knife sheaths like those in your belt picture just called 'cubiertas'?
Click to expand...

A sheath is called "funda" which really means some kind of cover, so you have to specify it is for a knife, a fixed blade is "cuchillo" and a folder is "navaja".

Folder sheaths with flaps are popular and can be found in a variety of styles, embroidered, tooled, in color combinations, etc. Quality varies from crappy to excellent and price varies accordingly, if you get one it´s best to hand pick it, check the leather, the stitching, the snap, etc.

Luis
 
Thanks Don Luis. I didn't know that there was a name difference in straight and folding knives. I've always used 'cuchillo'. I did know that knives for fighting roosters are often referred to as 'navajas'. The Spanish language and how it is spoke in different places is very interesting.
 
Thanks for pushing this thread back up to the top, Suerte, so we could admire the classy work again.
Phil
 
Don Luis, I had the impression a Navaja was a knife from a particular region of Spain, rather like a Laguiole is from a particular region (a town really) in France. This is not so?
 
A navaja is indeed a folding knife with a ratchet lock from Spain, as far as I know not from any particular region but it does have a particular style.

In Mexico, and I believe many other Spanish speaking countries, the term is used for any folding knife and many other cutting instruments, such as razors or, as mentioned by Suerte, the knives tied on roosters feet in cock fights, sometimes a small fixed blade is called navaja, there are of course other terms such as cuchilla or puñal (notice the topped "n" with a pronunciation equivalent to "gn" in French).

From a song by Agustin Lara:

"Como dos puñales de hoja damasquina
tus ojazos negros -ojos de acerina-
clavaron en mi alma su mirar de hielo
regaron mi vida con su desconsuelo."

Which I guess translates something like:

"Like two Damascus bladed knives
your big black eyes -eyes of black steel-
stuck in my soul their look of ice
sprinkled my life with their grief."
 
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