Well, not quite but it could be:)

A mate in a local Viking Reenactment group needed an “authentic” harness for his warhound.

Being part of Regia Anglorum he has to be very careful when it comes to matters of authenticity. There were simply no plain, simple, dog harnesses about.

As regular readers will know we are always up for a challenge, so, grab a tape measure and away we go. First job was to choose the leather, in this case it is 2.5mm veg tanned shoulder, strong and supple. The thread was artificial sinew, a sort of nylon based thread that looks the part and lasts for years. During the early medieval period, metal was very expensive, so rivets were out of the question, the whole thing is hand stitched and only two brass parts were used, the buckle and a large ‘D’ ring.

A trial fitting was carried out on a Viking practise night and all the parts were marked up and brought back to the workshop. After several hours we had a prototype to try out on our own warhound, the long suffering Inca.

All looking good, so at the next practice night we sallied forth and tried it on…

So ‘Cooper’ is now dressed the part to raid villages all over Essex with his warrior owner.

If you want to know more about Viking re-enactment visit ‘The Vikings of Essex” at www.langfjordssliehtwulfas.com and on Facebook, of course.

If you would like a custom made to measure (nearly) authentic Viking dog harness, just get in touch or check out the Etsy shop.

Over the years we have re-leathered a great many bowsprit travellers but last week we came across a first for us. This traveller arrived through the post for re-leathering, it is constructed from stainless steel tubing. Galvanised mild steel is by far the most common, stainless bar we see frequently but never a stainless tube.

After chatting to it’s owner we learned it was off of a Heard 28′ one of my all time favourite boats, and co-incidentally, the customer and yours truly had visited a sister boat a couple of years ago that came up for sale nearby on the River Crouch. I very nearly made an offer for her but the wife considered the interior a bit gloomy🤨.

Anyway, I digress. Why not stainless tubing? Saves weight and gives a larger, kinder, radius where the traveller bears on the bowsprit. I don’t think there are many faults on Heards and reckon this little innovation is a cracker.

The leather used here was 2mm veg tanned shoulder and it was hand sewn using waxed linen thread. Should give many years of service and with a regular application of tallow, should last as long as the bowsprit!

We will be making a holster for a metal detecting trowel.

“Evolution” produce very robust and hard wearing digging trowels, but they do not supply holsters. No problem, I made this holster/sheath from 1.5mm veg tanned shoulder, this holster will last for many years. It is stitched using tough polyester thread and is re-enforced with stainless rivets in strategic places.

It is open-ended to allow dirt and water to escape from the bottom of the holster, rather than having to remove from the belt and tip upside down. Please don’t ask how I know this 🙂

Although I made this for my own use, I would be happy to make something similar for fellow Detectorists, however, I would need to have your trowel to ensure a good fit.

I estimate the price would be around £30, depending on size etc.

For some years I have been making Bass Bow Quivers, they are used by double bass players as a convenient place to put the bow when plucking the bass. Pictures of these are in the “for sale” section.

A while ago I was asked to create an “early medieval” style arrow quiver. After a bit of research I discovered that very early quivers were made from linen, with a few bits of leather here and there for reinforcement. However, it has been suggested that leather was used too. Probably belt hung but at least one source suggests they may have been back mounted too.

Metal, in early medieval times, was very expensive, so I ruled out the use of metal fittings, and decided to hand sew everything using waxed linen thread. I also chose not to ornament the quiver, to give it a “workmanlike” feel, rather than a “high status” item.

The customer was happy and a new product was added to our portfolio!

Never let it be said that we guys, at BWL rest on our laurels, fail to adopt new technologies and do not move with the times.

A long standing issue with making small wet moulded items is the time and cost of creating moulds. The same applies to embossing stamps, but more about them later. My eldest son treated me to a 3D printer for my 60th birthday. It was not long before I hit on the idea of using it to create one-off moulds for specific jobs. My Silva Compass Case being a good example. With a bit of fiddling with a CAD software program I produced a superb mould for the cases. Much more accurate than my earlier wooden version, it turns out correctly dimensioned case parts again and again, and when it finally breaks, I can print another!perfect fit, time after time 👍😄

…but, not quite. Today I had a request for an eyepatch for Gus. No problem except that Gus is a Labrador🤨

When one really looks, one notices just how different a dog head is to a human one. No forehead and no solid sticky out ears. Making the patch is easy but how on Earth will it stay on?

1- two elastic straps that fix to a collar

2- Velcro (?)

3- or what? Ideas on a postcard please, this one has me stumped!

Amazing coincidence yesterday. Youngest son David (www.mawkin.co.uk) has landed a position at a Shakespearian production at London’s Globe theatre and yesterday I had an Etsy order from the Globe for an eyepatch for the same production!

So my son will be on stage with my eyepatch 😄