Leather

[Paul]

What is the recommended thickness and type of leather to line gaff jaws and where would one order it?

[Paul]

What is the recommended thickness and type of leather to line gaff jaws and where would one order it?

[Paul]

What is the recommended thickness and type of leather to line gaff jaws and where would one order it?

[Todd Bradshaw]

In the "Gaff Rig Handbook", John Leather (no pun intended) says to cover the jaws with leather or hide, but nothing more specific so it may not be all that important as long as it's pretty sturdy stuff. By "hide" I imagine he means rawhide and I've seen at least a couple boats with rawhide-covered jaws, hoops, etc. The easiest way to find rawhide is in the pet department of the grocery store. Buy a big rawhide dog bone (a light tan one, not one of those dark brown, beef-basted ones - unless you plan a long ocean voyage where you might be forced to eat your shoes, in which case the beef version might be a good choice). Anyway, soak it in water until you can untie it. Install it while it's wet, smooth-side-out and wait for it to dry and shrink-up tight. If you soak it more than about 24 hours it gets a dead animal smell that you do not want to experience, so keep an eye on it.

Regular leather (like belt leather) would, of course, be softer and possibly easier on your mast's varnish though probably not quite as durable. In either case, Mr. Leather suggests greasing both the jaws and the mast. The jaws are easy, but to grease the mast I think it's best to smear grease all over yourself, hug the mast and have your wife raise and lower you a few times with the throat halyard....

[Todd Bradshaw]

In the "Gaff Rig Handbook", John Leather (no pun intended) says to cover the jaws with leather or hide, but nothing more specific so it may not be all that important as long as it's pretty sturdy stuff. By "hide" I imagine he means rawhide and I've seen at least a couple boats with rawhide-covered jaws, hoops, etc. The easiest way to find rawhide is in the pet department of the grocery store. Buy a big rawhide dog bone (a light tan one, not one of those dark brown, beef-basted ones - unless you plan a long ocean voyage where you might be forced to eat your shoes, in which case the beef version might be a good choice). Anyway, soak it in water until you can untie it. Install it while it's wet, smooth-side-out and wait for it to dry and shrink-up tight. If you soak it more than about 24 hours it gets a dead animal smell that you do not want to experience, so keep an eye on it.

Regular leather (like belt leather) would, of course, be softer and possibly easier on your mast's varnish though probably not quite as durable. In either case, Mr. Leather suggests greasing both the jaws and the mast. The jaws are easy, but to grease the mast I think it's best to smear grease all over yourself, hug the mast and have your wife raise and lower you a few times with the throat halyard....

[Todd Bradshaw]

In the "Gaff Rig Handbook", John Leather (no pun intended) says to cover the jaws with leather or hide, but nothing more specific so it may not be all that important as long as it's pretty sturdy stuff. By "hide" I imagine he means rawhide and I've seen at least a couple boats with rawhide-covered jaws, hoops, etc. The easiest way to find rawhide is in the pet department of the grocery store. Buy a big rawhide dog bone (a light tan one, not one of those dark brown, beef-basted ones - unless you plan a long ocean voyage where you might be forced to eat your shoes, in which case the beef version might be a good choice). Anyway, soak it in water until you can untie it. Install it while it's wet, smooth-side-out and wait for it to dry and shrink-up tight. If you soak it more than about 24 hours it gets a dead animal smell that you do not want to experience, so keep an eye on it.

Regular leather (like belt leather) would, of course, be softer and possibly easier on your mast's varnish though probably not quite as durable. In either case, Mr. Leather suggests greasing both the jaws and the mast. The jaws are easy, but to grease the mast I think it's best to smear grease all over yourself, hug the mast and have your wife raise and lower you a few times with the throat halyard....

[Ed Harrow]

You might try someone who makes leather mocassins. Up our way we have Walter Dyer in Framingham, MA. Don't know if they have a website, but probably. They might have cut-offs that would suffice.

[Ed Harrow]

You might try someone who makes leather mocassins. Up our way we have Walter Dyer in Framingham, MA. Don't know if they have a website, but probably. They might have cut-offs that would suffice.

[Ed Harrow]

You might try someone who makes leather mocassins. Up our way we have Walter Dyer in Framingham, MA. Don't know if they have a website, but probably. They might have cut-offs that would suffice.

[Mike Field]

Cowhide, minimum 1/8" thick (not from the belly, where it's softer,) and sewn not tacked. Someone who makes belts will have some. (Mocassins too, perhaps, but out here I think they're all sheepskin.)

[This message has been edited by Mike Field (edited 07-11-2001).]

[Mike Field]

Cowhide, minimum 1/8" thick (not from the belly, where it's softer,) and sewn not tacked. Someone who makes belts will have some. (Mocassins too, perhaps, but out here I think they're all sheepskin.)

[This message has been edited by Mike Field (edited 07-11-2001).]

[Mike Field]

Cowhide, minimum 1/8" thick (not from the belly, where it's softer,) and sewn not tacked. Someone who makes belts will have some. (Mocassins too, perhaps, but out here I think they're all sheepskin.)

[This message has been edited by Mike Field (edited 07-11-2001).]

[Iceboy]

Tandy leather should have what you need.
http//www.tandyleather.com
JimmyM

[Iceboy]

Tandy leather should have what you need.
http//www.tandyleather.com
JimmyM

[Iceboy]

Tandy leather should have what you need.
http//www.tandyleather.com
JimmyM

[Keith Wilson]

Oil-tanned or Latigo, 8 oz maybe? 6 oz if it's a smaller boat? Keep it oily and it'll last. I wouldn't recommend rawhide. These guys have a catalog that has more than you'll ever want to know about leather:
http://www.zackwhite.com/leather_prices/outdoor_weather.htm
The problem will probably be getting a small enough piece, (a whole side or double shoulder will cover a LOT of gaff jaws) so finding someplace local that does leatherwork and will sell you a small bit may be your best bet.

And whatever you do, don't put "leather" into a search engine, it'll be almost as bad as the guy searching for information on Galway Hookers. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/rolleyes.gif


[This message has been edited by Keith Wilson (edited 07-11-2001).]

[Keith Wilson]

Oil-tanned or Latigo, 8 oz maybe? 6 oz if it's a smaller boat? Keep it oily and it'll last. I wouldn't recommend rawhide. These guys have a catalog that has more than you'll ever want to know about leather:
http://www.zackwhite.com/leather_prices/outdoor_weather.htm
The problem will probably be getting a small enough piece, (a whole side or double shoulder will cover a LOT of gaff jaws) so finding someplace local that does leatherwork and will sell you a small bit may be your best bet.

And whatever you do, don't put "leather" into a search engine, it'll be almost as bad as the guy searching for information on Galway Hookers. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/rolleyes.gif


[This message has been edited by Keith Wilson (edited 07-11-2001).]

[Keith Wilson]

Oil-tanned or Latigo, 8 oz maybe? 6 oz if it's a smaller boat? Keep it oily and it'll last. I wouldn't recommend rawhide. These guys have a catalog that has more than you'll ever want to know about leather:
http://www.zackwhite.com/leather_prices/outdoor_weather.htm
The problem will probably be getting a small enough piece, (a whole side or double shoulder will cover a LOT of gaff jaws) so finding someplace local that does leatherwork and will sell you a small bit may be your best bet.

And whatever you do, don't put "leather" into a search engine, it'll be almost as bad as the guy searching for information on Galway Hookers. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/rolleyes.gif


[This message has been edited by Keith Wilson (edited 07-11-2001).]

[Paul Frederiksen]

I bought a whole shoulder of 5 oz leather from a place in Sacramento called Bitter Creek Leather Emporium. I only paid 50 bucks for it and there is not much left. It was beautiful stuff. When you get around to leathering the curved gaff jaws you use some alarmingly large pieces. If you can't find anyone else to hook you up I can get some and mail it to you. I can't imagine wanting anything much thicker than 5 or 6 oz for your boat.

On the subject of leather. When working leather, cut out rough and a bit larger than your pattern to compensate for the difficulty bending around corners. Then when ready to sew (those leather push awls available from Waste Marine work great) soak the piece in water. It will soften up and work real nice. To tan just apply three or four coats of Extra Virgin Olive Oil letting each coat dry between application.

[Paul Frederiksen]

I bought a whole shoulder of 5 oz leather from a place in Sacramento called Bitter Creek Leather Emporium. I only paid 50 bucks for it and there is not much left. It was beautiful stuff. When you get around to leathering the curved gaff jaws you use some alarmingly large pieces. If you can't find anyone else to hook you up I can get some and mail it to you. I can't imagine wanting anything much thicker than 5 or 6 oz for your boat.

On the subject of leather. When working leather, cut out rough and a bit larger than your pattern to compensate for the difficulty bending around corners. Then when ready to sew (those leather push awls available from Waste Marine work great) soak the piece in water. It will soften up and work real nice. To tan just apply three or four coats of Extra Virgin Olive Oil letting each coat dry between application.

[Paul Frederiksen]

I bought a whole shoulder of 5 oz leather from a place in Sacramento called Bitter Creek Leather Emporium. I only paid 50 bucks for it and there is not much left. It was beautiful stuff. When you get around to leathering the curved gaff jaws you use some alarmingly large pieces. If you can't find anyone else to hook you up I can get some and mail it to you. I can't imagine wanting anything much thicker than 5 or 6 oz for your boat.

On the subject of leather. When working leather, cut out rough and a bit larger than your pattern to compensate for the difficulty bending around corners. Then when ready to sew (those leather push awls available from Waste Marine work great) soak the piece in water. It will soften up and work real nice. To tan just apply three or four coats of Extra Virgin Olive Oil letting each coat dry between application.

[Bernadette & David Hedger]

Paul we may be a bit late in offering our advice but anyhow this is from Bernadette's experience (she did all the leather work)on our 32' Gaff Topsail Cutter:
1.a gaff saddle was found to be better than jaws
2. we made the saddle from stainless steel
3. we used 5mm untanned (cow)leather purchased from a saddler (tanned leather will stain sails and leave a darker stain on the mast)
4. soak for as long as you need..before and during working, and remember when it dries it will shrink so don't stich your work too tight around the edges.
5. fit the outside peice first over the tangs then cut to allow for about 1 cm more than required on the outside edges. you can use a soft mallet to hammer an impression of the edge before cutting.
6.you can pre mark and cut the holes but we have found that it is best not to
7. prefit your work as often as necessary before sticthing and you may want to use holding stitches in a few places. aloow enough on the inside so that when it dries it won't pull tight.
8. take your time and be prepared for the occasional needle stab in the hand or leg!
9. bernadette doesn't use a palm but rather a pair of pliers for pulling the needle through plus she has developed very strong hands!!
hope this is helpful.

[Bernadette & David Hedger]

Paul we may be a bit late in offering our advice but anyhow this is from Bernadette's experience (she did all the leather work)on our 32' Gaff Topsail Cutter:
1.a gaff saddle was found to be better than jaws
2. we made the saddle from stainless steel
3. we used 5mm untanned (cow)leather purchased from a saddler (tanned leather will stain sails and leave a darker stain on the mast)
4. soak for as long as you need..before and during working, and remember when it dries it will shrink so don't stich your work too tight around the edges.
5. fit the outside peice first over the tangs then cut to allow for about 1 cm more than required on the outside edges. you can use a soft mallet to hammer an impression of the edge before cutting.
6.you can pre mark and cut the holes but we have found that it is best not to
7. prefit your work as often as necessary before sticthing and you may want to use holding stitches in a few places. aloow enough on the inside so that when it dries it won't pull tight.
8. take your time and be prepared for the occasional needle stab in the hand or leg!
9. bernadette doesn't use a palm but rather a pair of pliers for pulling the needle through plus she has developed very strong hands!!
hope this is helpful.

[Bernadette & David Hedger]

Paul we may be a bit late in offering our advice but anyhow this is from Bernadette's experience (she did all the leather work)on our 32' Gaff Topsail Cutter:
1.a gaff saddle was found to be better than jaws
2. we made the saddle from stainless steel
3. we used 5mm untanned (cow)leather purchased from a saddler (tanned leather will stain sails and leave a darker stain on the mast)
4. soak for as long as you need..before and during working, and remember when it dries it will shrink so don't stich your work too tight around the edges.
5. fit the outside peice first over the tangs then cut to allow for about 1 cm more than required on the outside edges. you can use a soft mallet to hammer an impression of the edge before cutting.
6.you can pre mark and cut the holes but we have found that it is best not to
7. prefit your work as often as necessary before sticthing and you may want to use holding stitches in a few places. aloow enough on the inside so that when it dries it won't pull tight.
8. take your time and be prepared for the occasional needle stab in the hand or leg!
9. bernadette doesn't use a palm but rather a pair of pliers for pulling the needle through plus she has developed very strong hands!!
hope this is helpful.

[Ian McColgin]

Different boats, different long splices . . .

I'm a big fan of prepunching my holes in the leather. In my hippy days making fancy leather backpacks I had several 5 tine punches. The chissel points were variously alligned - "-----" , "/////" , "\\\\\" (upside down) to allow the stitching to pull at an angle from one end of the slit. The slit appears to be better for the leather than a round punched hole unless you're lacing up with a thong.

Since most of my work around boat leather involves oddly space holes, I never replaced those punches after Goblin's loss, and content myself with one chissel pointed punch made from a former scratch awl.

I usually pull stuff together, like for oar leathers, with a herringbone stitch, which is really like lacing up a boot. Sometimes I've used a stitch like the was wrestlers were taught to lace up their boots. The outside part of the lace goes straight over from one side to the other while the inside goes up along its side, skipping a hole to emerge and cross over. In applications where I can have the slits really near the edge, I use what I think of as the pipe leather stitch with two needles where the outside looks like two rows of regular stitching, one on each side of the seam, and the cross-over is on the inside. This can look tiddly if you can keep the two edges close and not curling.

G'luck

[Ian McColgin]

Different boats, different long splices . . .

I'm a big fan of prepunching my holes in the leather. In my hippy days making fancy leather backpacks I had several 5 tine punches. The chissel points were variously alligned - "-----" , "/////" , "\\\\\" (upside down) to allow the stitching to pull at an angle from one end of the slit. The slit appears to be better for the leather than a round punched hole unless you're lacing up with a thong.

Since most of my work around boat leather involves oddly space holes, I never replaced those punches after Goblin's loss, and content myself with one chissel pointed punch made from a former scratch awl.

I usually pull stuff together, like for oar leathers, with a herringbone stitch, which is really like lacing up a boot. Sometimes I've used a stitch like the was wrestlers were taught to lace up their boots. The outside part of the lace goes straight over from one side to the other while the inside goes up along its side, skipping a hole to emerge and cross over. In applications where I can have the slits really near the edge, I use what I think of as the pipe leather stitch with two needles where the outside looks like two rows of regular stitching, one on each side of the seam, and the cross-over is on the inside. This can look tiddly if you can keep the two edges close and not curling.

G'luck

[Ian McColgin]

Different boats, different long splices . . .

I'm a big fan of prepunching my holes in the leather. In my hippy days making fancy leather backpacks I had several 5 tine punches. The chissel points were variously alligned - "-----" , "/////" , "\\\\\" (upside down) to allow the stitching to pull at an angle from one end of the slit. The slit appears to be better for the leather than a round punched hole unless you're lacing up with a thong.

Since most of my work around boat leather involves oddly space holes, I never replaced those punches after Goblin's loss, and content myself with one chissel pointed punch made from a former scratch awl.

I usually pull stuff together, like for oar leathers, with a herringbone stitch, which is really like lacing up a boot. Sometimes I've used a stitch like the was wrestlers were taught to lace up their boots. The outside part of the lace goes straight over from one side to the other while the inside goes up along its side, skipping a hole to emerge and cross over. In applications where I can have the slits really near the edge, I use what I think of as the pipe leather stitch with two needles where the outside looks like two rows of regular stitching, one on each side of the seam, and the cross-over is on the inside. This can look tiddly if you can keep the two edges close and not curling.

G'luck

[Paul Reagan]

I'm a bit late getting to this topic, but it's better than never.
Here at Shaw & Tenney, we use a lot of leather for oars which we get from purchased hides. While the oar leathers are rectangular with straight edges, the hides are not, which results in a lot of scrap.
It dismays me to discard the scrap so I give it away to crafters and such.
If anyone is interested, I can send them a couple of pounds of this scrap. It will not all be the same color or shape, or size, but for chafing gear like jaw pads, it's fine.
All I ask is that you send a check for $4 to cover the postage.
send to: Shaw & Tenney PO Box 213 Orono, ME 04473
Be sure to include your return address.

[Paul Reagan]

I'm a bit late getting to this topic, but it's better than never.
Here at Shaw & Tenney, we use a lot of leather for oars which we get from purchased hides. While the oar leathers are rectangular with straight edges, the hides are not, which results in a lot of scrap.
It dismays me to discard the scrap so I give it away to crafters and such.
If anyone is interested, I can send them a couple of pounds of this scrap. It will not all be the same color or shape, or size, but for chafing gear like jaw pads, it's fine.
All I ask is that you send a check for $4 to cover the postage.
send to: Shaw & Tenney PO Box 213 Orono, ME 04473
Be sure to include your return address.

[Paul Reagan]

I'm a bit late getting to this topic, but it's better than never.
Here at Shaw & Tenney, we use a lot of leather for oars which we get from purchased hides. While the oar leathers are rectangular with straight edges, the hides are not, which results in a lot of scrap.
It dismays me to discard the scrap so I give it away to crafters and such.
If anyone is interested, I can send them a couple of pounds of this scrap. It will not all be the same color or shape, or size, but for chafing gear like jaw pads, it's fine.
All I ask is that you send a check for $4 to cover the postage.
send to: Shaw & Tenney PO Box 213 Orono, ME 04473
Be sure to include your return address.

[Bob Cleek]

Yea, what Paul said! Find a local leather manufacturing outfit. I hit my local leather supplier when I need a "farmer's bundle" and they like as not send me out to their dumpster to help myself!

[Bob Cleek]

Yea, what Paul said! Find a local leather manufacturing outfit. I hit my local leather supplier when I need a "farmer's bundle" and they like as not send me out to their dumpster to help myself!

[Bob Cleek]

Yea, what Paul said! Find a local leather manufacturing outfit. I hit my local leather supplier when I need a "farmer's bundle" and they like as not send me out to their dumpster to help myself!

[ken mcclure]

I now owe Ian one. I have a tool that I picked up at a garage sale around 10 years ago. It's a handle with a wide end that has five "fat needles" sticking out. Looks kind of like a hair pick for a masochist. This must be the "5 tine punch" Ian mentioned.

I've been using it to stretch the webbing onto chair frames before tacking, and it works well for that!

I knew if I held onto it long enough, and kept my eyes open I'd find out what it really was! http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif

[ken mcclure]

I now owe Ian one. I have a tool that I picked up at a garage sale around 10 years ago. It's a handle with a wide end that has five "fat needles" sticking out. Looks kind of like a hair pick for a masochist. This must be the "5 tine punch" Ian mentioned.

I've been using it to stretch the webbing onto chair frames before tacking, and it works well for that!

I knew if I held onto it long enough, and kept my eyes open I'd find out what it really was! http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif

[ken mcclure]

I now owe Ian one. I have a tool that I picked up at a garage sale around 10 years ago. It's a handle with a wide end that has five "fat needles" sticking out. Looks kind of like a hair pick for a masochist. This must be the "5 tine punch" Ian mentioned.

I've been using it to stretch the webbing onto chair frames before tacking, and it works well for that!

I knew if I held onto it long enough, and kept my eyes open I'd find out what it really was! http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif