Antique Brass Cantle Sporran Restoration Project

[artificer]

Scott, nicely done! So this is kidskin? Beautiful. The pores remind me of pigskin.

Thank you.
It IS kid, but it does look like pigskin. Part of that is the way I dyed it. I wanted the dye to puddle in the pores to give them more definition.

Scott,

Wow....You have gotten really good at this...

Beautiful work!

Excellent Scott. That design portion on the body of the bag is an exquisite touch. Congratulations Master sporran maker

Thanks guys!

I managed to straighten out the front-to-back twisting on the cantle, and to push out the area on the front face where it had been depressed into the body.

The one area I fell a bit short on was straightening out the right side body (where it was bent in toward the center). I managed to correct a bit of the off-set, but I didn't want to over-stress the hinge arms and risk damage, since the area had already been damaged before.

The other option would have been to cut out the screw-rivet and re-align everything, but that would have meant breaking BOTH hinge rivets, and I don't like to undo something original.

It was a real treat to work on.

ith:

[piperdbh]

That's really a beautiful sporran. Is that cantle very heavy, or is it thin enough to not weigh much?

[artificer]

That's really a beautiful sporran. Is that cantle very heavy, or is it thin enough to not weigh much?

The whole piece comes in just over 12oz. The material isn't thin, but the cantle is on the smaller side- 5.25"w x 2.5" tall x .6875" thick. Roughly 87% of the scale of a slightly more modern cantle (~6"w).

ith:

[ShaunMaxwell]

Wow! I wasn't sure about all that pinking when I saw your original drawing, but the finished product is stunning. It's always fun to see your WIPs and how the project unfolds. Thanks for sharing yet another beautiful piece.

SM

[Ryan Ross]

That's just... wow.

There are no words.

[SlackerDrummer]

That's just... wow.

There are no words.

No, there is definitely the one word. And you said it.

Wow!

[artificer]

That's just... wow.

There are no words.

No, there is definitely the one word. And you said it.

Wow!

Thanks chaps!

Usually I'm elated when I post a sporran out to it's new owner. This was one of those pieces I was actually VERY sad to see leave the workshop. The cantle is so time-worn that the metal is greasy-smooth from years of handling. All the edges are butter soft with wear.

It was a beautifully balanced little work that I'd dearly love to know more of the history about.

ith:

[Tim Little]

Amazing!
I'm not at all surprised, of course, but still very much impressed.

[saxandpipes]

Just stunning!

Absolutely gorgeous work.

Now I'm starting to Jones....

Cheers,

Michael

[pascs]

A great transformation, I wasnt sure how it was going to look but I think everyone has already summed it up

The close up of the tassels is great too, I need to make some the same for my newly acquire sporran.

The new owner is going to be happy