Armguard Leather weights question. (Farr West style)

[Gav]

Morning all,

I want to make an arm guard for my 15 year old son. I have made a few simple ones but would like to try my hand at something like Farr West arm guards. he thought they were very cool and asked if I can make one like it. I've done a little stitching and feel pretty confident. My major problem is what weights and type of leather to use to stitch together and include a knife sheath too. I have some leather I used to make a plains style quiver for him. It's a medium weight, not very thick,certainly not thick enough to make an arm guard with. Any suggestions?

[b44mag]

maybe glue 2 or 3 pieces together then make the armguard. im new so maybe this is not a good idea but maybe it would work. im sure someone will chime in and tell you the best thing to do.

[Converml]

Personally I like a rawhide no less than 10 oz. I had mine made of 12oz . But I softened it up so I had the thickness without being too stiff for my likes. My leather guy wanted to use 6 oz but IMO was too light.

[Mike Most]

I buy 7-8 ounce from Ta____ when I make mine and back them with a light suede when I stitch the edges.

Check their scrap piles, sometimes you can find just the right sized piece for the right sized price.

[Gav]

Thank's for the advice. Going to Ta___ tomorrow.

[mike g]

Gav....
   The Armguard only needs to be thick, where needed....
   5-6oz works for me....Oil tanned.
If your going to do any tooling, ya need vegitable tanned....Maybe 10oz....
   But, what do I know about Armguards....!!

[Gav]

Mike,
Thanks for the input. I really appreciate your advice. My son and I are going to sit down and design something together. The local Tandy/Leather Factory gives free tooling lessons on weekends and I think Kenny would get a kick out of trying his hand at it. He's pretty artistic. Much more so than I am. We'll post it when we get it done, once I figure how to post pictures.

[Gav]

Here's a shot of my son and his quiver we want to make a matching arm guard for.



Here is a close up of the quiver.