Leather Costrels

[michaelsbagley]

Hey all

Over the last week I've been working on a new period item... Leather costrels.

I will have one of the two prototypes with me at Beaufort this weekend (one of the prototypes turned out very bad), and I am thinking of taking orders on these in the near future if there is interest. The main advantage of these leather costrels, is they don't break like glass does. They are also historically accurate...

Here is link to a 17th century one

Here's another link to a late 17th century costrel

Here's another image of a costrel from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, it is close in size to my sample above (photo curtesy of Kate Souris)

There is also an image of a costrel dated to the early 18th century in George Neumann's "Early American Antique Country Furnishings" (pg. 237)

Anyways, let me know if there is interest as these are very labour intensive, and I don't want to waste time if there is no interest, I'm thinking of selling these at about $60. I have seen them online for as much as $120... But I was told that particular one was on the higher end of the price range for these.

If there are any questions, please post here or message or email me if you prefer.

[Dutchman]

"hey y'all"???!!!! my goodness, getting ready to head south for the weekend are you?

very nice work. i'd love to see the end result. what is the measured size and how much does it projectedly hold?

[Kate Souris]

Michael is eating a grilled cheese....so you get answers from me. :)

The costrels are about 4" wide, 4" deep, and 5" tall...they hold approximately 20 fluid ounces (which is about a watter bottle sized bottle of water). Although, he can do them bigger if need be. :)

[michaelsbagley]

Now that I am done stuffing my face... For the metrically minded, they hold about 600 ml...

One importrant factoid, is I am using natural beeswax to case harden these... I could use paraffin if there is bee alergy concerns (but please note beeswax will be my de facto material, SPECIFY if you need paraffin)... Using pitch would be more period accurate, but pitch is such a messy nasty substance to work with, I would have to almost double the price to make one using pitch (and it would be modern "brewers pitch" and not the completely historically accurate kind of pitch).

[Dutchman]

poor bugger. got all married up, works on your wardrobe, makes wonderful things of leather and all he gets is a grilled cheese???? Well since he is learning southerneese with "y'all" introduce him to tatertots- spoil him! .

Grace makes sure there is a wide variety of TV dinners in the freezer when I visit

anyhow onto the costrels.... what sort of proofing y'all using on the innerds

[Dutchman]

dag- slow post again. disregard

[Kate Souris]

poor bugger. got all married up, works on your wardrobe, makes wonderful things of leather and all he gets is a grilled cheese???? Well since he is learning southerneese with "y'all" introduce him to tatertots- spoil him! .

Grace makes sure there is a wide variety of TV dinners in the freezer when I visit

anyhow onto the costrels.... what sort of proofing y'all using on the innerds

Hey now....

He was making grilled cheese when I got home from work....his fault entirely.

[1stMate Matt]

nice work. looks great.

[Dutchman]

oh so he made dinner...... he mends your attire, makes fine goods of leather all while learning a new language.......

[Kate Souris]

oh so he made dinner...... he mends your attire, makes fine goods of leather all while learning a new language.......

Yep....gots me a nice man slave.

His English is still so broken that I may need to get him that Rosetta Stone "Learn to speak English" set. Can't handle it otherwise.

Too many "aboot"s and "eh"s.

[Dutchman]

thats alright. i fixed graces gutters and siding. it all works out.

[MadL]

I would be interested in one! But naught til later in th' year, more like near end o' year (financial wise that be). I have a gourd shaped one now that I paied $60 coin fer, but want'd t' get a flat bottom too; th' maker however been have'n too many health issues for me t' risk place'n another order then 'hope' for th' next 8 month that noth'n goes wrong...again.

No worries o' bee's wax here, I actually can taste it in th' water as it adds a nice, slight sweet taste t' water it does! And Aye, I do be allergic t' bees...their stings that be, swell up like a blowfish I does! But I likes me honey and me honey likes me....'er, do naught mean me own honey...I mean her honey...no, wait...I mean th' bee's honey!

(uh, what bloody goes on below deck stays below deck!)

[michaelsbagley]

I would be interested in one! But naught til later in th' year, more like near end o' year (financial wise that be). I have a gourd shaped one now that I paied $60 coin fer, but want'd t' get a flat bottom too; th' maker however been have'n too many health issues for me t' risk place'n another order then 'hope' for th' next 8 month that noth'n goes wrong...again.

No worries o' bee's wax here, I actually can taste it in th' water as it adds a nice, slight sweet taste t' water it does! And Aye, I do be allergic t' bees...their stings that be, swell up like a blowfish I does! But I likes me honey and me honey likes me....'er, do naught mean me own honey...I mean her honey...no, wait...I mean th' bee's honey!

   

(uh, what bloody goes on below deck stays below deck!)

My turn around time will be about two to three weeks not including shipping time (which is usually only 3 or 4 days for continental US, or 5 to 7 days for Canada)... It's not likely, but in case I get a backlog of orders, I solemnly vow to keep those who have ordered appraised of any delays. I have a good reputation of being timely, and I intend to keep that reputation.

Just let me know when you have your pennies saved MadL, I'd be glad to make one for you.

[Capt. Sterling]

Remind me to look at this!

[Dutchman]

hey sterling- look at this.

[Capt. Sterling]

Hmmm, methinks I need to see Grace about a frying pan...

[MadL]

Have ye considered tankards as well?

I...had...a lovely built tankard o' leather, with a rose tattoo'd upon her side she did. Was me favorite drink'n mate for she made all that flowed from her taste so sweet...or perhaps that be the bee's wax I use'd t' keep her brim sealed (bee's wax really does add t' th' flavor!).

I had searched every where in th' new Americas for one 'n there naught be a single craftsman make'n solid leather tankards...well, a few actually, two never respond t' emails 'n th' third want'd an unholly amount fer one that was claim'd "indestructible" (naught proper made that means), but over in England I found one, like a mail-order bride she be....but US coin do naught fetch much over there.

I lost mine last weekend aboard the American Pride, had dropped her, too much rum or me still numb wrist (severed nerves from previous mishap, take yer pick) and she sprung a leak so I set her down figurin' I would seal her up when I got home...but when I got home, she was naught...

If ye decide t' try make'n tankards soon too let me know, that English mail-order bride catalog tis a deep dent in me coin!

[michaelsbagley]

Leather tankards are very high on the list of new things to try... I wound up getting so busy with wine and mead making over the last few weeks, I had to defer the leather tankards until after the Beaufort event I am going to this weekend.. Soooo, give me a few weeks and I will very likely be adding leather mugs/jacks to the list of wares... I imagine they will be much cheaper than the costrels as they are much easier to make.

[theM.A.dDogge]

you start bringin too many NEW things on this trip...some may ..."git lost"...in me truck

[Quartermaster James]

Nice work! I definitely need one of these. Check your PM.

[Kenneth]

Very nice!!

Did you seal the inside?

[michaelsbagley]

Very nice!!

Did you seal the inside?

The inside of the demo is sealed in natural beeswax.... which did hold up okay during the test run at Beaufort this past weekend.... But I think I am going to upgrade to using brewers pitch for the inside. I will probably continue to case harden the leather with beeswax, but add pitch to the inside to ensure good product qualtity. So I am going to hold off on taking orders for about a week until I finish the orders I got from Beaufort, and obtain some pitch (which I have to internet order).

[Capt. Sterling]

  Very nice!!

Did you seal the inside?

The inside of the demo is sealed in natural beeswax.... which did hold up okay during the test run at Beaufort this past weekend.... But I think I am going to upgrade to using brewers pitch for the inside. I will probably continue to case harden the leather with beeswax, but add pitch to the inside to ensure good product qualtity. So I am going to hold off on taking orders for about a week

I want three, can you use black leather?

[michaelsbagley]

I can use black leather.... The dyes I use claim to be non-toxic, and would be sealed in under the pitch and beeswax.... But I would very much prefer not to use dye if I can, I just don't trust them enough. By the way, 3 is where I was going to set the beginning mark for bulk discount. I'll PM you with the details.

[michaelsbagley]

A few more things about the costrels... I use natural veg tan leather for them so the colour starts out as a light to medium tan (depending on the leather)... the hardenning and water proofing makes them much darker (as depicted on the first page of this thread), but this is an all natural process so there can and will be some colour variation.

As stated above, I can use leather dyes to ensure black is acheived (if you are inclined to black), but I doubt I could get any other colour but black or the dark and slightly random brown from the natural process. I will be charging an extra $5 for dyeing them black for those who desire that.

I just found provenance for these styles of costrel in the late rennaissance, THIS LINK shows a carved version that was found on the Mary Rose (about 1545)... So they seem good ffrom the mid 16th century right up to the very early 18th century, but seem to vanish after the 17-teens or so.