Ball flask question.

[Rt5403]

So wanting to make a ball flask. How do you harden and stiffen the leather so it holds it's shape?

[Jim Curlee]

Use rawhide.
Soak in water.
Make a form.
Sew rawhide around form.
Let dry.

Jim

[Daniel Coats]

How do you get the form out of a ball flask? I guess what shape is the form might be a better question

[Jim Curlee]

Here's another option.
Braintan leather, deer antler.
Made this ballbag many moons ago.

[Dennis Daigger]

Be forewarned this is from a rookie.

I saw a  photo of this very early bag design and liked it. Patterns at top and resulting bags below. I used 3 oz veg tanned leather and after they were sewn they were filled with wet shot and allowed to dry. They hold their shape quite nicely.



Dennis

[jaeren]

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=25263.0

Look in the tutorials section. I found the above tutorial there may be others.

Ed

[Jim Curlee]

Dan;

Years ago at a shoot, a guy showed me a rawhide ball bag that he had made.
It was about hand sized, in the shape of a flattened teardrop, and painted in a native American motif.
He told me that he sewed up a cloth form/shape, stuffed it full of sand, then sewed the rawhide around the form.
Thats why you got the condensed version, I never made one. lol
Although I thought it was pretty cool, it was hard as a rock, and noisy, so it just didn't appeal to me to make one.
I like soft, and quiet, when I'm huntin.

Jim

[Cory Joe Stewart]

If you are using this enough leather you do not need to do anything to get it hard enough to hold its shape.  Just make sure you are using the right leather to begin with.

Cory Joe

[Daniel Coats]

Hadn't considered the noise factor thanks!

[RonT]

Here's a couple rawhide (dog chew) flasks made by the above mentioned wet formed method.  Noise? Never experienced, but then I don't march through the woods shaking them like castanets.
Cheers,
R   

[Daryl]

Ball flask/bag I bought from Track in the 80's. I added the loops to go on a belt.
This one, with a copper nozzle inside the leather, will handle 14 bore balls (the reason I bought it).

[DHouse]

I dig the copper nozzle liner. I made a nozzle liner out of Rawhide sewn into a loop while wet. Let it dry with the wooden plug in it and she's holding up like a champ.

[Beaverman]

Ball flask/bag I bought from Track in the 80's. I added the loops to go on a belt.
This one, with a copper nozzle inside the leather, will handle 14 bore balls (the reason I bought it).

Those were made by October Country

[P.W.Berkuta]

If you want a ball shape go to a craft store and buy one of the wooden balls the size you want the ball bag to be and cut it in half then glue the half to a flat board. Take the rawhide soak it until pliable and form it over the wooden ball make sure you have enough of the rawhide to make a flange about 1/2" wide all around the wood ball. clamp that flange around the wood ball FLAT to the board and let dry. Make two of them and when both half's are dry stich them together close to the ball shape and then trim off the excess flange rawhide -- simple pimple.

[Tim Crosby]

 These may help:

 https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=25263.0

 https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=30238.msg289524#msg289524


  Tim C.

[bigsmoke]

Ball flask/bag I bought from Track in the 80's. I added the loops to go on a belt.
This one, with a copper nozzle inside the leather, will handle 14 bore balls (the reason I bought it).

I shudder to think how many of those darn things I have made over the years.  When we first took over October Country from the Fadums, I thought they were kind of hokey and was considering dropping them from the list.  Then Track ordered a dozen and I had second thoughts.  That is the original design and produced with the wet sand method of shaping.  Somewhere down the line I decided I didn't like the sand and started using #6 nickel plated shot.  I liked that much better.  Then we redesigned the shape and incorporated a couple of "ears" to provide a place to put a couple of brass barrels in to hook up a carry lace.  Finally, we came up with the idea of making them available with either English or Irish shot heads on them as well.  IIRC, they were made out of 5 oz veg tanned leather.  I had a special die made to cut them out with a clicker press.  Much faster than hand cutting, and easier.
John (Bigsmoke)