Post by artificer on Jul 14, 2022 15:43:46 GMT -7
I started this thread in part because I wanted to learn more about Iron/Steel Buckles in this period.
For most of the years I’ve been doing 18th century leather working, there were no really good repro Iron/Steel buckles (outside small ones used in pairs to hold the shoulder straps of cartouche pouches) or I saw no advantage to using them over brass buckles.
In more recent years, I’ve been wondering just how likely an Iron/ Steel buckle may have been preferable for waist belts and/or shot pouch straps to at least some portion of the “Over Mountain Men” and those of a lower economic class on the frontier, because of their lower cost than brass buckles? Was using iron/steel buckles only a “make do with what you have thing,” or was it a true choice? Well, yeah, I realize that would be almost impossible to document. So, I decided to try looking at it from a different way of “What Iron/Steel buckles were available in the period on the frontier and would the available buckles work well for waist belt buckles and Shot Pouch straps?”
So, this thread is mostly an ongoing learning process and in no way “the final say” on the subject.
One of the first hits I got when searching came from Roy Najecki’s site with the following information.
“Iron buckles of 1/8" square stock were made in many sizes and used by the British and Americans on their cartridge boxes and pouches, waistbelts, kettle bags, harness, and other equipment. Photos of several originals can be found in Collector's Encyclopedia pg. 54 #18 and it seems that nearly every Revolutionary War historic site museum will have one or two on display as these buckles are found everywhere.”
I have to admit that surprised me because 1/8" square stock Iron Rods was one size of Iron that was used in Britain and imported into America for hand making nails. I would have thought they used “rounds” or round Iron rods or “Iron Wire,” (all of which were commonly available in the period) so they wouldn’t have to deal with the somewhat sharp corners of the Square Stock rods.)
Roy then goes on to explain common sizes of these buckles and what they were originally used on in the following link:
www.najecki.com/repro/IronBuckles.html
On the page with the enlarged section on his buckles, Roy explained:
“Pictured are old stock of Small, Medium, and Large buckles.
Current stock of these buckles have a bevel on the outer edge, like the originals.
The Extra Large buckle (not pictured) has a bevel on the inner and outer edge.”
www.najecki.com/repro/buckles/Iron.html
Considering how these buckles were mass produced in Britain, it sure looks to me like they must have heated pieces of the 1/8" square stock Iron Rods to weld them into square or rectangle shapes then perhaps heated them again to pound them into molds to shape them.
So, were there other ways the buckles were originally manufactured in quantity? Perhaps the best way we can figure that out is by looking at extant and excavated examples.
Excavated Buckles
The first two sites are the same ones as in my thread on brass buckles, but I think they belong here as well.
From Fort Ligonier: I think Number 7 is brass and the four in Number 5 are Iron. Can’t be sure, though, and the text doesn’t mention what they are made from.
ia801609.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/25/items/annalsofcarnegi421970carn/annalsofcarnegi421970carn_jp2.zip&file=annalsofcarnegi421970carn_jp2/annalsofcarnegi421970carn_0123.jp2&id=annalsofcarnegi421970carn&scale=4&rotate=0
The next two links and particularly the second one, demonstrate the problems that can arise when examining excavated Iron buckles. Since there is so much slag in Iron and once corrosion really sets in where chunks of metal come off, it can be difficult to impossible to figure out much about their original shapes and thus possible manufacturing methods.
www.metaldetectingworld.com/photogalary/buckels/pages/B21.htm
and
www.metaldetectingworld.com/photogalary/buckels/pages/B7.htm
I think this may be a good place to end this first post.
Gus
For most of the years I’ve been doing 18th century leather working, there were no really good repro Iron/Steel buckles (outside small ones used in pairs to hold the shoulder straps of cartouche pouches) or I saw no advantage to using them over brass buckles.
In more recent years, I’ve been wondering just how likely an Iron/ Steel buckle may have been preferable for waist belts and/or shot pouch straps to at least some portion of the “Over Mountain Men” and those of a lower economic class on the frontier, because of their lower cost than brass buckles? Was using iron/steel buckles only a “make do with what you have thing,” or was it a true choice? Well, yeah, I realize that would be almost impossible to document. So, I decided to try looking at it from a different way of “What Iron/Steel buckles were available in the period on the frontier and would the available buckles work well for waist belt buckles and Shot Pouch straps?”
So, this thread is mostly an ongoing learning process and in no way “the final say” on the subject.
One of the first hits I got when searching came from Roy Najecki’s site with the following information.
“Iron buckles of 1/8" square stock were made in many sizes and used by the British and Americans on their cartridge boxes and pouches, waistbelts, kettle bags, harness, and other equipment. Photos of several originals can be found in Collector's Encyclopedia pg. 54 #18 and it seems that nearly every Revolutionary War historic site museum will have one or two on display as these buckles are found everywhere.”
I have to admit that surprised me because 1/8" square stock Iron Rods was one size of Iron that was used in Britain and imported into America for hand making nails. I would have thought they used “rounds” or round Iron rods or “Iron Wire,” (all of which were commonly available in the period) so they wouldn’t have to deal with the somewhat sharp corners of the Square Stock rods.)
Roy then goes on to explain common sizes of these buckles and what they were originally used on in the following link:
www.najecki.com/repro/IronBuckles.html
On the page with the enlarged section on his buckles, Roy explained:
“Pictured are old stock of Small, Medium, and Large buckles.
Current stock of these buckles have a bevel on the outer edge, like the originals.
The Extra Large buckle (not pictured) has a bevel on the inner and outer edge.”
www.najecki.com/repro/buckles/Iron.html
Considering how these buckles were mass produced in Britain, it sure looks to me like they must have heated pieces of the 1/8" square stock Iron Rods to weld them into square or rectangle shapes then perhaps heated them again to pound them into molds to shape them.
So, were there other ways the buckles were originally manufactured in quantity? Perhaps the best way we can figure that out is by looking at extant and excavated examples.
Excavated Buckles
The first two sites are the same ones as in my thread on brass buckles, but I think they belong here as well.
From Fort Ligonier: I think Number 7 is brass and the four in Number 5 are Iron. Can’t be sure, though, and the text doesn’t mention what they are made from.
ia801609.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/25/items/annalsofcarnegi421970carn/annalsofcarnegi421970carn_jp2.zip&file=annalsofcarnegi421970carn_jp2/annalsofcarnegi421970carn_0123.jp2&id=annalsofcarnegi421970carn&scale=4&rotate=0
The next two links and particularly the second one, demonstrate the problems that can arise when examining excavated Iron buckles. Since there is so much slag in Iron and once corrosion really sets in where chunks of metal come off, it can be difficult to impossible to figure out much about their original shapes and thus possible manufacturing methods.
www.metaldetectingworld.com/photogalary/buckels/pages/B21.htm
and
www.metaldetectingworld.com/photogalary/buckels/pages/B7.htm
I think this may be a good place to end this first post.
Gus