Goat hair sporran...

[ShaunMaxwell]

Shaun, the hair looks neatly arranged in the "after" photo, but can you tell us what the lanolin treatment did for the movement of the hair? Does it still bounce or flail about to some degree when walking? Or did the lanolin tend to make it more rigid?

Toby:

I did try to arrange the hair (or really wool, in this case) for both the before and after photos. From the photo, your sporran looks more like proper hair than wool fiber. Is that the case?

The Icelandic sheep hide used to make my sporran is -- both before and after the lanolin treatment -- very dense, wooly and fly away (though less fly away after the treatment). Having not actually worn the sporran for any length of time, I'm not sure how it will react, but I suspect that I'll find myself trying to neaten it up periodically. Fortunately, a quick swipe of the fingers through the fibers seems to do the trick. I agree that it shouldn't look overly coiffed, but not entirely unruly!

It is NOT like a horsehair sporran in the way that it would move... It's more long "afro" than long hair -- very wooly and less likely to bounce or sway than long hair. That said, the wool is still soft and not at all rigid.

I gave the sporran a good shaking so that you'd see it less "artfully" arranged. Here's the result:



That said, I don't think I'd attempt the treatment on your sporran (not that you were planning to!) ... Yours is a beauty as is. Mine needed help, so I rolled the dice.

Thanks,

SM

[Tobus]

Toby:

I did try to arrange the hair (or really wool, in this case) for both the before and after photos. From the photo, your sporran looks more like proper hair than wool fiber. Is that the case?

The Icelandic sheep hide used to make my sporran is -- both before and after the lanolin treatment -- very dense, wooly and fly away (though less fly away after the treatment). Having not actually worn the sporran for any length of time, I'm not sure how it will react, but I suspect that I'll find myself trying to neaten it up periodically. Fortunately, a quick swipe of the fingers through the fibers seems to do the trick. I agree that it shouldn't look overly coiffed, but not entirely unruly!

It is NOT like a horsehair sporran in the way that it would move... It's more long "afro" than long hair -- very wooly and less likely to bounce or sway than long hair. That said, the wool is still soft and not at all rigid.

Somehow I missed that yours was Icelandic sheep (wool), and thought it was goat hair (mohair) as the title implied. I used to be able to tell the difference, back in my junior-high FFA days when I had to do wool and mohair judging. These days, I couldn't tell you which was which by look or by feel.

My goat hair sporran is indeed what I would describe more like a fine hair that will move with the wind. Probably not as dense as the wool on your sporran. And of course the hair is nowhere near as thick as my horse hair sporran.

I kind of like the unruly photo of your sporran. Where mine has the Tina Turner look, yours is the Don King of sporrans!

[ShaunMaxwell]

I kind of like the unruly photo of your sporran. Where mine has the Tina Turner look, yours is the Don King of sporrans!

A very apt description!

And yes, when we began the project, I'd intended it to be goat hair, but along the way, things morphed a bit. While I might have been better off sticking with the goat hair, I'm happy with the way it (eventually) turned out.

SM

[Me cousin Jack]

Where can others get a billy goats gruff?

[ShaunMaxwell]

Where can others get a billy goats gruff?

I commissioned Donnie Hailey of Wyvern Leatherworks (https://www.wyvernleatherworks.com/) to make the sporran using a sterling cantle which I provided.

I'd long been aware of Donnie's work, but didn't realize he made this type of sporran until I saw XMarker ASinclair's sporran. You can see his sporran here: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...sporran-94159/

Donnie was a pleasure to deal with.

To be clear, mine isn't actually goat hair, as we ended up using Icelandic sheep (wool).

Hope that clarifies.

Thanks,

SM

[Tobus]

A very apt description!

And yes, when we began the project, I'd intended it to be goat hair, but along the way, things morphed a bit. While I might have been better off sticking with the goat hair, I'm happy with the way it (eventually) turned out.

SM

I think you're right to be happy! It looks great.

I'm still kicking myself for passing on a black long curly-haired goat hide at an auction a few months ago. It would have made at least 2 or 3 amazing sporrans, but I just didn't bid on it. The silly thing sold for $17. For some reason, I feel like I need a curly hair sporran in the mix.