all man-made sporran?

[Singlemalt]

As a boy on a general farm I was a witness to, and participant in, the shearing of hundreds of sheep on our farm and our neighbors. My observation was it would be an overstatement to say the sheep "enjoyed" the shearing process. Certainly, I never saw one walk up and volunteer or stand and be sheared without restraint. However, I clearly remember their reaction when they were released and allowed back out in the pasture. Old mature ewes would gallop around kicking their heels in the air like lambs. They seemed overjoyed to be through the process but also to have the heavy smelly old fleece removed and feel the air on their skin again. It appeared to be a huge relief and joy to them, and sheep are not creatures prone to overt expressions of joy!

[Friday]

I would imagine that a very nice sporran could be made from Naugahyde. I don't think that it can be carved but by layering it could have some very interesting design work. The Robb Roy style of sporran would be very easy to make.

[Father Bill]

I would imagine that a very nice sporran could be made from Naugahyde. I don't think that it can be carved but by layering it could have some very interesting design work. The Robb Roy style of sporran would be very easy to make.

How many naugas do you have to skin to have enough for a sporran? Are they roadkill or are they slaughtered for the sporran?

[Friday]

How many naugas do you have to skin to have enough for a sporran? Are they roadkill or are they slaughtered for the sporran?

It depends on the breed of naugas that you are using. The smaller petite nauga only have about 1/2 sq. yard of usable hide. This is the softest hide of the nugas and is excellent for gloves or lining sporrans. The generic nuga is larger than the petite and has about 1 and a half sq. yards of useable hide. One generic nuga should give you enough usable hide to do a nice sporran. However, because of their rough mating habits there are often imperfections in the hides. These imperfection either adds character or make it difficult to get larger unblemished cuts from the hide. The Humongous Nuga has a large hide of about 3 sq. yard. This hide is stiff and difficult to work with without extra processing.

I hope this was informative.

Ask a smart question and there is someone that will give you a smart answer.

[Harold Cannon]

A completely man made sporran is possible. I have made one for a friend some time ago. Here are the drawbacks. The synthetic materials do not last as long as a good leather. Leather will conform to use and shape and will wear in quite easily, synthetics do not.

Like I stated it is possible but would have to be replaced much sooner and will be just as expensive as a leather one if custom made. Just because the materials are a little cheaper doesnt mean that the end result will be. Working with synthetics can often be more difficult than leather and fur thus the price would stay the same.

[pugcasso]

I just have to comment that different people have their own views... if some people have decided for themselves that avoiding animal products makes sense to them, then that's their decision.

I haven't eaten meat since 2003 and I avoid as many animal products as I can so finding non-leather sporrans would be an interesting thing to find out more about. So threads like this discussing where to get non-animal sporrans and other items are good to see.

I won't argue any points (eg, about what industries are more polluting , or why people may decide this way or that, etc) here since it's not the place but it would be nice if threads like this didn't seem to gain some objections about vegetarian/vegan products.

[Friday]

As shown by the Still Water Nylon Cargo Sporran ballistic nylon can be used to make a very nice sporran. I just wonder if ballistic nylon would be appropriate for a piper at a formal event.

[Father Bill]

It depends on the breed of naugas that you are using. The smaller petite nauga only have about 1/2 sq. yard of usable hide. This is the softest hide of the nugas and is excellent for gloves or lining sporrans. The generic nuga is larger than the petite and has about 1 and a half sq. yards of useable hide. One generic nuga should give you enough usable hide to do a nice sporran. However, because of their rough mating habits there are often imperfections in the hides. These imperfection either adds character or make it difficult to get larger unblemished cuts from the hide. The Humongous Nuga has a large hide of about 3 sq. yard. This hide is stiff and difficult to work with without extra processing.

I hope this was informative.

Ask a smart question and there is someone that will give you a smart answer.

Thanks for your help; it's much appreciated. Do you know anything about baby oil?

[Friday]

Thanks for your help; it's much appreciated. Do you know anything about baby oil?

Are you asking how to oil a baby, very tricky, or how to harvest oil from a baby, very smelly?

[Friday]

A completely man made sporran is possible. I have made one for a friend some time ago. Here are the drawbacks. The synthetic materials do not last as long as a good leather. Leather will conform to use and shape and will wear in quite easily, synthetics do not.

Like I stated it is possible but would have to be replaced much sooner and will be just as expensive as a leather one if custom made. Just because the materials are a little cheaper doesnt mean that the end result will be. Working with synthetics can often be more difficult than leather and fur thus the price would stay the same.

I can see that synthetic materials doesn't have the flexibility of natural leather. I have often seen synthetic material wearing out at the thread lines. The threads cut into the material. I wonder if this could be be significantly reduced by using a heavy cotton binder on as many thread lines as possible?