As with almost everything I make I think it's important to figure out how something is put together and how well it works before bending the 'rules'. So, my first port of call is to search for images of the thing I want to make. So here were some of the images that caught my attention:
This looks like all the bones of the bustle are fixed with a screw (?), it has 6 bones that are fixed to a back bone and I am guessing that the tension of all the bonings natural desire to straighten out is giving the cage it's shape. It is fixed by a simple waistband.
This is a cage that would be difficult to make, flat steel is notoriously troublesome to drill through.
This is more like the type of thing that I can make without learning new skills.
Back lacing contains the tension to give the boning necessary spring and keeps the bustle in position and not collapsing with the weight under a full skirt. A simple tape system holds the bones in place.
This drawing looks promising, as I can really start to see the kind of structure that needs to be created.
And off I go...
And here is how I am getting on:
Really interesting Chrissie!
ReplyDeleteI've used steel packing strapping for both bones and pannier cages before; it's fantastic stuff, absolutely perfect for the application and you can usually get it free, because the people who receive packages wrapped up in it just cut through it and throw it away. If you want it new though it's super cheap, at something like $15 for 500 feet or so.
ReplyDeleteSo I've worked with it and there's a pretty simple trick to drilling through it, although you'll want to use a drill press because a hand drill would probably skip around too much. Even the drill press bit tends to skate around a bit, though. What you have to do is make an indentation for the point of the drill to go into, to keep it in the one place while you get it started. Just take a punch awl (it's just a solid rod of metal with a point at one end), put a block of scrap wood under the strapping, put the awl in place, and give it a couple of good whacks with a hammer to make that indentation. Then put the strapping on the drill press, with a block of scrap wood underneath it so you can drill right through the strapping and into the wood, make sure everything is clamped down tightly (you don't want it skating off on you), and away you go.
As an added tip: a bit intended for metal will have much better results than a wood drill bit; and it will go better if the drill is at a slower speed than a very fast one. Oh, and I found it easier to drill the hole and THEN cut the piece to length, rather than trying to drill right near the end of the strapping, as then you can't clamp it down so easily. If you are cutting a piece in half to make two pieces and each piece will have holes at each end, then use a piece of wood to clamp down the free end when you drill the hole there (as if the drill bit clips it nothing gets wrecked); and drill the holes that will be at the end of one piece and the one at the beginning of the next one before you cut the two apart. Again, it just makes it easier to clamp it down if you have more strapping there to work with.
And don't forget to file or otherwise smooth the cut edges! The sides are fine but the cuts can be very sharp. :-)
I want to try making that Canfield bustle, but from the pictures I've been finding, I think I have it all figured out except the part where the horizontal boning meets the fabric (or leather?) vertical support (the bit with the grommets for the lacing too). Do you have any idea how they attach the two? It almost looks like they've got a little D-ring attached to each one with two rivets, and then the D-ring stitched down to the vertical bit? I suppose that ought to work, but I'm a bit doubtful about it, I have to admit. But I can't find any pictures of a high enough resolution that I can make it out with complete certainty. Any ideas?
Hi Kryss-labryn,
DeleteI'm really not sure how that little beastie is put together...but thankyou very much for advice on materials and how to approach them.
If I see any more cool photo's that can be insightful about the construction of the Canfield bustle I'll shout you.