Blog - Page 23 of 25 - David Morgan

New Hats from Tilley

April 1, 2010

David Morgan is pleased to offer two additional hats from Tilley: the Airflo Hat and the Airflo Hat with Neck Protector. Both are crushable and packable and will not shrink. And, like all Tilley hats, they are guaranteed for life.

Designed for hot weather, they are certified with a UPF of 50+, the highest UV protection rating given. But don’t think of these hats only for sun protection. Their water resistance makes them great rain hats.

The Airflo has a 3/4 inch mesh in the crown that helps you remain cool and comfortable. At four ounces, you’ll forget it’s on, even in hot weather. The hat is made of Nylamtium fabric, a strong water and mildew resistant form of nylon. Colors are Natural with Green under-brim or Khaki with Olive under-brim

The Airflo Hat with Neck Protector has all the advantages of the Airflo with two additional features: a tuckaway neck protector and Insect Shield® protection. Wear the neck protector loose over the shoulders or Velcro it under the chin. The protector can be tucked under the back brim. The odorless and invisible Insect Shield® helps keep biting insects at bay and will keep performing through 70 washings. Color is Khaki with Olive under-brim.

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Tilley Hats

Tulips in Western Washington

March 19, 2010

After a long and hard winter for much of the country, the appearance of brightly colored tulips are a welcome sign of warmer weather. In Western Washington, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is ready to begin. A week early, the flowers should bloom the last week in March. David Morgan is pleased to offer a selection of tulip jewelry handcrafted especially for the festival by Warren Jewelers in Kirkland, Washington.

One of the finest pink tulips, this late blooming Pink Diamond variety is grown in the Skagit valley. The tulip is portrayed here in full bloom with open petals. The leaves and flower are sandblasted for a textured finish. Also available as earrings.

The Dutch city of Delft created magnificent artwork from the 16th to the 18th century. Like one of their famous tiles, this piece captures the tulip’s graceful beauty. All but the leaves of this piece has a sandblasted finish. Also available as a necklet.

The tulips portrayed in this sterling silver necklet grow in Washington’s Skagit Valley. The flowers are sandblasted with a polished border.

Warren Jewelers has also created several Tenby daffodil pieces as part of its flower jewelry collection. The Tenby daffodil is native to Pembrokeshire, Wales and blooms around March 1, St. David’s Day.

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Warren Jewelers

Lost Wax Casting and Stamping

March 5, 2010

David Morgan’s silver jewelry is made using one of two methods: stamping or lost wax casting. Both methods have their advantages, and each piece is designed with those advantages in mind.

Most of our Northwest Native-American jewelry is made by stamping the metal. First, a steel die with the piece’s reverse image is made. The die stamps down onto a pre-cut piece of silver and impresses the die’s image into the metal. This method also has the advantage of work hardening the metal. A work hardened metal is stronger and more resistant to wear. Once the piece is stamped, the recessed areas are antiqued. An oxidizing solution is applied to the metal which turns it dark. Since tarnish is an oxidized surface, antiquing metal is really just high-speed tarnishing. Finally the piece is polished.

While stamping provides crisp detail and relief, it does not allow for deeper three dimensional work and intricate detail. For that, lost wax casting is necessary.

Lost wax casting begins by covering a model of the desired piece with a mold. A tube is inserted with the model so that a passage into the mold is created. This is called a sprue. When the mold is hard, it is cut in half. This mold can be reused multiple times.

Next, wax is poured into the mold through the sprue. After it cools, the mold is opened and the jeweler now has a wax replica of the original piece. The replica is coated with a slurry of silica and dried. Once dry, it is heated until the slurry coating is hardened and the melted wax runs out or is burned away. The result is a mold capable of withstanding the heat of molten metal. For greater efficiency, the wax replicas are often joined together into a ‘tree’.

The slurry mold is placed in a bed of heated sand into which the metal is poured. Once cooled, the mold is broken off or dissolved in water and a metal replica, complete with spruing is the result. If the replicas were joined together into a tree, the individual pieces are cut away and the sprues are removed to be used in another process.

A tree of Everlasting Love pendants after casting.

The final steps are to remove oxidation and any signs of casting via sand blasting and hand polishing.

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Pacific Northwest Indian Jewelry

Celtic Jewelry

Jewelry FAQs

Braiding Soap Tips

February 5, 2010

The application of braiding soap helps to make a tight whip, chinstrap or lanyard. Meagan, our resident whipmaker, has a few suggestions:

Coat the entire length of all the strands with braiding soap prior to braiding. Saturate the strands, particularly near the top, on heavy work. You do not need to wait any time at all to begin braiding, though if you do it won’t hurt. Occasionally if a skin is on the dry side it will seem to drink up the soap and may benefit from a resoaping. This would especially be true if you leave it for a long time between braiding. Usually this is not necessary. It also is not necessary to resoap before rolling. The braiding soap just allows the strands to pull in more tightly when braided, which in turn makes for a smoother, rounder surface after rolling. It does not help in the rolling.

Meagan also recommends that when applying soap to each strand, it is more effective to pull the strand through the soap-filled hand rather than sliding your hand along the strand. This also allows you to hold your thumb on the top part of the strand to control the amount of soap that is applied.

And remember to lay the strands in order before soaping. You don’t want your soapy hands to have to untangle anything!

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Indiana Jones Bullwhips

How to Make Whips

Braiding Fine Leather

For Valentine’s Day: Everlasting Love Jewelry

January 29, 2010

The Celtic symbol of everlasting love – in Welsh, serch bythol – is formed from two triskeles. The triskele, a three cornered knot, denotes body, mind and spirit. When two triskeles are joined together, they form an everlasting circle of eternity. Thus the figure represents two people, joined in body, mind, and spirit in everlasting love.

Everlasting Love Bracelet: The three symbols entwined denote past, present, and future. Devolved length is 6-1/4 inches, width at the center is 3/4 inch.

Everlasting Love Earrings: These sterling silver fishhook earrings are double sided, about 1-3/16″ long.

Everlasting Love Necklet: This sterling silver necklet is double sided, about 1-3/16″ long. An 18″ sterling silver chain is included.

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Everlasting Love Jewelry

Valentine’s Day Gifts

Our Braiding Soap Recipe

January 21, 2010

Braiding soap is an emulsion of fat in a soap-and-water solution. The water in the solution conditions the lace for a greater stretch while the fat permits the leather strands to slip more tightly into place. This allows the braid to be rolled more smoothly.

The following recipe for braiding soap has been used here at David Morgan for years. We usually make the braiding soap in a recycled 2 pound coffee can where the mixture can be prepared and stored in the same can.

Ingredients

1 3.5 ounce bar of Ivory soap
12 ounces (1-1/2 cups) water
1 pound (2 cups) lard

Directions

1. Coarsely grate soap into a coffee can or pot suitable for stovetop use.

2. Add water and mix.

3. Heat the mixture almost to boiling, stirring occasionally. Take care not to overheat causing the mixture to boil over.

4. Add the lard to the hot soap mixture, continuing to heat until the lard is melted. Again, take care not to overheat causing the mixture to boil over.

5. Remove the mixture from the heat. Beat at high speed with an electric hand mixer to emulsify the fat. Take care not to splatter or spill the hot mixture.

6. Allow the mixture to cool, then mix thoroughly once more with the mixer. Transfer the mixture to a storage container at this time if you are not storing in the container used during preparation.

7. Cool completely. Store, covered, at room temperature.

Makes about 2 pounds. The braiding soap will have a light, creamy consistency.

Note: Ivory soap is recommended as a commonly available pure soap. Do not use a facial soap or detergent.

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Braiding Fine Leather

Kangaroo Lace

How to Make Whips

Choosing the Right Sweater

January 8, 2010

Style and color matter, but weave and yarn are just as important when choosing a sweater. If you are using your sweater for work, you may want a tighter weave and a stronger yarn. If you are wearing it next to your skin, then a merino wool provides comfort. For the warmest sweater, bulk will prevent heat from escaping.

All of our sweaters are made with wool. Some are pure wool, some are mixed with other fibers such as our delightful Possum/Merino wool sweaters, and some have a touch of synthetic fibers added for strength and durability. Compared to less expensive synthetic competitors, wool reigns supreme for its warmth and comfort. Wool is also the optimal fiber for moisture transference and will not retain an odor.

Below we feature five of our sweaters. From top to bottom are: Devold’s Aquaduct Polo, Thermo Jacket, and Marine Sweater, Lothlorian’s Possum Sweater and Devold’s Islender Sweater.

Next up is a close-up of each sweater:

Devold’s Aquaduct is made of 95% merino wool and 5% nylon. Warm air is trapped between two layers, providing a warm, but lightweight top. The merino wool makes it comfortable next to your skin.

Devold’s Thermo Jacket is composed of 100% merino wool. Light and soft, it is an excellent layering piece that also works well as an outer jacket.

Devold’s Marine Sweater (both zip-turtleneck and crewneck) is the traditional Norwegian sweater used for work. After a decade or so of hard use, the Norwegians would take their sweater to tailors who traveled on the waterways in barges to have the cuffs replaced. The Islender was the sweater of choice of the Artic and Antartic explorers in the early 1900s. The wool is worsted, providing a stronger and tighter weave. This design also prevents snags.

Lothlorian Sweaters (men’s v-neck and women’s cardigan) combine the soft pointed ends of possum fur with merino wool for an extremely soft and luxurious fiber. Because possum fur has a hollow core, the sweater is very light and very warm.

Devold’s Islender Sweater is our thickest sweater. The bulk prevents heat from escaping while the weave provides an elasticity that prevents constraint. However, we recommend wearing a shell over the sweater. A strong wind can penetrate the weave and rob you of heat.

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Devold Sweaters

Lothlorian Sweaters

Discover the Warmth of Wool

Trade Bracelets, An Excellent Christmas Gift

December 4, 2009

A trade bracelet is a unique gift for someone who appreciates wildlife. The bracelets we carry were originally created in Seattle using designs from Tlingit carvers. They were sold to Indians along the Pacific Northwest coast who would then give them away at Potlatches. Our bracelets are struck from dies made in the early 1900s. The designs were created by Bill Wilson, a Tlingit from Hoonah, Alaska.

Each piece reveals a detailed image of an animal set at both ends of the bracelet. They are narrow and will sit nicely on a slim wrist.

Orca Trade Bracelet

Lovebirds Trade Bracelet depicting Eagle and Raven

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Northwest Indian Rings

Northwest Indian Earrings

Northwest Jewelry

New Items from Tilley

November 25, 2009

We are pleased to offer two new items from Tilley. A leader in quality and innovation, Tilley Endurables has satisfied millions of customers for twenty-five years.

The Pickpocket-Proof Purse (say that five times) is a handy companion for any traveler who wants extra protection for their valuable items. The top of the bag snaps closed with wooden bars. Two plastic sheets are inserted into the sides of the purse to prevent anyone from slashing through the fabric.

Another excellent travel companion is the Kangaroo Pouch. It will carry all of your essential items while on the road. Two pockets sit in the straps for your coins while the others hold your camera, wallet and passport. Everything you need within easy reach. Leather trim gives your pouch a stylish touch.

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Tilley Classic Cotton Hat

Tilley Leather Money Belt

A Well Kept Whip

November 13, 2009

This ten foot bullwhip arrived for a fall replacement. The owner tells us that it was purchased in 1984 and put through heavy use. What a pleasure to see it in such excellent condition. Notice the darkness of the leather. This comes from both exposure to sunshine and the vigilant use of leather conditioner.