How can I make an old canvas tent
- Thread starter AtomRat
- Start date
Help Support Prospecting Australia:
kathy said:
Certainly will! If not me mabey the missus wants to do that part hehe
kawman
steve wardle
ok guys.. you missed the point I was making.. a tent made of quality canvas will not leak, have the cheap ****** zippers fail and will last a lifetime.. a one pole quality tent would cost over $900 for me to produce today .... we made up to 50 at a time years ago for the bus tours because they take up no space and an absolute clutze can put one up in a minute flat.. and we should mention the big brand names that pretend to be aus made and come out of china.. .. swags too.. I spend a lot of time repairing the junk they make..especialy avoid 100% cotton tents.. a bed sheet off your bed will most probably be better quality having up to 35 % polyester in the weave making it much tougher.. A genuine tent in the old days would have been made off 100% unbleached very heavy cotton canvas with some very interesting chemicals used for waterproofing and mould and mildue deterants.. 
Tathradj said:As I have said before,
I bought a Jardine Explorer nearly the same as that one for $60.00 at a garage sale.
Proved it's worth at Tuena.
2 small drops of water from an over night deluge.
kawman said:
kawman
steve wardle
back in those early days the first treadle heavy industrial sewing machines had arrived from England and hand stitching was already a thing of the past.. Get yourself an hand sewing awl and you will find is is much harder work than you think having to use the awl on one side and a second needle and thread on the other side..
AtomRat said:
Still kinda not getting your conclusion there kawman apart from the 1 pole tents which is not what I'm after. I'm not a man of easy and don't mind spending time putting time into something. I frustrate many people with my doings
What I want is as close lookin to original tent I will use to camp in. Later on I will make a larger on for more a 'base camp' setup
What I want is as close lookin to original tent I will use to camp in. Later on I will make a larger on for more a 'base camp' setup
kawman
steve wardle
sorry A R.. all I am on about is any tent is only going to be as good as the workmanship and materials it is made out of.. the traditional loomstate 12 oz cotton canvas (still available today) was not very strong or any where as waterproof as we thought it was.. todays 8 oz canvas is 20 times stronger than the 12oz loomstate canvas and much more waterproof.. If I were making any type of old style tent I would use the 8 oz canvas of today as I have on several restotation projects for my cliants..
Gotchya mate, cheerskawman said:sorry A R.. all I am on about is any tent is only going to be as good as the workmanship and materials it is made out of.. the traditional loomstate 12 oz cotton canvas (still available today) was not very strong or any where as waterproof as we thought it was.. todays 8 oz canvas is 20 times stronger than the 12oz loomstate canvas and much more waterproof.. If I were making any type of old style tent I would use the 8 oz canvas of today as I have on several restotation projects for my cliants..
ill take a look into the awl you speak of.. it sounds traditional..I like Im the type of bloke who loves to use old tools and make my own for projects. I've made several lengths of bushrope from any fibrous material ( even cotton ear cleaners ) and when I break rock I use hand tools not power tools and use ancient ways everyday in life. Giveme an alloy can, a sponge, steel wool and wood fire ash and ill make you a battery for your torch
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2015
- Messages
- 496
- Reaction score
- 285
heres a very interesting article about living in miners camp.
http://www.goldrushcolony.com.au/tour/gold-rush-colony-tour/24-miners-tent
http://www.goldrushcolony.com.au/tour/gold-rush-colony-tour/24-miners-tent
Talking of Miners Tents . I love taking photos and one of my longtime hobbies has been free view stereo photography.
Now "free view" doesnt mean what you think it does! - it means viewing an image in stereo without funny coloured glasses or the old time stereo viewers.
Below is a photo of an exhibit at Sovereign Hill theme park at Ballarat. To view this image in 3D you need to master the "cross eyed" viewing technique. Heres how.
Look and concentrate on the double image > force yourself to go crosseyed > you will see four images > relax your vision and the four images will start to converge back to the original double image > with practice you will be able to control the convergence and HOLD it at the point where the the 2 inside images have overlapped > and you have three images!!! > HOLD IT there and concentrate on the centre image and it will -SNAP- into a 3D view!!! YOU ARE IN!!! > give yourself a pat on the back cos not all brains on the planet are wired to enable you to do this.
You may need to experiment with varying the image size or viewing distance but once learned it's effortless. It took me 10 minutes to learn the technique (not without gaining a migraine headache) but now i can do at will, and without discomfort and the eye muscle exercise is beneficial anyway.
Have fun - i have many more images that i can share.
casper
Now "free view" doesnt mean what you think it does! - it means viewing an image in stereo without funny coloured glasses or the old time stereo viewers.
Below is a photo of an exhibit at Sovereign Hill theme park at Ballarat. To view this image in 3D you need to master the "cross eyed" viewing technique. Heres how.
Look and concentrate on the double image > force yourself to go crosseyed > you will see four images > relax your vision and the four images will start to converge back to the original double image > with practice you will be able to control the convergence and HOLD it at the point where the the 2 inside images have overlapped > and you have three images!!! > HOLD IT there and concentrate on the centre image and it will -SNAP- into a 3D view!!! YOU ARE IN!!! > give yourself a pat on the back cos not all brains on the planet are wired to enable you to do this.
You may need to experiment with varying the image size or viewing distance but once learned it's effortless. It took me 10 minutes to learn the technique (not without gaining a migraine headache) but now i can do at will, and without discomfort and the eye muscle exercise is beneficial anyway.
Have fun - i have many more images that i can share.
casper
casper said:
..just had to PM you
kawman
steve wardle
noncents
John
Get her one of theseFilthyphil said:
Ah yes I know them, just didn't know the tools name, cool cheers. Yep ill probably make one for the jobkawman said:
casper said:
Don't mean to be a smart arse, but just did it within a minute.
As you said, the middle image of the 3 stays put and is in 3D. The post of the bed teally stands out.
Nice one.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2015
- Messages
- 85
- Reaction score
- 84
I had one like this when I was a kid and can distinctly remember that there was rope sewn into the material at the creases with small loops at the corners to tie off on. Also had a friend who started making T pee's as a business and was using 2nd hand jeans. You can specifically ask for certain types of material when buying bags of 2nd hand rags. He waterproofed them with a mixture containing bees wax that was applied with use of a hair drier.
hope this helps.
MJB
matt
I got it too, never knew about this stuff Casper but pretty cool matedocjohnson9 said:casper said:
Don't mean to be a smart arse, but just did it within a minute.
As you said, the middle image of the 3 stays put and is in 3D. The post of the bed teally stands out.
Nice one.
As my tent building experience lacks majorly, I didn't think of that, great idea n cheers. It will help and ill probably use it a fair bitBlindbat said:https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/6025/1441510992_tent.jpg
I had one like this when I was a kid and can distinctly remember that there was rope sewn into the material at the creases with small loops at the corners to tie off on. Also had a friend who started making T pee's as a business and was using 2nd hand jeans. You can specifically ask for certain types of material when buying bags of 2nd hand rags. He waterproofed them with a mixture containing bees wax that was applied with use of a hair drier.
hope this helps.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2015
- Messages
- 85
- Reaction score
- 84
This is the bee wax mix that my friend used. http://thesurvivalrevolution.com/?p=878
I was going to waterproof a large 2 room canvas tent and worked out that it would cost around $150 for the materials. A bit expensive, but it would definitely be waterproof.
Or If you wanted to go high class have a look at cosytents.com.au. This guy has a few in the Daylesford area and asks $225-$295 per night. :/
I was going to waterproof a large 2 room canvas tent and worked out that it would cost around $150 for the materials. A bit expensive, but it would definitely be waterproof.
Or If you wanted to go high class have a look at cosytents.com.au. This guy has a few in the Daylesford area and asks $225-$295 per night. :/
