where can I buy a cantle like this?

[OC Richard]

I recently got on Ebay another one of my favourite styles of sporran: hair, with the huge roomy opening body.

However this sporran came without a cantle.

It would be cool if I happed to have an unemployed vintage cantle sitting around... actually I do, but it won't fit.

So I was thinking about buying a cantle like the one below, the so-called 'bullseye' (Goddess eye) pattern, but in brass.

And... here's the kicker... I would really like to be able to get it with five knobs, or at the very least three.

Who makes these? Anyone have contact information? Thanks!



I'd like to get five knobs like this!



or this

[Downunder Kilt]

Artificer could make you one from scratch, to any specifications you want. Cheers

[PiperOfThePlains]

I think some place in the UK called "ClanArt" makes sporran cantles. I must also agree with Downunder Kilt, as Artificer would be my #1 bet.

[Manxstralian]

According to this thread: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-source-82550/ he actually doesn't make "parts", more's the pity.

Cheers,

Cameron

[OC Richard]

Thanks for the Clan Art tip, here's their cantle range

http://www.clanart.net/ourshop/cat_637404-Cantles.html

but those aren't the sort I'm looking for.

There was a traditional 'canon' of sporran styles from the 1950s up through the 80s and even today, where maker after maker uses the same styles and the same cantles.

I've seen catalogues of at least a dozen different Scottish sporranmakers (plus L&M in Canada) all using cantles from the same source. What is the source?

Yes you see those Clan Art cantles quite a bit nowadays, but that 'bullseye' cantle was one of the older styles.

Here's the thread I did about that traditional 'canon' of sporran styles, with scans of the same photos than at least a dozen different Scottish makers used

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-styles-77256/

and that 'bullseye' cantle shows up on the 2nd page, called 'EW5".

Sporranmakers are still using that cantle style, so somebody must still be making them.

[artificer]

Richard, if anyone IS still making that cantle pattern they are doing so in secret... I haven't seen it anywhere in modern 'production'.

According to this thread: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-source-82550/ he actually doesn't make "parts", more's the pity.

Cheers,

Cameron

That's not entirely the case.

I do, in fact, make new cantles to repair/upgrade old sporrans, and also make new bags to replace those that have worn out when the cantles are still in excellent condition.
Generally speaking I need the sporran in-hand to make sure that the spacing for the bolts is correct and that the top is properly fitted so there is no gap between the cantle and the sporran body.
This is even the case with the ex-MoD brass cantles, as I've seen some with variation in the stud placement (not a LOT, but enough to give you a less that ideal fit for a new bag).

What I don't do is produce parts for others to make their own sporrans with. When I made my first brass cantle I quite literally spent about 3 work days straight answering emails about
making them wholesale for other sporran makers/companies. My situation isn't one that lends itself to mass-production. Each piece is hand cut from templates I design, they are hand brazed, and hand finished.

Unfortunately, companies looking for wholesale parts are also looking for at-cost pricing, which is not something I can afford to do as each cantle can take multiple days to design and make.
I also have no desire to sit at my bench and make the same thing 100 times in a row.


ith:

[Manxstralian]

Richard, if anyone IS still making that cantle pattern they are doing so in secret... I haven't seen it anywhere in modern 'production'.



That's not entirely the case.

I do, in fact, make new cantles to repair/upgrade old sporrans, and also make new bags to replace those that have worn out when the cantles are still in excellent condition.
Generally speaking I need the sporran in-hand to make sure that the spacing for the bolts is correct and that the top is properly fitted so there is no gap between the cantle and the sporran body.
This is even the case with the ex-MoD brass cantles, as I've seen some with variation in the stud placement (not a LOT, but enough to give you a less that ideal fit for a new bag).

What I don't do is produce parts for others to make their own sporrans with. When I made my first brass cantle I quite literally spent about 3 work days straight answering emails about
making them wholesale for other sporran makers/companies. My situation isn't one that lends itself to mass-production. Each piece is hand cut from templates I design, they are hand brazed, and hand finished.

Unfortunately, companies looking for wholesale parts are also looking for at-cost pricing, which is not something I can afford to do as each cantle can take multiple days to design and make.
I also have no desire to sit at my bench and make the same thing 100 times in a row.


ith:

Ah, perhaps I oversimplified... If you did make cantles for retail sale, I'd have a few by now!

Oh, and Richard, have you considered electroplating? If you got a cantle that you liked plated in brass but not highly polished, it might do the trick, I'm actually considering this with some aluminium cantle experiments I'm working on.

Cheers,

Cameron

[OC Richard]

Richard, if anyone IS still making that cantle pattern they are doing so in secret... I haven't seen it anywhere in modern 'production'.

Yet, the sporran in my top photo is a currently made one.

Pretty much all the 'classic' cantles seen in that old brochure are still available in modern sporrans. Somebody is making them! But who?

[artificer]

Yet, the sporran in my top photo is a currently made one.

Pretty much all the 'classic' cantles seen in that old brochure are still available in modern sporrans. Somebody is making them! But who?

I don't know how current that particular listing is. If the sealskin ban went into effect at the end of 2010 this is either OLD New-Old-Stock or their site is out of date.
Even so, that means that it WAS produced up until a few years ago, unless it was something special they commissioned directly- several other pieces they have listed
were done that way.

Doing both a regular google search as well as an image search I cannot find any other contemporary occurrences of this cantle.
I don't think I've ever seen it in the links/advertising packets I occasionally get sent from Pakistani producers either.

Have you tried emailing the vendor directly?

ith: