spooky

not sure if this will work. This is the type of splitter/skiver I have. This is NOT a photo of the one I got from Bruce... that was in much better condition! http://www.toolexchange.com.au/images3/P1090675.JPG

I bought an old manual Osborne from Bruce Johnson a while back... cannot remember the model, and I have to,admit I was beyond surprise when (a) he knew could identify exactly the model of the splitter I was looking for from a photo ( he was able to find one for me and © it was very reasonably priced, even with shipping (since we get fleeced for any leather tools in Australia. Basically, this is my round about way of saying contact Bruce Johnson, and see if he can help. He was also extremely patient with a newbie leather worker.

try... https://www.standardrivet.com/spots/designer-spots/26-ring-spot.php

photos too, please. ssqueak68@yahoo.com.au

any chance of an indication of price, please?

dumb newbie suggestion... use two layers of the thinner leather for inner layers, glued, stitched and burnished.

That's also why us Aussies trawl ebay (as well as Bruce!) for plough gauges amongst other leather tools. I was lucky enough to pick up to plou gauges at Christmas, from ebay for around $180 each. Only wanted one, threw in what I thought was a cheeky bid on the first (from the UK) and would have no hope. Spotted a second, nicer one, so put in another cheeky bid. Second auction finished before the first... and to my surprise, I won it. Waited for the first auction to finish... expecting to be outbid, as here, most plough gauges on ebay sell for between $400-$600++... so you can imagne my surprise when I won it too! Not complaining. Still need to clean them up and get confident with using them... but for that price, it made sense to grab them. guess what I am tryigto say, that ebay/antique prices can sometimes be a very good deal.

For what it is worth from a newbie... who is slowly being taught by a saddlemaker. Neck measurement will be the distance from your centre of the hole for the buckle to the centre hole (allow 5 holes for adjustment). Holes will generally be 1 inch apart and start 2.5 inches from the point. Allow about two inches for the turn back over the buckle. Hope this helps. Interested to see how other people do it.

can you give an idea of price pls?

try ebay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Leatherworkers-Pricking-Iron-/170992092115?pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item27cfec43d3&_uhb=1#ht_1760wt_922

Me too. I thought i must have been doing something wrong!

did he say why he wouldn't use vegtan?

not sure about this... http://www.asfasaddlefitters.com.au/asfa-courses.html

feel like a trip to tassie? came across this when i was searching http://mobilesaddler.com/tasmanian-saddlery-school-courses/

Yipee-yii-ya!!!!! I think I got it! One of the slots was so narrow you could barely see it, so struggled to get the blade in, but now in. Once you have the instructions, not that hard. Off to try cutting some scraps then watch that video. Thank you sooooooo much for helping out a newbie. You may now return to splerking your coffee