Matt S

Locals still fobbing you off with the antifreeze-laced vin rouge Mike?

Machine now sold.

There's so much that can affect the performance of a steel knife that is impossible to say without trying it out. Pattern welded blades used to have a practical purpose when steel was produced by carburising bloomery iron, increasing the homogeneity of carbon content. 1000 years ago a subtle "watering" was an indication of quality. Today, with nearly perfectly homogenous steel for ridiculously cheap prices, so-called Damascus (pattern welded) steel has but one advantage for the user: it looks pretty. The steel mix claims to be 1095 and 15n20, which is good if correct. However we don't know how is heat treated or what its grinding or sharpening are like. If you're looking for a good basic head knife the Barnsley/Woodware one for £15+VAT takes a lot of beating. It's just a plain beech handle and a piece of Sheffield steel (probably CS95/1095), correctly heat treated and with with bevels correctly ground (far wider than the knife you linked to).

ZThere's so much that can affect the performance of a steel knife that is impossible to say without trying it out. Pattern welded blades used to have a practical purpose when steel was produced by carburising bloomery iron, increasing the homogeney of carbon content. 1000 years ago a subtle "watering" was an indication of quality. Today, with nearly perfectly homogenous steel for ridiculously cheap prices, so-called Damascus (pattern welded) steel has but one advantage for the user: it looks pretty. The steel mix claims to be 1095 and 15n20, which is good if correct. However we don't know how is heat treated or what its grinding or sharpening are like. If you're looking for a good basic head knife the Barnsley/Woodware one for £15+VAT takes a lot of beating. It's just a plain beech handle and a piece of Sheffield steel (probably CS95/1095), correctly heat treated and with with bevels correctly ground (far wider than the knife you linked to). It will need some honing though.

I made some baccy pouches in the past. I sized them so the plastic pouch it comes in slides Into the leather pouch. This prevents it from drying out too quickly. Alternatively you can put in a plastic lining.

If those nails are brass (rather than brass plated steel) you can anneal the tips by heating to a cherry red then quenching in water (the opposite to annealing steel). Then you might have some better chance of peening over the pointy end but I must say that's a long and skinny thing to peen! Even simpler... Could you bend/clinch the nails over on the backside of the 4mm leather? Would need a lining, but I think the rivet idea would too. If Fred's supertinyrivets™ don't fit the holes, can you drill them out a little to fit the rivets' stems?

That looks fantastic. Not sure if I'd call it historical reenactment strictly speaking, more SCA/LARP/fantasy, but a really nice piece. Is it made for someone specific, and if so is she happy with it? How does one go about fitting/sizing such a thing? Is it an off-the-peg sizing system or, like a good corset, more of a custom fit per individual?

@KennethM I take it that is machine stitched? I have much better luck sewing this style of wallet "pockets up" than "pockets down". The machine feeds the leather up and down the transitions much better. However there is a drawback: With a closed-eye needle machine (99% of leather sewing machines) the front and back of the stitch will always be different so the "outside" and "inside" stitches won't look exactly the same. There are some tricks to to reducing this difference (making sure your tensions are perfectly balanced, hammering and/or rubbing the backside stitches, tweaking the needle size, using thread lube) but there's almost always going to be a noticeable difference between front and back if you really study the piece.

@hilldale As a metalsmith, have you considered making your own stamps? See if you can get ahold of a copy of Ron Edwards' 8th Bushcraft book, all about bush leatherwork. He (who grew up in an Ozzie saddler's shop) shows a lot of home-made tools, including stamps. I bet you could make a lot of stamps from a couple metres of stainless round, and even if you used mild they would be a country mile better than a lot of the pot metal stamps that you'd pay through the nose for. Plus, nobody would have stamps quite like yours!

Hard to tell but is the spindle turning while the pulley remains stationary? If so it could have a few different causes. All the sewing motors I've worked on have a key which keeps the pulley and spindle locked together. First thing would be to check that's fully engaged into the keyway slot in the bore of the pulley. They key will either be a small square-section rod under an inch long or a semi-circular piece about 3/4" across.

In a word: grease. Whatever grease there was on hand. Applied liberally and frequently. Often beef tallow. Not so good for your wife’s posh handbag though. I have a pair of boots with veg tan uppers and they need slathering in dubbin just about every time they get wet, or they go rock hard. Interestingly (at least to geeky old me) is that a lot of older leather stuff that is a dark brown now has darkened over time due to combination of sunlight, oxidised greases and accumulated dirt. Originally a lot of it (especially finer leather, such as fancy horse tack) would have been a russet or London or Conker colour when it was new. Officers kit from ww1 and earlier is a good example: they were expected to buy their own gear, which they often did from the same tailor where they’d bought their uniforms and a high degree of individuality was tolerated. Fair leathers like London colour/tan were very popular and so a lot of officers’ holsters, belts etc were in fact rather light in colour. However a century of oxidised grease and dirt means that most of the examples available now are rather dark — usually somewhere around dark Havana. Reproductions for reenactors are typically no lighter than Australian nut and often much darker as that is what they expect; that’s the colour of the ones they’ve seen in museums and eBay. Plus fair leathers don’t really align with modern tastes, for some reason. Saddles, boots and harness didn’t last forever of course. Boot soles especially were a frequently repaired, when the primary soling material was leather. Hobnails or heel plates could easily be replaced with just a last and a hammer. Worn through soles could be pasted over with cardboard. Patcher machines were invented to repair boots and such that had worn but were repairable. Most people who worked in conjunction with leather (farmers, carters, cowboys etc.) could do some maintenance and repair, just as today most computer users can do some basic repairs in order to save money and time over taking it to an expert every time something goes slightly wrong. Frankly I just think that we expect leather stuff to look newer for longer these days.

Hi Japi, I bought the same burnisher several years ago though I supplied my own motor. The one designed by Nigel Armitage ("the Englishman") and sold by Just Wood. I've burnished literally hundreds of belts and other leather items with it in the past year alone. The burnisher itself is very well made and service was prompt from Just Wood. Nigel responded within 48 hours when I asked him a question so I can't fault his service either. I find it interesting that you describe it as a con. The motor is a Draper model #29620, which retails for between £70 and £100 online. Just Wood sells it at about the middle of that range. They have done the job of removing the safety guards and grinding stones, which is a half-hour job for which not everybody has the necessary tools and hand strength so there's added value there too. In what way is that a con? Draper is a long-established firm that, while not selling top quality tools don't charge top price either. I've used cheaper motors on my burnisher and trust me -- you don't want that. The burnisher itself is not cheap (currently about £85 on its own) but it's cheaper than buying a lathe, turning tools and learning to make a wooden tool that's balanced enough not to vibrate when turning 50 times a second. When you say you haven't been able to burnish anything, do you mean with this machine or that your health problems have meant that you can't now burnish by hand? I had to modify my technique a little when I got it, and make adjustments when using different leathers. That's just part and parcel of leatherwork.

Glad that you've got a result you're pleased with. Any chance of some pics? That kudu looks interesting on Crack's website. I always assumed that Edge Kote is some sort of acrylic rather than PVA. Some with Tan Kote. Some people use acrylic floor polish on russet leather but I've never tried it (rarely use russet leather myself).

Thanks JCUK, I didn't know about that supplier. I'll give them a ring in the morning. Thanks Geoff, that makes a lot of sense. Don't think that's something that would suit my purposes so you've saved me some money. I'll try contacting a few manufacturers but I'm pretty small-fry and most haven't been too happy spending time to talk with me in the past.

I think a lot will depend on the leather. A prefinished chrome tanned leather would be best suited to this purpose, though exactly what finish would depend on how you decide to attach the stones. I've never glued stones like this but would want to test some samples extensively before going into production. Rivet backed stones would definitely be my preferred option. You can get die sets for an eyelet press that suit rivet back stones. However punching that number of holes accurately enough will be a challenge. A template made from heavy card or thin plastic would be a cheap option. For quantity production a clicker die would be best but that would be a fairly expensive die.

Those parts look great katit. Looking forward to seeing the finished article! What colour you intending to paint it?

Could be an acylic finish.

The idea behind my layout is to have each tool as close to the hand in which it is used as is practically possible. If you can't attach the board to the wall your plan should work fine, though I'd upgrade to 12mm plywood rather than OSB. Or, at danger of overthinking it (my speciality), you could extend the board down to the floor, and attach it to some drawer or cupboard units for storage under the desk. That again isolates the board from any pounding you might do on the bench. You can also put a shelf at the top of the board, for things like glue, each paint etc. I love having my glue pot within easy reach. My shelf is about eye height if standing at the bench and find that ideal as I rarely sit when working.

George, I don't know if you're aware but that seller appears to be based in China, which could well be the reason they're reproducing vintage industrial machines without safety measures that are mandatory in most Western nations. It appears that you're in the US. Why not speak with a dealer in-country? They will be better able to answer your questions, their product will conform to all relevant safety standards, they will probably test their machines before sending out and they will have whatever other features that the modern hydraulic machines have over the older mechanical style.

The board is for storage and quick access to the most commonly used tools. Punches and chisels on the left, knives and pens on the right. Edge strips and creasers on the extreme right, since they're used on long straps. Rather than the normal leather loops I have found that I prefer the magnetic strips people put on their kitchen walls to hold knives. These hold punches, knives etc. pretty securely. Nails and hooks for bulkier tools like strap cutters. The board doesn't need to be very strong -- 12mm of OSB would be plenty. Might want to attach it to the wall rather than the bench if you can. This prevents the board from being shaken when you pound on something on the bench and allows you to pull the bench out a bit form the wall, if cutting strips off a hide that's deeper than the table.

Does the eyelet attract a magnet? I've found that many sellers are ignorant about the nuances of brass vs. brass plated steel. Sometimes wilfully and deliberately ignorant.

That's pretty cool, and doesn't look like it'd be difficult to replicate with basic tools. I wonder if those rods across the top are notched deliberately or if that's from wear over time.

Edge burnishing will only work if it's vegetable tanned. That leather is chrome tanned so won't burnish in the same way. I have had some success in burnishing, or at least sealing, the edges of chrome tanned leather using diluted PVA glue and a fast burnishing wheel but it's not guaranteed. Other than leaving the edge as cut, you have a few other options: Skive and fold the edge Bind the edge Paint the edge

@plingboot What sort of leathers are you using? Veg tans (like bridle) can be done cold. Chrome tannages typically require the stamp to be heated to leave a decent impression. Impressions in veg tanned leathers are improved by heating. I used to use the same basic hydraulic press that I use for clicking for my maker's mark. If it needed heating I would warm it with a hot air gun. Same principle as an arbor press, as Mike suggests. A rivet press could be adapted to this job too but I wouldn't buy one just for this purpose. I found that the simple approach was slow and inconsistent, so I bought a small heated press from China. Far more repeatable, and faster.

As others have said, it's really about surface feet per minute, which is a product of burnisher diameter and RPM, rather than RPM per se. FWIW my burnisher is about 2"/5cm diameter and runs at nearly 3000RPM. I consider this to be at or near to the maximum speed I'd want or recommend. I had to modify my technique to reduce the amount of edge burning and I still burn the odd bit of leather here and there. Further, there are safety implications. Sure burnishes quickly though.