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Matt S

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Everything posted by Matt S

  1. Matt S
    They are not always available or cheap. In the UK for instance they are more expensive than the 'real' ones. I use a Swann Morton 10a scalpel blade on a no3 handle. Strop or replace the blade as soon as it starts dulling. It took a lot of leather and a lot of four-letter words to learn how to skive and I tried a few different knives. This is very handy, fast and economical.
  2. Matt S
    Thanks for this comparison, Gary. I'm looking for something to improve on the Edgekote -- i find it's too shiny, doesn't fill very well and takes an age to dry thoroughly. I have a small bottle of Fenice on the way and Norsol, a brand I have only recently come across. I will compare them with Edgekote and post the results.
  3. Matt S
    Looks like a Pfaff 335 clone. The 335 type is very popular with makes of bags and purses.
  4. Matt S
    I think Sedgwicks dressing is dubbin, which varies but is usually roughly equal parts tallow, oil and wax. I've never used Sedgwicks dressing but dubbin would certainly be too soft to fill the edges, though it makes a great maintenance dressing. Yes I used diluted PVA as a burnishing solution, but only for the final burnish. I find that once it dries that's it, so it has to be done pronto. I like and have used gum arabic solution before, which goes beautifully shiny very quickly even by hand, but find it isn't very water resistant. Shellac (dissolved in alcohol) works well too, but I have found it is best suited to applications that will not flex at all, such as shoe heels. I haven't got round to trying pearl glue yet since I'm happy with PVA and my girlfriend can't stand the smell of hide glue. I apply beeswax after final burnish.
  5. Matt S
    Tallow is the rendered fat from beef or lamb. I use lamb because it's what I had already. Also I find that watered-down PVA glue is longer lasting than anything else I've tried so far. However because once it dries it is insoluble you only have one shot at the burnishing. My method for burnishing bridle is detailed here:
  6. Matt S
    That is a forged press knife. They are much more expensive than the steel rule dies we are more used to but supposedly last much longer.
  7. Matt S
    There are some designs for the classic Buck knives in Al Stohlman's first case making book. More significantly there are techniques on how to develop one's own patterns for any knife and any purpose.
  8. Matt S
    Adler also made a variant on the 105 (105-25MO?) designed for these jobs. It's a single needle with differential feed (the walking foot and feed dog can be adjusted to feed at different rates) to either make a smooth or ruffled moccasin toe. I've seen a few of these come up on eBay UK. I think they can be adjusted to do 'normal' jobs suited to a 105 so it could be a very useful machine, but I don't think they have reverse.
  9. Matt S
    Can you wrap or solder a piece of wire onto the stamp? Then bend a loop in the free end like a wool dauber. Blacksmiths do this all the time (on a larger scale) for their top tools.
  10. Matt S
    I find that some bridle leather can need working underwater to wet them properly. Warm (but not hot) water helps too. Rather than folding gently, establish your fold line and then hammer it down flat (the direction you want it to fold) and allow to dry naturally under a weight. Experiment with an offcut first.
  11. Matt S
    Swann Morton 10a scalpel.
  12. Matt S
    What sort of veg-tan? I presume you're falling you mean russet top-grain for tooling? If so, JT Bachelor does some pretty nice buff-back russet shoulders for £3.50/foot plus VAT and they are only as far as Dalston. (They do mail order too.)
  13. Matt S

    English Bridle

    Matt S replied to Tpc's topic in How Do I Do That?

    The carnauba won't do it any harm, but I don't think it'll help much. What are you using? Old tshirts work best IME and the price is right. Where did you get your bridle from? If you aren't going to use it all any time soon, consider cutting a few extra blanks and selling them on eBay, Etsy or here to offset some of the cost of buying the stuff.
  14. Matt S
    What a lot of more casual rifle shooters may not appreciate is that the M1907 design is more than an adjustable strap from butt to forend. It is designed to be unhooked and quickly converted into a target-style single-point sling with an adjustable cuff for the upper arm. Properly setup this allows for a very stable position, especially prone. Utility in the field for war or hunting is questionable but it makes a bloody fine one for range use. This 1940s instructional film gives you the idea:
  15. Matt S
    Well that certainly does the job, and looks great. Next time, try gouging a little thickness from the inside of the folds to add some sharpness to the corners. If it's a veg tanned leather, you can dampen the folds too and knock them down for extra points.
  16. Matt S
    Yeah it looks like bloom/spue -- excess waxes and greases working their way out of the leather. Quite normal and no harm. What preparation of leather is it?
  17. Matt S
    Will there be display samples separate/distinct from the stock? If so nail it down to the display stand or board. Customer points at the one they want and the shop assistant grabs their one from under the counter. How is stock currently displayed in the shop? If the manager is worth their salt they will care a great deal about merchandising, and theft deterrence will have to be balanced with this.
  18. Matt S
    The small size is a tenner from Abbey. Works fine, I have one for water based contact cement and another for the normal kind. Like many I use normal acid/flux brushes though I have to fold a half inch of the handle down to fit under the lid.
  19. Matt S
    Supposedly, Coco Chanel based this on Russian leather: https://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragrance-beauty/fragrance-cuir-de-russie--120502 but I've never tried it. This smells like leather and birch oil, which I guess is very close to Russian: https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Acqua-di-Parma/Colonia-Leather-Eau-de-Cologne-Concentr-e-25349.html
  20. Matt S
    Now you've got me jealous. The best I have is some "russialike" calf that i acquired. Is the birch oil still pungent after two and a half centuries?
  21. Matt S
    Thanks for the advice guys, I've got a couple of machines I could do with putting a speed reducer on and this all helps. Think I might stick with the DIY solution myself, you should see some of the functional monstrosities I've fabricobbled to get the job done...
  22. Matt S
    Interesting. What advantages does this have over constructing your own with a 40 and 120mm pulley and some pillow block bearings?
  23. Matt S
    I bought this week a hydraulic workshop press for small clicking and embossing. I don't have much space for a real clicker press, nor the money so I bought a 6 ton press for £50 delivered. My main concern was only having 10" of daylight (would vastly prefer a c frame or even a swing away head) but beggars can't be choosers. Still waiting on some steel plate and new dies to arrive but early indications with a 12 linear inch steel rule die shows a significant increase in production. It now takes less time to cut out the piece than it used to take me to mark around the template, let alone cut it. Time will tell how useful it is but I suspect, however short is working life, it will pay for itself many times over.
  24. Matt S
    Sandy thanks for posting the extra pics, it's interesting to see the old heaters as very few have survived. Mine used to have a paraffin shuttle heater but little remarks other than the shadows where it once sat and the old water box. Is the serial number of yours quite high? From the paint I would guess it's a relatively late one. Any clue as to whether the heaters have any sort of control like a thermostat? I can't see any!
  25. Matt S
    Looks like Organ does a size 140 15x2. That should be right for M20/V138 but I don't know if your machine will do it.
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