Matt S

Ladies and gents, barring infirmity if you are struggling to pierce a mere 6mm (15oz) of bridle or plain veg with a diamond awl, you need to sharpen your awl. Stabbing it into glycerin soap every now and then helps too. Consider the typical hand-stitched leather shoe (not a perfect example): 1 layer welting @ 2mm. 2 layers sole @ 6mm = 14mm , most of which is soling leather. If you've never handled it, soling leather is a very firm veg tan which has been compressed to be even firmer. Consider further traces. These are the long straps which connect a horse's harness to the thing being drawn. They simply must not stretch or break. Proper old 'working' traces were made from three layers of heavy harness leather and stitched 2-4 rows along their full length (for which entire backs were needed). So you see, hand stitching two layers of 8oz bridle leather to make a trouser belt isn't exactly an impossible task. No Dremels, drill presses or bloody Chicago screws needed. Please don't think I'm trying to teach grandma to suck eggs; I'm a novice and there are those in this discussion that have much more experience than I.

I don't do holsters (not much demand round here... go figure...) but I like to roll my own from linen yarn, and stickywax.

I'd be interested. Single seams should be strong enough, so long as they are chosen with care. Girth points in English of Aussie saddles are held on with single seams, and they're about the highest stress points.

Neetsfoot certainly works but I suspect that any leather oil will work fine; cod liver, veggie...

Oil and let 'dry' before dyeing. What type of Fiebings dye was it?

Which country requires this?

Looks to me like a circular pricking iron (available from dixons et al) but with the teeth not canted. This cant is necessary to minimise weakening of the leather and prevent tearing.

My galaxy s3 does exactly the same thing ;-) You are bang on with the stretching issue. Some people with more experience than I will maintain it's not enough stretch to worry about but i prefer to err on the more cautious side. Btw check out metropolitan leather. I got a nice enough half butt of bridle for 110 delivered including VAT. Its not Sedgewicks or Bakers but does th we job.

I take it you meant 'bridle' leather, as in the ring what goes on a horse's head? A firmish prefinished veg tan that has been got stuffed with dubbin. Thickness depends on the weight of belt you want, whether you have a splitter and whether you will line them. As for lining... I like it but it's labour intensive and some people like an unlined belt. Leather is priced by the square foot but sold by the cut. Double shoulders should get you several belts but only if you cut out the traditionally "wrong" way. Butts allow you to cut straps the "right" way and work out better price per belt but are a bit chunk of expensive leather.

Just backstitch. Certainly holds in linen with stickywax. If you are using straight beeswax or a synthetic thread... your mileage may vary.

Automatic shotguns have a bolt. It's the bit that goes back and forth inside. There is no requirement to carry the gun with bolt removed, just plod legislating from their own sense of entitlement.

Hi, GP. Where are you located?

Django, that's about what I thought; bit like this but a little higher and wider. What's wrong with harness needles and a diamond awl? I tend to be suspicious of hardware 'dodges' to avoid stitching, like chicago screws and rivets; it usually ends up with a weaker result and apart from speed has few advantages over doing it 'properly'.

Is the strap to cinch it in a little around the middle, like a belt back on a waistcoat? Won't need anything too elaborate or duty. Two light 3/4" straps and a suitable buckle will do fine. Habicht males a good point about adding small leather patches inside. Rember that wax cotton won't glue if you don't strip the affected area with solvent first.

I can answer "what" but not "why". A West End is a common pattern of single bar buckle, almost rectangular but tapering slightly at the bar end and with rounded corners. Can be found with swelled ends and a roller sometimes.

Looks a lot like my Singer 99.

I get a better result on the back when I cast each stitch.

Yikes, now I wish I'd put the one I recently sold on eBay Australia!

The US army ones from the 40s (m1 rifle and carbine) had rivetted on steel channels to getvaround exactly this issue.

If you buy a cheap pack of pH indicator strips you won't have to guess.

T shirt material works well.

Take half a span of green thread, half a span of white, tie together with a surgeon's knot and start saddle stitching in the way that you would normally with a knotted thread. Take half a span of green thread, half a span of white, tie together with a surgeon's knot and start saddle stitching in the way that you would normally with a knotted thread.

Spacing depends on the thickness of the item and personal preference, which includes tradition. In English and Australian saddlery for instance 8spi is considered 'normal' whereas it is considered "fine" in Western saddlery. The thickness of thread is also connected; for 8spi I find size 12/3 towards the upper limit of what works best. This is thicker than the usual 18/3 that seems often used by English style stitching but I like it that way. Are you intending to make "rugged" looking or "fine" products,

JT Bachelor of Islington (London) sells a wide range of very good solid brass hardware cast in Walsall, the traditional heart of the English saddlery trade. Prices are very reasonable too, though you will need to polish them a little.

It's surprising and a little unnerving the filth that gets into a saddle after just a little use. I use an old sweatflap as a knee apron for rolling threads a such. You do not want to know how much cleaning that took to get it to an acceptable level.