Matt S

Jinxed, any chance of posting a side-on pic of you mounted at halt? What Dag has said sounds about right and checking your position is the most logical thing to do, at the risk of sounding a little patronising.

Remember that 1/10 of an inch is 2.54mm. I've never used garment leather but most leathers would have trouble if you are opening the stitch holes wider than the distance to the next one... if you add a slice of cork or a small scrap of leather to your awl blade you won't stab quite so deep or wide.

I often browse the site on my s3 with the mobile version but foolishly pressed "full version" and cannot figure out how to return to the mobile version, which is much easier to navigate. Anyone able to help?

A result of old fashioned domestic central heating systems in damp environments! Large quantities of hot water are kept for immediate use in an insulated tank. These are usually enclosed in a cupboard or closet for aesthetics, and this is used to air linen, always being quite warm.

Soaking leather in melted wax certainly stiffens it...

Some great work. My only suggestions would be aesthetic: try not to let the border lines over run; align the line of cartridge loops parallel to either the comb or the bottom of the stock; round the ends of the cartridge loop strip.

Most English harness (esp show harness) and quite a bit of saddlery is black. Makes it easier to match different pieces, and looks very smart contrasting with polished brass, stainless or chrome.

Good work. Make sure to share a picture 'in use' ;-)

Well I've seen online several vintage pricking wheels with two wheels arranged in parallel. First I thought the wheels would be at different pitches, so you had two options on one handle. But they all seem to be the same pitch. The only other reasonable explanation I can think of is that they are for making two parallel rows of stitching for heavy duty items. But most seem to be in very fine pitches -- up to 20 SPI! Anyone got thoughts, experience or handed-down knowledge?

Yep plenty of firearms appreciation here. As Humperfingle said, breech loading pistols are verboten (muzzleloaders are smokey smelly fun!), most manually operated rifles and shotguns are fine though. Semiauto .22lr is popular. Oh and suppressors are quite readily and cheaply available. Yep plenty of firearms appreciation here. As Humperfingle said, breech loading pistols are verboten (muzzleloaders are smokey smelly fun!), most manually operated rifles and shotguns are fine though. Semiauto .22lr is popular. Oh and suppressors are quite readily and cheaply available.

I will add my recommendation for Batchelors. They have a full range of Ivan tools (much better than Tandy prices), about any buckle you can imagine and all sorts of hides at very reasonable prices. No Fiebings 'oil' dyes though.

Ah understood. Sorry for the confusion.

Are you stitching with thread or lace? Thread holes shouldn't be punched, despite what Tandy might say. You need a diamond awl. Layout with a pricking iron will help but is not essential.

I have noticed differences between paraffin waxes sed in candles. Melting down one batch of yealights resulted in a crumbly crystalline mess.

Sheridan leather have a few vintage pricking irons, up to an amazing 18SPI. Don't think i can see that fine let alone stitch! Prices are pretty decent but i held off due to a hefty import tax. No affiliation.

Some beautiful work there!

I've never carried a pistol on my belt but I have done stock work, manual labour and mucked about on horseback. You'd be surprised what falls or is forced out of even buttoned pockets. I think once your holster wears in (stretches) you'd have problems. Aussies largely solved this problem by carrying all their pocket goods on the belt, in wet-moulded pouches. That is the beauty of the saddle stitch; even if a stitch breaks its neighbours are not actually affected. Each stitch is locked together using a combination of the leather shrinking back around the threads, the tight fit of the threads in the holes in the first place, and the proper mix of waxes in the thread. Some will even go so far as to tie an overhand knot in each stitch, which lies inside the stitch-hole. That's why you don't need to tie the ends off. Furthermore a properly done saddle stitch will not actually remove leather, unlike a line of rivets.

Hi Adam, where exactly are you to? I'm near the muddy end of the Met Line.

Beautiful stuff there. The superficial resemblance to the Moorish/Hispanic tradition is interesting. I wonder if these are an example of converging design or direct influence?

Last I checked Tandy has veg kangaroo in 3 colours. Kinda tempted to make a whip myself. Ron Edwards' books have quite a lot of info on stock-whips. Bushcraft 1 has a few different ones, Bushcraft 8 (leather) has a few more, and Bushcraft 9 is dedicated to them. Apparently most were made with whatever was to hand in about the right thickness -- greenhide (rawhide) or redhide were the most common. Not quite been able to figure out what what redhide is yet though.

Hibernicus, where are you ordering from? Remember the UK is not far away from you and we have excellent mail-order stores like Le Prevo, Tandy UK, Metropolitan Leather, JT Bachelors etc. and our countries both being in the EU there is no import taxes.

Well if the slow speed, smell and mess don't put you off, take a look at Ron Edwards' excellent Traditional Australian Bushcrafts, usually available from a secondhand bookseller for a few dollars. He dedicates a few pages to the making of rawhide and veg tan. Also, take a look at this document: http://www.tannerbates.co.uk/index.php/download_file/-/view/146/

You could use tacks. And if you tack the leather wet it will tighten as it dries.

Sorry Pablo, perhaps I can explain myself a little better. Stitch grooves are only necessary when you need to pull the stitches flush with the leather, where it would otherwise rub. Stitch grooves have the added effect of pulling all your stitches into a straight line. When using a pricking iron (as they are called over here) on ungrooved leather the stitches are proud of the surface, and look like a line of toppled dominoes. I like this look, but it's largely aesthetic preference. For instance on a knife sheath I would mark the top side of the leather with my pricking iron and groove the back side. This protects the stitching on the back side of the sheath from wearing in contact with my jeans but also means when I am stitching I can watch for the tip of the awl to make sure it is in line before stabbing all the way through. This helps to keep the backside of the stitching neat.

I agree with the gentlemen above; don't try to punch all the way though, the tool is largely for marking. Punch on the 'best' side -- the one that will show most. For a case this will be the outside. The diamond holes will help guide the awl as you stitch, making everything nice and neat. Don't gouge a stitch groove when using this tool; a groove pulls the stitches into a straight line whereas a pricking iron creates the 'toppled domino' effect. To line things up on the back side, of course you should glue first as already mentioned. To help each awl hole be in line, you need to have a sharp awl and a stitching clamp of some sort. Cutting a groove on the backside or even just scribing a light line helps you to know when it's going okay.