JohnD

Ray, In the winter here, its a "home away from home" for a lot of folks. It's basically a shed of sorts, that gets dragged out on the lakes or pond to keep warm in while icefishing. When the lakes freeze, people come from all over the world to fish Lake Winnipesaukee. We have a huge derby, where the whole bay turns into what looks like a small town of bobhouses. I'll post some pics when it happens. Thanks for the "how to". John

nice work. Your lacing is impeccable. John

Holly, I'm not sure if this is the proper method, but when I tested mine out, I just quickcased a scrap piece and used the slicker in different directions like Rawhide and Hidepounder said. I also tested it out on the flesh side and it worked great. Hopefully, if there is more to it, someone will correct me. John

Thanks for all the responses. I could not find any other info anywhere else. This web site, The people here...... I'm just so glad I found this place when I started working with leather. I just replaced the windows in my basement, so I have plenty of glass. I will give this a try today. Thanks again. John

I have seen a youtube video, where a shoemaker uses a piece of glass to even and smooth the edges of the sole of the shoe. Does any one have any info on this? I've searched the threads here as well as google and came up with nothing. The info I'm mostly looking for is; what preparation is needed on the edge of the glass to get it to scrape properly? Is it just a flat smooth edge or is there some kind of bevel or something? I would post a link to the video as reference, but its in 7 parts and each part is 7-10 long and I don't remember which part it was in. Thanks for any response and in the meantime I'll keep looking. John

Made these today after reading this post. I had salvaged some 7/16 plexi payphone windows to use for windows in a bob house. I cut one 4" x 6" and the other 3"x 4", I took a cue from Bruce and rounded the ends with my router. After smoothing the router marks with a file and sand paper, I lightly buffed the ends. I've only tested them on scrap so far, but they make the leather surface very smooth and consistent. Eventually I may put handles on them, or maybe just some hockey tape. Thanks for the great topic Max and everyone for the great info. John

If you have a grinding wheel and a buffer it takes no time at all to make your own from an old screwdriver. I've made a few different sizes. John

I agree with Luke"s definition. I used to read alot about primitive living and survivalism(?) and a lot of the authors would refer to them (possibles bags). Trappers and mountain men would carry them also. They can be used, as Luke said, to carry anything you might possibly need. Things that were found along your way are kept in your possibles bag, in case you find a use for them. Fire starting materials, tools and other such hardware. In the movie "Jeremiah Johnson", Redford's character carries one. My .02 John

Hey Brent, I've never actually tried to just cover a seat without effecting the seat itself, but after a little thinking about it, I would probably go with the veg tan. That way you can be sure it will match the piece you've already made (which is the reason he wants the seat covered, right?) I would probably go with a light weight and I think, for the attachment, I would try punching my holes and using brass eyelets and a lacing system on the underside. That way as the cover stretched it could be tightened by adjusting the lacing. Make sure that there are no clearance issues when the seat is on the bike and, also be careful setting the eyelets. Make sure the edges are set smooth so that they won't damage the lacing when tightening it. Hope this helps, good luck. John

Hope in every bowl. Thats funny. Ron Paul in 2012

Tony, I haven't heard about the drive thru voting. Here in the town I live in NH, It's basically the same as you described for yourself. A local hotel would give up their function room for the day, before the Community center was built, But, we head in there anytime between 7am and 7pm, check in with your ID, head to the booth, vote, and put your ballot in the electronic paper shredder looking thing and, TA DA, you've just excercised! your right to vote. John

I'm really diggin how you did the shredded edges. The way they resemble the cape he wore as well as add a decorative border to the skull, almost like a scrollwork type of deal. Very cool. John

This is a great thread, very entertaining. I had always thought the term bubbler or bubblah was exclusive to New England. I lived in MA most of my life and had never had brown bread. My wife grew up in Florida and says her mother (from NC) made it alot. I did as a kid and still do eat a lot of baked beans. I used to call soda "tonic", my dad still does. The biggest thing I missed when I left MA was a good Roast Beef sandwich with sauce and cheese. I spent alot of time finding the right meat, sauce, bread and cheese to make them perfectly, myself. No other place in the world has a roast beef sandwich like you can get around Boston and up the North shore. When I lived in NC in the early 90's, I went, with a buddy from Maine, to buy some jeans. I told the sales girl " I would like to try on a pair of pants" she gave me an odd looked and said" I'm sorry, what?" so I said it again. She still did not understand. As I was about to say it a third time, My buddy from Maine, putting his hand out, as if to hold me back, says " I got this" and proceeds to speak slowly pronouncing every letter, " My friend would like to try on a pair of pants." To which the sales girl replies " ohhhh, Where you from, England or somethin'?" I believe the breakfast that Ray described, minus the tomatoes, add some Home fries ( any variation of pan fried chopped potatoes) is a standard breakfast for many parts of the western world. Add pancakes and its a Farmers Breakfast. The following are only my opinion. Grits are Horrible. (My wife eats them regularly). Boiled peanuts (or P-nuts as the signs say) are even worse.Please Ray take them off your list, It's not worth it. Field Hockey is a girls sport.(this might be fact) Although my wife regularly watches " Keeping up appearances", My "favourite" show from the UK is "Spaced" with Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson. I laugh out loud everytime I watch it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the british people for Simon Pegg. Everything he does is funny, Maybe I'm just in his demographic?. Lastly, when I think of cockney, I think of "Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels" (One of my favorite movies) how close is that to the "real" thing? I'm off to cook some breakfast now. John

From what I understand about the change over: When TV was first developed, they ran tests to find the best frequencies. The analog TV signals used up huge amounts of bandwidth on these frequencies. Now, with so much wireless technology, I guess we're running out of room. Digital uses a much smaller bandwith, which will free up space. I've heard rumors that the big cell phone companies had a bit to do with the change over. The space freed up on these optimum frequecies will allow them to provide a stronger signal to a wider area. Some of the conversations I've had lead me to believe That thi$$$ may have been the catalyst for the changeover. So, Not only are they promising better TV reception, But You'll also have "more bars in more places". As to the accuracy of this post, I may have made the whole thing up? John

Nien Nunb. Really, though, I think it looks great. Aside from Lando's co-pilot, I think Tom is right that it makes me think of Harlequinn or a jester costume.

I was looking into bookbinding and came up with this: http://www.aboutbookbinding.com/. I thought some of you mind find it useful or at least interesting. John

I agree with Drac. It looks to me to be a line drawn with a pen or sharpie. It may not even be red , just looks that way in contrast to the black of the leather when the light hits it? John Black Sharpie on black leather. sorry about the huge pics.

I get my foam Here: http://www.foambymail.com/neoprene.html The best foam to use, in my opinion, is closed cell neoprene. John

Awesome, Ed. Thanks for the excellent post. I will definitely try this. I have some short pieces of scrap round stock that I can practice on to get the feel for it. I keep a 3ring bimder of all the useful info that I find on this site and others and this will be going into that today. Thanks again for taking the time. John

Very nice stamps. I could see the border stamp also being used as a seeder to add some uniqueness to a sheridan style carving. The line beveler is something I have been planning on making myself, Maybe this will give me the inspiration to get it done. If you wouldn't mind, could you give some details on the oil hardening process? Great post, Thanks John

I may be wrong, but sometimes when you use a scanner to post your work it makes the relief look reversed too. Very nice work, in my opinion. You have succeeded in capturing the worn look of the tooling that you see on the old saddles and holsters and such. John

I would think drilling some different sized holes in some hardwood or metal and counterboring them would do the trick. John

Nice, Thanks Tom

I have had a beard off and on for about 12 years now. Mostly on. When I was interviewing for a job I was clean shaven. Nobody told me to, I just personally felt it made a better impression? After 5 years with the phone company, Having some form of facial hair the whole time, I went for my Journeymans exam. I was given the advice to treat the exam like an interview. I shaved clean for the exam and have had, pretty much a full beard ever since (about 6 years). My wife loves it and gets angry when I do shave it. I shaved it down to stubble in June because of the heat and my 5 year old son had a real hard time with it. The first day he just stared at me, he couldn't get a grasp on what had happened. he told me not to do it again. John

Here's what I found for NH. The list, although it says its not a complete list, does not include leather carving, It does include wood carving and also harness making. Which leads me to believe leather carving would be acceptable. http://www.nh.gov/nharts/grants/artists/tr...enticeships.htm John