barra

Thanks Darren. I will give him a buzz.

Bit jealous you have a bobbin winder. I have to wind my Pearson bobbins with a drill. Can you post pics of the rein rounder attachment? regards. Barra

Mate. Irrespective of what the customer wants, you will be held responsible when the train wreck occurs. These are cactus. Tell the customer it is new or nothing.

For me it is Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars. That is Aussie speak for I am a GM man. Had a couple of Fords, both lemons. Every Holden I have had you could not kill with an axe. Have a Mitsubishi Triton Ute now. Utes are kind of like a pick up.

I use plain old vinegar. Barra.

Different models of machines are designed for light weight work and some are designed for heavy work. You will find heavy duty cylinder arms and equally heavy duty flat beds. When you say Typical cylinder arm, do you mean typical as in common ot Typical as in the brand. Regards. Barra

A cylinder arm allows you to access areas of many jobs that will be difficult with a free arm. Some cylinder arm machines come with a flat bed attachment or you could make your own. If you are going to purchase just one machine, I'd go with a cylinder arm for versatility. Regards. Barra.

Ditto. Do it.

I,m visualising about a 6 cord. Barra.

My low cost creaser heater. Much like Tinker, I just use an empty salsa jar with a grommet in the lid for the wick. From my experience denatured alcohol/methylated spirit/metho evaporates while the jar is on the shelf so I just use lamp kerosene. Yes it gives off a bit of soot but a quick wipe with a rag before the creaser touches leather and all good.

Excellent tutorial.

Might be easier to use a plug adapter. These can be bought at luggage/travel stores. On the subject of the crude Chinese patches. I have one and it is brilliant. I have mine set up for just a few applications and it stitches like a little champion. For the price you can't go wrong.

i was taught this method by master motor trimmers and passed it on when I was teaching. Great quick reference.

My creaser heater is simply a salsa jar with a wick inserted through the lid. The other image is of a homemade creaser I made in about 10 min from a hammer handle. Works like the plastic Tandy version

While not adjustable a good grease can still be achieved on the cheap. The crease on the scrap piece of veg tan was done with the plastic bone folder. An even better effect can be achieved home made by getting an old boot knife and cutting a slot in the handle the distance in that you want your crease. Then sand and polish the outer edge to form a longer inner edge guide that runs up against your leather. Alternatively just use a nice piece of hardwood to make a creaser. Can be made in minutes, lasts forever and gets better with age and use. Barra

Collar making is such a specialised and skilled craft. In fact it is a stand alone trade. If you do a google image search for horse collars you will find they are distinctly regional styles of collar. You may see closed top collars from England that have to be put on the horse upside down and then spun around on the horses neck. European collars are very, well European in appearance. US collars as maybe made by the Amish are different in style again. Having said that you will find a section in Paul Hadlucks book on Harness making dedicated to making a cart collar. This will not make you a collar maker but it does give a good overview. Ron Edwards has a small section on how to make a collar in one of his Bushcraft series of books - Bushcraft 7 I think. Ron's books are available via the Ramskull press. Of course the style of a Collar mentioned is very Australian in style but again is good for an overview. Cheers. Barra

Where about in South Australia are you located ?

Try Down Under Saddle Supply in Aurora Colorado. They sell Joseph Lyddy products. Cheers Barra

Real good job mate. Cheers. Barra

Yes get hold of a good quality pricking iron. 8 to the inch will be a good size if your doing mainly mini items. These are at first glance an expensive tool but will last a lifetime. Also get a decent awl blade. The handle can be a cheaply or home made from any wood that fits your hand. If home made then protect the blade in a vice and gently tap the haft onto the blade to a depth so that it is secure. At a push a piece of broom stick would even do. With the awl, get some scrap leather and push the awl through until the blade makes a perfect parallelogram shape. When you have achieved this, get a nail file or something to scratch or mark the awl haft at the very top. When stitching if you keep the scratch mark at the very top then you maintain the perfect parallelogram shape with the blade at every stitch. Don't forget to throw he thread over the needle on the left side. Cheers. Barra

For tools and all leather supplies do a run over to lefflers in Melbourne and look out for Dixon or Osborne tools. eBay can be a good source. For hand stitching the are some good tutorials here or you can find some good sources on YouTube etc. I,m actually in Wagga Wagga but Adelaide is home town. Cheers Barra

Melly. What type of leather are you using ? Ideally you need to be using bridle leather but you could use heavy weight embossing leather at a push for mini halters. To get rid of the suede feel from the underside ( this side of the leather is called the flesh side and the smooth finished side is called the grain side ) you double over the leather so that the grain side is visible from both sides. As an example, if say the cheek piece finished length is 7" then you cut the strap 16" (double the 7" and add 2" for a turn back ). You now have the grain side visible from both sides and the flesh side is sandwiched in the middle and thus unseen. The head strap can have a lining if you desire to cover up the flesh. The nose band can be the same or can be made like explained for the cheek and would therefore be non adjustable. Have a sticky beak in any saddlery store that stocks more than webbing halters. Bonnets or horse land should stock leather halters. Also go to Adelaide leather in Waymouth street for supplies. Hand stitching would be absolutely fine. Cheers. Barra

I,m seeing shaped leather maul handles.

Just finished this bridle on the weekend. It is an in hand/led in bridle. I have more pics but this new mac computer is doing me in. I don't even know how I got that photo here. Barra