barra

http://www.leatherunltd.com/hardware/tools/tools.html Scroll down till you see lacing pony. Places like this and Tandy have them. They are so cheap it is not worth the effort. I have gotten by when I needed to do a quick running repair miles from home by getting a LARGE bulldog clip and U bolting it to a length of wood to suit my height when seated on a dining chair. I have seen plans somewhere on the net. I will also see if I can find those for you. Barra

HERE'S YOUR SIGN

Jon. I have also had problems posting pics but never did pre crash, dunno it might just be me. Barra

Have you tried Dbarleather who is a member here

Can you take more close ups of the metal parts only. I am seeing how they could be creasers but the eye sight is not so good. Barra

Thanks for the info Guys. All have clear and concise info and given me a better understanding of thread sizes. Much appreciated P.S. Info saved. Barra

I love it. Ok stories. Now this one is not leather related. I used to live near a man who made blinds and awnings. He had a big sign on the back of his van that had nothing else but A blind man drives this van. My old master always said that the apprentice should turn out better than the master. The master teaches as much as possible and the apprentice then spends the rest of their working life developing their own style. I used to be a Drill Instructor. My fellow instructors wanted to get T-shirts made up that said I Drilled your daughter (they were banned). Barra

Marilyn. Mildura is a nice town, well city officially I guess. It is right on the River Murray for hours of serenity. Mildura will have all the amenities you need and is only 3 hrs either to Adelaide or (now let's work on the accent time) Melb'n if you want a bit of a big city/retail therapy fix. For leatherwork stuff check out . http://www.leffler.com.au OMG they have moved after EONS. Barra

http://jaeberly.com/id38.html I have an electric cutter similar to the RES4" one depicted in the attachment. Mine has an in built sharperner not unlike the generators we had for our bike lights as kids, flip the generator over and a wheel ran up against our bike tires to generate the headlight. Flip the sharpener over and a little sharpener wheel runs up against the cutting blade. Mine will go through skirting weight leather like hot butter. I have also used ones similar to the first cutter on the link altho the ones I used were battery operated. I'd endorse either of these types of cutters particularly for those of us Aging with arthritis in the hands/elbows setting in. Barra

Now I know I asked the first part of my question before but DO YOU THINK I SAVED THE ANSWER. noooooooooooooooo. I am familiar with the ticket numbering system of sewing machine treads. Ticket 12, 18, 25, 36, 40 etc. The lower the number the thicker the thread. You guys refer to threads with numbers like 277 etc. Can someone please explan you numbering system again and yes I just gave myself a few swift uppercuts.. My second Q has more than likely been asked before but I can't find the answer. Why do some of you have different sized thread for the top and bobbin and what is the benefit of this practice. Barra

Very well done Marilyn. I must add that beside the local (more than likely the drive thru liquor store or to be more correct bottlo) I am sad to say you got one other wrong. You referred to aerial ping pong as Australian rules football. This is only partly correct. It should have been referred to as GODS OWN GAME OF FOOTBALL we in the majority of Australia have a quaint little custom in that in order for the game to be called football, the foot and ball making contact must be a PREDOMINENT aspect of the game and not mearly an odd occurence. You will be safe tho Marilyn as you are moving to Victoria (the Grand Prix stealing State and self proclaiming owners of Gods own game of football). Barra

Darn. Fort Tejon says the US camel corps was a myth and as Jordan stated merely an experiment. Barra

Jordan. This is true. The short lived US camel corp was raised by Edward Beale (Beale AFB and had a hand in Tejon ranch which is one of the largest land tracts in California). He also had a cutting made funnily enough called Beale cut which was superceded by Newhall pass near the Grapevine on I5 just north of LA. lets see what Fort Tejon has on offer. Newhall Ca is my US base camp so to speak. Barra

I had a look at Riley Cornelius' folder. Now I don't really need one but that thing looks so sweeeeeet I just might have to get one just cos. Barra

Let me see if I can get the network back home to check on this. Failing that I will see what I can dig up from where I am. While it has been years since I made one. I think I can still draw on some contacts in the camel world. This job is so do-able. Barra

Ok. The padding at the bum end. The best analogy I can give is that it is like a tightly stuffed version of one of those U shaped pillows people use to prop themselves up and read etc in bed. Both the U shaped pad and the main panel (saddle skirtish) pads are either lashed to the frame/tree with either stout straps that are threaded thru slot/bag/crew punched holes of the required width into the base panel and around the frame/tree, OR by using leather rectangular shaped strips of stout leather, stitched and/or rivetted to the base panel you can lash the panel to the frame/tree with thonging. Would you beleive that within about 2 miles of me right now, there are heaps of camels. You know how on country roads, how cars are sometimes stopped to allow cattle to cross. Well here we have to stop to let the camels cross. Barra

Randy. bare with me, I'm playing. Barra. http://camelphotos.com Ok on the camelphotos.com link go to equipment and then making a saddle. This link shows a fairly typical Saddle used in the Australian camel trecking industry. I think I doubled up on the link just above the other photo examples that I have attached. Australia has more camels than many of the regions of the world we normally associate with camels. VAST areas of our interior were opened up by Afghan cameleers and when not needed the camels were simply set free. The tree in this example is made out of welded pipe tubing but the saddles I made had the trees made of flat steel about 2" wide that was rivetted and welded. The padding for the camel is made sort of like a pack saddle so if you are familiar with those it will stand you in good stead. They can be stuffed with all sorts of materials from horse hair (like an Australian stock saddle) wool or can be stuffed with rye straw (the site mentions pea straw) like a horses carriage pulling collar is made. The seat/s for the human is leather that is attached to a suspended webbing foundation from the hoops much like a UP saddle (the British Commonwealth version of the Mclennan and sometimes called a Trooper saddle) .http://www.militaryhorse.org/upsaddle/ Looking back at the padding for the camel. The base (lets look at this part like a western saddle skirt would be made out of similar leather like skirting. It would then have some sort of gusset attached all around to give depth and the material at the bottom is a woolen material. You could use serge like an australian saddle. We commonly used collar check. You could just as easlily use Kersey or find a woolen blanket and cut it up. The funny U shaped pad at the camels Bum end is a bit different so leave that with me for a bit. http://www.ozsaddle.com/products.php?grp=23&sc=2308 The stuffing is in between the two layers and inserted into the largeish slit in the base panel (skirt) and when finished it is closed up with leather thonging just like a surgeon would close a patient. More to follow if needed. Barra http://camelphotos.com/camel_saddles.html

Randy. I have made camel saddles in the past as there are lot's of camels in Australia. This job should be relatively easy. The tree can be made by anyone with metalwork/welding experience. Get all thoughts of a horse like saddle and tree out of you mind. Leave it with me for a bit and I will drag out my resources. I guess the question also has to be asked is the camel in question a dromedary or bactrian?????????????? Barra

Good. keep those questions coming as well as sharing all your little tips and tricks. Barra

LuisPaulo. Your English is fine.

Would it be considered sacriledge to post pics of a holster that is not made out of leather. I am limited to what I can get hold of and am playing around with a rig for a Service pistol. I can get hold of busted up webbing so will canabalise the strapping. Also I want to add a stiffener to the actual holster and am eyeing off some plastic coated range targets. While I'm at it I might keep going and make the accompanying chest rig. Barra

Dbar. No harm taken. I'm going to remember the flank cinch one. Not many Aussies will know it unless they are into horses and western equitation at that. Barra

Even the tiniest scrap can be useful. Cut out leather spacers/washers Use to test stains/oils and dyes Use them as glue spearders. Barra

This Blokes in like Flynn.. Not a bad effort at all JohnB You mostly had it.I am going to e-mail that to one of My American friends tonight. I bet a quid or 2 she nails it. Barra. P.S. Roo. You forgot to add the Temporary Australian Government