barra

http://www.tophand.com.au/st.php?uv=332I5I0I0I0#a_053401 If you want to try somewhere closer to home. I am sure you can't buy unless you have an ABN tho. Barra

During WW2 a lot of shearling was used to produce A3 winter flying Trousers and B3/B6 jackets for bomber crews. Today a lot of aircraft seats have sheepskin covers for comfort during long sorties. I'm sitting on an old one (but still perfectly comfy) as I type Barra

G'day from an equally computer illiterate numpty. welcome aboard and hope to hear from you soon. Barra

After all that I physically know where Infinity Stamps are located. I've had a beer or 20 not far from there. Barra

Yet another Post crash question. I am going cross eyed looking for manufacturers of makers marks (got lots of bourbon sites). heaps of people posted pics of their marks Pre crash. Can we do that again with a list of companies who make them. I have another question but I'll post that seperately. Barra

Leatheroo. Grab a slab of cold VB or carlton draught and chill. It will pass. Barra

Way cool site. I can say that as I am involved in Aviation safety and survival equipment and a lot of what that site has listed I work on or have done in the past. Barra

Ok. Off the top of my head some old time recipes Burnishing liquid. Hard gum tree sap disolved in gum turpentine PVA glue and warm water Edge stain Experiment with different tree bark boiled to extract the tannins then add pearl glue (Hide glue) although PVA glue works just fine Home made heel ball melt bees wax and add a little boot polish to colour. This makes the best spit shine formula when you use plain white vinegar in place of spit (27 years, 2months and 2 days of dodgy alchemy and experimentation) Use old nylon stockings as buffing cloths Add a little boot polish to warmed oil and then apply to leather. It is best to experiment with scrap first. I use an old coffee perculator for the hot plate to warm my oils and melt bees wax etc. Liquid floor polish applied to burnished edges for a final shine up hard floor wax like johnson and johnson. a light coat to all sorts of leather object will buff up nicely when dry Home made saddle soap pure laundry soap and pure mutton/beef fat and a little water added. experiment with the ratio but I use about 2/3 soap - 1/3 fat and slowly heat it all up (stirring frequently) until you see lots of tiny air bubbles. I then add a table spoon or so of turpentine to disuade the vermin from the fat. This makes a good plaiting/braiding soap too. El cheapo hand lotions from the 99 cent store. If deemed OK for your hands it is fine for leather (Usually) Different coloured bricklayers mortar oxidising powders. Experiment with the ratio of powder to water for edge stain and alcohol for dye Now this is not a concoction but I'll add it here. To avoid presser foot/feed dog marks. Wrap the item to be stitched in Glad/saran wrap and stitch away (or use tracing paper so you can see thru to see what your stitching. When done rip the saran wrap off. You may have to pick out a few remanants of wrap from under the odd stitch. Barra

I'm not sure what model Pfaff you have but this is from the 1245 manual. Hook to needle clearance, needle rise, needle height. Requirement. With the stitch length set at 3 and the needle rise at (1.8mm after BDC of the needlebar on model B and 2mm after BDC of the needle bar on model C), the following must be true 1. The distance to the needle must be 0.05 - 0.1mm and the hook point must be pointing to the middle of the needle. 2. The top edge of the eye of the needle must be 0.8 - 1mm below the hook point 3. The needle guard must lightly touch the needle. Barra

Tiffany, the peace of resistance. http://www.mastersaddlers.co.uk/ Try a google search of Cordwainers college (now affiliated with the London fashion college I think. Barra

On the subject of single creasers/ticklers. A really nice one can be made out of bone using the method listed above. don't forget a straight edge/steel rule and sometimes it is handy to have a tape measure attached to the bench (pester the sewing machine mechanic or store for one of those advertising adhesive tapes they stick on sewing machine tables and stick it to the bench

As Ashley (Snakehorse saddler) mentioned in the advice on first saddle thread, there was an old thread pre crash where we listed what we thought were the basic tools needed to build saddles. I will kick off the thread but bare with me as this time i am thousands of miles from home and trying to picture the workshop back home from memory. I think a lot of tools can be either home made or procured/adapted from other trades and purchased at the local hardware or picked up at garage sales. This will cut down the expense on purchasing saddler specific tools. As the money situation improves you can upgrade the tools. Home made draw down stand Homemade stitching horse or saddlers clams boot knife with good steel for keeping sharp short pointed boot knife for trimming in tight corners, bleed knots etc Leather strop or various grit emery boards compass divider racer for gouging stitch grooves (can be home made) roll of hemp thread (can roll any sized thread your heart desires) round knife or head knife (buy the best you can afford) used to cut/skive and can be used to cut straps if no draw knife/plough guage is available a few edge tools wad punches of various sizes cutting out bench (made to suit your height) screw driver set (el cheapo hardware bargain bin) various sized awl blades (handles can be cut off broom sticks at a push) find wooden things that feel good in the hand to you then tap in the awl blade. The locking hafts are not essential. Various bones from the butcher (free) to make slickers/burnishers. Throw them outside away from the dogs and the house to let the ants clean out the flesh. Then done you can cut, shape polish to your desired shape. Single creaser/tickler. can be home made at a push from an old screw driver that has been shaped on a grinder and then polished smooth. broken glass for shaving leather edges smooth mallet/maul. mallets can be had from the hardware store shoe hammer (antique/second hand store) you know the old box of tools in the corner from deceased estate actions nail claw side cutters/various pliers/multi grips from hardware slot/crew/bag punches can be done away with by making 2 round punch holes and cutting between (not ideal but at a push can be done) copper rivets and setter lump of old railway track (handy anvil) and various lumps of old iron. The bases from old fashioned steel irons are good. various seat/scratch awls (home made with the grinder and old screw drivers (for drawing up leathers tight rasp nippers (distract your farrier) saddlers hammer can be home made with a good handle or strong dowl and then get some steel rod, heat up one end and then flatten. Attach the rod to the wooden handle with a metal band If you crease strapping then you can cut slots of varius widths into the ends of your knife handles or peices of wood to make creaser grooves Bees wax egg eyed needles dyes/burnishing goops (all home made) eg PVA glue disolved in a jar of warm water or boiling bark to get the tannins out (DO not do this in the kitchen or within 2 days of wife entering the house. The stink will outlast religion. I'd go surfing ebay and rummage around garage sales. You will be surprised what you can tun into a leather tool with a little imagination. As said this list is off the top of my head. I could probably cull the list if I was going to make it a BARE BONES list and I would definately add to make life easy. As you can see lots can be scrounged from elsewhere. Forgot the coffee pot and beer fridge. Barra

http://www.tasco-safety.com/hhats/Cowboy-hard-hats.html

Yes wool felt is as expensive as poison. You can also make your own burnishing disk by getting hold of some scrap canvas or denim and sewing together enough disks to obtain the thickness you want. Nothing fancy, big stiches will do fine. It is a chance for those old wranglers to keep on giving. Barra

Here is a little animation I would use when teaching how a lock stitch is formed. http://home.howstuffworks.com/sewing-machine1.htm Barra

Attached is a link that i have added to this sub topic 1. Cos it kinda fits the sub topic and 2. The sub topic was empty post crash. Since the tree topic I have been doing just a little surfing of the net. While the link has nothing to do with trees, I found it while surfing for tree stuff. I then noted that one of our leatherworker.net members has work featured. See 3rd from bottom row on the left. http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/batr/...eak_contest.php You can also see a little video presentation of Dale Harwood stamping from this site. I have found a few links that were tree strength testing related and here is one (I'll find the rest again soon) Go to the video page option on the left http://www.martinsaddlery.com/ I think there are a few topics that this video might spark up not the least being "what the" is the go with the bloke with the Aussie accent. Barra

I have a question regarding fibreglass covered trees. Once a tree is covered in Fibreglass, How do you tack/nail to the tree. Barra

Karl. This is from Militaryhorse.com (the link oldtimer suggested). http://www.militaryhorse.org/studies/mcclellan/ Barra

That reminds me of the time we had just finished a GP saddle in London colour. The Boss shall we say liked his tawny port. The open flagon of port was near the saddle. Customer comes in and while admiring the saddle knocks over the port flagon which put a huge stain on the near flap. Boss was a little miffed. To rectify the problem he took the rest of the port and poured it all over the rest of the saddle. This turned it into a strangely nice looking burgundy colour. Sorry that was just me going down memory lane. Barra

Most of my tools are old Dixons and would be close to 100 yrs old. Heating your creaser is called hot creasing and leaves a nice crisp burnished line. The old saddler i bought my tools off had wrapped and stitched a peice of leather around the metal part of the creaser between the brass ferrule and the screw. This allows you to use this part of the creaser as the handle when it is hot for more leverage Barra

Dave. Where does a tree coated with Line X get it's strength from if the rawhide is done away with??? Barra

JLB. A couple of options. 1. Get your friend to e-mail you a pic of the slobber strap that is sitting on graph paper or on a hand drawn grid with each square about 1/2 ". You will then have a reference in order to transfer your pattern to something like a cereal box. 2. Find a pic off the internet your friend likes. You can then enlarge the pic in a photo copier until it is the right size. You'll know it is right when the width of the portion that wraps around the bit is the desired width. 3. Get your friend to tell you the width, length etc and draw yourself a pattern using your calibrated eyeball. Barra

I love these old photo's From Pic one. Gladstone bags. I have not seen those in years. Also the pics of the saddles with no hand holes may have solved a little dilema for me. From Pic two It is very nostalgic to see a saddler and harness maker wearing an apron. A silly little thing but again you don't see it these days. Barra

I am presently indisposed for a little while outside of Australia so I've only just found out. This is such bad news. I,m not sure how well known Ron has been outside of Australia but I strongly urge people who are interested in leatherwork and plaiting/braiding to check out His titles via the Rams Skull press. His descriptions and illustrations are easy to follow. I have attached links to both the rams skull press and the Australian plaiters and whip makers association. Barra http://www.ramsskullpress.com/crafts.html http://users.tpg.com.au/users/ramskull/apwa.htm

Ah a smasher. They should be still relatively easy to find. They are normally made from Lignum Vitae although nowadays they are getting made from aluminium. maybe find a nice peice of hard wood and get someone to turn you one on a lathe. As for bone folders/slickers. Go to the butcher, get some nice sized/shaped bones and throw them outside (away from the flea bags) and let the ants clean them up. When devoured of flesh you they can be polished up nicely. Barra