unicornleather

[/url] [/url] I dabble now and again but it is so time consuming.

Right now someone has shown me a rein rounder I can answer your question. The rein rounder's end result will be the same as when we use our rounding blocks that we use in the UK. We lay the stitched work in the rounding block and gently tap it with a hammer to roll the leather into shape and turn the leather back over the stitches. ANY "rolled" work that has the stitches showing still as in the first photo I showed you at the beginning of my thread is not true rolled work, this applies when either a rounding block or a rein rounder is used.

The Børge Mogensen 2213 looks sturdy enough. I am not familiar with Leather Honey, so I would be interested to hear if it's any good or not? I make all my own leather conditioner so I am not up on what's on the market now. Here's my brand but I have got a basic recipe for anyone who wants to have a go at making some. http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/leather_conditioner.html Thanks for explaining about the Snake Oil, I can be a bit dense sometimes Good luck with whatever you decide to do, let me know how you get on, Oz

I am not familiar with a rein rounder, what do you mean by a rein rounder?

In that style they do from 5/8" to 3" in various colours. http://www.abbeyengland.com/Store/tabid/77/CategoryID/181/Category2ID/58/List/1/Level/2/ProductID/68949/language/en-GB/Default.aspx There is a lighter elastic which I use in my products that is 3/8" upwards they call it light but as it's designed for the saddlery trade it's still quite heavy and hard wearing http://www.abbeyengland.com/Store/tabid/77/CategoryID/181/Category2ID/58/List/1/Level/2/ProductID/68806/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

Here in the UK it is different, you don't subject the horse's head to that sort of stress as UK saddlery is designed in a way it will break but what you don't want is leather breaking whilst riding. Butt leather is the choice here for bridlework, shoulder is not strong enough as well as stretches too much which in itself can lead to failure of equipment..

We use heavy duty elastic web for saddlery, it's heavy enough for horses (used on elasticated girths and brushing boots) Would that be any good? Here: [/url] Oz

Good idea, I make mine line this, I bind the ends as we do when repairing hunting whips. [/url] [/url] Oz

Here's a crease line,above the white stitches you can see the line should be equi distant from the edge and the row of stitches. [/url]

Here are a couple of photos of my screw creaser, you can see that it's not the same length both sides, I have filed it down only a little(no more than 2mm) but it helps lock the tool into the side of the hide you are creasing. [/url] [/url]

Make sure you buy bridle butt and not bridle shoulder, it catches a lot of people out! I think you call it by a different name in the USA though but all bridles should be made out of the BUTT leather, it has a breaking strain in places of 4-5000lbs per square inch compared to 2000 lbs for shoulder. Oz

OILING LEATHER: NEATSFOOT OIL, is a popular choice to condition modern hides BUT although modern neatsfoot oil is still made from cattle-based products, it has a tendency to speed oxidation of the leather. If mineral oil or other petroleum-based material is added, the product may be called "neatsfoot oil compound". Some brands have also been shown to be adulterated with rapeseed oil, soya oil, and other oils. The addition of mineral oils may lead to more rapid decay of non-synthetic stitching or speed breakdown of the leather itself AVOID! You won't always see the damage to the fibres of the hide with the naked eyes and think it's ok to use it but you get down to the cellular level and look at the fibres under a microscope of hide oiled with neatsfoot and you'll see what I mean. Don't use just oil of any kind on veg tanned hide, use fats,waxes and greases.I have posted a leather conditioner recipe in this thread below, post number 29. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=46931&page=2 Oz

I have 6 machines of various makes and abilities, once you start learning to use one it soon sinks in, it's quite straight forward to using one

THIS^^ Get a pricking iron, it's the right tool for the job for hand stitching, don't pull up so tight when stitching and your leather is too dry and fibrous, try using a bridle butt instead of shoulder, it's more expensive but the fibres are a closer grain and you won't get such a fluffy fibrous leather. Oz

You can use both to mark where you need to prick out the stitch marks, use the dividers when the screw crease is still too warm to use to mark the where the stitches go.

Yes as cgleathercraft has said, Resoline is about the best out there

Unfortunately not, I do try to help new Saddlers, saddle fitters and leathercraft people where I can by giving them advice if I am able to. I do have articles I have written on my website but that's mainly for the equestrian trade here http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/saddlery_demonstrations.html I have a few photos of how to do things on basic stuff like cutting an eggpoint, skiving down etc but my leatherwork is always saddlery based rather than the leathercraft I mainly see on here.

Nice work

Pricking irons are the the tools of choice in the UK saddlery trade, I have a chart in my workshop somewhere with thread sizes in ration to number of stitches and type of work, if I can find it I will post it on here to help. The awls you mention are ready made I believe but in our trade we make our own, get some diamond awl blades and handles. Place the awl blade in 2 copper coins (we use 2p pieces) make sure you have the right end that goes in to the wooden handle and insert the other end (the tip you are going to use to make holes with) down in to a bench mounted vice.Hold it firm but not too tight, the copper coins are softer than steel and protect the awl blade from the steel vice. Gently offer up the wooden handle and tap on to the up turned awl blade with a rawhide or wooden mallet, keep checking you have the handle straight. Take out of vice, you now have your awl. Sharpen them either on a oil stone or with emery cloth, strop on strop board to finish off. Here are some photos. First one is the diamond awl blade, the tip you push through the leather is on the left, the right side where the ridge is, goes in to the wooden handle. You place the copper coins over the left side to protect the blade and insert this in to the vice so the other end is sticking up. [/url] Second photo is the awl handle [/url]

Traditionally we hot crease bridlework in the UK, the reason is to seal the fibres of the hide on the edges and to give it a decorative crease mark. The crease line should be about 1/16th of an inch in from the edge on bespoke handmade bridles, the finer the crease the better quality the work. The mark for the stitches (pricking iron) should be 1/8th of an inch in from the edge, is other words the line of the stitches and the crease mark should be equidistant from each other and the edge. The heavier the work as in say harness or headcollars the crease can be further in to suit the heavy feel of the work in question. When you buy a screw crease you need to file the edge down a little, I will try to get a photo of mine in the next day or two to show you.Filing makes sure one edge is higher than the other to help you "lock it into the edge" whilst creasing and the lower edge of the crease when hot will seal the edges of the leather/fibres nicely. Look at this photo, [/url] you can see that both sides of the crease are the same length, this makes it hard to use to get finer thinner and narrower lines, if you file the left side down a little so it's shorter it works properly and gives you GOOD crease marks. Always cold crease first, then heat the iron a few seconds in a gas flame (don't use anything else or it puts soot on the crease which sticks and catches the crease on the leather as well as blackening lighter coloured leathers) Hold it over hand like you are going to bring it down as in a stabbing action and follow your cold creased line, try do do as much as you can in one go without stopping other than to re heat the crease again. DON'T have the crease so hot it burns the leather, the idea is to melt the fats in the hide to give you a nice shiny crease mark. I always bring it back towards me, it's easier to control and lock your arm in position, don't bring your arm back but move your whole body back by stepping or leaning back as I do, you'll get a much neater straighter line doing it that way. If you have to stop mid line to re heat the crease simply go back a couple of inches over what you have done and gently bring the crease back into the cold creased line and apply a little more pressure to continue. Hope this helps? It's hard to try to explain it, it's something I take for granted as I have been doing in nearly 30 years in the English saddlery trade. Oz

Thanks, my website home page has a few bits and pieces I have made but I have been a saddler for 26-27 years so there's LOADS I haven't photographed ! Here: http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/ I don't do much leatherwork these days, it's mainly synthetic stuff, for instance I am making a 30 foot x 6 foot trailer cover for a glider trailer at the momentm, then have a studded(spikes) black leather dog collar for my mates Doberman, then cable parachute making (for local gliding school) and then more Locatas, I manufacture on a grand scale for equestrian wholesalers and retailers mostly, there's very LITTLE bespoke leatherwork needed now.And I haven't made a saddle for years! We use polycord inside the rolled work if that's not available then electric cable of the right diameter can be used.

I have a friend with bee hives, pay £10 for about 25lbs, contact your local bee keeping club, see if they can help

Hello, yes certainly, neatsfoot traditionally is made from a bovine source not swine. the shin bones and the feet (not the hooves). Most Saddlers here in thev UK but not all, will tell you neatsfoot oil these days is not good for modern hides, our collective experience tells use this. Neatsfoot oil itself will oxidise over time which in turns helps the decay of the leather by drying it out. No, I don't believe mineral oil would be a good alternative,but that's my own opinion and not necessarily the same as other saddlers, if you have to use any oil in your product use a small amount of cod liver oil.From what I know of mineral oil it is liquid petroleum, would you rub this in to your own skin? I find any product that I make I test on my own hands, if they end up feeling soft and comfortable then all is well.

Once veg tanned hide gets to a certain dried out state it's more or less gone as you have found out. Adding any further moisture to it in the way of fats,greases and especially OILS will make it worse and the snake oil seller should have told you this. Oil if any kind used on it's own as with the snake oil by the sounds of it it NOT good for veg tanned hide. Sounds as though the snake oil guy doesn't really know his stuff? See my post number 29 on leather conditioner recipe for details on why oil is bad for conditioning leather, even when it's mixed with other products as the base ingredient which I suspect this snake oil product is? http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=46931&page=2 If you decide to use Glycerine it will eventually leave a residue of hard lumps we call them "jockeys" in the trade, you find them on saddles and bridles over here in the UK, hard black lumps that are the devil's own work to remove! The fact you have said you have cracks in the hide leads me to believe your sofa MAY be too far gone but you have nothing to lose now really unless you wish to recover it with upholstery leather. Most but not all upholstery hide today is made using chrome tanned hide which won't dry out like veg tanned, then you can get semi veg tanned, that is half chrome and half veg tanned, it will have the familiar leathery smell when new but has the harder wearing abilities of the chrome. If you have to recover the sofa, try to get the semi chrome leather if you want the leather smell but you will have to condition it more often that pure chrome tanned leather. Hope this makes sense! Oz

How big is it? It could be but not certain a single creasing iron?