troy

Hi Daggrim realy like the knife, looks very authentic - how did you manage to get that colour in the steel, I normally just use birchwood caset perma blue but any other methods would be handy to know. Ref's reinactment over here, I recently showed a scramy to a viking here and there was like you no refferance to it being illegal and such - the joy for me is in the making of such things any how. Just looked on your site as well and your helmets look amazing, I have to do a full face half wolverine and 300 one soon which is trying my nerves, hope it comes out looking as good as yours do. Paul

Made this glossary first for my own use as I increasingly ventured deeper into the world of braided knots. It is amazing just how many mathematical variations and codes there are to knots - I have’nt covered these as I don’t really understand them yet, at the moment I’m like a driver of a car who after years of driving is only just finding out how it works. Glossary of knots and tapering lace tutorial I have also included a short piece about tapering lace which complete’s other PDF’s I have done on the subject of lace, plus diagrams for two knots used to help explain some items of the glossary. Hope they help someone.

Just made the strap shown below for someone who wanted one to hold both a 45ft rope and a bullwhip. Have never been asked to make one before and I guess I designed around the facts that after seeing a photo of the horse and sadsdle, I did'nt want to add any more leather under the gullet nor make any more holes on the fork. The saddle is similar to a wade fork with screw holding on the scallops, so decided the best to do was make one long strap that went over the horn and was screwed in along with the scallops making two detachable straps fixed on by button studs allowing her to swop them if nessarary (one strap being longer then the other). Don't know if this method is perfect and wondered if their are better methods of doing this?

Have updated these tutorials; making arrows and bow string Making bows from board making bows from staves plus some info on rawhide tanning and dyeing

Hi Alan Once again, thanks for your great advise, my learning of this I guess is from bruce grants encylopedia and then just pictures of the gaucho's work and experimentation. But as always the simpliest method is always the best such as the doubling of the lace - feel like homer simpson 'Doh' - and I always double lace that way for belts and whips. Thanks for the bevelling method - always thought they were both done on the flesh side for some reason. As for the metal caps, I have thoughht of them and would like to do that one day but I do feel they will be expensive so stick to lace for now. Mostly thanks for pointing these things out - learnt something useful today. Paul

Just finished a PDF tutorial I made around this fid work - again it's more for beginners and included lace prep and diagrams for the two pineapple knots Fid work PDF

Hi Ray OOH great, I've just met a great leatherworker and he decides to defect - well I can't allow it, it's just not english but I will allow you to go if you can fulfill one aim; 1, the property you buy has a swimming pool 2, it has a bar 3, it has an anexe the size of a small football pitch and accomodates all my needs when I invade 4, it has a small runway to handle the jet so I don't have to bother with all that customs nonsence. Ok thats more then 1 but you get the point, and if you try and sneak out I'll build a mote around your house - you've been warmed, the institution of leatherstampers and benders UK has spoken!!!!!!

Cheers for all your comments and thanks for the elastic band idea. Ye I know the lace is uneven which does'nt help, still getting to grips with cutting out of my own rawhide and stretching, one day I'll get there - I'll have to buy rawhide from now on so I may have better rawhide to start with. As for the unuiform braiding, that was intentional not only to signify that it is'nt from a sweat shop somewhere but also to try and create different patterns like below - naturally this is OK with coloured leather but I guess with rawhide, sticking to 3 u 3 o looks better then the alternative 2 o 3 u, 3 o 2 u that you can see. The biggest problem I've had before is keeping it all even and not twisting to one side, I am pleased that atleast it does look even in this example. I guess there is different kinds of leather work that facinates every one, this sort of fid work is what does it for me. After seeing some work from australian and especially argentian braiders, it is something I would like to eventually do to the degree's they do them sometimes - imagine 100 strings instead of 32, just unbelievable. cheers Paul

Only my second attempt at fid work, but this one looks alot more even then the last - but still have a pain of a time laying the first side of lace - sort of found a way to do this one but wondered if any body else does this sort of work and has a particular way to ensure that first row of lace is nice and even? Paul

I knew I'd seen some one else deal with covering helmets - http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=3418. And cheers for the wrap and tape idea ray.

I'm sure there's loads repeated on forums like this one but you have to admit, it is funny. I just have to wonder what chain of events happened for the idea to come about.

If you thought sherpards were a boring load of whatsids you have to watch this lot - good clean fun and real display of skill - and I don't mean the human acters!!!!! Paul

Hi Guys Got a few things to get rid of listed on ebay - the purpose of the sale's is to raise money for more leather really, cause my youngest has gone and grown out of his armour so have to build some more - shame eh!!!! Well its either that or get moaned at to death. See all items here - they include a 6 foot bullwhip (red/black), two cat o nine tails (one black the other blue/tan), buckskin jacket for 50 inch chest, a belt for 39 to 42 inch and lastly a back quiver. Thanks

got 'Projects and designs', 'the art of embossing leather' and 'custom made saddle bags' ball hardly used and having had a big fall out with them am forced to kick them out - any body fancy rehousing them. just have to pay for postage from UK. Shame really seeing as I get along with figure and pictorial carving so well. Also have 'saddle making techniques' with the patterns from Dusty miller, 'motorcycle accessory pattern pak' from tandy and lastly 'buckaroo bobbins authentic vintage western' vest patterns. Paul

over the past year I have started to keep records of past customers - mostly from ebay sales and have wondered about writing a sort of email newsletter thing to send to them all - but I do worry about the aspect of bothering people with this sort of communication. Mostly I am at a loss as to what I could say or include without sounding pushy or intrusive enough to annoy, seeing as they would not be expecting any correspondance as such - has any body had similar experiances and perhaps got some ideas as to what I could write or even a template type layout of correct wording. thanks for your time and any help paul

Here we go again - wish someone would tell this guy to stop - but just before you do, here's another quiver full of tooling, even made a bigger PDF (900kb)to go with it including stamp placement, dyeing, a braid and other really exciting stuff!!! Messing_around_with_Tandy_and_Barry_king_tools.pdf Messing_around_with_Tandy_and_Barry_king_tools.pdf

cheers for that mate, I'll look forward to hearing your review of it.

I guess your right and at least it evens the odds up after the huge 'mad cow diease' problem we had a few years ago here in the UK.

Thought in stead of showing off again and putting many of you into a coma with the awsome work I do (I wake up one day!!!) that I'd do a little tutorial as well. It is more for beginners I guess showing a few items to consider like image collection, using bevellers and modelling tool. It is a PDF of about 800 kb - I have tried to use clear photo's but have bigger versions of each if needed. The actual finished project is a belt needed due increase in presence!!!!! Messing_around_with_Tandy_tool.pdf Messing_around_with_Tandy_tool.pdf

Hope This is'nt too cheeky, but am wondering if someone has the book - Trenzas Gauchas by Lopez Osorino, Mario A. - and would also be willing to post a few pictures of pages or do a review of it. I have found it some place but it is really expensive and would like to know if it is worth getting or if in actual fact, grant has covered most of it in his encylopedia. Cheers Paul

This subject has no dauht been brought up before but could'nt find any thing in search - Have seen other peoples work where one color has been gradually faded or blended into another (in my case I am trying black/red). Wondered if any body can enlighten me to the mystery of how to do this and which dyes are best before I ruin another piece. Cheers Paul

Well heres the finished articles - not to bad I guess considering I was slightly over come with joy and red cheeks (on my face!!!) during the planning stage - The patterns sort of match up. Oh those damn free samples, one's of the bad things about living near loads of distilleries - sometimes you just feel like throwing away all those fine multi and single malts!! Years back when I drove for a lumber yard, used to quite frequently have to take deliveries to distilleries - in one of them I had to go into the large shed where they poured the whiskey into barrels - Oooh the smell was terrific like really strong whisky, made me wonder just how pissed those guys working there are when they go home!! I was only in there for 15 minutes but I was sure I left quite a few Kg's lighter.

Two things happened the other day which help to bring about the following disater come experiment - one I was bored and two slightly drunk - So started another quiver project with my idea of bracers thrown in for good measure which quickly progressed after a short period of wondering how to spoil all that clean smooth leather in the least most differcult way, into an exercise in stamping. Using only one tool (mostly cause I could'nt find any others) I created the items below using that one tool in as many way as I could think of. It has been months since I had last stamped like this so it was also a practise session which I obviously needed!!? I'm not sure which event happened first to stop me adding more to the THING, i.e when I sobered up or the leather dried, but now looking at the pictures it's probably best I did stop when I did instead of adding more. After they dry I plan to dye the stamping black, edge the normal way (canvas and water) then lace the quiver up.

I know the hooks your on about and I have never been able to find a supplier - where do you get them from? - at the moment I am using something similar from a boat shop, looks similar but twice the size. Cheers for all the advise - it is sort of a narnia quiver I am making so have gone with a arm guard pattern from the film as well.

Hi all, hope this is the right place for this, but keep seeing the odd post by people from scotland and am just wondering who or where you are all from within scotland - after a very short met with ray, would be nice to know if there are similar people local also interested in leather craft.