whinewine

Thank you, Cal: it's a great wealth of both information and patterns. russ

Thank you, Ray. This is useful! russ

Hello: another one of my stupid questions... I picked up a long roll of 5-strand braided belting that will fit 1" buckles. Both ends of the whole roll are secured with tape to prevent unraveling, so in order to make a belt, both ends of an individual length of belt must be sewn (so each end doesn't unravel) before it can be turned into a finished 1" braided belt with buckle on one end & tip on the other. Because I don't wish to waste excess length, (or, conversly, make too short), my question is this: does anyone know the most common lengths for 1" women's belts? (In other words, what are the most common length sizes that are sold for women's 1" belts? What lengths should I make them?) Btw, I DO NOT want to make them up on site; I want to display the finished belts there. Any & all help is appreciated. Thanks. russ

For chrometan up to 6 oz, possibly 7 oz and garment leathers, a Husqvarna Viking in the 5000 or 6000 series (with the flatbed attachment & some different cams) might also be a possibility. These machines are built of metal & are durable. They also have a slow speed (1 stitch at a time) & a regular speed. I picked up a model 6270 for about $150 + shipping off ebay & it does fine for me with the lighter stuff. The sewing machine stores prefer to sell the newer, all electronic (& less durable than the older machines, too, but for a LOT more $$$, btw) models & many older machines are junked or sold very cheaply. I haven't tried it yet on thicker vegtan, but it probably could handle up to 6 oz or so??? I just don't feel like screwing with the adjustments on my Boss to sew lighter leathers (again), so I got the Viking to do the other stuff, especially the garment leathers & softy materials.

Tom: could it be the leather itself? (like some areas of the leather are spongy & suck up dye like a ...sponge...? And other areas are hard, perhaps, & very resistant to the dye?) . Just a speculation on my part. I've had some leather that didn't accept dye very well & some areas just sucked it up. I think perhaps some spongy areas were 'fat' areas that were stretchy & didn't have the 'body' that the rest of the leather has. When you get around the belly areas, you sometimes see this effect. russ

Yes, they do. Contact Cathy Schlim at cschlim@yahoo.com. I know she isn't going to do this again for a while (she did 2 separate orders for us here, and she's definitely burned out from it, but she could get you the actual web address & updated prices [- the web prices are outdated, btw on the website]). Nice, good knives, nice, good blades. I know for sure that Rawhide, on this site, also has Henley blades & knives. Perhaps he could fill you in on updated info. There are others on this site who also have their blades & knives, but I can't, for the life of me, think of who they are...Good luck. russ

Hey, that's true. I missed that! Good eye!

Carr: Use some sort of support that prevents movement= if you don't have a tripod or a monopod, use a box, a rock, a beanbag, a fencepost- anything that will prevent motion when you press the shutter button (and if the shutter button happens to be threaded for a cable release, all the better...). Also, if you can go without flash or even use minimal fill flash, that won't blow out the details. Some of the pics look washed out from the flash blast, or perhaps they were shot in direct sunlight. Cloudy bright is best natural light with which to shoot, because you won't have hot spots and the light will be very even; if you can't shut off the flash, drape 1 or 2 layers of a white hanky over the flash to diffuse the blast. Just keep in mind, that the camera's meter (at least, in the film cameras- I don't know about digital...) is programmed to read something called 'average grey'. It is also a reflected light meter, rather than an incident light meter. What 'average grey' is what you would get if you could put all the tones in a scene (light, dark, colors, intermediate shades, etc) into a blender & turn the result into black & white. Pour that out onto a pan & you have 'average grey'. The camera's meter is stupid: VERY stupid... it will read things in shadow as: 'average grey'; it will read a brilliant white snow scene as: 'average grey'; it will read a cloudy, dull, flat snow scene as: 'average grey'. None of these are truly 'average grey', but the meter is, as I said, VERY stupid. The result is that NONE of the resultant pictures will be properly exposed- snow scenes taken with a film camera tend to be dark & dreary & have a bluish cast to them. To get a proper exposure with a film camera, you would need to use an incident light meter (which measures the light falling ON to the scene, rather than the light reflected OFF the subjects, as in a reflected light meter= the same kind that is in a film camera). If you have a shiny finish, it's much harder to shoot than if there is no finish, or a matte, flat finish. russ

Deadeye, if you look under tandy's ceramic swivel knife blades, there is a beader blade shown, although it is not listed as a beader blade... it is a blade with two cutting edges. I have a Henley beader that I like much better (I don't care for any of the ceramic blades- I just think they have too much drag for my liking). russ

Joe, Tan kote isn't waterproof or even particularly water resistant. It'll spot, at the very least, & possibly allow the water-based ecoflo dyes to run. I don't like it for that reason, although many people here absolutely love it & use it exclusively... With the old spirit dyes, spotting would be the worst one could expect if the item got wet, but with the new ecoflo stuff, you've got to be careful & seal it well [& yes, I very much like the new eco flo dyes, but I do take extra precautions with any item that could get wet (from rain or perspiration)]. Just my observation & my $.02 worth. russ

Sodapop, I agree with you that the line you pointed to looks grooved, but look at the very bottom of the pic of the scabbard that Deadeye posted: see how it seems to be raised (rather than grooved) as it curves around toward the back... The line seems to be higher than the sunbursts, which leads me to speculate that it was made with a beader blade, rather than a groover. Really, the design could be made several different ways, each of them equally nice. russ

Rather than use groovers, (which actually cut out a piece of leather & cut off the top of the grain) you might try to use an adjustable marker (dammit, I can't think of the actual name of it! - but tandy sells them- they can be adjusted to whatever width of leather you wish to mark, so if you mark off your first mark off the edge, then you can follow in the first groove & make a second mark. You can also use a 'beader blade', as Elton suggests (Henley sells them, as does tandy in their ceramic series for swivel knives[ which I really think there is too much drag & I don't like them]) which cuts a border of a certain width along your initial border. I know I'm confusing you at this point, but I'm sorry. russ

Just a simple observation: if you're going to make a belt, it's assumed to be a fairly thick leather (say, 7-9++ oz & above), it would be better to use the swivel knife, cutting half way through (or a little bit less, anyway). Otherwise if you simply bevel without cutting, it'll look like machine embossing... On very thin stuff I probably/possibly won't swivel cut, but on thicker stuff, it's a definite swivel cut, simply to give added definition to the beveling that will follow afterwards. If I'm going to do a belt with a Celtic design (& I just bought a new kilt that doesn't use my traditinal width belt & I need to make a new one), I'll definitely make a belt that stands out= which means swivel knife cut- design + beveling afterward.

Very nice band! (Too bad my wrist sweats so much- I do better with metal) russ

You could also demand to speak with Steven Siegel (the owner, btw) about this. Guaranteed, you will get some results & quickly. russ

Unfortunately, a lot of people have "entitlement" issues... pushy people from NY & NJ, old farts, 'vet-runs' (as how it's often pronounced), people on welfare, the 'professional poor', & young people who have been told all their lives that they're 'SPECIAL'... [& yes, I am (a) a veteran, ( an old fart, © & certainly can often be pushy, (d) & I'm certainly not wealthy (e) & I have low tolerance for stupidity & intolerance {... an intolerance intolerant???}]. However, when someone tries to dicker me down, I tell them this isn't Mexico, where haggling is expected, & if they persist with the sob story, I tell them that I left my sad-sounding violin back at the opera, thank you very much, goodbye & have a nice day. And I simply turn away from them & go back to what I was originally doing.

Try a weak bleach solution to kill the mold. If you get wood bleach from the hardware store, it most likely is oxalic acid (read the label). Tandy used to sell it but doesn't anymore. If this works (& it certainly may not, depending on how bad off it is), then dye it an appropriate color (perhaps dark brown to hide any marks), and then treat with a conditioner, like lexol before finishing with something like neatlac. Or perhaps use an all-in-one that will leave variations on the leather & help hide/minimize any marks... I mean, it's extra work, but if it's salvageable, it's worth it. russ

The innermost row looks like either a camo or a sunburst stamp. The others, I can't make out. If you could take a good closeup of just a section of the tooling, it would be easier to ID. russ

#2: contact cement is PERMANENT! (more or less)... Rubber cement is easily removable #3: If you treat that lace with lexol, it does soften up a bit. It's OK, but sometimes it can be really crappy & short in length. If it looks OK, I'll often use it; if not, I use the better stuff. russ

Actually, it's the same as regular Pecards' dressing- just put up in a different container, marketed to the cycle crowd. I know, because I emailed & asked the difference between regular & the mc dressing. Under whichever label, however, it's still fantastic stuff. russ

Also, a belly piece can stretch more than a piece from nearer the backbone, too, Marlon. And a strap made from a piece of leather running along the length of a hide (ie, from front to back) will stretch less than a strap made from a piece of hide running from backbone to belly. Although, in a kit, it's difficult to determine from what part the piece is cut from.

This is called 'religiosity': the need to tell EVERYONE just what good christians they are (question: if you're really a good Christian, do you need to TELL everyone that you are??? Wouldn't it be obvious?) The prisons are full of people who God-Bless you thirty, forty times a day- yet they're in prison for having sex with their own & other kids or conning old people out of their life savings or stealing thousands and thousands of dollars from their employers & just take advantage of others. And they continue to rationalize their behavior ("the devil made me do it"). And it isn't just Christians, either. So much evil has been done in the name of: Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, Fill-in-the-blank-of-your-favorite-deity, etc... A religious person practices his/her faith, quietly & shows their commitment to doing the ethical thing, the right thing, through their actions... a person spouting religiosity merely mouths the words- frequently- but there is no substance, no commitment & no actions- just cheap words that mean nothing. If you can learn to recognize that, you will be much less likely to get sucked into believing in liars, cheats & thieves who profess one thing & practice something entirely different. Good luck. russ

Ok, I have been told that no ezups were permitted, & truthfully, I've never seen ANY ezups there, although I certainly could be mistaken... If I am, sorry, I apologize. I did also double-checked with my son (who goes many more times than I), & he also confirms that no ezups are allowed & also has never seen one there (the internal roof struts are VERY distinctive & hard to hide, btw). Having said that, I must note that there are a bunch of non-faire events that permit non-regulars to display their stuff= there is a 'Celtic Fling & Highland Games' event, a 'Great Green America Fest', a 'Great Pennsylvania Flavor Fest', a 'Raptors on Tour' event... & so on... These are generally one or two day events & are not part of the regular faire, per se. They allow someone who doesn't have the amount of stock necessary or $$$ necessary to showcase their talents for a very short period of time for a lot less money. These people are not the regular faire vendors that one sees on each & every weekend there. Their requirements are different. Ray: yes, competition is high, vendor rents are high & so are the prices. People go there to enjoy, & to BUY. The quality of merchandise is very high & because so many, many people attend, one needs to have a sizeable quantity of quality stock to be able to last for the entire 14 weekends. At the last event my son & I did, we blew away the other 3 leathercrafting concerns (and btw, they had been attending this particular event years before we started- this is only our second year there-) & seriously cut into the stock we had brought with us- and people were running up & buying items even as we were packing up to leave at the end of this two day event. These events are very different than your basic flea market venue, where vendors are routinely undercutting each other to try to make a sale. The caveat on this is, however, you need to price to what the market will bear... I would NOT be able to sell some of my wares at the smaller events for the same prices I'd have to charge if I were in one of the BIG faires. People will simply not spend that kind of money at a small event, whereas, they expect (and WILL) pay for the same item at a big event. I think it's the psychological association/mystique to the BIG EVENT. I can't really say what events are good & what ones are not. If the potential clientele have no idea what a renfaire is, & more importantly, absolutely would not be caught dead in costume- ever- then this kind of an event is going to be a bust. Once, a bunch of us vendors went to a restaurant afterward and a customer made a very loud comment about men in skirts (I wear a kilt)= the comment came from a guy wearing a red tee shirt with his belly hanging over his camoflage pants which were being held up with brown suspenders= when you're in this kind of environment, ya kinda know where you stand. My suggestion is to stay away from FIRST TIME FAIRES!!! They MAY be ok, but there is a better than normal chance that they're NOT! I refuse to do a first time faire unless I get sizeable concessions or I don't do it. The very first faire we ever did was a first time event put on by a man whose answer to dealing with problems (& by gosh, there were many) was to run away from you & all the other vendors and hide in his office. Dollar wise, we lost our asses on that one. Sorry I ramble, but I'm merely bringing up some pitfalls. P.S.: as far as shoes go, sandals blend in well. I can't see purchasing a pair of custom boots that begin at $500 USD for a simple, 1 button pair (I would love to have a custom 5 or 6 side-button pair of faire boots, with antique silver coins for buttons & exotic leathers in the construction, but I just can't justify the over $2000 USD it would cost me just for a part for my costume.) If the weather is warm, I wear Teva sandles, if it's cold out, I use non-descript, scuffed hunting boots. So far, no one has complained. russ

I have several burnishers of various groove sizes specifically made to fit the dremels [& foredoms (sp??) & similar hand-held tools] that I use all the time for burnishing & dremel itself has two different sizes of drum sander with (I believe), 2 different grits available. When you're doing production work, it just makes life much easier. With the variable dremels, you can step down the speed considerably & also change all the tools with a simple twist of the fingers (no wrench needed).

We (Where Dragons Tread) are too small at this point to be able to sell the quantity necessary to maintain stock for the number of weekends the large fairs run, so we do small 1,2 day events instead. The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, for instance, runs for (I believe) 14 consecutive weekends. EZups are NOT permitted there, only Panther Primitives & the like. The first year at the PA renfaire, you must have an approved tent, the second year, you must build a structure (I can't offhand remember if 2nd year is just a platform & temporary structure & 3rd year & beyond is the permanent structure, but a structure is required in that second year, anyway). Items must be handmade/handcrafted- NO resale (shit made overseas in some fourth world country & resold as being made by the craftsman himself/herself- like some of the stuff you find at many 'professional' flea markets that are open all year round.). Demonstrating is a definite plus & does draw crowds. Dressing in period costume is mandatory for vendors (& many/most faire goers also dress in costume). Most vendors also have full-time shops, with employees, so they can maintain the quantity of goods necessary for all 14 weekends. Weapons usually must be 'peace tied', & some faires specify 'no weapons'. Find out first before you try to come in dressed as an executioner with a real axe... We usually go at least 1 weekend every year to the PA Renfaire, as we know some of the vendors from a small faire we did together several years ago & we like to visit with them. Ray, what you might do to get a better feel for what is/is not required (because each faire may have many different requirements) is to google 'renaissance faire', 'Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire', Great Lakes Renaissance Faire'...etc, then download the vendor applications to get an idea of requirements & rents at the various events. russ