Peter Ellis

chuckle.. withya on that "light blue". I take small jars, fill them about half way with rubbing alcohol and then top off with the blue dye. That gives something more in real Light Blue range. The stuff lasts a long time, though, since I'm diluting it by about half

The basic problem with leather helmets is that there's pretty close to zero evidence any were ever made historically. Couple of examples survive of metal caps with hardened leather cheek pieces. I'm not aware of any historic flat head rivets. I would suggest looking at the RJ Leahy website and considering dome head rivets, and burrs. They've got quite a selection of materials - brass, stainless, mild, aluminum, copper.

Very Cool.

ah ha. I was wondering why the buckle and snap construction. Now I understand.

I've finished these.

Kate, stainless steel is rust resistant due to the metals added to the steel, producing various alloys that are not as prone to rusting as plain iron is. Carbon steel just means that the steel has a relatively high carbon content, and that makes it possible to harden more than steel with less carbon. "Mild steel" is just plain ordinary steel, not alloyed to prevent it from rusting, not enough carbon to make it very hard.

Thanks Tom. Bazubands go back to the middle ages, not sure off the top of my head how early they started using them. The historic versions were decorated with Persian designs. I haven't seen any examples with scales. I harden by heating the leather in my oven to about 85 C (180 F) after soaking it in a solution of glue and water. It stays in the oven until it starts to dry, but not until it is all dry.

Progress pictures of a pair of "bazubands" - a style of forearm and elbow armour used by the ancient Persians and found through the middle east and into India. The pieces still have to be sealed and assembled and straps added. Right now they've been hardened and given a coat of mahogany all-in-one and then an overwash with gold acrylic paint.

Hi Pip. I can tell you I see one item as "out of sequence" according to my experience. I do the attachment of hardware after I've done the dye/antique/paint steps. I've been frustrated by not being able to get the finish where I wanted it or by staining hardware because I attached the hardware before the dye stage. Also, I generally do edge finishing before assembly, as it's so much easier to get at the edges at that point. Not always a necessary step, but when it is...

Defining tannin as "a preservative from grapes" is way too limited. That reads like a definition used in the specific context of wine. Tannins are found in many kinds of plant, including oak trees. Oak is a source very commonly used for leather tanning. As to the "waxy" part - dunno, I haven't run across "waxy tannins" as a term. I'm sure some of the more experienced members will be able to help with both the definitions and the coloring/finishing question.

mm.. one of the points about the aniline dyes is that they *are* toxic through the skin.

Different viewpoints, I suppose. Apparently Jim finds it well worth his time.

There are some excellent detailed tutorials at the British blades site. Take a look at this one as an example http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8266

These saddles are both in the Wallace Collection in London. I thought it was pretty interesting to see the way they were decorating saddles over 500 years ago.

Jim, one of the reasons that people aren't making up their own dyes is the learning curve on being able to produce something satisfactory, and then reproduce it consistently. While the dyestuff is inexpensive, trial and error adds up fast. For those of us that are primarily hobbyists, it's a whole added layer of process and learning for which we just don't have the time. I'm also under the impression that the aniline dyes are not to be treated lightly. Some pretty toxic chemicals involved there that need to be handled properly.

Vera, yet another wonderful piece of work. I look forward to seeing what you've done this time every time you post. Always original, creative, beautiful. Yet with a consistent style that's quite distinctive. Inspiring stuff.

So today at work I hopped over to the forums, did *not* log in, and started browsing. Came across the new Marketplace sections, and took a look. No problem, went right in, opened up threads... Got home, came to the forums and logged in. And here, I can't access those same marketplace sections and threads that I was able to access without being logged in. Color me confused....

Daggrim... if you're making turn shoes, I'm assuming you're going to be sewing the rest of the shoe together, not glueing it all, yes ? Because if you're going to try and glue together the whole thing, it would be better to learn to sew a bit. And if you are sewing the shoe and just looking to glue on the sole, you can do that, but it won't be that much harder to stitch it on as well. Just remember to put the sole on *after* you turn the shoe rightside out. Otherwise it will not be so good

I like the tooling and the design of the scene on that alot. Nicely done. You can do some different lacing patterns that will allow for tightening up the - Bracer - if it should need to be tighter. Terminology - Greaves go on the lower leg. On the forearm it's a bracer if by itself (or a cuff if you're doing American West :biggrin: ) or a vambrace if it's part of a harness for the full arm. I know of one fellow who calls all armour "greaves"...including "head greaves".. everyone thinks he does it just to irritate his armourer

Mike, beeswax holds up pretty well under normal environmental heat, but if you leave one of these wax sealed and hardened vessels in your car in summer it will melt down on you. I've spent a good bit of time chasing down options, because I was also not satisfied with the epoxy choices I've been able to find. I have heard through multiple reports that at least one of the makers of an epoxy that's rated for food prep areas has explicitly declined, more than once, to confirm that their product is safe for the drinking vessel application. That won't fly for me, so I don't use that product. I've heard of a medical grade epoxy being used, talked to a fellow in Arizona about his bottels and he said he used a medical grade epoxy - very expensive. I've never managed to track it down, and, not surprisingly, he wasn't giving me the name. The design Fluidium posted is called a kestrel. I've no idea why they named a barrel shaped jug after a small hawk, but there it is....

gotta tell ya Dave, the Boss has poor taste. Looking at the other seats he had you making, I *really* think he has poor taste. Maybe he can manage a business, or maybe he can build a motorcycle. He should let people who can design seats handle that aspect of things, because he can't. Great work, as always.

If I recall correctly, batik is a process of dyeing fabric using a wax resist. So, I would expect you could do it on leather very much the same way it's done on fabric. That example looks like they may have just used a drip/spatter to create their resist pattern. I don't imagine one would do the knot tying in leather that one does in fabric for creating patterns.

I don't know that I can say it's like yours, beyond also being a wide brimmed, flat crowned hat made out of leather, but I've got one in gray a friend left to me. Only hat the fellow ever made.

I can't think of any wood glue that has a set time in the ten to fifteen minute range. Most of them don't dry clear when they do dry. Things with that short a set time are generally either contact cements or epoxies. Woodworking doesn't put a high priority on fast set times, so glues specifically for woodworking applications don't tend to be quick setting.

I can see where that could be incorporated into one's design if it was consistent enough. To follow up on Regis' question, as I'm seriously considering a purchase of the W&C black veg tan, are there any problems with casing it, does it tool similarly to regular veg tan ?