gmace99

Welcome to the forums

OOPS have I converted you to using a round knife. I will message you a number in a few days got to go to sunny Scotland first. I don't have the number to hand.. Phone it and say I gave you the number and ask if he has one for sale. If he does it will be a Dixons one and not expencive.

i have three of them it does look like a dixons

I have made thousands of saddles over the years (5/6 a week ) and always heat. I do agree that you should do it cold to practice however after a short use it will fade the heat is permanent. Also when I say hot enough r to sizzle I don't mean red hot . You have to get it hot enough to do the job but not burn. This is how I and the professional bridle makers that I worked with at Jeffries have always done it. But do be careful and test it on a scrap of leather

welcome to the forums .I am sure you will find lots of good info here

welcome to the forums. There is a great harness maker in Saint sever Calvados called Chris Garret. he does a lot of work for the Donkey Sanctuary around the world. If you are near there I am sure he would give you some advice.

Heat a screw crease. Get it hot enough that when you wet your finger and touch the crease it hisses it will be hot enough. Make sure it is not so hot it burns the leather test on a off cut first. If you get stuck I could always do a quick you tube video for you.

cool

Tuesday is ok just phone any of the numbers on my sites and we can arrange this. I am sure your partner will have fun making something also.

The reason I asked where you are from is. I am a saddle/leathercraft instructor and if you like you can come to my workshop for a morning and I will show you how to make your Lead. This is a free offer for you and a friend. I am in Tamworth Staffordshire until August the 15th. After that I will be retiring back home to sunny Scotland. I have bought a building to continue doing my teaching. If you would like to do this after 15th August it would be at my building in Dunoon this is about an hour from Glasgow. My website for England is www.uksaddlery,com

Looks ok depends what you are making. I would prefer a bit less of and would use a Dixons number 2. It should still look good when you finish rubbing the edges. Some items look good with a little amount taken of and others with a lot. If I was making a belt then I would use a number 2 and if I was making a pair of stirrup leathers I would take a size 2 of the bottom side and a number 4or5 of the top side. Where in the UK are you?

I have four different size chisels but been lazy I just pick up my round knife unless I am doing several.

Art That is my project for this winter. I started doing a video years ago and writen notes to go with it. Then business got busy I ended up running 4 Businesses and could not find the time to complete the video. The old video I have been putting on youtube. The quality is not great but it should be of help to some people. Posting them gave me a chance to learn that I should go into more detail on my new Dvd. My aim is to do lots of recording in more detail and in time do follow up Dvd's showing how to do things like a inset seats and a mono flap style saddles. The hard bit for me is finding a camcorder to record with. I know nothing about them and don't want to spend stupid money for something that will never be used again after I do this Dvd.

As a piece work saddle maker, I learnt to use as little tools as you can. Picking up dividers would mean another job therefor using up money time. I have not cut a point in years. As a saddle maker it is not something I would do. I thought it would help some people. The dividers are also a good idea for people to help practice. I have been a professional leather worker for 30 years and have decided to retire at 55. In my retirement I have started a saddle school and hope to do some more videos to help people to learn more about leatherwork .

Thought this might be of use to some people. I did this video showing how to do a English point on a one inch and a one and a half inch belt using my round knife https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5GqItjXtRI

I am moving workshop at the moment. I never new I had so much stuff. I don't want to count how much money I have in leather I counted 40 saddle butts They cost around £140 each. Then I have my panel leather Lets say I know why I don't have my new boat.

I should have said if anyone is interested in English saddle making. There is several photos on my Dosthill saddlery Facebook page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5q0wD-AjNA The quality is not great but I hope it is of use to someone.

Welcome to the forums. You will get good information here.

Having humo(u)r brings a little colo(u)r to the topic. After all you say tomato and I say tomato

I am lucky enough to retire at the ripe old age of 55. I wont be retireing to just go fishing I bought a large workshop to teach saddle making and leathercraft in. Having ran four businesses for a number of years this will be a nice way to slow down and also get out on my boat. OH what fun. When I started to move one of my workshops from England to Scotland. This is not something I have been looking forward to. I never new how much stuff I had until I started to pack it into boxes. So many tools, thousands of buckles,sheets of foam,patterns, 4 sewing machines etc. I never realised how much leather I had until I started to move it with kids gloves. You would have thought I was carrying a bomb with the care I took loading it into the van. My new building is easily 5 times bigger than my existing workshop. I have only moved a tiny part of my stock from my workshop. Yet it has already started to over flow the larger one. I also recon the fumes from the glues and leather I have inhailed over the years must have sent me crazy. Most people who retire want nothing to do with the job they are escaping from. I have been working with leather for over 30 years, Yet how do I retire? Buying a building to continue working with leather. Dam that must be some good glue I have been sniffing all those years.

Very nice

Welcome to the forums. Nice work

When I used to mould horse boots I just used pre dyed black shoulder. You might like this website www.custom-sculpt.com It is a customer of mine he is an artist and custom paints bikes. He has done a England and a Welsh design bike. I am going to have him paint mine Scotland design. I have a ST1300 Pan European he quoted me £1200 Great price as my bike has lots and lots of plastic to paint.

Nice Job. Why did you choose to dye your own leather and not buy pre dyed ?