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Saying well done to you is getting tiresome. Do something wrong for God's sake man.

That's the only thing I'm envious of in the US,the space. Must be great. Thanks for the cool on the hat.

I applaud your skills Chuck but I do wish you guys would talk English. Wots a burb?

Welcome neighbour! Website looking good. Lots of friends here.

Thanks Bill. Appreciate it.

Thanks Mr Black. It's all veg tan, yes there's wire in the brim and it's not lined. Didn't make it for constant wearing. Of course a lining could be installed at any time.

Have been out and about today picking free grapes. Now have loads. On the journey for sure now.

Are you referring to my wizard hat Fred?

I've got one of those sharpened hole saws somewhere. Don't think I've ever used it. That mini rolling mill makes it so easy to do circles. I would have thought that even the soft part of the hole saw would do the job if the edge wasn't so fine to make it fold over i.e a blunter edge. Even mild steel is much harder than leather.

Fool that I am have decided to have a go this year. Know nothing about it except picking up bits through life. Only been here for 3 yrs and last year there was so few bunches that I didn't bother but this year there's about 5 times more. There's still not enough to make it worthwhile so I'll have to supplement with either more grapes from somewhere or some concentrate. A couple peeps on facebook don't want theirs so I'm going tomorrow to see what's left. A whole new learning curve coming up and equipment to buy but two of my daughters will no doubt push me to get it done.

Thanks Bob. Took a while though. Ordered the red and black cord cos wasn't sure which one would have the most impact but I think the black is right.

Finally got the cord to finish the Corset hat.

Well done mate they look good. Just measured a rivet and they want a surprising 4mm. Will order some now.

More like it mate. I'll do a search.

Just a simple rivet size tube needed Keith. Where my dies have a wood core it would be simple to just drill a hole and glue a tube in to save working out where to punch every time.

Really great work so far mate and I know this was a request but I ain't having it until I see a handbag. If anyone knows where I can get tiny hollow tube that I can incorporate into my dies to punch rivet/snap type holes at the same time please let us all know cos it won't be long before dikman wants em too.

I don't remember saying this! Is this you asking me a question?

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together. Well done.

If selling is your priority you must think like a seller. Regardless of what you choose to make, your target audience is about to walk past your stall in seconds not minutes. Your job is to catch their eye and get their attention. Bright colours rather than classic brown. Most won't give a toss if you stitches are nice and neat or did you use Tokenole on those edges. Once you have their attention the next thing they'll look at is price. Most won't start the day with buying in mind and might not have a lot of cash in their pocket. Of course if you are able to take card payments. that a whole different ball game and product range.

If I ever make a "real" one it'll be wider with two layers and glued and stitched. These are just to hold my trousers up and stop me wondering which pair of trousers I left my one belt on last.

The bottom one just needed a little messing and re dying so I only had to do two. Still waiting for some cord to finish my corset hat.

After years of taking my one belt from one pair of trousers to use on another pair, bearing in mind what I do I finally got disgusted enough with myself to start on three more. Bearing in mind that my world is practical and not for the benefit of others, it will just be one layer and rivets so I should be finished by the end of today.

Forgive me dikman if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs but I can't help myself if I see a way to help someone. A few thoughts. If you run a disc cutter down the web of the angle iron but not all the way through will allow you to the angle gradually until you get it where you want, Bear in mind if you use an over angle you can always stop before fully closing. The one I showed above is 60 degrees. I do have a 90 degree but ill often use the 60 for this reason. Are you planning on welding or a wooden core? If wooden you have to think about getting the leather out. This can be a hole that you can poke through or you can glue some foam rubber under the core that will automatically eject the leather after cutting it. If using foam make sure that after leaving enough knife below the core to cut your thickest leather, you might need slightly more to allow for the compressed foam. You can use thin foam and glue on extra layers until it does the job If using wood cut slight smaller to allow for the thickness of the knife. Bear in mind the screws will help with slight anomalies. If welding you'll need an accurate (paper pattern) to test on as you bend If using wood and it finishes flush with the top of the knife it'll be robust enough to walk around some quite big patterns under the press. Looking forward to seeing your first makings from your own dies.

Here you go dikman. Hope it helps. The anti cut gloves are recommended.

If I can make a suggestion mate, you'll find it easier if you turn things around and find a way to slot in the various shapes at the end of the ram. On the receiving end, say you want a right angle you could weld two bits of sharp stuff so the internal angle is around say 85 degrees (guessing) to allow for spring back. I'll try to do a short vid.