Renoir

My mum is also metal sensitive - any buckles or studs *touching the skin* are a no-no. Check out the ranger style belt - As long as there is leather backing the buckle you should be OK. I adapted this and made her a watch strap with a pad under the buckle and watch back - the first time she's been able to wear a nice watch for years (otherwise it's awful rubber straps, as most traditional straps expose the buckle or watch back). I've had a couple of ranger-style belts and worn them for years - more comfortable. It's on my list of projects to make next...

I'd add any shops or UK distributors worth visiting. For example: A.W Midgely and son, Cheddar - huge range of leather, all types ( http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=56577#entry363093 ) More for advanced hobbyist/professional, although they will do you a single hide if you want. Pittards leather ( http://www.pittardsleather.co.uk/ ) - Yeovill - lots of smaller thinner hides (mainly 1-2mm) in a large variety of colours and prints. a few larger hides in brown. Lots of 2nd and 3rd class stuff too, and scraps. Little or no veg-tan though, mostly or all chrome-tan, since they make gloves. They have a shop attached to the factory with a large room full of hides where you can browse. Le Provo - used them, good tools and good leather, helpful on the phone but clunky online ordering.

While researching suppliers, it's a bit tricky sometimes to tell whether a supplier or warehouse is suitable for you. Some require a minimum order size, may be online only, and may not have a way of viewing what you're buying (e.g. ebay). With this in mind, I wanted to write a short review of my experience at suppliers so that others might benefit. A.W. Midgley and Son is a UK supplier (website http://www.awmidgley.co.uk ) based in Cheddar, in the south west. It's reasonably accessable from Bath, Bristol, and is just over an hour's drive from where I live. On the website they say they are happy for customers to call at the warehouse, so I gave them a visit. Google/satnav directed me to the buisness park (BS27 3EB) easily, and they are located towards the end of the park - just keep driving and looking, a couple of turns later you should see it on the right - there is a small carpark for visitors. On opening the door, you walk straight into the warehouse - a veritable playground of leather hides - in a hundred different colours and patterns. https://plus.google.com/photos/104400411479647274773/albums/6028107499498037585 We were met by a very nice chap, I think his name may be Will (from http://mirjamidesign.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/luxurious-leather.html). He was extremely helpful and knowledgable, and although I had a vague idea of what I wanted (some thin veg-tan natural, maybe coloured) he helped by showing me several natural veg-tan skins and explaining a lot. He also grabbed a huge stack of mixed single veg-tan shoulders, and went through them, one by one - explaining a bit about the different types. With his help, I chose 3 coloured veg-tan shoulders and a natural veg-tan calf hide. Pricing was very good too, and they seem very happy to give even the casual hobbyist a great customer service. They seem to have a pretty wide variety of hides, different weights/thickness, and plenty of colours. They also have pretty large stocks of popular (e.g. blacks and browns) - if you wanted a larger order. I would definitely recommend a visit for anyone in the south west - you're bound to find something nice, and I am definitely coming back for more in the future. Great place.

My guess is that circle has been cut from thin leather and glued on to cover the snap back

great idea - would probably give a nice flat surface too. "Blade has to be sharp" - applies to pretty much all leather cutting! My results improved greatly once I learnt how to properly sharpen a knife...

Nice tutorial! very helpful. do you give all your pieces a 'serial number'? It's a good idea for when you get famous and copies come out...

+1 like for the R2 unit Nice start!

I guessed as much - but "gutenberg" (most likely the original source for the books) came up blank This is the first hobby I've done where a 100-year old resource is almost as applicable as a 1-year old resource. I'm used to computing where six months is 'old'....

I got prescribed new glasses last week as my arms are not long enough to read anymore. £300 english pounds - at least they have good magnification for close work, like sewing.

I'm surprised that someone hasn't posted this before (maybe they have) : Project Gutenberg (out of copyright books) has a few books on leather you can download. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40286 Decoration of Leather by George de Recy - descriptions of various leather techniques http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41927 A Complete Guide to the Ornamental Leather Work by James Revell - mainly leather flowers http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43377 Leather by K. J. Adcock - mainly tanning and leather preparation Has anyone else found online old books or patterns worth posting? maybe we can make a list.

I've read that too - for edges and the flesh side. I also want to get one of the glass squares for burnishing/smoothing

oh - for leather dye get a box of 100 disposable gloves from ebay. *dye stains human flesh*. Who'da thought it?

I haven't got the experience to comment, but nice work. I don't know if something like tan-kote would help smooth/protect the flesh side of the belt?

Nice work! ambitious for a first big project, but came out really nice.

Awesome job! I love the time-lapse - really shows how much work goes into it! Nice work on the EMT/Fire tooling - I like the effect, very striking. I must get some acrylic paints.