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To send to Australia the cheapest option is USPS and lately I have been getting a tracking number as well with them, $70 sounds about right if it's for a seat. We have an import amount of $1000 AUD before we get charged anything by customs you can check here and get your customer to have a look as well if you are worried about going over that amount http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5549.asp and it also lists the restricted items as well. I would make insurance compulsory if it's a high end item the customer should understand, I've never had anything go missing over the ten years I've ordered from the US but I still like to get insurance. Hope this is of some help Cheers, Clair

I'll have to agree with Noah, very classy Josh. I don't know squat about holsters but I love the colouring and smooth lines of this one. Clair

Tina hadn't thought of that it's nice to read what other ideas people come up with. The stuff I've got on hand is basically crap, a cheap supermarket brand so didn't work that well but I did try some thin clear vinyl the stuff you get in craft stores (used for table coverings I believe) and that worked well and is reuseable, so that might be another option.

No white paper won't work it gets torn up too easy from the moisture from the leather if you definately want to use your laser printer it will need to be acetate thats what transparencies are you don't need to use an expensive brand just make sure they are listed for laser printers and definately don't use one listed for inkjet printers it will melt in your machine. Cheers, Clair

Wow Meg those are very nice I love the wall hanging Clair

Yes I've done it and it works well you just need to press a bit harder with the stylus as the transparency sheet is thicker than the usual hand tracing stuff. Also it's best to try and tape the sheet down as it can move around easier as the moisture in the leather isn't enough to hold it down. Cheers, Clair

Thankyou John that's a great help looks like the 277 is what I need. Cheers, Clair

I believe James Acord makes them but I don't think he is a member here and I'm not sure if that is the style you are going for or not as his seem to be for flyfishing. The Art of Leather cases books would definately be a help in this case. Cheers, Clair

John would you be able to take a photo of them something like this would give me a better idea of the sizes http://www.store.jewelsinfiber.com/specs.html without you having to send them out and it might be helpful for others on the board as well. Thankyou and cheers, Clair

I currently use C-Lon nylon thread found here http://www.store.jewelsinfiber.com/nylonclc400.html but it only comes in small rolls, for colours it is great but for black and white I would prefer a larger roll. The C-Lon is 0.9mm but I'm not sure what nylon machine thread size corresponds to it (277, 346 etc) as I haven't seen nylon machine thread for leather in person before and I think it might be different for Australia anyway. So I was wondering if anyone could tell me what size thread is in the machine on page 296 of the 2009 Weaver Catalogue as it looks to be about the size I want. I'm not using the C-Lon in a machine I am handsewing with it but I wax it myself so haven't had any trouble with using it to handsew. The C-Lon can also be used in a machine so I don't think the Weaver stuff should be any different if I wax it first. Thankyou for any help Cheers, Clair

Clay, Leffler in Melbourne still sell them brand new http://www.leffler.com.au/saddlery/tools_craft.htm I can't get into their webstore at the moment for some reason so I'm not sure what they go for.

Thankyou for the offer Kings X, I'm putting in an order with Wrangler at the end of the week just when I thought I would get some free time the day job gets in the way again but if for some reason I don't like the Wrangler I will take you up on it. Thanks again Cheers, Clair

Thankyou everyone, At the moment I think I am leaning towards the Wrangler as Barry's is alot heavier than the Midas and a bit longer, but I will drop them all an email about custom options. I'm after some bevellers from Barry anyway and a replacement small modelling spoon after a member of my family who shall remain nameless decided it would be a good idea to try and open a paint can with it. I fixed it up the best I could but it's still not the same, so a decent one from Peter payed for by the offending party might discourage them from touching my tools again. Ben I would love to be able to try all the swivel knives out but it's just not possible where I live, Western Australia is a waste land when it comes to carving/tooling leather, I haven't come across anyone else who does it and the guy who runs the local leather shop said I was the first person in many years to buy stamps the last time I went in there (they still have Craftool stamps from the 70's) and I'm not sure if the overseas makers would be too fond of sending stuff half way across the world only for me to send it back if I didn't like it. And I'll admit it I like the look of the colours on the Wrangler and if it is the right fit and I was eventually to get two and they happened to be the colours of mine and the offending parties football team it might come about a bit quicker hee hee. Cheers everyone Clair

I am looking at buying a decent swivel knife now that I want to try more than just the traditional Australian way of just using modelling spoons when tooling and so have narrowed it down to these two (mainly because they are easier for me payment wise) but as I have no way of trying them out I need to get a little bit more info on them. From what I have read they are both excellent quality knives but the trouble is I have quite small hands and would prefer something fairly light so would anyone be able to tell me how long the barrel is on both of them, what the complete length is (I'm not sure if they are adjustable or not) and what they weigh. Without being able to try them in person this is probably the best I can go off. At the moment I have an old non adjustable Tandy knife and an adjustable Midas Nylon both with ceramic blades which I'm not that keen on. Out of the two I prefer the Midas as it's lighter, but it's a little too long even at it's shortest setting so it gets uncomfortable to use after awhile. Also it's hard to tell from the photos on both of them but do they have fine or coarse checkering on the barrel this is mostly why I don't like the Tandy as I prefer a fairly smooth barrel. Thankyou for any help Cheers, Clair

Lefty here as well, I've yet to find a comfortable way of holding my Dixon plough gauge and have swapped to the free hand stitch groover. I use a computer mouse in my right hand though which comes in handy when I'm drawing with a wacom tablet, I can bring up any menus with the mouse and continue drawing with the pen.

They are really neat Kate, I especially like the effect of the Susan Boyle one.

Have you tried Packer Leather directly www.packerleather.com.au and http://www.packerdirect.com.au/Home.aspx I haven't bought any lace for awhile so aren't sure what their prices are like compared to the others.

Looks really good David, Kate did a wonderful job. One thing though the links along the bottom aren't working for me keep getting a not found error, might want Kate to have a look at it. Cheers, Clair

My partner has to put up with one of these people at his martial arts class, they refuse to buy the leather training gloves because they think the animals are slaughtered just for that ie sports wear. The rest of the dojo knows my partner is from a meat industry family and that they run one of the biggest butchers in the state and I think they are waiting for him to say something as they all smirk when the other person goes off on one their rants. He keeps quiet though as he knows that it won't do any good, he does find some satifaction though as considering where their uniforms are made it's highly likely animal bones were partly used to make the dye to color them. We don't live in farm country but we made sure our son knows where the tasty steak his Grandad gives us comes from and if he has to travel out to one of the country suppliers with us he will often ask when we see cows in the paddock if they are milk or meat cows.

If you read through Christians (Xian Leathers) thread at the site where I think you got it from he explains how he does most things, It's spread out over quite a few pages though.

Wow that came out really nice definately love the texture, it would be great to see a motorcycle seat not fully black in person. I think I would fall over if I ever come across one where I live.

Another one from the design side of dealing with customers http://clientsfromhell.net/

The Kelly Tool Co made the Midas line of stamps and are no longer in business, they occasionally come up on ebay and usually go for a decent price well here in oz anyway. They are a better quality than todays Craftools and would be on par with the Craftools from the 1960-1980's maybe even a bit better depending on the stamp. I've only got one, matting tool (618) which is from the mid 70's and it's a goldish colour which I think they all came in. Cheers, Clair

Wow Ed they are really nice, I hope to have a couple head down to Australia sometime in the near future mmm lets see Mothers Day is coming up will have to drop hints to the son. Cheers, Clair