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I normally buy my dyes from Birdsall in Sydney but I'm always on the lookout for new colours so I was wondering can the Angelus leather dyes be shipped overseas by air freight. I've looked around and can't seem to find out if they are water or spirit based. Thanks, Clair

I have that book and it explains everything well.

My sister gave me a few from the eighties and I love them she thought she had the complete set from the eighties but has moved around quite a bit and they have been misplaced which is unfortunate so it must be wonderful to find such complete collections.

Now that is cool I would love to have something like that where I live. Though my husband probably wouldn't like it as he would never see me. I'd love to get my hands on the 3D printer.

In Australia Carba Tec sells these, thanks for the info MagiKelly I was going to get one but the Perth store was out of stock when I went in and then I completely forgot about them. So it's good to hear someone else has used one and more importantly that it works well. Cheers, Clair

Any tanned leather will make it through customs fine, the only problem is with rawhide or products containing rawhide such as traditional drums. We have a $1000 AUD limit before we have to pay duty which is pretty good compared to some countries.

Yeah it's been cold here in Perth this year as well, my son plays football at 8.30am and it's bloody cold at the time the dew is still on the grass and every oval he plays at sits in a low lying area.

Theres a Dixon Plough Gauge on Ebay Australia at the moment under leathercraft. Not knowing anything about them not sure if the price is high or not. Cheers, Clair

I don't think it's linen (what Royalwood has) by the looks of it I would say it's some kind of nylon, I use something that looks similiar it's not advertised as a sewing thread but I've found it works just as well. I was having trouble finding the coloured dye I wanted to dye my own so thought I would give it a try. It's called C-Lon Beading Cord and can be found here http://www.store.jewelsinfiber.com/nylon.html and in Australia where I actually bought it from http://www.polymerclay.com.au/stringing-supplies-c-37.html it comes in three sizes I've only used the 0.5mm and 0.9mm though it comes in some really nice colours and is very strong. I also like that the spools aren't that big as it's a pain to get stuck with a huge spool of thread with a colour I might not use that much. C-LON MICRO CORD TEX 70 comes in 32 colours (320 yard spool - Thread 0.115mm) Probably too small for leather work C-LON BEAD CORD comes in 72 colors +1 Collector Colour (86 yards - Thread 0.5mm) C-LON TEX 400 BEAD CORD comes in 24 colours ( 43 yards - Thread 0.9mm) Some of the colours definately look similiar to the pics posted, anyone interested in giving it a try I suggest just buying a couple of spools first and see how you like it as it might be a bit stiffer to what you are used to. Stretching an arms length out usually helps with that though. It also can be waxed and the white can be dyed. Hope this might be of some help to someone Cheers, Clair

My sister sent me this I'm not sure where it originally came from, my husband has already made it twice. The Star Wars mug serves three, sorry for the blurry pics my husband took them on his phone. 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE!! 4 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips or (optional) A small splash of vanilla extract and your favourite tipple 1 large coffee mug Add dry ingredients to your largest mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using), vanilla extract and a drop or two of your favourite tipple, then mix again Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous) If your feeling very very naughty, cover liberally in Bailey's Irish Cream. And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now you are only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night

Try http://www.leffler.com.au/ and http://www.ozsaddle.com/ I know they both sell hardware not sure if what they have is specifically for Australian tack though.

I can open the gallery and new up in Firefox but it won't open in Internet Explorer.

I'd send them back as well for that price even now with our now higher Australian dollar I'd expect them to be alot better than that. I'd be interested to know why they took 6-8 weeks to arrive as well were they custom made or normal stock. The only time I've had to wait that long for products from America was before the internet was commonplace in Oz which was about 15 years ago.

Very nice Josh, I don't know anything about guns or holsters but this looks very smart.

I agree, very smart wallet smooth, clean and classy

Thanks for the heads up Joe, I didn't realise it had a motor though so it wouldn't be suitable for me as I only have a small space to work in. I think I'm just going to be patient and get a Weaver in a few months, I found someone in Australia who has one and they seem very happy with it. I emailed a few places about a Landis and the prices I was given were alot higher than what has been stated here ie I might as well buy a new Weaver. Also having some wrist problems at the moment so I don't think using a pull type one is in my best interests as I do illustration work at my day job, the Weaver one is also in my size range for everything I make so I wouldn't need another splitter. Cheers, Clair

I love this stuff it's called Trials riding ( on a modified Mountain Bike which this guy is on) or street riding for those who ride BMX's. I wasn't strong enough to do this sort of stuff being a small female but I used to do the ground stuff when I was younger if you type in Flatland BMX into youtube you will get what I mean, I wasn't that good but definately had fun doing it. They also do this sort of stuff on modified motorcycles which is also called trials riding. If you've ever seen a funny looking motorcycle with fairly skinny tyres and no seat that is what it is for.

Thanks Bruce Mmm decisions decisions thinking about it now with your suggestion it would probably be better for me to rough cut, split then click my final shape. The problem I have is there is no where I can try out a splitter even a crappy Tandy one so I'm hoping that I can narrow it down while my sister is still in America so I can get her to bring me a decent one back the likelyhood of that though unless it's from a shop is probably going to be remote so I'm probably just going to have to be patient. The widest point on my biggest pattern is 15cm (approx 6 inches) but this is the paper pattern and on the clickers I have had made for previous patterns they have been 2-3mm wider so a 6 inch machine is now definately out. So would there be enough room on an eight inch or should I go looking for a 10. Cheers Clair

Thanks Bruce I thought the Weaver was going to be a high price thats a bit out of my price range as I would have to pay import tax on that amount (we get $1000 limit before we have to pay import tax in Oz) Would be the perfect size though there was one on ebay a few weeks ago but that's the only time I've seen one in the few months I've been looking. Might see if I can get my sister to ring Marvin as his splitter definately looks interesting I've read a few threads about splitters now and was wondering if the chase design you use might also be worth looking into so I was just wondering how well do they go on funny shaped patterns ie wider in the middle than the ends. I would be splitting 4mm (10 oz) down to 2.5mm (about 6 oz). I only use veg tan leather so don't need to take chrome tanned into consideration. Thankyou for any help Cheers, Clair

Thanks John, thought it would be excellent you have some very talented carvers working for you. Cheers, Clair

Very nice John I love the clean look of these ones, would love to see the dragon one if you can find the pic. Cheers, Clair

I've heard of people using Cool Aid to dye fabric before and I woudn't mind giving it a try as your piece looks like it's come up quite well, though I'm not sure if Cool aid is sold in Australia as I've never seen it.

Looks like pyrography to me on these ones only because they seem to be one off designs and it might be counter productive to make embossing plates and screen prints for those also being watch straps they are fairly small. On some of the others on his website though it definately looks like some sort of embossing plate was used. He definately makes very nice watch straps though whatever technique he uses, my last thought would probably be a combination of all three.

How about a Roll Top Desk, I will be getting one or helping my sister to make me one as most here are on the small side this after finding my husband using my wooden mallet to hammer in pins on the vinyl shed he was putting together. There are plans around for roll top desks on the net and I've seen audio recording studios desks that are quite long that have a similiar set up though they are usually made of metal. Instead of building the whole thing you could just build the top part and modify it to your desk length.