cem

Pfft they can shove that I doubt very much they will be taking business away from the other Australian distributors.

Thank you for the link camano ridge that's the one I've been looking for. Cheers, cem

Came across this new one from Weaver today,bigger version of their other one and the Lucris http://www.weaverleathersupply.com/Catalog/ItemContent.aspx?ItemNumber=37758&CatalogId=001&CatalogDetailId=97&NSM=Y Doesn't look like it's been out for long as I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else as of yet.

Not from the USA but I've used their water based dye, acrylic finish and a couple of tools. I would put the quality at better than Tandy especially the water based dye. I didn't order from them directly I used Goodsjapan.

Cool love seeing everyone elses horsey builds, you did a great job on that one.

Hi littlehorses to attach pics do this, click on the More Reply Options brown button. At the bottom of the white box it says Attach Files click on the Choose file grey button, it will bring up the file selection window on your computer find what you want and press Open Now it will show the file name you selected next to the grey Choose file button Click on the Attach This File grey button Once it loads there will be a grey box with a preview of your photo click on the Add to Post to the right of this Now in the top of the white box it will say something like If you don't want to add anything else click on the black Add Reply button If you want to add more photos go though the steps again making sure to click the Add to Post for each one if you make a mistake click the red Delete and it will remove the photo so it doesn't upload. For multiple photos it's best to have a line space between each one and you can add text before or after each attachment code line. It's best to have text on it's own line so it's easier to read on the forum. Hope this helps a bit Cheers, cem

Not sure exactly what wasteland is using some of them just look like a swivel knife like camano ridge mentioned I know some others the ones who actually remove the leather in their designs use Flexcut Micro Palm carvers,they will be available from woodwork suppliers.

Hi Mike, no they don't have an English site I just use the translate through google chrome, the dealer page is the fourth link from the left on the top greenish tool bar.

Heres a site that might get you started with some japanese dealers other than goodsjapan if you wanted to make a trip over there www.craftsha.co.jp/

I've used the European bends in the past if you want sticker shock check the Australian price https://www.tandyleatherfactory.com.au/en-aud/home/department/leather/tooling-shoulders-bends-bellies/9038-472.aspx Would love to find out who the tannery is so I could bypass Tandy as I do like the leather for very light natural stuff.

It only comes in 0.8, 1, 1.2 and 1.4 for the smaller sizes you probably will have to stay with Tiger. Serabraid comes in lightly waxed, heavily waxed and water repellent. The heavily waxed is the closest to Tiger

I'd like to see a colour card, I've got the Australian one and that has 30 colours listed so I'd be interested in what the other ones are.

Yep I've used it as well for some things definitely has some nice colours, for anyone in Australia it can be bought from http://www.polymerclay.com.au/clon9mmtex400cord-c-37_605.html

Good find Nick if you had gone the other way of trying to find a bladder on it's own it would of been a lot more $ than that. I've tried all the indian places before and they deal with thousands at a time, I tried to get 500 at one time and they still wouldn't deal. I hadn't heard of medalist before so will give them a try so thanks for the heads up. Cheers, cem

Hi Nick, Yep you want the first one, the white ring will be canvas. If you find a supplier that can do about 50 at a time I'd be interested as I'm just about out of what I got from Trevor and my other supplier only does the valve sticking up type which are mostly for Australian footballs and in seam rugby balls. Cheers, cem

Bummer I was hoping it was the one with laces as they are easy to repair, I've only done a couple of balls without laces and they were soccer balls. At the moment I can tell you that by the valve type the bladder is glued in and those bladders are more difficult to find. Your best bet is probably to buy a cheap rugby ball and get the bladder out of that, it's only light glue so they can be pulled out. To glue it back into the Wallaby ball you will need something like shoe goo. If you are able to find a bladder on its own let me know what the valve housing looks like and I can tell you if it's the right one or not. If you buy a cheap size 5 rugby ball to get the bladder out, deflate the ball all the way and grab the seam opposite to the valve hole give the ball a shake so the bladder drops to the bottom then squeeze the seam together so you can see the stitching then with a scalpel blade or another small blade cut the stitching if it's machine stitched you will only need to do a few then it can be pulled apart if its hand sewn your likely to have to cut at least half the seam. Make sure you cut the seam furthest away from the valve hole otherwise you may nick the bladder. To open up the Wallaby ball do the same thing the bladder is already stuffed so you don't have to worry about nicking it if you only want to have to resew one seam again cut the seam furthest from the valve and as the leather is generally thicker than the synthetic balls you will definitely need a small blade to get to the stitching otherwise you risk slicing or nicking the leather. The older Wallaby rugby balls with laces were hand stitched but I haven't seen this one in person before so can't tell you if it will be case with this one it may come apart easy or it may not. To put the new bladder in check that there isn't a lot of glue residue around the valve hole after you have pulled the old one out, the panels are generally lined with canvas and if there is a bit of glue residue give it a light sand so the new bladder will stick in properly you may need to do this with the new bladder as well depending on how much glue residue is on that as it's likely to have canvas as well on the thicker rubber part that makes up the valve assembly. To glue it in you don't want it completely flat as it may not sit properly so slightly inflate it put some new glue on the canvas part of the bladder and stick it in lining it up with the valve hole I've found the easiest way to do this is to cut a couple of centre metres off the end of the inner part of a ball point pen put it slightly in the bladder valve opening and put through the leather valve hole otherwise the openings can go out of alignment which is a pain when it's time to inflate it. Make sure you let the glue fully set before you attempt to resew the seam and the bladder needs to be fully flat so let it down after the glue has set so that it's nowhere near the needles while you’re sewing. Now this is where it gets tricky I haven't resewn a rugby ball that doesn't have laces I know the last few stitches are kept loose and then pulled together one by one by pulling the stich in the middle with something like an awl but I don't know how the threads are tied off with a soccer ball there are a lot more seams the ball can be squished together easier and the ending threads are passed through an adjoining panel and I was only able to do it with Trevor’s help and I haven't done any since. So I'm sorry I can't help any further with that part there was a video on YouTube about Gilbert hand sewing rugby balls but it didn't show the full sequence but I would maybe contact Gilbert and see if they would be willing to help. If Gilbert won't I would take the ball to someone who makes handmade shoes as they might be able figure it as they would of likely come across more stitching types. I can say for certain though the last seam to be sewn is the one furthest from the valve. I'm sorry I can't go through the whole process but I hope this will at least give you an idea of what to do Cheers, cem

I've had that with one of my local suppliers some of their leather is from South America and it does the same thing ie looks dirtyish after trying to sun tan it or apply oil. From what I was told it has something to do with the type of tannin they use couldn't tell you what tannery it actually comes from though as my local supplier is only a agent. I swapped to Hermann Oak for anything natural as I much prefer the golden look of that after oiling or sun tanning.

Hi Nick, Yes sadly Trevor from sportsballuk has passed away, I bought quite a few bladders from him and he was always willing to help with any questions I had about a soccer ball as I rarely work on those. He was a very nice guy and I wanted to catch up with him if I ever got over to England so I'm kind of sad that I won't get to now. Anyhow I can help with your rugby ball just let me know what's wrong with it, if you can try and take photos of it I can get you on track quicker if you don't want to post them in the thread your welcome to PM me. A good start would be an overall shot of the ball, the laces if it has them, the air valve area so I know what type it has and a close up of the stitching. Cheers, cem

You can get natural undyed linen thread from Campbell Randall http://www.campbell-randall.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=43_60_62 I've used the Barbours Linen 6 cord and dyed it with normal leather dye but you should be able to dye it with the natural dyes you have made.

Thanks guys, it's definitely been getting a lot of use and I quite enjoy sewing now much easier than using that tiny pony thing.

That would be she, ha ha ha David contact Coats or Somac or buy the sample chart from Royalwood, sorry but your making my head hurt linen isn't measured this way heres a run down of how it works look at reply #5 http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=18299.0

Ok managed to find a battery for my digital calipers measurements in mm for the Royalwood linen are 3 ply = 0.53 4 ply = 0.68 7ply = 0.97 12ply = 1.3 The 3,7 and 12 is off the sample colour card they sell and the 4 is from some rolls I have and the colour card note though linen isn't always exact and there can be some minor variance along the thread it's not a lot though to be actually noticible to the eye though, this was both the case with the waxed Royalwood linen and the unwaxed Barbour no 6 linen I have. I haven't used the thinner Tiger threads I only use the 1mm & 1.2mm size and haven't had that problem so perhaps the coming apart only effects the thinner threads.

I agree with Monica you have some really nice work, I like carved stuff mostly but I really like your sheath it has a really nice clean look about it, well done.

I've tried it and it stretches a lot more than Tiger and I've been able to snap a few threads at a time when it separates by giving a swift tug to the thread when pulling the needles through ie it separates a lot easier than Tiger. To be honest I wouldn't trust it on products for large animals such as horses or even large dog breeds but for anything else though it would be fine. I still use it for decorative sewing at times and it does come in some nice colours.

Are you needing waxed on unwaxed linen if you don't mind waxed Royalwood has a good selection of colours and sizes http://www.royalwoodltd.com/ their 3 or 4 ply would probably suit what you want to do my digital caliper needs a new battery so I can't measure exactly for you at the moment. You can also get wholesale pricing if you spend over $100 and they have a size/colour chart available. I used it for awhile and liked it but the stuff I was mostly repairing used Tiger so that's why I swapped to that. Tiger doesn't have a twist it's flat,twist only refers to thread that has a ply if it's separating when you sew your piercing it when going through the sewing holes.