Nuttish

The obvious but more expensive answer is to buy leather like latigo or bridle that has a pasted back that's more or less the same color as the grain. If you're dyeing, you could try dyeing the back and then waxing the shit out of it with Fiebing's Atom Wax and a iron (no steam) over several layers of paper grocery bags. Atom Wax is a suspension of carnauba wax. Do not use paraffin or beeswax. They won't work. Definitely don't try bowling alley wax. You could also try sealing it with Resolene or acrylic floor polish like Orange Glo 4 in 1. I have a sneaking suspicion that Resolene is actually repacked Orange Glo. You'll have to experiment.

Have you tried a surgeon's knot?

It depends the use and your preference. I would give Barry King Tools a call and ask them which edgers to get. I use 00 - 2 for handbags and accessories. Saddlers would use larger sizes. Etc.

Barry King's sharp curve edger will do this. http://www.barrykingtools.com/edgers.htm

What kind of block plane do you use? I can see a rabbeting plane working because the iron extends slightly past the edge of the body, but I can't see how a regular block plane works for this application.

There are only 5 stitches closing each end and there doesn't appear to be a way to open or close it. Are you sure it's not a bracelet or collar? I have a pretty stable weight, but only a few pounds either way would make that thing useless.

Resolene and acrylic paints are water-based. http://www.weaverleather.com/Documents/MSDS/Fiebings-Resolene.pdf

Those are jeans ring rivets.

You're looking for dies that fit in a chase. I think you'll have better luck looking for something like the Kingsley set for hot foil stamping and use it with an arbor press.

Wickett & Craig will split their 8 oz. tooling sides to 2/3 oz. They'll also cut the belly off and not charge you for it. You'll want to get the backs sanded and finished, which adds $1.50/sf, bringing the price up to $10/sf, or ~$210 a side. That's a lot of top end American made material split and finished exactly to your specs.

A small jeweler's anvil with a round horn

It's unfinished and you'll lose that distinctive matte finish and way the material ages if you put anything on it at all. The merit of unfinished pieces like that is that they will darken with use on their own and have a very personal character, like taking on crocked indigo from the back pocket of jeans or showing finger oil smudges from where they're regularly handled.

Natural dyes typically require a mordent and boil or simmer. Otherwise, you'll find that they're not color fast, light fast, or both. Have a look at https://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs/fms_dye.pdf for insight. Darker brown dyes are not as common as lighter yellows and tans, and a lot depends on how you mordent your material. Waxed tooling leather exposed to UV will darken on its own. See for yourself by putting a piece out in the sun.

No, but you can wax both sides if you wish. Carnauba waxed flesh is lovely.

That's a common swivel lever snap. Buckle Guy carries nice ones.

Riri are far superior quality to YKK. Look at Buckle Guy. Give then a call if you need help understanding the various parts and configurations of their zippers.

A natural water soluble gum like gum arabic or gum tragacanth. Make a paste, spread it on, let it dry, iron it with a thick press cloth if you wish, burnish with a glass slicker or large flat piece of bone. The backs of sides are loose disorganized fibers, but they're still different from tannage to tannage, so experiment with consistency and amount applied.

So you're saying that W&C doesn't sell English bridle?

The backs are sanded and pasted.

This is for prototyping for production. I don't want to punch hundreds of holes by hand. I'll eventually have dies made, but I'm looking for an interim solution that won't give me carpal tunnel syndrome.

I don't like how diamond shaped holes look when cross stitched to join edges. I've never seen round point lacing chisels, so I thought I'd ask.

You didn't offend me at all. I'm sometimes terse and it's not difficult to misinterpret tone on the internet. Sorry about that.

Royalwood sells waxed Irish linen in a variety of sizes and large number of colors.

Abbey of England sells top notch buckles in whatever quantity you wish and will pay to have shipped DHL from the UK. They also plate.

Give these a look http://www.molotow.com/products/marker-ink/empty-pump-marker-system/