tonyc1

I like the real old Dixon punches as they have a nice long taper. The newer ones swell out too much just past the actual hole. I've always used a leather maul and have never had any mushrooming in 40 years. These old oval, round and crew punches were real old when I got them and they are still going well. I don't know why they can't produce punches as good today as they did 75 years ago as technology has improved! Tony.

About Boxing Day. I gave it to my daughter to post a couple of days earlier but she forgot, so I posted it myself. Tony.

Bree, I have a great tool in my workshop. It is a hand wringer off an old washing machine. I got this off the tip and it cost nothing. It has been great for bonding glued pieces together as it expels any air bubbles that may be present. Tony.

Going by what machine parts cost, I don't think it would be cheap! A friend of mine had one years ago for darning small tears in horse rugs and it was good for that. In the days of hessian bags it was used for patching up grain bags. This is what it was designed to do.. Tony.

I think the one you have is just for darning bags or horse rugs etc. You just move the material around yourself, no feed! Tony.

Has the manual arrived yet, Badger? Tony.

Bum or Backside is the polite way to describe a Gluteus Maximus, or, as quite often used in a less friendly manner, Arse! Tony.

No pictures, Roo. Tony.

No, stomping is too good for them. I like to see them froth and bubble. Tony.

Yes, sometimes my wife is like a possum going through a garbage can!! Tony.

That would be the farthest thing from my mind! There have been some excellent articles on here re. sharpening knives and stressing that they need to be sharp to do a good job. Using that type of stone just isn't one of them. I've been cutting leather and sharpening knives for 42 years and I wouldn't suggest to anyone to do it in a fashion I thought was incorrect. Practice doesn't make perfect, only perfect practice, makes perfect. You don't keep doing anything the wrong way because you'll always do it the wrong way. If there is a better way to do things you should try it, you can learn something new everyday, I know I do. Tony.

I like to have my knives sharp enough to cut whatever I'm cutting in one pass. I don't like hacking the leather in 2 or 3 passes, it can get a bit ragged looking when that happens. Tony.

I would never sharpen my knives with a stone used that in the first video, it's just too coarse, I'm sure the edge would be like a saw. Cutting edge needs to have finish as smooth as possible to eliminate as much drag as possible. I'd only use a stone like that on the woodheap axe. Tony.

Those Pelican gun and camera cases that we use would be good for that but they are damn expensive! They are almost indestructible. Tony.

Ed, what is a rolling office? Is it some type of suitcase? Tony.

Art, what does the term "moss backed" mean? Tony.

After reading many articles over the last few months I've reached the conclusion that it's a miracle that so many horses have covered so many miles during the last 2 thousand years without all these theories and modern fitting systems, how did they do it? Tony.

Why does a dying dog need a collar? (just joking) Tony.

Good job, Ian. Thanks. Tony.

Ian, what type and make of machine are you using for this type of work? Tony.

If anyone would like this pretty detailed info on mixing and using GT just email me at acrlik at bigpond dot com and I'll gladly email it to you. It is a Word document and quite small. Tony.

If it's going to be covered, just use a Biro!

Just about anything!

Is this very time consuming?

So, should we hold our breath,Ed?