billybopp

If you're up for a drive, Wickett and Craig is not TOO far from Pitt! The tannery sells directly to the public, although I don't know about on-site sales. Give them a call, though! https://wickett-craig.com/ - Bill

*raises hand* ... I attribute it to a terrible disease known as C.R.S. .... Can't Remember .... Stuff. - Bill

They say that as we get older, memory is the second thing to go. I'd tell you what the first thing is, but I can't remember. - Bill

What's at the very end of the handle? It was cut off in the photo. Just a guess, but it may disassemble from that end. - Bill

Ah hah! A Creative Awl pattern. They most always have a video of their patterns being assembled, so I took a look and there's a lengthy for this. If you look at about 57:15 or so they show the dye and paint used for the one they show. I don't usually watch videos this long, but I'll often jump ahead to see if there's anything that catches my eye.

If it's lost, it's safe. Even from you. - Bill

Most acrylic paint lines have additives and/or topcoats to give a more matt finish (along with a bunch of other properties too). You also might want to blend to black with red to get a darker red that's more like blood, and also to vary the color some. It would be darker in places where it's starting to dry than in places where it's fresh. - Bill PS - be sure to show us what you come up with when you finish it. This sounds really cool.

Rodents HATE the smell of peppermint as well - they make a peppermint oil-based rodent repellent that you can buy, even .... Sometimes it's the simple things! - Bill

I ran across something the other day about Canada severely restricting VOCs coming beginning of next year. I don't know if that applies to dyes, but maybe they're getting ahead of the laws and getting rid of stock? - Bill

Search the site for Brogue - There have been a number of folks that have made wallets and other things. Broguing punches are available now, but they weren't always readily available so folks used two sizes of hole punches and manually laid them out for some of those older things! It's a great look! - Bill

Every time I think I've made all possible errors over the years, I find a new one! - Bill

Somewhere on here is a good tutorial on that type of binding from several years ago. Here's one of them, although not the one I was thinking of. It's a variation of a French Rolled Edge binding. -Bill

Passenger trains are great here on the east coast! If you take into account the time to get to/from airports and through security they are usually faster than flying. If you get unlucky with traffic, they're faster than driving and you don't have to pay to park wherever you're going. You can kick back and read or watch stuff on your phone or tablet. I used to live in the Philly burbs in NJ where I drove to the train station and rode in to work every day. It was about a 30 minute ride where, again, I could kick back and read. I occasionally drove to work when I had something to do after work. I had to leave home about 1/2 hour earlier to avoid sitting in traffic, and still had to pay a toll to cross the river. Public transit trains are awesome. I've also done some long distance train rides, but that was in the '70s when I was a kid, to visit grandparents for summer vacation. I even got to ride the infamous Turbo Train. - Bill

Look on Amazon/ebay for infrared heaters elements with lightbulb bases. They're a good substitute for incandescent bulbs and more efficient to boot. Something like: https://www.amazon.com/Wuhostam-Infrared-Ceramic-Reptile-Aquarium/dp/B07MXD4SMW/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=1YT1EHT305WLK&keywords=heat+element+bulb+base&qid=1689683294&sprefix=heat+element+bulb+base%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-3-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 - Bill

Speaking of Ikea ....

LOL. Nothing wrong with that! If it suits the application, go for it! - Bill

The 82 year old Big Boy 4014 did one better a week or so ago, while hauling a dozen or so cars of its own. A very long, very heavy freight train stalled after stopping on an uphill grade. It was holding up 4014, so they pulled it up behind and gave a push to get the freight train started!

The Osborne dividers are expensive, but they are by far the nicest I've ever used! - Bill

It really depends for me. Sides are usually cheaper by the square foot - but if that side is going to sit around unused for a long time, it's much less economical. If I buy a leather that type and weight that I use often, a side is the way to go. If it's something I do not use so often, smaller amounts make more economical sense. - Bill

I thought it was a trebuchet at first too but curiosity got the better of me, so I paused the video and took a closer look! LOL! - Bill

I came across this video yesterday, and found it interesting. This whole series by Adam Savage visiting behind the scenes at the armor department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC has been great, but this one has a fair amount of leather work included. The metal work is pretty amazing too - I noticed on the really fancy gauntlet that the background work is almost exactly like bar grounding that we use in leather, and makes me wonder if leather work adopted it from metal work? There is also an interesting discussion on some of the preservation problems with mixed materials. Also of note is the desktop catapult behind the curator! - Bill

It's surprising what can happen at times when you just have a nice talk with folks!! - Bill

I'm pretty sure the stitching is either to hold a foldback on the leather, or purely decorative. I made something similar a few years ago for my sister-in-law as a Christmas present. I used brass escutcheon pins to secure the leather to the wood. I don't have much wood working gear, and I would have chosen a different type of wood if I had known just how hard purple heart is! LOL - Bill

Getting those two crossed up in the wrong situation could be a REALLY big problem!! LOL - BIll

They do. But I think I remember reading on here that it's hell on sewing machines - particularly tensioning parts. I doubt that one or two jackets would do any noticeable damage, tho. - Bill