zuludog

not a patch on = not as good as chuffed = pleased to bits = very, or extremely "they were not a patch on mine; was chuffed to bits" = "they were not as good as mine so I was very pleased"

You could get a cheap (new or secondhand) hobby type or multi angle vice ( USA = vise) That will do for small projects like wallets, belts, & sheaths, while you think about a proper stitching horse/pony. You might have to move your chair round 90 degrees from the front of the bench. Accept that if you con't have the perfect answer, you might be a bit slower, and work within your limits. Pad the jaws with scrap leather Afterwards the vice will always come in useful for fixing awls, holding a strop, and generally as a third hand. You'll wonder how you managed without one

The stanley knife is as good as anything to start with, and stay with if it suits you & does the job. The blades are supposed to be disposeable, but they seem to get better if you re -sharpen them; probably because you reduce the shoulder of the bevel. In fact the key to a lot of leatherwork is being able to get very sharp tools, so you could add a fine sharpening stone - oil, water, diamond, whatever suits you. Make a strop from scrap wood & leather. I copied the picture and the approx dimensions from Tandy's catalogue. There is lots of information on this website and YouTube. For a sharpening compound you can use Autosol, valve grinding paste, jeweler's rouge, or specialist grinding/buffing compound sticks You will usually have to sharpen a new awl yourself If you have a 4 prong punch or chisel you can manage without the overstitch wheel. Flatten the stitching down with the mallet when you've finished Beeswax; shop around for a low price. Besides coating thread it is used for various odd jobs in leatherwork

The outside of the curve should be no problem, so I expect you need something for the inside edge You can get ceramic, and diamond sharpening rods. Surf the Net or go to http://www.eze-lap.com There are round edged sharpening stones intended for wood carver's gouges, called slip stones; again, go Surfing A cheaper version would be to make up your own round or half round sharpening stick by wrapping or glueing some wet & dry paper onto a piece of wood. Remember to lubricate it Similarly you could make your own suitably shaped or profiled strop Leodis Leather does a video on YouTube for sharpening edge bevellers. You could make something similar but with a larger radius to match your knife For cutting inside a bowl, spoon, or similar, woodcarvers use a curved knife, known variously as a hook knife, spoon knife, or crook knife. There are several videos on YouTube, you should be able to pick up some ideas there. Put 'how to sharpen a hook knife' into the search box

So, besides leatherwork you need knife repair. You could try Kabar or post your problem on the British Blades forum, along with a picture of the damaged blade. There are lots of skilled metalworkers and knife makers on there who may be able to advise you or do the work for you. Although it says British Blades, there are lots of members in the USA

Search on YouTube for 'leather handle knife' and 'knife sheath making'; there are loads of videos This website has forums covering all aspects of knifemaking, including leatherwork http://www.britishblades.com Also go to the articles page, then the menu towards the top left corner, and click on tutorials. There is one for a leather handled knife Go the Kabar website http://www.kabar.com On the home page click on 'learn more' At the bottom of that page there is an index or menu. Click on 'How Kabar knives are made' If you Surf on Google & YouTube for Kabar you'll probably find other useful references

For the past couple of days I've had a cold and haven't felt like doing much. I've been browsing on YouTube watching videos (what else?) and found those by Paul Sellers on woodworking. I don't do woodwork but I know several people on this forum do. I find them just relaxing to watch. Alright, I know I'm British and possibly a bit biased, but nevertheless it's simply a joy to watch an expert craftsman at work. There are a couple of sharpening videos that could be useful though. One on scissors, and one on chisels; the techniques could easily be used for leather knives. Just put 'paul sellers woodworking' into YouTube's search box

Forget leatherwork while you're camping. Enjoy yourself, and do it properly when you get back home. Go to the pub instead

I have a box containing a lifetime's collection of abrasive paper, but I go by feel, I didn't really know what grade I was using. Just turned some over to check, it's P120, but you could go a little bit finer though not down to P180. I finish with P280 sometimes because that's what I have, but usually I go straight to gum tragacanth. Sometimes I steal my daughter's nail boards; don't know what grade they are, but they're double sided fine & medium, and just about perfect! When doing the tangental cuts with a Stanley knife try holding it with the handle low down so the blade is at a shallower angle, a bit like a round knife. Lots of videos on using a round knife on YouTube, but the Stanley knife is fine unless you're desperate to spend more money

You can make rounded corners by holding down firmly on a washer, a coin, or similar, and making several tangental cuts. Tidy it up with sandpaper

Stanley knife blades are intended to be disposable, but for cutting leather they seem to work better when they've been resharpened a few times; probably because it smooths down the shoulder of the bevel. If you don't already have one, get a fine oil or water stone I see you've ordered jewelers rouge but not a strop, so perhaps you're making your own. They're easy enough to make from a couple of bits of scrap wood & leather

Seems reasonable. Could enlarge the holes with a round/scratch awl, then the holes would soon close up when you work it a bit

If you're pulling the inside of the leather to the surface when you sew, perhaps the thread's too thick and/or the holes are too small

I haven't used that particular groover, but here are a few suggestions The edges of your leather could be neater & smoother, and the corners properly rounded. Try a sharper knife or sandpaper. Besides the usual straight down cut, lay the knife blade almost flat on the edge of the leather and use it like a plane or a skiving knife If necessary do a bit of burnishing Gently sharpen the tiny blade of the groover on a strop. Polish up the inside of the blade with the tip of a cocktail stick & polishing compound. Or see if you can get a replacement blade For a groove that is only decorative, and not for stitching, try a creaser Reduce the starkness and contrast of a groove by painting in leather dye with a fine paintbrush; or dye the whole piece; or just polish it all over with ordinary shoe polish, including inside the groove, to mellow the line. Place your piece right on the edge of the bench when using the groover, so there is free space below the little arm/guide bar, which will allow you to lift the groover if necessary to get the correct cutting angle I've just had a look on YouTube; there is a video 'Sharpen a stitch groover and V gouge'. There are also loads of videos on sharpening edge bevellers, knives, and leather tools. Surf and Search away!

Your basic calculation is correct, but there is a catch in calculating the cost per piece 12 x 24 = 288 sq in, costing $37, so price per sq in is 37/288 = $0.13 7 x 9 = 63 sq in , so price per piece would appear to be 63 x $0.13 = $8.19 Then do a sketch, diagram or plan. Draw out a rectangle 12 x 24, and cut out some rectangles 7 x 9 from another piece of paper. Then try to fit them onto the larger piece. Although by a simple area calculation 288/63 = 4.5, in practice you can only get 3 pieces of 7 x 9 out of a 12 x 24 piece Thus the cost per finished piece of 7 x 9 = 37/3 = $12.33 If you're going to do a project requiring several different pieces, or want to make several similar items, make some paper patterns and shuffle them around on your bulk leather to make the best use and minimum wastage. As JLSleather and dirtclod have posted, the cost per finished piece will be cheaper if you start from a larger piece of leather, for two reasons:- The initial cost of the leather will be cheaper A larger area will allow you to manoeuvre the patterns more to reduce wastage Paper, staples, glue, card & Sellotape (Scotchtape in USA?) are cheap and easy to play with. Make all the patterns, mistakes, templates, trial & error you need before you actually cut leather. If you use plain paper be sure to mark the inside/outside, or you may end up with a piece that is reversed, or mirror image; you'll probably find out the hard way what that means.

Search on Google and YouTube for 'making a knife sheath' and 'round knife sheath', there are lots of references and illustrations. You can use the sheath making techniques, but the sheath for a round knife is usually more like a simple blade cover, you may well be able to manage without a strap. Just a front and a back, with about 1/2" border for the stitching & welt

Tugadude has it about right. If you can afford a professional job - $ 100+? - all well and good. If not adjust/cut/modify/fettle the one you have so that it suits you, and get used to it.

Leave it another week or so and the Greeks will be so desperate for foreign currency, especially US Dollars,they'll make you anything you want!

You could do what I did before I got a skiving knife Lay the belt close up to the edge of your bench, across in front of you. Might be easier if you raise it slightly, say on a 1/2" strip of wood Get a cheap snap blade knife and extend the blade fully Slowly but firmly work /cut the blade into the leather, using an in-out motion, forwards & downwards. This means you would be cutting across in front of you; if you are right handed that would probably be from left to right. Hold the bulk of the strap on the left with your left hand and pull it taught. Fix down the extreme right end of the leather with a drawing pin/thumb tack to prevent it sliding around Alternately treat yourself to a round knife, and learn how to sharpen it.

Hope you don't mind a couple of comments. When you sew the folded over part of the strap end:-- Just make two lines of stitches down the edges. Don't sew across the width of the strap or you will weaken it, rather like the perforations on a block of postage stamps Gradually skive down the end of the strap to virtually nothing, then it will not rub or catch against the dog's neck.

Bother! I think I was right in the first place For attaching a buckle to the end of a belt, strap, or dog collar you need to pass the end through the buckle, and fold it back on itself to sew or rivet. There must be a long slot or hole in the leather to accommodate the prong. This long hole punch is called a slot punch, crew punch, or oblong punch. Such tools are Tandy 3120 - 01, -03, -04 or Leathercraft Tools 50105, 50106, 50107, 50108 You can also make the slot by joining up two round holes as I have described To make the line of adjusting holes at the other end of the belt you need oval punches, such as Tandy oval punch set 3005 - 00 Leathercraft Tools oval hole punch 50079 - 01, -02 Leathercraft Tools belt hole punch C8267, C8268, C8269

I've known those punches as slot punches You could use trial and error on some scrap, and then on one or two collars first. Make a couple of holes with a, say, 3mm round punch for the ends of the slot, then join them up with a couple of straight cuts I've also heard of flattening the end of a piece of pipe then sharpening the end. Depends on how much you want to mess about Oops, sorry, I got confused I've just re-read your post and had another look at the website link. I thought you meant to attatch the buckle to an end, not to put the prong through Just forget me, and carry on!

What a wonderful find! Half of me says you shouldn't be using that, it belongs in a museum, and the other half says it's a nice traditional tool, and you should carry on using it. On the whole though, I'm inclined to say blow the sentimentality, you must get a lot of satisfaction from using it

You could make a knife with a stacked leather handle, though unless you're keen on knife making you might think it's more trouble than it's worth Put 'stacked leather knife handle' into YouTube British Blades has a tutorial. Towards the top lhs of the homepage there is an index box or menu, click on 'tutorials' http://www.britishblades.com Applique decoration? Zipper pulls?

The bulging is caused by the awl, and then the thread, pushing out the narrow strip of leather on the outside of the stitches; rather like a wedge is hammered into the end of an axe or hammer haft to keep the head on. It doesn't look excessive or unpleasant to me; I would leave it, and after a few weeks of use the normal stretching and working of the leather will probably encourage the bulge to diminish. Would do no harm to set your line of stitching a bit further in from the edge. A good rule of thumb is to make the distance from the edge the same as the thickness of the leather. Obviously enough that would be 3mm in for 3mm thick leather, and so on. You could try setting the piece on it's edge in a padded vice jaw or stitching pony and tapping the edge with a piece of wood, or a mallet