zuludog

I have the 4-in-1 awl from a Tandy starter set but I don't like it as I find the handle is too small and I can't seem to sharpen the blades very well, though perhaps that's my fault I have since purchased an awl with a fixed blade and a larger handle/haft, and that's much better. I also purchased a couple of spare hafts and thought I might have a go at fitting the Tandy blades into them ( one broad and one narrow leaf blade), and try again to sharpen them. Is it worth persevering, or should I just write them off as awl blades, and consign them to general prodding?

This company's website has some good tutorials on basic techniques, and also a conversion table for leather thickness measurements http://www.bowstock.co.uk An 'iron' is 1/48'' and is an obsolescent measurement used mainly in the British footwear industry 1" = 25,4 mm and 1 oz (per square foot) leather = 1/64" So you can see that as you convert between ounces, fractions of an inch, and millimetres there is scope for rounding up or down. That's why oz & mm equivalents are approximate and may vary slightly between different sources You could give more accurate equivalents, but that would require longer numbers, and would be cumbersome to use; those you see in books & tables are good enough To encourage your children I suggest that you get each of them their own set of tools, at least the basic stuff. That will encourage them to look after them, pride of ownership, enthusiasm, avoiding squabbles & arguments, that sort of thing. Then look out for their developing tastes & interests in the various aspects of leatherwork, and try to develop that; they don't have to be the same. Remember too, that their enthusiasm and interest may wane sometimes or stop altogether, and forcing things would set them even more against it, and their relationship with you. Is there a leather museum or something similar, or a large saddlers near you? A visit there could be good. Even though a saddler has a business to run they probably wouldn't mind a short visit if you phoned first and asked nicely.

Looks OK to me. 1/16th is OK but you might find after you've been using it that you want to grind back the bevel a bit more; ie make the angle of the cutting edge a bit more acute I assume you will be fitting a handle? A browse through catalogues and websites shows that there are quite a few different styles of skiving knife; if it works for you, that's all you need; just learn to use it Make a simple sheath or blade protector for it; both to protect the cutting edge from damage, and to prevent other things from the blade

Or when you've finished a knife sheath and realise it's left handed or a mirror image, or however you want to call it - I think you'll know what I mean

I made a sheath from 3mm undyed veg tanned leather, which had a similar colouring to yours, and treated it generously with Tandy's Prime Neatsfoot Oil. I was quite disappointed when it formed a few random bark blotches similar to the one you have illustrated. After a day or two it evened out to become much more muted - the pale areas with little oil became darker, and the dark oily patch became lighter and they sort of merged into each other. A couple of weeks later it had become an almost all - over dull yellow or mustard colour with just a bit of mellow shading In fact people have admired and requested that colouring as they say it is a nice change from the usual dark brown or black. It goes well with a pale wood handle, like hawthorn, beech or yew You could add even more oil so it's fairly well soaked and even, and see what happens. Or if you're a bit nervous, try on some scrap first. Soaking the sheath in oil and kneading it with the knife in place helps to form & fit them together.

You don't have to let them know what it's for! Tell them it's for a dog harness, or a pony & trap, or towing a sledge/pulk/ahkio or something (look them up). The design should have similar features. You say you're a complete novice, so get a book on leatherwork and practice first. It will also advise you on what tools & materials to get Hmmmm....... From key fobs to restraint sets in five easy stages?

I read somewhere that a champagne cork (yer actual cork, not plastic) makes a good support when using an awl, though I have yet to try it myself

Walsall? Why not go and ask the people at the Leather Museum that you would like to take up leathercraft? Or ask around friends & neighbours; there must be a few retired employees who would be glad to pass on their knowledge, and have someone to talk to; and possibly have a few old tools to spare. (Walsall was a major centre for the leather industry, though like much of British industry it has become run down. There are still specialist manufacturers in the area)

The pale shade of tan is known as London Tan If you Google for 'English Leather Belts' and 'English Leather Wallets' you will get several references so you can see the range of colours and styles available

I wonder if you are getting confused? Bridle leather is so called because it is used to make bridles, harnesses,and similar equipment for horses; as well as belts and heavy duty straps. To achieve the strength it needs to be thick, typically 3 to 5 mm, about 7 to 13 oz. I have not found any bridle leather thinner than 2,4 mm, about 6 oz. Or to put it another way, bridle leather is thick leather. It is frequently dyed in a distinctive shade of medium brown with a slight hint of orange or red ( I did say slight! ) that is called English Tan or British Tan - the colour of the wallets you have shown. In fact it is so common that you might think that any leather dyed in English Tan is called bridle leather. Not so; or to put it more clearly:- Bridle leather is 3 to 5 mm thick, but can be dyed any colour Leather of almost any type or thickness can be dyed English Tan, but that doesn't make it bridle leather Calf leather is thinner, so as you have suggested, suitable leather for making wallets would be good quality calf leather with a thickness of 1.2 mm/about 3 oz, dyed in the colour of your choice, which in this case appears to be English Tan. I am by no means an expert on leather & hides, so I would be happy to have any corrections or other opinions All I can suggest is that you Surf the Net for a supplier

Books that I have found useful are:- The Leatherworking Handbook by Valerie Michael Leatherwork - A Practical Guide by Chris Taylor The Art of sewing Leather by Al Stohlman It's good, but I think it's overpriced at about £15 from Tandy; see if you can get it cheaper on Amazon, ebay, or order it from your library In fact you could ask your library for books on leathercraft anyway anyway, they will probably have a few different ones Although they are not books, there is a lot of information on this forum, and YouTube

Just been Surfing the Net Similar style canvas coated Mulberry bags ( though not as nice in my opinion ) are going from £50 secondhand to £295 new. What's that? About 421 Euros or $472 ? Keep the bag unharmed !

HEY! BE CAREFUL! I must admit I hadn't heard of Mulberry before now, but I've just been searching the Net. Mulberry are described as 'Timeless British Luxury', and their leather bags retail for hundreds of pounds. This may be some kind of budget range, but even so, it won't be cheap. It's worth holding back on the slashing knife and finding out more. Even if it's counterfeit it looks so nice it's worth keeping it as it is and doing a bit of gentle cleaning/preservation/restoration - you can get buckles from many suppliers, or another secondhand bag or two

What you've done is neat and very good, but there are a couple of more things you could have done before you fitted it all up with the watch & buckle, and might still be able to do:- Treat the edges of your leather, e.g. with gum tragacanth, Edgecote and burnishing Treat all the leather with some sort of leather grease, hide cream or whatever. Any excess grease will soon wear off to give a softer & more mellow appearance

I'm a bit old fashioned - ever heard the word 'technophobe'? I haven't got a smartphone, and I wouldn't know how to use one if I had. So I wondered; do you think it's a good idea to have magnets so close to an electronic device?

I'm sure you'll get some good advice here. You could also try this website & forum; they have a section for leatherwork http://www.britishblades.com

I have made a strop, and for the polishing compound I'm using Autosol chrome polish, which I saw recommended in a leathercraft book After a while the Autosol dries out, and falls off when the strop is next used. Is this normal? Or should I add some leather oil to the dried Autosol to make a stickier paste?

Like yourself, I had done a lot of fabric sewing; repairing & modifying backpacking gear like tents, waterproofs & rucsacs. Then somehow I fancied knife making, and so needed to make the sheaths. I hadn't realised how involved it would be to sew and work with leather, but like many hobbies you can start simply, then increase your skill, experience - and expenditure! You will already be used to handling material and envisaging the finished article, and probably have a collection of tools that will help you start There are loads of videos on YouTube, just search for leatherwork; plus all the threads on this Forum, especially the 'pinned' ones. This company's website has some good tutorials on basic techniques http://www.bowstock.co.uk You will soon realise that some tools are especially for leatherwork so must be purchased, and that some can be made or improvised. I have made a strop, a round/scratch awl, an edge burnisher, and a sewing pony all based on illustrations from websites and this forum. Round or head knives are traditional, but also expensive, you probably already have a craft knife The 4-in1 awl sold mainly by Tandy looks tempting, but it's not very good. A read of these forums will give you better recommendations You could start with a key fob; or 2 or 3. Don't dismiss them, it can show you; pattern making, cutting out, skiving, sewing, burnishing & edge finishing, dyeing, tooling and carving, depending on how far you want to go. Something of a cliche, but get the simple, basic stuff right, then move on from there

If you steal the idea of one author, that's plagiarism; if you steal the ideas of several authors, that's bona fide research

You might like this website & forum http://www.britishblades.com

At the moment I'm making knife sheaths from 3 to 3.5mm (approx 8oz) leather. I have been using the synthetic thread that is supplied with a Tandy starter kit; the thickness is about right, but I would like to try linen Can anyone tell me the size of the Tandy thread, please? Or the equivalent in linen? or any other suggestions & comments? The Tandy thread is pre - waxed, but I would also like to try waxing my own. Again, any comments? Thanks

Use a stitch groover or a creaser or even a pencil line, on both sides, to mark the line of the seam. Then mark the stitching holes with a pricking iron or a rotary stitch marker/pounce wheel. The videos mentioned above are good, and there is also a pinned thread in this forum under 'Sewing Leather' entitled 'Hand Stitching Guide' Have a trawl round YouTube or get some leathercraft books from your library. A book that's often mentioned is The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman

When I'm sewing knife sheaths from 3 to 3.5 mm leather (about 8 oz) I use 5 X the length or run of the seam to be sewn. Don't forget you will need to do a bit of backstitching at each end So, try 5 X, see how you go, and build up your experience & knowledge. Compared with the time, effort, and cost of the leather and any other materials thread is cheap, so at least to start with, use a longer rather than shorter piece of thread.

I've just got a book on leather and other crafts from the library. Been Surfing the Net to look up some of the suppliers listed in the back pages, and found this one. They are a supplier of artist's materials, tools & accessories, with a huge range of products. One of their sections has a lot of nice leather wallets & cases for crayons, tools, sketch pads and so on; I thought this would provide some suitable inspiration http://www.cornelissen.com 'inspiration' - a polite term for 'something to copy'

I've just put 'leather suppliers uk' into google and found http://www.aacrack.co.uk http://www.leprevo.co.uk http://www.neumannleathers.com http://www.jwoodleathers.co.uk http://www.metropolitanleather.com http://www.stormleather.com There were others, but I have listed these as they advertise bright colours. I haven't bought anything from them, though I have spoken in the past to the Bury office of Neumann and they were pleasant enough and helpful. You'll just have to Surf and phone around