zuludog

Just had another idea. Put 'sam browne belt' into Google; these were the favourites of British army officers. The shoulder strap was designed to take the weight of, initially, a sword, then a pistol.

You can get portable gas heaters by people like Calor Gas. They're good, I had one in my garage for years. Of course, that's something else for you to buy, but you'll need one in winter Just put 'portable gas heaters' into Google

I've just put 'english leather belts' into Google It produced several references and manufacturers, in the classic simple but good quality english style

I make model aeroplanes, the plastic kits. It's quite common to make a base or frame of wood and set the bottle of liquid glue into it, to prevent that sort of thing

Ah well, you see; I was in a similar position to yourself a few years ago. You don't need to know the details, but with the help of friends & family I have managed to pull myself into a reasonable state now. A thought occurred to me. Probably like most of the people on this forum I have, since being a boy, pottered and tinkered, hoarded and collected. My Dad was a carpenter and I used to play with tools, then help him as I got older. I've always made the plastic model aeroplane kits, and then maintained my own cars, and decorated and maintained my house. Somehow I fancied knife making and so came to leatherwork to make the sheaths. Thus I've always had a feel for making & mending things, and built up a collection of tools & materials. Several of them can be turned to leatherworking - it was just a natural progression However I can see that if you come to this (or any similar practical hobby) 'cold', or completely from scratch it would be difficult. The gist of my advice is to read around the subject, as we were told at school & college, and start simple. For car mechanics I started by checking oil & water levels and the condition of the spark plugs; gradually progressing to things like changing a gearbox and rebuilding an engine You could try making a strop, you'll need one soon anyway, All you need for that is a scrap of wood, a knife, and some glue & scruffy leather. There are enough instructions in books & the Net. For a polishing compound I use Autosol, the car chrome polish An even simpler strop is to fix a strip of fine wet & dry abrasive paper to some stiff card with a few dabs of glue; but use it lying flat on the bench - the strop that is, not you. Then do a key fob; or two; or more Your interests include drawing and music. You could aim towards making a leather case or wallet for pencils; a larger case or cover for the paper & drawings ( stiff composition board covered in upholstery or garment leather?) A guitar strap if that's what you play, or make something for your friends & fellow musicians. Have a bottle of wine and use your imagination! I think you're now at the stage where you just have to go and do it Best Wishes Zuludog

Thank you awl(!) for your advice. You have to draw the line somewhere so I'll stay with the plan I've outlined at the start of this thread However if I need an awl in the future I'll try Osborne.

snubbyfan; I've just re - read your post. Well your profile actually. You might like this website & forum http://www.britishblades.com

Well, I do have the fid that comes with the Tandy awl. I might try that but for the moment I'll see how I go on with the stitching awl & round awl; I haven't even placed an order yet

You could start with a camping lantern and a headtorch, but a small generator is probably the best choice. The torches would still come in handy. On a brief search I've found http://www.thepowersite.co.uk http://www.machinemart.co.uk http://www.screwfix.com I'm sure a more extensive search would find other suppliers You will, of course, have to have a serious think about the installation, wiring, lighting, and so on, and generally find someone who knows what's what. You will almost certainly have to have the generator outside when it's running, or at least have it exhausting to the outside Find out what they do for caravans What are you going to do in the winter? You can't produce decent work if you're cold.

Yes, TwinOaks, thanks for your advice Both the John James and the Bowstock blades have the correct flattened diamond cross section and the elongated blade shape. I will use those for stitching I already have a home made scratch awl, but I have read (on the vergez-blanchard website and in a leatherworking book) that a round awl can be used to open up the holes when you backstitch to finish a line of saddle stitching, so that it does not cut the thread. I would like to have a dedicated round awl for this

I have the awl with interchangeable blades that came with a Tandy starter kit, but I don't like it. The haft is too small, I can't get the chuck/collett tight enough so the blades twist & slip, and I haven't managed to get the blade very sharp, though perhaps that's my fault I've been looking at possible replacements Vergez-blanchard are expensive and don'y have a British supplier I've heard of Bob Douglas but haven't been able to find out much, and there doesn't seem to be a British supplier Osborne have a British supplier, but I don't like the look of their hafts, and I hear the quality is not as good as it was Bowstock offer a sharpened & polished blade ready mounted in a haft, and have a decent reputation John James has a good reputation What I have decided is - 1) To buy the ready mounted Bowstock awl 2) To buy one of each type of Bowstock's hafts (3 in total). They are cheap enough to try, without worrying much about the cost, and seem big enough to modify the shape a bit if I need to 3) I've sharpened and polished Tandy's round awl blade and it seems OK. Surely there can't be much wrong with a round blade? I'll mount it in one of Bowstock's empty hafts 4) JohnJames have a good reputation. I'll get one of their awl blades and mount it in another empty Bowstock haft. 5) Bowstock hafts don't seem too bad, but are obviously made to a price, and seem to be varnished. I'll fettle them up, and possibly sand off the varnish then treat the wood with linseed oil. http://www.bowstock.co.uk John James are under their parent company http://www.entacolimited.com That should keep me going for the forseeable future. If I feel sufficiently motivated I might have another go at the Tandy blade and mount it in the remaining Bowstock haft I realise Bowstock & John James are British companies, but nevertheless I would be interested to have any comments "to fettle" = an northern English dialect word with its origins in the iron & steel industry, meaning to repair, or to clean up and generally improve something.

I don't understand why you can't find information - there's loads of it available for next to nothing. Here's a book list Leatherwork - a Manual of techniques by Geoffrey West Leatherwork - a practical guide by Chris Taylor Leatherworking Handbook: a practical illustrated sourcebook of techniques by Valerie Michael Leatherwork Tools by Al Stohlman Complete Leatherwork by Katherine Pogson The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman I found these by - 1) Looking on Tandy's website and taking the list of titles I wanted to my library 2) Asking my library if they had any books on leathercraft or leatherwork. Ask yours, they might have other titles besides these 3) Searching Google for books on leather craft or leatherwork and taking a list to my library If your local library doesn't have the book in their district they can do an inter - library search of every library in Britain. There is a nominal fee for this, but you only pay it if they find the book I've just done a brief search of YouTube for leatherwork. There are about 10 pages each with about 20 videos Have you read every post, thread, reply, and blog on this forum? Or searched Google for similar websites & forums? Under the different categories there are pinned threads covering just about every aspect of leatherwork Note - Americans use 'pinned' for a permanent thread; in Britain we use 'sticky' http://www.britishblades.com is a forum for knifemaking; it has a section on sheaths & leatherwork. Yes, mostly sheaths, but they illustrate various techniques like stitching, wet forming, tooling, colouring, and there are some really outstanding examples of work. There are also other things like bags, belts, pouches, dog collars, and wallets. There are stickys on stitching, wet forming, carving a belt, and others As with this forum there are lots of examples to admire & inspire For tools, yes, there is Ebay, but there are local trading schemes as well, though I don't know much about them There are newspapers like Loot, and cards in newsagents and supermarkets. Don't just look & wait, put wanted ads in all of these - you don't get if you don't ask Visit the websites of leatherworking tool suppliers to see the sorts of things available, to get used to the jargon, and get a feel for the prices to help you assess secondhand items. Same sort of thing goes for the leather itself. Sometimes there are offers & sales I'm not that proficient with computer, but I know there is a lot of information available as downloads - perhaps someone would like to advise us? Tandy's website has a section on instructions, and Bowstock have some good tutorials on theirs On my travels around Cyberspace I saw someone who'd made a round/scratch awl by sharpening & polishing a nail and mounting it in a piece of broom handle Here's an example of Surfing The Net - I hadn't heard of vergez-blanchard till I got on this forum. They are French, and expensive. They don't have a British supplier, but their website has an English translation. On it I found some advice on using a round awl They offer a wooden edge creaser. I won't be buying one, but I might try making one sometime I think that's enough for the moment! Off you go and see what you can find! Zuludog

Aha Jazzman, we meet again! Tandy UK are reliable and have a reasonably fast turnround. They are efficient and businesslike; they take your order, and your money of course, and send the goods, but that's about it I asked them once if they had a bit of scrap leather to make a strop, and the reply was along the lines that the Northampton site was simply a warehouse, they didn't actually do any leatherwork there. On reflection, helping me to make my own strop would obviously affect the sale of their own item They charge p&p, but I haven't been able to find out how they calculate it. The Identity Store are agents for Tandy so sell everything that Tandy does, and also a business in their own right and have some of their own goods as well. I have found them more approachable and willing to give advice and help over the phone. I have started dealing with them instead of Tandy UK They have their own workshop so might be able to sell you smaller, and therefore cheaper, pieces of leather, and to advise you, as a beginner, on what to choose They also charge for p&p www.theidentitystore.co.uk You might also look at www.bostock.co.uk though I haven't had any dealings with them So you've decided to go ahead with leatherwork? Good . Remember that as with any hobby there will be times when you buy something you find out later you don't like or need, or or miss a good offer, only to find it cheaper a few days later. Such is life. Keep an eye out for old bags & belts, they will be useful for practicing or small items

Both the knife and the sheath are good. Have you tried this forum? http://www.britishblades.com

I've just been playing around with Google and came up with these www. leatherhidesuppliersusa leatherhideswholesaletexas texasleathergoods.com southtexassaddlery.com kellylarsonsales.com waterhouseleather.com rojeleather.com --- seems to deal with exotics leatherhidestore.com macphersonleather.com theleatherguy.org brettunsvillage.com theleathercollection.us Some of them are wholesale, but they might be willing or even glad to get rid of their small pieces & oddments. You don't get if you don't ask. Some of them sell tools as well I'm sure there will be more suppliers if you do a more extensive search; and there's always Tandy If you search for 'leather' you tend to get finished goods; for leather to work with, search for 'hide' Over to you!

Alright, Bigsmile, I couldn't resist that I'm sure if you asked for help under Resources, Suppliers, or Getting Started, then you would get several suggestions Do you have a saddlers or craft shop near you? Perhaps they will let you have some small pieces or point you in the right direction

Bigsmile If you can't find leather in Texas, God help you!

There are some American companies that specialise in purchasing goods in the USA on your behalf and then exporting them to your chosen destination. I've heard of a few people who have done that with backpacking gear. I think these two specialise in exporting to the UK, but perhaps if you contact them they will be able to suggest a company who can export to Australia www.reship.co.uk www.myusa.com This company advertises that it exports from USA to Australia www.priceusa.com.au You will have to read their websites & reviews and decide about them for yourself, but I know reship has been around for a few years

Not on leather, but I think this comment I heard years ago is relevant If you steal the ideas of one author, that's plagiarism; if you steal the ideas of several authors, that's bona fide research

I don't know anything about plough gauges, but here is their website www.vergez-blanchard.fr I have dealt with this contact recently, he speaks English sc.philippe@vergez-blanchard.fr

I have the awl with interchangeable blades that came with Tandy's starter kit, but I don't like it. The handle's too small for me, and I can't seem to get the collett tight enough, so the blades twist and slip I have been thinking for a while of making my own awls with fixed blades so thanks for the ideas and inspiration I'll stay with commercially manufactured blades, but make an effort to shape & sharpen them properly. That means I'll be re - using the blades that came with the awl It's more convenient to have one awl for each blade anyway Recently I went to the Walsall Leather Museum. They have a giant awl made years ago by a leather tools manufacturer as a sales promotion item. It's about 18'' long and the blade must be nearly a half inch in diameter!

I made my own based on the illustrations and dimensions in Tandy's catalogue and a leathercraft book, using various scraps of wood and other odds 'n'ends I had lying around For the hinge at the bottom I used an old door hinge, you could use a piece of thick leather To hold it together I just wrapped some elastic round the whole affair; not pretty, but it does the job Sorry, but my computing skills are even weaker than my leathercraft skills and I don't yet know how to post photographs I have made my own stitching pony, sharpening strop, burnisher/slicker and awl haft for a scratch awl You don't have to be a master carpenter. Just have a good look & think about something, and improve your skills as you go.

Looks like this is becoming an exchange of ideas for tools on a budget it helps if you're something of a scrounger and a hoarder. Keep your eye out for likely bits of wood, metal, and anything that's old, broken, and cheap I use an old dart head as a scriber & general prodder Years ago I took the glass oven door off an old cooker to use as a work board when making model planes. In leatherwork I use it as a base when skiving, and for laying out damp leather to flatten it, as some of the leather I use for practice or small items has been reclaimed from old bags or boots The door is useful for working with paint and glue as it just scrapes off the glass when it's dry Put a damp rag or old tea towel underneath to prevent it sliding around For an edge burnisher I used till recently a tip I was shown on a course:-- Clean up the sewn edges with a knife and abrasive paper, and coat with gum tragacanth. Cut a scrap of 2.5mm to 3mm leather into a square of 20mm to 30mm sides. Then just fold it over and hold it in place, and start burnishing! As you use it the inside of the fold will itself become polished, so use it over again. I have since made, ie carved, my own burnisher/slicker/creaser based on those I have seen on websites. For the wood, I used a broken axe haft

A starter project? Hmmm...... Look at it from another angle. Instead of naming a particular piece of work, how about 'something you want to do' Even if your skills are not up to it at the moment, regard it as something to aim at. It is possible to work and relax at the same time. OK, enough of the philosophy! You couldn't find much easier things to start with than a key fob, or a credit card wallet/holder, or a simple belt They can teach you pattern making, marking out ( sometimes called setting out), cutting, edge bevelling, stitching, skiving, edge finishing, dyeing, burnishing, tooling. You don't have to use all these techniques, and there are probably others that I've missed Have a look at the books I mentioned in my recent post in the Resources section, they all have projects in them How are your walking sticks? You could make some soft, thin leather palm protectors. Perhaps some of the other Members on these forums would be kind enough to give you their advice and suggestions

Definition of an engineer 2 + 2 = 3.99 or better