Davi

Hey guys, wondering if anyone can help me with the batch of vinegaroon I'm attempting to make. Its my first batch and it's a bit of an experiment. I managed to get a big bottle of non brewed condiment cheap and 2 full packs of wilkinson down brand wire wool. I combined them and placed a brewing bung / airlock in the top and placed outside. Qfter about 2 weeks there has been some reaction as a test piece of letter went a medium grey colour but there is a lot of wool left and the liquid is still pretty clear. Do you think the cold temperature outside has slowed it down or is the NBC just never going to work for this? I've brought it inside to see if that helps and will give it another month but if the consensus is that this won't work, I'll start assembling the ingridienta for another batch.

Thanks for all the comments guys, I really appreciate the tips. In the new year I need to make myself another 3 belts, 1 for my dad then 2 or 3 requests Ive had. By the time Ive done those Im hoping my stitching should be a lot more refined. My next lot of stitching chisels arrived today. 4mm spacing to see how that looks. I wanted to order from teh same place as I did last time, The seller that Nigel Armitage ordered hsi from but they dont seem to stock them any longer apart from a few remaining ones. I ordered what I thought was the same make from an Australian seller but theyre much poorer quality and definately need a damn good polishing. Hopefully theyll work well enough though Im also going to order some Tiger thread soon. The linen thread was fraying after a few holes due to them being smaller than when Ive used an awl. Because of that I had to do 4/5 shorter runs instead of just 1/2.

Thanks bikermutt. Can they be tapped down now that they've had a coat of resolene on them?

for the stitching I used the pro-line 3mm spaced chisels, le prevo 18/3 linen thread and 004 needles. The colouring / finish is pro oil dye, then neatsfoot compound, topped with resolene and then carnuaba on top.

Just completed a new belt for my girlfriends dads christmas present. I definately made a couple little mistakes whilst making it but I can see an improvement over my first belts. Most obvious mistake was that I picked up teh wrong drive punch for the centre belt tounge hole. Id also of liked it if I could of got a more even coat of the brown dye. Its the first time ive used stitching chisels and they definately improved the look of my stitching but I dont have quite as much of a slant as Id like to have. Going to have to re-watch Nigel Armitages' videos on using the chisels. Please excuse the photos, Im a terrible photographer. Next year Im going to get a friend whos hobby is photography to start taking all my photos.

First problem with that is that I dont have a lathe.

zhaohan some more details would be great. Pictures, makes and prices would be a great start

Thanks again guys. I think I'm going to go with Jeremiah Watt / Horseshow Brand. I emailed yesterday to find out what international shipping would be and I actually got a reply from Jeremiah today with teh price and a recommendation to check out "Logis de Cord". They are a distributor for weaver and he believes they may have some HSB tools so worth looking into

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input on this. I'll look into your new suggestions and I'll cut the crap from my list. HSB does make some beautiful tools and I loved the review Nigel Armitage did for the edge beveller so I'm going to have a good look into those.

I'm looking for some advice on what strap end punches to buy. I'm not looking to buy the most expensive money can buy but I do want a reasonable quality. I figure if I get 10 years out of it, at that point I can buy the most expensive one to replace it. At the same time I don't want to go for the cheapest if a little more money gets me a lot more quality. These are the ones I'm considering: http://www.leathercrafttools.com/shouhin.jsp?id=3804 http://goodsjapan.com/leathercraft-belt--strap-end-punch-for-leather-english-point-16-40mm-468-p.asp http://www.handtools-uk.com/c603-strap-end-punches-uk-point (leaning towards these and can get them from abbey England) http://www.ranch2arena.com/englishpoint.html (a close second to the osbornes) http://www.theidentitystore.co.uk/productdetails.asp?ID=201&subcatID=21 http://www.bowstock.co.uk/acatalog/Pointed_chisels.html I like the fact that 'Osbornes' and 'Horseshoe Brand' have a nice wide range of sizes so I can build them up over time maintaining the same brand. Other suggestions are welcome too. As I'm in England anyone suggested would need to be willing to ship to the uk. I understand that delivery and customs is going to be a pita but I'll suck it up if I have to.

Wing divider arrived today but I'll bear in mind varying the amount of pressure with the groover. Yeah I've watched pretty much all of Nigels videos a couple of times. Fantastic teacher and I'm thinking of booking a days lesson with him next year to help me further improve but the problem is nearly all of my keepers I've used are metal ones. Actually nearly every belt Ive made I have used a metal keeper but I'm probably only going to do that on 'biker' style belts from now on. The 'biker' style belts I'll probably use rivets, press studs and chicago screws so that should work out fine. The 'dress' belts I could make leather keepers and stitch those in. I don't groove the back but the stitching does seem to sink in after a while. The belt I'm wearing now is the first one I ever made, been wearing in nearly every day for about 6 years and the stitching on the back has kind of sunk in. I'm going to have to give that a go. The only time I've ever dyed first was when I wanted a black belt with red stitching and I don't remember it being too hard to see my awl'd holes. I'll try moving it a bit further away. When I first started the straps I was buying were a little shorter and my waist was a bit bigger (not that its that much smaller now lol) so I had to try and maximize the length and Ive always used the same template I made for that first belt. The reason I started leather working was because it was hard to find belts I liked in large sizes. I appreciate all the help guys.

Agreed on it not looking very good. The one I'm currently working on Ive managed to stop the groove before the bend and start again afterwards. When my wing divider arrives Im going to try using that instead of a groover. Glad to hear it doesn't affect longevity of the stitching too badly not to sink it, Ill be switching to ritza 25 in the future which should help as well

If I do that won't I only end up with about 2-3 stitches between buckle and keeper and nothing to keep the 'flap' held down solidly? I did use an overstitch wheel on the front to mark the stitches but I found it really hard to keep it straight when going through the second piece, the back, which makes the stitching look awful Thanks for the tip, that sounds like a pretty good way of doing it. I am planning on getting strap end punches eventually but the templates i want to make should help me get everything even and central. Cheers venator

Hi guys I'm after some advice on ways to improve my belt making and was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on things I could try? One of the tricky bits is that I like to have the entire belt dyed. I really dislike it when only the surface is died so when you punch holes or look at the back of the belt its a different colour. Also I like to stitch the entire perimeter of the belt, to me that's what turns a functional strap into a belt. These make it hard as I end up dying the belt at the end so I can easier see my stitch marks and as I don't want the awl to cause any veg tan to show through. Its also hard trying to figure out what to stitch where so it all flows together with the perimeter stitching. I know I could use rivets to keep the buckle & keeper in place and this is fine on 'biker' style belts but for 'dress' belts I think stitching is the best option. This is my current order of steps: Cut tip end Measure Cut buckle end Chamfer edges Groove stitches Mark Stitches Wet form buckle end Awl buckle end Dye buckle end Oil + seal buckle end suede side Stitch buckle end Awl and stitch rest of belt Dye whole belt Oil whole belt Burnish belt Seal belt Buff belt I have a wing divider and stitching chisels on their way to me to try instead of grooving and using and overstitch wheel. I was also wondering if anyone had any templates for the buckle and tip ends? I have a friend who's going to help me draw up some cad images for these and get them laser cut so I can have some good reusable templates but some starting images for spacing ideas would be good. Eventually I want to build a collection of images/templates for all different combinations of English point, rounded, 5 holes, 7 holes, round holes, oval hole, buckle stitched, buckle riveted etc etc. I know the stitching isn't fantastic but here is the most recent one I finished and the one which has really prompted me to want to improve.

Don't know if this has been posted before, so just in case it hasn't. http://www.handtools-uk.com/c16-osborne-upholstery-tools