LumpenDoodle2

Just to say, I think leprovo may still be closed. Might be worth checking on the website.

I have to confess to owning a box of which the contents are of unknown material. Most of which have only saw a cow as the van the box was in whizzed by a field of heifers. Courtesy of a newbie (me) buying a box of “genuine leather scraps for small projects” (ebay).

Keeping busy is good.

I found the best awls, that suit me, come from Japan. I think the company is called GoodsJapan, and a member of this forum has reviewed them. Sorry, having a senior moment for names this morning. Need more coffee.....

And yet, given some of the lovely leatherwork we see on here, purchasers still want perfection, but without paying for it.

dis light is mine, all mine. My precious.....

I fear our priorities have changed too much. It’s the heart, not the purse that counts when making things (until the bills need paying).

Pssst.... Don’t tell anyone, but I have a Singer lamp. It came off a dead Singer 15 (with table,), so not heavy duty industrial, but looks nice. I’ve repainted it, but after my hubby passed away at the end of 2018, it got stuck into a storage box somewhere. I plan to dig it out, and convert it to led, hopefully this year.

I’m sure I saw an image of a page where the scribe was obviously bored, and doodled.

Those stools are like hens teeth nowadays, and cost more than the poo from a rocking horse.

I’ve wondered whether it was just that mistakes like that were more acceptable to whoever it was made for. There again, only god being perfect is so much nicer sounding than “begger me, I’ve mucked up, shush.......don’t tell the customer, they’ll think it’s meant”.

People are too used to buying cheap. All you can do is put your stuff out there, and push the quality. I say this as someone who regularly gets customers complaining I don’t charge enough for my stuff. Strangely, they alway add, “charge extra, but not for my stuff”. But I pay my bills, so not too bothered. And you are right, find your ‘niche’, and the rest follows.

You are so right, they very nearly destroyed the big clockface too, but the locals complained. The size of that factory was amazing, with every need catered for, from their own metal casting, to hand finishing the needles, to social clubs for the workers. I visited the Kilbowie Centre a number of years ago, and they really can’t see the potential of what they have there. You just need to watch the youtube vids to be deeply impressed. There again, I’m biased, my Kilbowie made Singer 29K is only 106 years old, and going strong.

They get everywhere.

Try a little bit of pva glue, it might hold it while keeping it flexible. Maybe a tiny bit modgepodge on top to help seal it. Just guessing from my limited experience of this type of leather, but I think that’s the approach I’d take first. These surfaces can be difficult to manage when working with them.

Unfortunately, no. I made it a few years ago, and I am awful at remembering to take pictures. In fact, most of the ones I have were sent to me by customers. Nothing worse than losing things that now have memories of folk attached to them, but as kids were never think that far ahead, do we.

I bought a load of conchos for a reasonable sum from a UK supplier, but I’d have to check where I bought them. You’re right though, anything fancy, and your bank balance can be heard squealing in protest. I was surprised at how healthy a ‘Western’ scene there is in Scotland. Although the fanciest I’ve made was a ‘Hopalong’ lookalike. So much metal, if the wearer passed a large magnet, he’d be stuck to it forever. Worth making, though.

Nicely done. Was it based on any specific rig, or just a general B movie style.

Love old books, and there is no such thing as perfection. at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

You will probably get away with putting a bit leather over the jaws to stop them marking the leather. Not only is it very nice, but looks very useful.

Lovely machines, lovely tables. Was that a 45 made in Kilbowie, Scotland machine there?

Did you change the tension on the bobbin for the other thread? I have a 29K15, but it’s been ages since I had to faff with it, so not much help here. Don’t worry, someone will be along soon with better help. cheers

They have quite a range of goat skins, so best to have a chat with them. I’ve made a few purses and wallets, but living so close to their warehouse, I just pop in and buy a carrier bag of scraps every blue moon or two. You can also sign up to their blog/magazine, called Skin Deep, and read the full back catalogue. Lots of handy info in there. I have some 1mm and thinner, goatskin scraps that are so soft to touch, but stiff enough for wallets, that you just want to keep touching them.

Very good article, and there is definitely the market for the skins. I sometimes nip into Hewitt (the bookbinder and material supplier based in Scotland), and the boss himself was telling me that they have their goatskins imported, because there just wasn’t anyone locally tanning them.