UKRay

Nice job, Adam. You should pick up plenty of new customers with that! The pricing page is important and I think you have captured what is required very well, however I'm not sure you need to give actual examples of pricing as, IMHO, people invariably want the lowest price quoted. How about saying something like: "Prices are negotiable but a mid range figure might be around $... " Good luck with the site. Ray

It sounds like what you are saying is that Twitter can be useful but you need to make it part of an overall marketing effort rather than expecting it to work as a stand-alone? I would agree with this and go further to say that unless you are adding stuff pretty regularly you won't see much benefit from Twitter because your info will be lost in the mass of postings that show up on the average person's twitter page. Imagine a prospect who is following 100 people - how will they find your posting amongst that lot? You have to work hard to make sure your information is somewhere near the top each time they look. Is there any way of automating Twitter posts? Ray

I completely agree that the modern drum tanning process does produce a softer leather, Mike, but I am using pit tanned (oak bark) leather from Collyton in Devon which is about as authentic as it gets - and I still can't crack the problem. Beeswax (even well soaked beeswax) almost works as long as the scabbard is kept cool although it is still very flexible but put it in the sun and it goes floppy again. I'm actually looking for a hard, rigid structure, not a flexible one. I'm not sure what you mean by a 'former the shape of the scabbard' as I'm reasonably confident the originals weren't made with a former. Can you explain a little more please? Ray

Many thanks for the address, Tina - I've been in touch with them. I had the same experiences as you with the cuir bouille, Doug. The scabbards have to be made from max. 2mm leather or they become too heavy, feel 'cloddish' and the original fittings don't fit. I have also tried forming wet leather round the blade and drying it with a hair-dryer (hardly a medieval / 17th - 18th century technique) but the quality of the leather was so good it hardly noticed and although it did stiffen slightly, it stayed flexible. I don't feel much like heating an historic blade to use it as a former- most of the swords I work with are inlaid with gold leaf and / or have an amazing patina that I couldn't possibly risk damaging. I agree it could work but the risk of damage is too great. I'm fairly confident this wasn't the original technique too. Oven baking is also an option on smaller pieces of leather but I don't have an oven big enough to 'cook' a 3ft tube of leather. I'm going to experiment with a wood fired clay oven made specially for this purpose later in the year and will keep you informed. Hot wax - yup, once again, my experiences match yours and I also feel that hot weather leads to scabbard droop... not a 'good look'. I just tried some through-dyed veg tan that was so hard to start with I had trouble getting it to form a tube and resorted to a cobbler's hammer to get it flat. After fighting the stuff to get the tunnel stitches in place the stuff became so soft that the wretched stitches pulled through... Now that really upset me! I think the half-tanned route may well be the way to go. It makes sense to use a leather that is already stiffened with a layer of rawhide. It ought to mould well and hopefully will be strong enough to keep its form over the entire length of the blade. I'm slightly concerned about how well the stitches will hold but the Skandi knife sheaths I have seen look tough enough so I'm probably worrying unnecessarily. Ray

Many thanks for this Spinner, I have made some enquiries and hopefully will see some half-tanned leather here pretty soon. I'm looking forward to experimenting! Ray

Sounds like a great deal to me, Kurly... Our Hilly is just kindness on a stick! Ray

First prize goes to the man in clogs. According to the man who sold it to me, it is indeed a Victorian glue spreader. I don't fancy connecting it up to a gas bottle and trying it, but it certainly looks as though it would work well. Nice one Mike! Ray

All very helpful. Many thanks guys. One more question about style - round or square. I have seen tubes and boxes and both look good to me. Is this simply a fashion thing? What do you prefer and why? Ray

I have just been asked to make a 'fork mounted' motorcycle tool bag but the guy doesn't really have a clue what he wants other than it has to be black... I've not made one before and I'm not sure what should go into the design to make it work properly and look good. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions please? Ray

There are a number of tool stores in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham who do mail order. Try: H S Walsh or Sutton Tools I have purchased from both and they provide an excellent service. Ray

Nice graphic, Andy. I hope you do really well. I'd like to hear from people who have had success selling through an Etsy site. I'm at the end of my tether with eBay. I have gone from being an enthusiast to a fierce opponent of their draconian regulations and high handed ways. Etsy looks a lot more approachable but does it work? Ray

So nobody knows... I'm amazed and delighted that I've beaten you all again! Ray

Lovely job, Al - you have managed to achieve the 'look and feel' of an original piece which is so hard to do. Did you make a set of patterns for the whole purse or did you adopt a 'cut as you go' methodology? Ray

We had some discussion on this subject a while back but I'm no nearer being able to recreate the 'hard' leather of a 17th century sword scabbard than I was before. I wonder if anyone has any ideas on this. Let me explain: I regularly have to re-make old sword scabbards for museums and collectors and although I can make a perfectly adequate 'display piece' replica from modern leather I am still not absolutely certain what sort of leather they were made from originally. An educated guess suggests 1.5 to 2mm thick veg tan / oak bark tan of some kind but was this a special tannage? Anyone got any thoughts on where authentic material might be obtained or where I might find anyone who may be doing the same job as me now? Next question: I'm at a loss to decide how to treat my leather to get the same level of rigidity the 'old guys' achieved. I have tried many types of leather and haven't found a solution to what I call 'scabbard droop' - any ideas? I liked Peter Ellis' acrylic floor polish idea for armour (in another thread) and wondered if that might work in this instance. Any thoughts? It isn't quite 'kosher' but hey, if it gets the job done I'm for it! Might they have painted the inside of the scabbard with some kind of sealer/shellac/something to give it rigidity? If so, how did they do it given the leather scabbard tube is usually 2ft long and only an inch or so in diameter... How did they get it to soak right through and create a hard shell? I have done all the warm/hot/boiling water through the tube stuff and not achieved much at all apart from some very soggy tubes of leather. Okay they dry stiff but this clumsy product isn't the same thing as the beautifully finished scabbards made in the 17th and 18th century. Where am I going wrong? I think it needs discussion and would welcome ideas and opinions from those who have made this kind of thing. Maybe you have the solution - I do hope so. Ray

Mick, I would venture to suggest that the leather Claytons suggested would have been perfect for your job. Claytons are experts in industrial leathers - in fact, they probably know more about heavy leather than any other tannery in the UK. What this looks like is leather that someone has bent and flexed as they worked on it. The trick is to keep the stuff flat if you don't want it wrinkled. IMHO almost any leather would wrinkle if it had been given the treatment you describe. You have deliberately pounded and broken down the fibres of the leather to make it 'softer' but that also makes the top grain softer too. Hence the wrinkled surface. Not what you want to hear but... Ray P.S. No, they won't take it back in 2" strips - would you? LOL

Greetings, Big Steve - you make nice looking stuff! Enjoy the forum. Ray

Hopefully the attached US/UK/European leather thickness and weight chart will help. Feel free to drop me a PM if you need any UK help, LittleLou. Ray Leather thickness - weight chart.doc Leather thickness - weight chart.doc

Just in case anyone is interested, I have just logged in to Needlebar.org for the first time in months and had no problems... This is an exceptional resource for old machine owners and Alan has always been very helpful when I have dealt with him. I'll gladly ask if there are any changes afoot if you like but it seems that nothing has changed. Ray

I reckon a gas jet fits here somewhere too... maybe its for burning the fur off a hairy guy's back? LOL Ray

Purchased in a job lot of Victorian leather working tools - one end looks like it might fit some kind of hose pipe... The other end looks like it might be a back scratcher - but what are those holes for? I have an idea but would love to hear what you guys think first! (Keep it clean, Luke! LOL) Ray

I don't have too many problems with bounce, but I tend to case my leather really well before I start stamping - I find this helps a lot. My real problem is lining the wretched things up. As they are so 'square ended' any discrepancy is a glaring error and look horrible. I have started using another stamp between sections to conceal the irregularities LOL Ray

The Dremel tool does seem to lend itself to burnishing. Getting inside curves is a hassle sometimes and I thought this tool looked like a great solution. Would it be possible to make a small canvas covered polishing drum to slick these hard to reach places? Something like the drum on the Weaver burnishing machine. I was also interested in other ways it might be used. I believe there is a drill stand for the thing that would make it more suitable for drilling nice clean holes in multiple thickness of leather. Has anyone used one of those? How did it work? The sanding potential for intricate work is amazing. I can imagine using it to clean up inside filigree work. Has anyone developed any other gadgets for their Dremel that are specific to leatherworking? Is there a better model than any other? Ray

I have heard a lot about Dremel tools (the new Dremel 4000 looks amazing) and it seems that a lot of people are now using them for their leatherwork but we don't seem to have had a thread about what they can be used for and how to get the best out of them (I could be wrong here!). I'm always keen to hear what other people do and how they solve problems; so how do you use your Dremel and what tips would you have for a newbie? Ray

You might want to try mixing your dye with neatsfoot oil. It makes it less 'dense' and less likely to give you a hard time. You may need to dip a couple of times to get the required colour but, IMHO, the finish is worth the effort. Ray

Don't you guys use a 'terms and conditions of business' document in the US? I thought they were internationally accepted. Ray