UKRay

I love it when a plan comes together...

Couldn't resist it, Hilly! LOL

Very interesting - but what is a paper wheel sharpening outfit? Have you got a picture or two please?

Welcome Merrik, it sounds like you have come to the right place. I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of your leatherwork! Ray.

Perhaps you would prefer some of these? http://www.airbedandbreakfast.com/obamaos

Well, this certainly puts my worthless, no good, piece of poop enquiry into perspective... Problem solved! Thanks Ed & Luke (hope you are feeling better now cousin?).

That is such a good tip, Tony. I'm off to file some flat sides on my awl handles tonight - especially useful as my bench slopes towards me. My silliest trick was pulling a strap (and my thumb) through a Jerry's Stripper with the blades set at 1/8" gaps - by the time I had extricated it and hopped all round the room clutching my fringed thumb there was blood everywhere. - According to herself, the language was quite spectacular. It took weeks to heal as I kept splitting the thing open again. Strangely I only got one bad scar on my thumb even though there were six or seven separate slices!

All I know is that they didn't bother to answer my email asking them for information about their products and if they had a UK supplier. I haven't been back to them since although I might, as on a second look their stuff seems like it could be useful.

Here is a bonfire link for those in North America. http://www.lewesbonfirecouncil.org.uk/soci...cial/index.html Protest is a big thing with Bonfire Societies - they like to protest about almost everything - nobody is safe! You would get on well in Lewes, Ferret, they burn effigies of politicians every year too. In fact, they burn effigies of anyone who upsets them and that is just about everyone. I believe they actually publicly burned an effigy of the local Catholic priest one year because he complained about the anti-Catholic sentiment they spread around the town.

Nice stuff Johann. Does anyone of a good book that covers this kind of work? I have just had a quick run through my bookshelf and don't have any reference at all.

Happy Birthday Barra - I do enjoy your forum contributions!

Bonfire night is one of the most exciting nights of the year if you live in the town of Lewes in Southern England. I know this for a fact because it was one of the reasons I moved away from Lewes and settled 200 miles away. Let me explain: Every year about a month before the 5th of November the Lewes fireworks start. Bangers so loud you have never heard the like... There were a number of firework 'factories' in town where the local Bonfire Societies prepared elaborate centrepieces for their bonfire celebrations. These celebrations are massive affairs involving literally thousands of people. The roads are closed and the town is completely cut off from the outside world. The celebrations are policed by the Bonfire Societies own private 'police forces' called Bonfire Boys. The real police keep a sensible distance. One year a woman police officer was using a tannoy to get the crowds to move along the pavements. The crowd objected and started to chant: 'Burn the witch, burn the witch' and moved toward her in a very threatening manner. Very sensibly she put the tannoy away and got back into the armoured police wagon as two Bonfire Boys moved in and sorted out the muddle quietly and without fuss. Nobody argued with the Bonfire Boys' right to be there... The Bonfire Societies are a powerful force in the town and have a finger in all the town's business. they were set up so long ago that nobody really remembers but it is thought to have been in the sixteenth century. One of the traditions they have is to race with rolling, burning tar barrels through the middle of the town and down the high street to Cliffe Bridge where the barrels are dumped in the river. Fires are lit in the streets and the population is pretty well in a state of anarchy. Back to the fireworks for a moment. I lived on top of a hill and the monster firworks, fired from the town, would go up into the air until they were on a level with my house and then explode. Having spent time in Israel, Belfast and numerous trouble spots around the world as a journalist, I can tell you that for sheer noise and shock factor Bonfire Night in Lewes has them all beaten. Admittedly, deaths, buildings blown apart and shattering windows weren't a regular event but it happened occasionally along with burning debris falling from the sky and gangs of youths racing around throwning fireworks at anyone foolish enough to walk the streets. I ought to mention the anti-Catholic sentiment attached to Bonfire in Lewes. An effigy of the Pope is paraded through the streets each year and then ceremonially burned to comemorate the fate of the Protestant martyrs put to death at the stake by Mary Tudor's Catholics. Memories are long in Lewes. One society refuses to parade past the Catholic church and carries anti-Catholic banners that say No Popery. Hard to believe in the 21st century but England is a funny old place and not much changes under the surface... Okay, the event is definitely spectacular. the sky is alight with the most amazing displays you could ever imagine for hours at a time but, after many years the attraction definitely wears off. I have now moved to a town with a 10pm firework curfew - Bliss! www.bonfirenight.net/ www.lewesbonfirecouncil.org.uk www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=83559 Find pictures here: www.needananswer.co.uk/lewes-fireworks-2005.html

Y'know that puzzled me too - I have just been watching the news and the lines of people are the longest I have ever seen. I'm not sure voters would stand it over here - they'd all go home for a cup of tea and a moan! You are quite right about the pencils and paper, CL, like it or not we British are very good at being low tech. LOL

I like your stuff, Eryk. Welcome!

I'm not sure that Steampunk is particularly creepy, Hilly - just a bit challenging I guess. Most people simply don't feel comfortable dressing up in outlandish gear even if they like making it. I know several Steampunk enthusiasts (Steampunkers?) and they are all such fun. One or two may take themselves a bit too seriously but then that is the same wherever you go. Essentially, I just love the stuff they make and wear for amusement - I have the distinct impression that Steampunks may be laughing quietly at the rest of humanity...

LOL!!!

I had never given a thought to this before, Dave - but the key point is surely that the goat skins the guy is using are from imported from Africa where tanning methods may be a little less stringent than they are elsewhere. By the sound of things the skins harbour anthrax 'spores', possibly in the hair. My feelings are that western tanning techniques would almost certainly wash away most of the nasties and kill the rest with chemicals but I'd like to know more...

Is that 'different = good' or 'different = bad' Tony? - And why? Thanks for the pointer Roo - I'd missed that one. Bob Basset make/s some wonderful stuff. Loved the movie Kate, but, as you said, very dark... definitely not something to watch if you are feeling low... Has anyone heard any Steampunk music? I kinda like some of it but the jury is still out...

Ours works just like yours... but we did it last week!

Leatheroo's superb Steampunk mask and that amazing hat a few weeks back inspired me to hunt the internet for other examples of Steampunk art and I couldn't resist showing you all this: http://uk.gizmodo.com/2008/05/28/steampunk...i.html#comments There is another crazy mask at this site - but you have to scroll for it... http://steampunkworkshop.com/taxonomy/term/32?page=2 For a Steampunk laptop that starts with a key check this out: http://plutonica.net/2008/03/30/steampunk-...hian-keyboards/ Okay, it isn't everyone's thing, but I really do enjoy clever, inventive use of materials. Steampunk is essentially a DIY culture. In other words people actually make this amazing stuff and don't simply go out and buy it in a store and that gives it the same sort of value we place on our own work. Like it or not, Steampunk is an exciting art form and one that is getting more and more recognition. It is of particular interest to the forum because, in addition to brass and woodwork, Steampunk enthusiasts do produce some superb leatherwork. Has anyone else found anything exciting?

Hey Jordan, maybe you should develop a whole new line of auto-recovery leathergoods? A product for every kind of misadventure... 101 uses for a leather strap... LOL

Now that is exactly what I need. The price is really good too - less than £20 quid. It is a lot cheaper than buying a new motor! Thanks Terry.

After a lot of telephone calls around the world I finally found a motor with a 1/2 inch drive shaft - under my bench... I had forgotten about my old silver polishing machine. I unscrewed the mop spirals and found a perfectly sized shaft underneath. I was delighted until I saw that the motor speed is 3000 RPM. Does anyone know of a way to slow a motor down? Remember that the pulley wheel I am going to be using is the one supplied with the Weaver edger so I can't gear it down that way - I wondered if there was an electrical device like a dimmer switch that would squirt an adjustable amount of electricity into the motor - okay, I'm clutching at straws but does anyone have a better idea?

Absolutely lovely, she will be so pleased - but i'm keen to know how do they do up? Do you fix strings or elastic or something? They look too fine and delicate to support anything too thick or strong...

I'm not sure you actually have a huge problem here as long as you have used a good quality contact adhesive like Barge and the leather you have used is sufficiently roughed up so the glue can get a good grip. The reason I say this is because there is little reason for the two pieces to come apart after construction. The skived join is on the underside - against the wrist - where it won't be subject to any 'snagging' or abuse. I honestly can't see any other reason for the two parts to come asunder as there is very little pull or pressure on a watch strap if it is done up properly and is not constantly under tension. The only stress is along the line of the strap (from end to end) and I believe, from a technical point of view, that this provides the strongest 'physical bond' - although I'm happy to be corrected if anyone knows different. I would be a tad concerned if there was a possibility that the skive could be peeled apart but the very nature of a watch strap suggests otherwise. If you are very concerned then you could try skiving a 'stepped joint' and improving the physical properties of the join but this is a huge amount of work and, IMHO I don't believe the job warrants it. Your watch strap looks superb and the standard of finish appears to be excellent. I really wouldn't do any more.