dikman

Second photo, towards the bottom at the join-stitch line, it looks like a cloth-weave pattern? So could be vinyl?

Adds a new dimension to "accessorising". I love it.

Surgical tubing?

Nice, you'd never know it had a pistol inside.

I agree, it looks classy. Great bit of recycling.

That is very neat, great idea.

The obvious thing, as you mentioned, is not burnishing the edges, but other than that I reckon it looks bloody good!

It's pretty easy to make a carbon steel blade hard, just quench it and don't temper it. In general, very hard blades are not practical as while they will hold an edge for a long time the difficulty in putting that edge back once it's blunt can be a problem for many people. One reason butcher's liked Victorinox butcher knives, plain carbon steel that was easy for them to keep sharp. Same with chefs. It would be an interesting experiment to try tempering one of those W Rose knives, or re-heat, quench and temper to see what effect it has. Not going to happen, of course, as anyone who has one is unlikely to want to try it.

Presumably a result of "the Troubles" I think it was called? Do you know anyone in the rest of Ireland that could get them for you and then just pick them up?

Ahh, yes, now you mention it all of my cutter blades like that have locating notches, not holes so wouldn't fit.

Knives that are that hard often tend to be brittle as well (there is always a trade-off somewhere) and can chip easily if dropped onto a hard surface. I wonder what the Rockwell hardness of the blade is? Any ideas, Bruce?

Interesting cutter, never seen one before. I don't see why it shouldn't work.

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to cobble something together. I'm with Don, a mechanical lever-operated linkage is the way to go, simple (hopefully) and should give maximum power transfer. Cable can sometimes have a bit of "give" when heavy force is applied.

If only the edge has been overheated then yes, you could possibly take it back to better metal BUT it would require careful grinding, so as not to overheat it further, and it could require quite a bit of metal removal. In your case it sounds like some work on an oilstone/water stone should be all it needs.

Sounds like a leatherworker's Aladdin's Cave! You'll have lots of us drooling.

Like you, not enough bench space, plus too many things already on the walls, so I bought one of those mobile tool chest trolley things they use in auto shops. Lots of drawers, including a deep one that holds all my punches and stamps mounted in blocks. The drawers have ball-bearing slides and soft liners, I got it on special and it was surprisingly cheap for what it is. The biggest problem is remembering which tool is in which drawer.

Great job! That is a lot of hand-stitching!!

Is the needle synchroniser working ok? Some servo/synchronisers don't work when using a speed reducer.

I'll be surprised if a domestic machine will handle that (although some of the old Singer cast iron ones might). The Jaguar is listed as a lightweight machine and the so-called "walking feet" that domestic machines use is a far cry from a proper walking foot. I reckon it will struggle with more than a couple of layers.

Nice tooling, the bee looks very good.

The last one is obviously a lot more work but looks very classy. The second one looks cheap and nasty (stamping is ok, but the wire.....not so much).

The price of the belts made my jaw drop! $175 for a plain belt, no stitching/decoration, raw edges simple buckle - and that's $US!!!

Well, that's different. If you're a shooter perhaps you could use a brass cartridge case (dummy round) for the peg?

Mastering a swivel knife and making smooth flowing cuts aint easy!!!!! My first effort was a holster for myself (it's posted in the holster section somewhere). People on here were very nice about it but there are many faults/issues with it, not surprising as other than trying a couple of little things to get a feel for it I just jumped straight in (which is what I do). HOWEVER, everyone I've shown it to has been gobsmacked by it (), though this is probably because very few have seen carved leatherwork, and I've yet to see anyone here with carved holsters, they're either plain or have some stamping. I have to make a couple more, plus the belt, and I intend carving all of them as while it's hard work it's actually fun. Trust me, don't be shy about doing it, if I can do it it anyone can.

Don't stress over stamping, we all had to start somewhere and all it takes is practice. While the same can be said about carving there is a lot more subtlety involved. I always thought I'd never bother (too hard) but eventually wondered if I could do it. Yes, I can, BUT I've got a long way to go, which doesn't matter as I only do it for myself. As for buying a machine, my suggestion would be no, at this stage, based on everything you've said. I started by buying used machines I picked up at good prices but I really had little idea of what I was doing! If you do lots of reading on here and study the various projects people make it will give you a better understanding of machine capabilities and should help you decide which machine should best suit your needs. IF you finally decide you need one. I forgot to mention, there are lots and lots and lots of videos on youtube about stamping, carving, sewing etc etc. I have spent many hours watching them and learned a lot.