gary

Jim, Excellent tutorial - I've made cases and boxes that way for ages but not heard it described so well before. The only additional thing I now do is to brace the inside using a wooden form if the leather is a bit wobbly. It helps keep it in shape when pushing the awl through. Also, and this may just be an accuracy problem on my part, I push the awl through slowly and check where it's going to come out - if it's not in the mark for the stitch I pull back a bit and try to get it dead centre to keep the stitches lined-up. I did a case last week for a mobile phone, first case I've made for ages, and box=stitched the sides in place. It went together like a dream so I started making a round box yesterday and it is turning out to be a complete nightmare and I'm doing nothing different. Must just be one of those days (or weeks). Gary

I sometimes use a round punch for the ends and then a wood chisel to cut between them to make the slots. It's okay using a 3/4" chisel - I don't know if a wider chisel would be better or worse. Gary

Holly, I presume that, whatever material has been used for the core, has been tested to see what load it will take. I use some nylon webbing straps in some stuff I make and that's been tested to 2,500 kgs. It means that a batch of the material has been tested under approved conditions and, as long as the producers keep to that recipe or method for production, any future batches have the same properties as the test batch. They sometimes also test stuff to produce two figures, one is a steady pull until it breaks and the other is a 'jerk' pull until it snaps. A lot of ropes and straps have test figures attached to them if they are used in critical situations like seat belts and climbing ropes. Just my tuppence-worth. Gary

Ray, Nail polish remover was m y first thought as well (think what you will of that) but car paint shops and ship's chandlers sell it as well (something to do with cleaning up glass fibre resin mess). You can also get something called methyl-ethyl ketone which does a similar job. Gary

Ian, In the UK try http://www.abbeysaddlery.co.uk/ as they have a wide selection. If you order from them, be very specific about what you want. Though they have always been helpful, they sometimes assume you have the same knowledge of the trade as they do and it can lead to the odd misunderstanding in deliveries. Gary

Ray, You can also try http://www.bsw.co.uk/ as they are a big supplier and have sawmills all over the place. Gary

UKRay, Deb and Wildrose, Wood pellet stoves are becoming more fashionable here at the moment and you can get enclosed ones so smoke shouldn't be a problem. I also think that, in the UK, as there's a trend for ecologically sound building practices that there may be some Government financial incentive or assistance (direct or indirect) if you buy/use one. We were/are looking at getting one and there's a massive amount of choice; open, enclosed, hideous and quite tasteful designs, automatic feeding systems, and so on. My brother-in-law's company has just bought one for heating a very large church and accommodation/office complex and he reckons it's pretty effective. Round here (where there are a lot of trees) the wood pellets are produced at the local sawmill and they deliver but in huge amounts (tons rather than sacks). Bluebeard - Wood heats three times if you collect big bits 'cos you have to cut them up to get them stove-sized. My solution in my new workshop (12' by 24') so far is insulated walls and double-glazed windows (cheap as the supplier had made them the wrong size for a job and wanted to get rid of them and my workshop's made of wood so you can make the apertures fit the windows). I have a portable LPG heater if needed. Mind you, it hasn't been through a winter yet so I may find a few shortfalls. It's at the end of our stable block so one wall is insulated with bales of hay as it backs onto the feed room and I'm sure the warmth from the horses helps at night. The drawback is the faint whiff of ammonia and dung - but hell, you can't have everything. Gary Reason for edit: To point out that the ammonia and dung smells come from the horses.

This is something I did a couple of times on military 'stable' belts. The belts were about 3 - 3.5 inches wide (about 75 - 85 mm). The belts were made of webbing with the buckles (chape and billet parts made of leather) at the side so, when working in the stables with horses, the buckles were less likely to get caught on gear or damage the horses. The solution was to have two small buckles and billets. I have also seen some wide weightlifter and/or biker belts made in a similar fashion. I don't have any to photographs to show you but I found something similar on a website and I've attached that in case it's any use. I can't remember where I saw this belt but I copied the picture as it was a design I liked and wish to produce something similar. If I have infringed anyone's copyright, registered design or whatever, I apologise immediately. I feel the design idea gives loads of artistic options on leather colours, embellishments and furniture. I suppose a Ranger style solution may also work. Gary

I was told once, by an old saddler, that it also helped to stop the edge of the leather becoming 'frayed'. Can't see it myself but you never know. Gary

Aart, I've tried several methods of heating creasing irons and always return to an old camping gas stove. I've tried a small gas blowtorch - okay but you need to be accurate when holding the iron in the flame and it heats up too much unless you're very careful. The meth spirit lamp, which everyone shows being used but are very difficult to find unless you go to antique markets, was a bit too slow. Now I just use the stove but have fashioned a stand out of some old wood blocks that will hold the creaser above the flame - it allows me to do a few odds and ends to get ready to crease. I keep the flame fairly low when I'm using the stand but turn it up to finesse the temperature in between creases. I always keep some scraps of leather handy to test it out on. I use a double creaser with a gauge 'leg' to maintain consistency but find it a handicap on some rounded corners. I also found the creasing blade a bit too thick so I ground and filed it down and, at the same time, took some of the length off so that I could hold the creaser vertically rather than at a slight compensatory angle which I found I was doing when both 'legs' were the same length. If anyone can find a better way, I'd give it a try. I did consider making an edging blade for a soldering iron but I think that would be even more impractical as you probaby couldn't get enough pressure on it and it would be way too hot unless it had some sort of control thermostat plus the initial heating period would be longer than just lighting a stove. Maybe the pyrographers have a better solution. Gary

My brother brought some back from the US last year, from somewhere in Louisiana if I remember correctly. I'll try and find the shop's business card as I think I kept it. We've moved house and country since then so it'll be in a box somewhere - just don't hold your breath. If push comes to shove I could always post the remaining two to you - if two is enough and it isn't taking coals to Newcastle. They have a screw back. Just had a look through the boxes - can't find the card (hell, can't find anything). I think they were made or distributed by a company called 'PARTRADE'. Gary Edit due to age-related loss of brain cells.

Yeah, BT Internet seems to have reassigned my gender. Aren't computers wonderful? Gary

Ray, Use the stuff in the small silver pots - it's for dyeing by boiling the clothes in it (you don't boil the clothes in the little pot as it's tiny - unless you have a mouse's jockstrap you want to dye). Don't get the machine wash-in stuff (although that may work, I've never tried it). And don't use their leather dye stuff that comes with a brush as it's like PVA paint and just sits on the top surface of the leather (unless that's what you want) and peels off if the leather is flexed too much One of those small pots should last ages as it's pretty concentrated pigment. Unless you seal the dye powder it in an airtight container, it goes all cruddy before you use it the next time. I find those 'keep-your-leftovers-fresh' kitchen pots useful when I can get my hands on them (mental note to self - keep wife out of workshop). Bear in mind that all my mixing is done one batch at a time using the SWAG (Scientific Wild A**ed Guess) technique. I guess a 'batch' comes out at about 1 or 2 fl ozs maximum when I do it - just enough for the job in hand. I mix a very small amount of the powder with water and keep trying it on scraps to see if I've got the right colour. As I said earlier, a few light coats is usually more successful than one thick one. I apply it with a dauber and I've only ever used it on edges of belts and straps (red) and some patches at the top of a set of chaps (green), I've never tried dyeing a surface or large area with it but that may be worth a try when I've got time. I then mix in some gum tragacanth (I buy those pots of clear gloopy non-toxic kiddies paper glue with the rubber spouts as I find it mixes-in nicely). Then I just used it like any home-made edge dye. I burnish edges by hand as I've never got a satisfactory result using a Dremel or drill (but I may try again once my workshop is out of its boxes as I've seen quite a few useful posts on it here). Depending on how the burnishing turns out, I sometimes go over the top with a watered-down mix of PVA wood glue (which I think seems something like Fiebing's Resolene - but I may be wrong, I'm no chemist) and again burnish by hand. Sometimes I waited until it had dried then used beeswax on the edge. Again, the PVA glue:water ratio is a guesstimate but probably about 1:10 (ish). I don't know how it will work on darker leathers - I've used it on self-dyed russet (for the chaps), and on London and Light Havana colour bridle leather/shoulder. By the way, if you use too strong a mix, there is a risk that the dye will rub off onto clothing until the item has been broken in (but there must be a way of sealing it to stop that) so I always warn the end-user about it. I've just had a look at the chaps that I made - I've been using them for about 5 years now - and you wouldn't know that the edges of the patches (there must be some technical term for them) had ever been green, they look a uniform dark brownish colour - mind you, most things do when they've been slathered in all the muck in a stables for 5 years. And I thought I had a sun-tan. By the way, did you get those plans I e-mailed? If so, were they of any use? Gary

Frank, I don't use Tan Kote and I edge using a water-based dye mixed with gum tragacanth and water (the ratio of dye:gum:water varies for each batch I make). The smallest amount of leather dye powder I can buy over here is 0.5 kg and that will last me a lifetime (unless I get really busy). If I have to make up a different colour I use a fabric dye sold over here called Dylon. It comes in really small pots (about 30g (or 1 oz)) and goes a very long way. You can mix up a small batch as needed. I've used red and green for a couple of jobs I did and, after a bit of experimentation, got the mix about right. The main problem is using too much dye powder - several thin coats being better than one thick one. I then finish off using a weak mixture of PVA wood glue and burnish it again. I could try a dye:gum:water:PVA mix but I haven't. My tuppence. Gary

Paul, I just noticed your original post and thought I'd better add my tuppence. In the UK there are some requirements that need to be met because of the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act. My reading of the acts is that, if you keep a simple list of customers purely for your own use for advertising and so on, that's okay. As soon as you 'manipulate' the data using any automatic system that generates letters or e-mails, or you pass the list to someone else, you have to register with the Information Commissioner's Office. I'm sure there are millions of UK citizens who know how good the UK Government is at keeping personal information confidential and not letting it be stolen from the laptops of civil servants on trains or from the back seats of cars. It looks as if it's also necessary to allow people to access the information and have it altered/deleted at their request. The details of exactly how the data may or may not be used are hidden away in the Acts. There is a website that gives details (www.ico.gov.uk) and it's probably worth checking-out to make sure you don't drop yourself in it. Gary

Assuming you are using leather that is already dyed and finished (such as bridle leather), I would make up the piece to the pattern (cut to width and length, bevel the edges, stain and polish them and then add the creases). I would then mark where the stitching will need to be (start and finish points), mark out the stitches (with a whell or pricking iron) and then dampen, fold and sew the leather into place. After stitching, you may need to even up the mated pieces with a piece of broken glass, glass paper or whatever you feel happy with. I would also dampen the whole piece to avoid a water stain as Kevin suggests. I wouldn't bevel the inside edges where the two surfaces will mate together as you get a cleaner join and a nicer finished look. Hope it works out okay. Gary

Troy, Between Mallaig and Morar, just before you fall off the edge of Scotland. Only been here since November and the workshop (including stable, feed store, hay barn and tack room) has only just been built. All my leatherworking stuff is still in boxes and, as we have rare fine weather at the moment, it'll have to stay there a bit longer as we're trying to get the land into a useable condition. If you're passing you're more than welcome to ppop in. If you're around, PM me and I'll give you details. Gary

I made some hound collars (2.1/8" at widest and tapering to 5/8" at the chape and billet. I just made up a pattern (fold card in four so that you cut the pattern on a quarter so it's symmetrical vertically and horizontally when it's opened up. To get the shape right I used a 'French curve' as a guide. Gary (Reason for edit: Bad spelling)

Art, It can be done. It takes a while to get it wet and then it needs to be left to case (I use a plastic bag). I've moulded pouches from it and it can take some time to get the shape. Also, it has a tendency to affect the colour, particularly if you don't wet all of it. Try it on a few scraps and you'll feel/see the difference. Gary

Or http://www.blockaderunner.com/Catalog/catpg18.htm

Just for interest, 'left-handed' pricking irons are sometimes (but not often these days) called 'portmanteau' prickers as they were used on corners and joins in leather (usually large travelling cases) where the maker wanted a symmetrical appearance on the finished article. The join looked like: \ | / \ | / \ | / \ | / \ | / \ | / \ | / Rather than: \ | \ \ | \ \ | \ \ | \ \ | \ Gary

Carrie, I have some spare leather and some spare hardware suitable for collars. Drop me a PM if you're interested. If you just need a couple of needles, some thread and a bit of beeswax, I can supply that also - I think I may have a spare awl as well, somewere. Valerie Michael's book is a very good starter. I have a list of suppliers if you're interested and some useful handouts from a saddler's course I undertook, as well. Gary

Jonny, They are a good crowd-puller. With saddlebags on or pulling a cart they are quite magnetic and at leats it attracts people to see what you're doing. Wish I'd known how good they were at attracting women when I was a teenager; it would have saved a fortune in fast cars, fashionable clothes and after-shave. Gary

Jonny, We've got Berners too. We use commercially bought nylon saddlebags; shame on me. The youngest has just started to carry them (empty) as he's still only 20 months old. He'll get a shock when he's two, there's a cart ready for him (once I've put the wheels back on). I intend to make him a set of leather saddlebags and intend to use bag hide which is about 2.5 to 3mm thick. I'm using a modified tracking dog harness as the pattern for the straps and so on and will shamelessly copy the current bags, with a few modifications, as the main part. I am a bit concerned about how hot he'll get when he's wearing them so I may revert to a thinner, lighter, leather or adjust the pattern as I go so there are more spaces for ventilation. I think it will stir up some interest at shows when I have a sales stall. Best of luck. I'll post pictures once I get time to start making stuff again - moving house and everything is in boxes until I finish building my workshop. Gary

http://www.abbeysaddlery.co.uk/ Gary