Sheilajeanne

Lanolin comes from sheep's wool. Surprised it isn't used more often in leather care products. When I was a kid, it was in the shampoo my mom used on everyone in the family! The ads said: "Have you ever seen a bald sheep?"

The red deer, which is very common in Scotland, is a close relative of the North American elk, and I'm sure its hide would be a good substitute.

Yeah, that would be verrrry interesting! I have heard of weavers contracting anthrax from yarn. And given the washing and dyeing process yarn goes through, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you could catch it from hides, too! As a matter of fact, I think they used to refer to anthrax as the 'weaver's disease'.

Alaisage, both types of kits are disappearing, and being replaced with ones that require little if any tooling. (Sorry, I can't get rid of the bold font... have tried and tried!!) Some of the more popular kits that require fairly extensive tooling are still there, but this is an example of what I'm talking about. 5 years ago, these wallets would all have been shown with tooling on them: https://tandyleather.ca/collections/kits/kits_wallets?page=2

Ain't it the truth!! Looking forward to more pictures!

Tandy DID have a line of good tools, the Craftool Pro line (not sure where they were made). I guess they weren't exactly best sellers because 2 years ago, they announced they were discontinuing the line! Does anyone know WHY they did this? Were they not able to compete with tools like Barry King, etc.? I've watched what's happening with the kits they sell, and they are eliminating most of the kits that require extensive tooling. So, seems to be a trend to get out of the leather tooling business. Really, it has me scratching my head. Maybe the current generation just wants something that's cheap and quick to put together - instant gratification!

Awesome post, Johanna!

Alaisiage, very true! I was lucky that I got Bill as my sales person right off the bat. He did exactly as you suggested! Oleskiver, yes, they seem to be 'dumbing down' their kits, making everything so simple even an idiot could do it. It's discouraging people who want something more complex and beautiful. And you are SO right about them eliminating tools needed for the more complex projects. However, I am not sure I'd qualify Stohlman's work as 'easy' or 'simple' to do! He was a master craftsman and artist, and a lot of his designs need tools Tandy no longer sells.

The best thing that happened to me re. leatherwork was being give 8 weeks of free lessons when I purchased a beginners kit from Tandy. My instructor, Bill, was WONDERFUL! He knew it all, and was the store's go-to person for difficult questions that other, less experienced people couldn't answer. Even the store manager depended a lot on Bill, and he and other employees would often tell you "That's a Bill question. Go ask him." Bill didn't push sales on you, but if you asked him, "What will I need to do this?" he'd take you to the shelves and show you what to buy. He was getting well up in years, and had health issues. He died in his sleep one night. Tandy customers who knew him ( and there were HUNDREDS) wanted to arrange a memorial for him but the store was unwilling to do it, as they couldn't get family to okay it. :'( Tandy needs more people like him. And I think they need to have more classes, beyond the beginner's class. There is SO much to learn, and no one to mentor newcomers to the craft. Except the people on this board. Bill was the one who suggested I come here.

Latigo, in the town I grew up in, this: https://www.toronto.com/dealer-profile/cruickshankford/ started out as THIS! http://www.cruikshank.ca/The Cruickshank Descendants.htm Sadly, the car dealership recently gave up the Cruikshank name, and is now Weston Ford. They also donate an old Cruikshank carriage and two sleighs to the Weston Historical Society, which uses them in special events:

Those 'before' photos make me wonder how you managed to salvage anything at all! So, yes, would be interested in seeing a more detailed description of the rebuild. Incredible work! I imagine there are very, very few people in N. America capable of doing what you did!

Wow, what did you do ... run away and join the circus?? That's going to make it REALLY difficult! It would help if people knew your location. Maybe there's someone out there willing to mentor you! Edit: okay, just saw you are in Dublin...

Gorgeous! Did the flesh side of the leather always look that nice, or did you do something to it to make it that way? What type (brand) of hide is it?

So much detail! Awesome work!

Been too long since I saw that movie, obviously!

That would take a lot of intricate tooling! Well done! Now can you please explain to me why you are calling it a 6 foot turkey, when it's obviously a dinosaur or lizard of some sort??

Wow...just WOW!! Shaking my head at what we've lost, due to the outsourcing of these industries. But OTOH, garment shops in N. America were low-paying sweatshops. A friend of mine found work in a sock factory in the Garment District of Toronto, way back in the 1960's, when we were both in High School, and reached age 16, meaning we could legally work. She told me how badly the work conditions sucked, and how the factory was infested with cockroaches. She said she would NEVER buy this particular brand of socks, due to the horrible conditions under which they were manufactured. This particular brand of sock is no longer produced, and most of the companies in the Garment District have disappeared. I don't need to tell you where - or why - they went.

Fred, they're not very strict about fining people who cross the line here, especially if it's due to a slow moving vehicle. I am sure if you were speeding and passing dangerously, it would be a different story. I have a letter aligning frame I bought from Tandy, but have never found much use for it. It's too fiddly - even a slight touch can knock it out of alignment! I prefer to use a leather marking pen for positioning the letters.

Chuck, yeah, that's sad we've become a throwaway society. Fortunately, I've got enough skills to be able to fix most things on a bike myself. Not sure I'd want to tackle a tire, though - the are tricky, and it's so easy to puncture the innertube when putting it back on the rim! EXACTLY what I do!

Huh? I know the Raptors are Toronto's basketball team, and the Bucks are a baseball team out of Milwaukee, but what the heck is ECF? I have been known to root for the Toronto Argonauts (CFL football) but don't have much interest in baseball (Blue Jays). As for hockey, I was a Maple Leaf fan in the 60's and 70's, but when your team goes more than 50 years without winning the Cup, well, your interest kind of fades. My all--time favourite Leaf will always be Johnny Bower. He lived just the next street over from us when I was in High School, and he was SUCH a nice man! My dad taught his daughter, Cindy, in Grade 6. I do billet hockey players for a local Junior 'A' team, though. It's ...interesting... to see the lack of 'adulting' skills in these 18 to 20 year old kids.

Nice bit of country, Frodo! Here's what a traffic jam looks like in my neck of the woods - yours too, I'm sure! Ummm...what was the topic again??

Yes, it gets cheaper. And you also need to have a larger lot, to make room for your septic system. I'm in a small town only an hour from Toronto, and there is no sewage system here, though we do have municipal water. The real estate sales slowed dramatically during the lockdown, but now that it's eased, sales in the Toronto area are breaking records. Seems that prices went down during the lockdown, which has fueled the buying frenzy. Toronto real estate prices were insane before, and I can guarantee they will soon get back to their previous level with the way things are going. I am so glad to be living in a small town that surrounded by mostly farms and patches of forest.

Well, most of Europe doesn't need room to store snowmobiles! I've noticed, the farther north you go in Canada, the larger the garages get. You need room for your SUV, snowmobile, ATV, canoe, riding mower and patio set. That's a great idea, re. recycling salvageable stuff from the dump. Here you are not allowed to take stuff, though I've done it on occasion, and I've also seen dump employees do it, too. One day I pointed out a set of dishes that had been dumped, and told one of the employees how there was a family in town who'd lost everything in a house fire who would be very glad to have those dishes. She agreed with me, and removed them from the tip area before they could get broken. I scored a nice teapot and sugar bowl with a silver spoon in it from that set of dishes!

Horse hair was commonly used to stuff things during that era - sofas as well as saddles! The had lots of it, so why not use it?

LOL! He has an average sized two car garage. He puts tarps over the bikes when it rains, and they are chained up when on display. I often wonder just what he does when he has to mow his grass! I imagine he rents storage somewhere for the winter time. Oh, and he has the EXACT bike I had as a kid, a CCM Rambler! https://bicycle-itis.com/used-bike/125-ccm-rambler No point in me buying it, because my legs were too long for it by the time I turned 14...