fredk

My son bought us another Austin 7 recently. Its a 1937 Austin 7 Ruby rebodied with a Lotus 7 styled body. That black roof is steel and its meant to look like a fabric roof. It tilts up and back so you can get in & out

We are checking the oils for racidity et cetera; but they are all coated and left in the air/weather. My friend's pouch was kept in a closed box with his kit. Although it was brought out at weekends it was mostly stuffed in a box I'm going to try chicken fat on leather and keep it sealed up in a plastic box. The box will be opened occasionally to sort-of replicate the conditions his pouch was kept in. If I can get enough small plastic boxes, and somewhere to put them (!) I'll do the same for some of the other oils/fats I shall presume the chicken fat came from a cooked chook. mmmmm. time for roast chicken, yummmy

What was the cause of the rancid smell? Can we replicate the conditions? The only time I ever encountered a rancid smell was when one of my historical presentation group (HPG) brought me a belt pouch which he had smeared chicken fat over. 'Cos thats what they would have used in medieval times' quote he. Nothing I could do at the time could save that pouch. It was not only rancid but the thread was rotting away. As it was cheap pouch we binned (trashed) it and I made him a new one FOC and told him to keep way from chicken fat I think it was Winston Churchill who said 'A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on'. Even more so with internet and social media and 'influencers'

I can only buy pre-made. I'd like to get custom-made ones but there isn't anywhere I can get them made. But I don't sell enough to warrant the cost of custom-made dies Good steel that retains its sharpness over several cuts Most definitely, very useful; but sewing slits not big holes Like these in this; I use a Tandy Pro-press for everything, including for cutting dies, and occasionally a mallet & a piece of wood

I've used both to dilute dyes and sealers. Never noticed a difference. Only difference was the availability & cost; at one time denatured alcohol was far cheaper and easier to get, now its the other way round

Warning; thread drift; we used to call that a 'spliced knot'. A 'blood knot' was also called a 'slip knot', 'fishermans knot' or 'Archers knot' - it was made* by turning round or thru the item, 3 to 7 twists of the tail round the main part and the tail end fed thru the loop by the item and the last twist (afair), then pulled tight. Its could be easily loosened. I was told by a St.John paramedic that it was called a 'blood knot' as it was used as a tourniquet knot, and could be loosened and re-tightened quickly * its so long since I've tied it I probably have it wrong

I've been doing a lot of simple lacing and my thoughts turned to some other laced items. In the early to last quarter of the 1970s there were many terrorist prisoners in Ulster's (Northern Ireland) two main prisons The prisoners made leather goods, mainly laced together. The wives, girlfriends and mothers came round the houses selling these items for the benefit of the prisoners. Of course it was not compulsory to buy anything but one had to be careful so one did buy. I can't remember how many wallets I ended up buying, one each time the WGMs came around. The items were not expensive; about £1 for a wallet and £2.50 for a handbag (one of my sisters bought several) (wages were about £25 per week) Even then I knew the items were made from kits. Now I've become familiar with the Tandy kits and have been wondering The items made were; wallets, billfolds, handbags, purses, knife sheaths. holsters ( yes, really) coasters and other things. Some were plain and some were decorated, with the 'Sheridan'(?) type designs or stamped. But all the items were laced together thru round holes I now have some old Tandy catalogue issues and I see the same things in them Considering that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the prison service bought their weapons and body armour from the USA did Tandy supply the leather kits, or did they come from a company in Great Britain? Just wondering Discuss PS; Until recently I would not lace anything I was making because some people still remember the prisoners work and assumed I had been a terrorist prisoner!

I rarely use a deglazer. But I often redye leather. As a pre-dye prep I'd use some cellulose thinners. On a rag, wiped over the boots a couple of times

Be very careful handling those bags. Many moulds are toxic and bad for your health. I'd advise you to wear rubber or latex gloves and a mouth & nose mask

I've found set #2. They were in a box inside the car I'll get them sorted out, re-oiled and re-hung outside asap I'm thinking of ending this on the 2 year anniversary. Other than darkening and some change in the leather temper nothing is happening. No rot, or nuffin. If it hasn't happened in 2 years I doubt it'll happen in 3, or 4 . . . .

Alls been fine and normal at my end

remember the sugar dispensers? you tipped it up and it gave 1 serving of sugar for your tea/coffee. I hard of other putting salt in them. I never did it tho

We went a step further; in chippies we also drank the vinegar and replaced it with water and. . . . . we weren't so 'wee' when we stopped doing these things

The Roman soldier's groin protector was the original 'kilt'. It looked like these, but of course much larger

I use model paint all the time. Never had adhesion problems, except in trying to remove it! I use Humbrol & Vallejo mostly