fredk

More basic than that. My intention is to replicate what my friend had and did. A medium sized draw-string bag of thin veg tan and a leather lace The chicken fat/grease was taken from a cooked chicken. The cold fat was liberally applied to the bag and excess wiped off The bag was kept in with his other kit, so it was warm and dry I'm not sure how long between applying the fat/grease and it started to go rancid and how long until he brought it to me My friend did this as the 'expert', who taught him to make the bag, told him to as it would water-proof it and 'thats what they would have used' (in medieval times)

I'm actually having difficulty getting chicken fat/grease. All our chicken is extra lean and don't provide as much as a couple of grams

3000 beeves suddenly stampeded Near the back one beeve asked another 'What are we running for?" The second beeve says 'Well, I don't know about you but I'm running for Cancer Research'

Cows never listen to instructions You tell them to do something and it goes in one ear and out the udder

Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd raiding an off licence Daffy - Is this Whiskey? Elmer - Yeth, but not ath whiskey ath wobbing a bank.....

An old Belfast joke 4 new convicted criminals sat down to lunch together The first says "I got 3 years for robbing a post office What did you others do and what sentence did you get? The second man says "I got 2 years for stealing a car" The third man says "8 years for armed robbery of a bank" The fourth man was quiet for a while then he says "20 years" "Well? What for?" asks the others "Shoplifting" "Shoplifting?!?" the others say in astonishment "Well the bomb did lift the shop about fifty feet in the air"

I would like to see more imaginative designs to compliment the 3D stamps already available. And some more modern designs, 21st century style eg. a surfer on waves, a swimming sea diver (with waving seaweeds), a sunken ship, (for the diver), a pick-up truck. On cowboy types; a (stampede) of cattle which can be repeatedly stamped along a belt, with mounted drovers placed/stamped at intervals ( I've been watching Rawhide on youtube! ) Some of your samples are already available from Tandy and Ivan For my own use I'm looking for decent Viking and Medieval style stamps I have these in a large size and will get them cut to a smaller size, probably 1 inch This is a Viking style "Eagle". The one on the left heads a line-up of the one on the right

I haven't 'pasted' the back side but I do rub in a bees wax & carnauba wax mix. I rub in plenty and buff it up real good. Belts have kept that smooth finish

Usually, unless the pattern supplier says 'No' then a modest number of items may be sold. If its a Tandy pattern they actually encourage you to sell items

Mummy, is Daddy dead? No darling, he's in his leather room doing some basket-weave stamping

I assumed the OP was intending to use a buckled belt as that was what he showed For information; these are some of the closures I've used; On a concho ed repurposed belt; a buckle with a large keeper Lacing, which went through the antler tips to hold them on, then criss-crossed. Enuf lacing so the band can fit on a larger hat This one uses elastic cord glued to the band. Enuf elasticity to expand to fit a larger hat

Some of the US members will be along soon and they can best advise where to get oval punches

I can't advise as I don't know where in the world you're located. This is a world-wide forum 1" conchos on a 1 1/4 will be big enuf

For punching the slots in the leather buy a rectangular hole punch of the appropriate size. They are easily available Your chosen belt size might be too narrow for the conchos

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