fredk

This is the penultimate report on Test Pieces Group 1 This Group has mainly been kept in a south facing car windshield. During the test time each piece was re-oiled once #1. Baby Oil; Flex - the same as Control #1, Smell - Slight smell of leather, Colour - Dark Brown, darker on front than rear, No fungus or rot #2. Cooking oil (rape seed oil); Flex - the same as Control #1, Smell - Slight smell of cooking oil, Colour - Dark Brown, same on front and rear, No fungus or rot #3. Lard (pork fats); Flex - about the same as Control #1, maybe slightly better, Smell - No smell, Colour - Light Tan, Same on front and rear, No fungus or rot #4. NFO Compound; Flex - about the same as Control #1, Smell - Very slight smell of leather, Colour - Dark Tan, Same on front and rear, No fungus or rot #5. Olive Oil (extra virgin / pure); Flex - about the same as Control #1, Smell - Very slight smell of leather, Colour - Dark Tan, Same on front and rear, No fungus or rot #6. 3-in-1 oil (contains benzine); Flex - slightly stiffer than Control #1, Smell - Very slight smell oil, Colour - Dark Tan, Same on front and rear, No fungus or rot #7. Vaseline (petroleum based); Flex - stiffer than Control #1, Smell - No smell, Colour - Nearly the same as Control, (which is like slightly darkened raw leather), Same on front and rear, No fungus or rot I'll try to do a report on Group 2, the pieces hanging outside This will be the penultimate report on that group as well as I'm thinking of ending this at the end of September or so 2 years, and we / I have discovered that a lot of these products can be used on leather without harm, all they may do is darken undyed leather

Very nice and very interesting. Looks easy enuff to replicate. I might try it on a sword/axe hangar

I would use WD40 to cut through any grime, then a light wash with warm soapy water to wash off the WD40

The thread does look over large. I would drop to about 0.6mm flat thread or 0.8mm flat at most. And tamp it down using a small rubber head mallet

The way I hold knife to exert some pressure is to put my fore-finger on the blade. That hole would make an excellent finger locator

About £/$200. Its not hard to learn to use it. I think the resin gives a better print, less noticeable print lines, which don't matter at all for stamp making but I wanted it for printing DnD figures as well so a better sharpness was needed than I could get with the filament printers. Plus there are environment friendly resins, ie water based. Resin printers are safer than filament types. The filament type heats a coil of plastic and lays it down. If the plastic gets stuck it can overheat and start burning giving off toxic fumes and potentially setting fire to your building - it has happened. The resin does not need heating at all Takes the same time to print as a filament printer. But it prints your subject upside down by dipping in & out of a vat of resin. You don't know if the print is a success or has failed until the end when it finally raises the print clear of the vat The printing is very temperature sensitive. The printer, the resin and the room has to be at a constant 22* or more One thing more, Ppl are put off 3D printing because it 'takes 3 hours 45 minutes' (as an example) to print. Bu you are not sitting there very minute. You set it to print and go for lunch/make a belt/get a coffee hth

I bought a resin 3D printer mainly for the purpose of making stamps. Its a white elephant right now

There nowt wrong with that s/m. They work great and last a long time. Plenty of folks on here use them or the Chinese clones. Somebody will be along to help you

@SUP To misquote Julius Caesar, venerunt, viderunt, laboraverunt, They arrived at 07.30 and away by 14.50, Very much quicker than I thought, By several days! I might get things sorted by Tuesday and get back to this properly. But in the meantime I've got to knock-up a new belt for #1 son

You are forgetting breakage due to abrasion on the thread. In my history group I had experience of that. The chaps used to do several very active live steel fight displays during a day. I had shoes to resew/repair. The stitching holding the soles to the vamp often got abraded until they broke. On those made by one 'expert' and hand sewn using saddle stitch the sole came loose and I could quickly repair it on the spot and have the owner back into the fight. Those sewn by another 'expert' when the thread broke most of the sole came away from the vamp*. A repair was not possible as quickly. * on one occasion the sole came away, flapping loose during a fight causing the owner to miss his footing. Only the fighters' skills stopped there being a bad incident

Excellent you found a solition for your needs For a doming tool; before you cut one, there are doming setters meant for ready-rivets which have a domed head already. I have the domed setters in sizes from 4mm to 12mm in 1mm steps

I think your 2 x 4 is giving too much localised pressure. Giving it more pressure to cut deeper in the centre than the edges Can you try a wider lever bar?

I would dispute that simplistic statement 1. I like to saddlle-stitch. It is NOT for novelty value. Knowing how to saddle-stitch is good for any sort of leather work. I can s/s some items up faster than it takes me to set up any sewing machine 2. Poverty - NOT, I have numerous usable sewing machines and a few speedy-stitchers. The right tool for the right job. All in the leatherworkers armoury. I am neither poor nor rich

Nay, with any hand stitching one keeps the thread well waxed to stop any abrasion by the leather and thusly by the thread itself

I had look yon up

I must do a full update report this coming weekend

I wish. I gotta hang about in case anything else needs moving

Workers are coming to install a completely new heating system in my flat/apartment so all my furniture has been moved about to give access to all the radiators. My spare bedroom which is my leatherwork room is chock-full of items from the other rooms. Its been like this for over a month now. The workers tried to install on the 26th May but the surveyor made a mistake so they couldn't do it. Another team are supposed to it on Thursday 30th, this week. I've not been able to do any leatherwork since about May 20th and several projects are mid-finish. Might not be able to get back to leatherwork until about August 8th or so. I'm having severe 'withdrawal' symptoms!

Far too nice for groceries m'thinks, By far too nice

Depending on the style of edger; rub a lot of compound an a length of string. Tie one end of the string to something, hold t'other end and pull it tight. Rub the blade up & down the length of string

Welcome to the site Do share photos of your finds with us Somebody on here may be able to help with information about your finds

Sound like it was wax hardened and the excess wax is rising to the surface. Play a hand-held hair-dryer on heat over the surface and rub/buff at the same time. See if that cures it

akin to the bandolier is a baldrick (no, not that one!) and I made a few of those. Simple straight cut belting with an over-lap join at the hip and a loop for the scabbard

I rarely bevel the flesh side. I usually skive it thin and bevel the grain side after I've glued and/or sewn the project together

There was once a fashion for reproduction Elizabethan Tudor ring purses. These could be used for holding the ring whilst the bag of the purse was sewn on. Tandy used to sell the rings