fredk

Basically , but I'd go a bit differently. Used diluted/thinned dye. A dye of a darker shade than your main colour. Then make several applications working towards the edge so it get the most applications and thus more dye

And there I've been using 50 grade grit paper on a stick to do my job

Try sponging it down with a solution of distilled vinegar and baking soda

Is this the style you want? Not the exact one, just a sample of the shape

Try cutting one from nylon or HDPE. On the end of a short bar, to fit into a swivel knife I know these ain't a beader, they are 'bevellers, but the same principle works Like this; I don't have any machine tools so they are made in two parts; the head and the shaft. The shaft, which is a good fit for my swivel knife, fits into the head and is pinned to hold it, you can just see the pin in the third photo. The head is HDPE and carved and filed to shape. They were dead easy & quick to make The cost of material to make about 10 of these cost me about £5 afair. In use I just run the beveller back and forth along an already bevelled line and it smooths it. I reckon a beader would work similarly; make two parallel grooves and run the beader over the top with a leg in each groover

The old fashioned way to sharpen tools with a groove cutting edge was to rub jeweller's rouge well into a length of string. Tie one end of the string to something solid, pull the string tight and run the cutting groove back & forth along the string

I got buckles like that from Le Prevo. They don't sell them anymore but email them and ask if they might still have one or two

Is the pad two layers? I wud try some thin sheet aluminium double-sided taped to the top piece and covered by the bottom piece which has been sewn on. Aluminium, from a cleaned drinks can and about 2 inches wide

Distance between jaws when closed, not holding anything = 0, a big fat zero, nada, nowt Open to accept a small item such as a wallet, about 1 inch For bigger items max = about 3 inches, 2.5 inches will do

Depends on what you will be making; small items such as wallets, or even larger items such as shoulder bags, no more than about 2.5 to 3 inches will suffice

Personal preference plus what you are making. My two have jaws about 3 or 4 inches long. Sometimes I need to clamp up a long piece of sewing work between two pieces of stick, each about 6 inches, to support it, then into the jaws. But the 3 or 4 inches or so is adequate for most jobs Not exactly used the 360, but 180, to turn the item still clamped up around to get to the other side without disturbing everything. Also useful for just turning at an angle to get a clearer view or something of one side of the work piece. Or to turn the head at an angle which suits your style of sewing. I think I usually use mine set to an angle of about 3 or 5 degrees to the left. Only one of my clamps swivels around. Most useful tho

Whatever you decide to use to clean the hides; 1. do all of them, even areas or hides which do not as yet show mold 2. clean the whole storage area as well anything else in there Mold can spread via spores. Given the slightest encouragement of any damp and food (your leather) you'll have that mold back again so you need to do your best to wipe it out now PS. Be very careful of any black mold; that mold is not only dangerous but deadly - breath in any of its spores and you can end up hospitalised. Bestest is to just destroy by burning anything with black mould on it

Do you want a belt pouch of this style? or

If the photograph is a negative/print then the photographer was probably right handed

NOT OUT OF SOME DAMNED 'PAPERBACK '!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT FROM THOSE WHO LIVED THEN AND WROTE THEIR MEMOIRES - NOT JUST ONE OR TWO BUT SEVERAL HOW DARE YOU YOU OBNOXIOUS GIT 'GREAT PLAINS' NORTH OF LONDON INDEED - YOU ARE NOWT BUT AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

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A reverse search of the photo just says 'Two Cowboys, Tombstone, Arizona' Somat for hickok55; never trust these studio photos. The drovers arrived in a town, spent some of their money on getting cleaned up and buying new clothes. Then they went to the local photographer to get a photo made. Sometimes, if the drover wanted to show off he could use 'prop' clothes or weapons that the photographer had. Those two drovers may not have owned those chaps. But I do think they owned those quirts, probably just newly bought down at the Indian Exchange store on the edge of town. The chaps look so similar they look like Sears & Roebuck Catalog ones. I'd need to search for my S&R catalogs from that era to check Also, back then, a Cow Boy was a ruffian, to call a cattle drover a Cow Boy was a real insult. One of those names or words which has changed its meaning in a hundred years

I've no opinion on the first two, but this 3rd set; they look like marks from the gripper teeth of the clamps the tannery uses to stretch out the hides

Several months later. . . . Neddy Seagoon* returns to the fray . . . . . Bluebottle* has come up with an idea . . . . whack! . . . . . . . . . .. . thats the end of that and Bluebottle* is now deaded However, I've not forgotten this. It was put on the 'back burner' as a saying here goes. I had it written down on a bit of paper (Bluebottle & Eccles)* This morning I ordered 2kg, about 5 pounds, of pop-corn kernels. Some might be used in making a bottle/flask and some might be made into grits and some made into popped corn It might not take 3 months for me to get to the next stage. On the other hand. . . . . . is a glove * I'll let you google up those names

These are general guides. just to start with. As you progress you'll find your own way with thickness, type and its use

Too right they do. Over 21 years I've only lost a few needles at outside events.

Sometimes I hammer a nail pinch down into the centre, but even if I do or not, I wiggle a pair of fine electrical wire cutters between the leather and rivet head and cut the stem with the cutters

In my method there would be no exposed metal

Basically, billets are short straps sewn, or otherwise attached, to each end of the main belt. One carries the buckle and the other has the holes for the buckle tongue. When the billets are attached to the main belt they are usually set in by a few inches. For looks, billets are often narrower than the main belt. an example; Its a useful design to know. IF I was doing fancy gun-leather belts, I could/would make a fancy one-size-fits-all main belt but only attach billets to the ends for the final customer

I would; take two pieces of thin leather and glue & sew them together along the long edges and one short edge. Slide the 'pocket' over the clip. When its on, sew up the open end, then dunk the whole thing in water and then let it dry. After it is dry, dye & finish