fredk

I have a very large spool of thread which is not waxed. After I cut off a length I wax about 3 inches of the ends, taper, thread on needle, then pull the rest of that thread through a block of beeswax. Waxing the ends helps to keep the individual threads together and make a good taper

Unfortunately, with the loss of certain skilled trades the different styles of spoke shaves have been lost. It took me many years to find just a few replacements for ones I had stolen. There are / were three main types of spoke shave. 1. the common flat foot, straight blade type we see everywhere, strictly not a 'spoke' shave but simply a wood shave 2. a type with convex foot and convex blade, sometimes called a 'chair-makers shave' as its useful for shaving out the recess for your butt on a chair seat 3. a type with a concave foot and concave blade - the true wheel-wright's spoke shave, for making square edges round Within these three main groups there used to be a very great range of sizes, eg the #1 now only available with a 2 to 3 inch blade use to be available from 1/2" to about 15", the #2 was available in different sizes and curvatures up to about a 12" blade as was #3

Try 'Mop and Glo' (name?) floor polish - 2 coats

Last time I used Dylon, with the powder, you mixed it into a cupful of almost hot water, when that cooled you mixed it into 1 gallon of warm water. With the liquid pots you mixed one into 1/2 gallon of warm water. End colour was just the same. Adding more dye into the water didn't alter the end colour depth, it just dyed quicker.

Bees wax on its own melts at a low temperature and dissolves easily in many drinks, such as beer. I suggest a mix of food-grade carnauba and bees wax

If its anything like the UK's Dylon dye, the liquid form is just a pre-mixed version of the powder, for convenience

Your choice of leather will determine your comfort ie, upholstery leather will have more stretch to it so it'll be a 'softer' seat, stiff veg tan will give a stiffer seat you could use upholsters webbing stretcher pliers to pull the strips, or use a framer's stretching pliers

No problem with that, no need for webbing insert

From my experience of trying to split heavy thread down - it ain't worth the effort. I could never get any but a good few inches even. I just keep it for where the heavy thick thread is useful. Good thread that I buy is only a few cents/pence per yard, my time is worth more even though I'm a cheappy per hour type

Will your blue gun withstand the 130 to 150 degrees needed to bake the polymer clay? [aka Sculpey and FIMO]

I do not think so. In fermentation of alcohol you want to exclude oxygen and allow the carbon dioxide to escape through the water trap. The CO2 is pushed out due to pressure build up in the jars. O2 cannot get into the jars through the water trap. I think a top with holes, with or without short pipes attached, in a well ventilated area is the way to go

umm, these are fancy but I use map pins into a piece of cork. The map pins cost about £/$1 for about 25 and the small blocks of cork are sliced off a larger block which cost me about £1.50. The cork pieces do need changing after much use though. Biggest problem I have with them is I keep mis-laying the wee box I keep them in

The paint will mostly flake off after minimal use. Chrome tan is not very good at holding a carved design.

1.are they along the line you'll be sewing? they'll go awol under saddle stitching 2. you can use a modelling tool to burnish the leather around them to press the surrounding leather in towards the hole to make it less visible. A little bit of water dropped into the hole will help make the hole close up as well

I'll second JB Weld. I used some as a 'temporary' repair on a valve cover and on a water outlet on my 1930 Austin 7, that was 20 years ago and the JB is still holding. The valve cover is under the exhaust so it gets really hot there. The water through the outlet only gets to about 90 degrees.

When I used to repair medieval type shoes for medieval type re-enactors I used to glue on a modern rubber shoe sole repair patch. It was just big enough to cover just where the ball of the foot made contact with the ground. It was enough to about water proof the sole and add extra grip, especially on wet grass.

posting that way imo is just spamming No

other sellers pay to advertise and sell

That may be true in the US but the mink oil I buy is pure mink oil with no additives.

ethics. In the UK and some parts of Europe mink are not only no longer farmed but it is forbidden to farm them thus its very hard to get mink oil. I get mine from China. Neets foot oil is a by-product of the beef meat industry so it ethically easier to obtain Neets foot oil (NFO), beeswax and some carnauba wax mix is what I use

1.thats a nice looking bag 2. recently a client didn't want my logo too prominent. I couldn't put it on anyways as I was using chrome tan leather to make some drawstring bags. So I stamped some 4cm x 3cm veg tan with my logo, its 3cm x 1.7cm, and sewed them into the seam at the bottom of the bag.

make sure the replacement gasket is the same thickness as the original. any difference can throw tolerances out

Two suggestions; 1. get a bit of dowel, drill a small hole in one end, push the square-ish shank of a large size sewing machine needle into the hole. you have one pokey-hole tool. 2 one of these might work for you; and a cork block to push the pokey or needle into as it goes through the leather. you can get one for about a $ or two in a hardware store, as a 'sanding' block. keep to the large size or simply cut it down to a handy size for use

I use pre-waxed polyester thread in different thicknesses and colours, but mainly dark brown, light brown or black. Either pre-waxed or waxing during sewing is a must