fredk

Thank you fellow LW-ers

I use edge paint very rarely. But it seems mine dries faster than the types you lot use. Mine is touch dry in about 10 minutes. So by the time I've got round something the start is dry. I leave things for as long as until I remember I have to finish it. I don't sand before the next coat, I just rub it over with a painter's prep pad. A second coat is normally enough.

Thank you. I'm pleased with that one, and the other one, and the next one. . . .

I thought I'd show you a couple of dice cups I've made #1 was made for #1 son to use playing a Dungeons & Dragons game. Its to his design idea. Its supposed to look like lava. I used a groover to scour out the shapes then used acrylic paints, yellow, orange and bright red, to paint the 'lava' #2 was made for #1 dottir to use playing a Dungeons & Dragons game as well, but not with #1 son. I have a load of this black & red 'dragon skin' leather. Its very thin, about 1.2mm and very flexible. I got it really cheap from Le Prevo many years ago. I've used very little of it since then and I've been looking at things to use it on. The construction of this one is different to the normal way or to #1 above. The main body is of 2mm, dyed purple, I made stitching grooves all round on the flesh side. I sewed the two short sides together then slid it onto my buck former with the grain side to the inside. I glued and sewed the base on. Then I glued the bottom black strip on, followed by gluing on the red & black 'Dragon skin'. Then I sewed on the inner top re-enforcing strip followed on by gluing on the top black strip. I made sure that the joins in all 4 pieces (main inner body, 2 x black strips and Dragon skin) were nicely spaced away from each other. The 2mm main body turned out to be too thin, the cup is a bit too flexible. My new selling agent wants a lot more of this one. She plans to sell them not only for D&D but as desk pen-holders et cetera. I have some other odd leathers which may get used up in this way

But yours is rather nice, especially compared to - You've even got a spring and a fancy lever. Kinda beats my coach bolt and wing nut

Theres clever, boyo (say with a Welsh accent)

Not really, not for the purposes we were discussing Get along to an industrial business site - a real one, not a web-site. Many of the heavier industries receive goods which have steel strapping around the packaging. Mostly this steel banding is cut off and goes into the scrap metal / recycling / or trash bins. They may allow you to take some away for free or a small contribution to the tea & biscuits caddy Some heavy industries send their goods out in crates with the steel banding around them. Therefore they have rolls of the banding for doing this. They may sell you some lengths of it I've seen the steel banding in widths from 3/4 inch wide to 2 inches wide. Its also a spring steel and very hard to cut. Normal cheap metal shears won't cut it, it needs high quality shears

I've had a look and cannot find any brand name on mine or any others on sale Link to one on ebay.uk ; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124530451111?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3D9b16d3e025514727a4fdadd6fe0e9bbf%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D363299089267%26itm%3D124530451111%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv9PairwiseWithPLXWeb&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A1245304511119b16d3e025514727a4fdadd6fe0e9bbf|enc%3AAQAGAAAB8KWmVn4cXp9jhMNL1vFCs%2B5UOd5WJi0%2F6XruOtk3%2FeI5DMwrq1fTMpx%2ByX3aK9KDeevfX%2FqNutq2KheKLO1Lz57iy43GbM%2BHVB7Ygxt16JgAyma28HKfnYCgKh3h6kjoikDXvvEkAr2xEWj0ToGV%2FskZRHQOPI1JPN8r74AcKTP1r41%2FFYM76W5btMoNHWrHSdwG4nFJ8850DzMZomZrU%2F8l4yxyZl%2FDyqz5SqsOt6rJ6MG5PGT54795jL8PSclsz4JFkfhDfdW6T3hWhSHLiml6p8F0QnMrx3B0pgdW2t1Gar7XCgW3md9snRcvmMo38IcnglAWu%2BN3ryBTEQimXErcWjoLGKxGZ8Lm3o8hIrqnx%2Bg601WxNGgAyN%2Bfwmnxe47ttH%2FgjIERp51Ifs%2BBeQfJ9B24yBfRyZRphbkVRKlKrUtvUoBzwcLOpcyATbrDhe9pPPjUK2YflxAuIMjPja4UZxXlPHpAu4O5wAeW6uwXA3hRKHklNIDOvhaeH%2BB69uRXh3z44qOFuI820Wp2ddgXmvC88qsrq72Ynd9zRLkxd7ntFNCC%2Bsy29ZVIDMQKsrQSdWOFy1%2FrkT95K9KiYISXz%2FLE5RorFCFZDWzQYqVcz%2BpV4PCaCV%2FRsyfmHjQv%2F2L4EoAEyHvZzI4Bz1xuZqU%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2047675&epid=1987261210 One with deeper jaws; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192768988421?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3D9b16d3e025514727a4fdadd6fe0e9bbf%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D363299089267%26itm%3D192768988421%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv9PairwiseWithPLXWeb%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A1927689884219b16d3e025514727a4fdadd6fe0e9bbf|enc%3AAQAGAAACAKWmVn4cXp9jhMNL1vFCs%2B5UOd5WJi0%2F6XruOtk3%2FeI5DMwrq1fTMpx%2ByX3aK9KDec%2FhBQ2%2BiMO2MnZ8oGp87aPlcox%2FTFRcsqP1TGRiZ2oP%2B14y2ecczmRNtpV8IsJH60rBqkfOFl2kvMx2WtXmcKgdg2Kws3b7d0f%2FOSa9IzXSUMqpFWJWXXniyT3WCywTOdgqUFT5dOhIP4C0GP79Z82Y9VFb7HTre3hDbsbqL73dSij5ZCWtbuvAOYSIXpEBoaA6mlZBWj6yztyT7Xi3kDoO%2FZg875mRM5kmi%2BeZLgFLNTDUKgLoFQCVS%2B7Es%2Bv1KUuOVgiliLwCnfOL9bsghtxXQ986LCNr2qm%2F8%2F%2BdnDHze%2BeP%2Fgs7pN5fau9YHSgRSRt7L5A2KdLi14%2BlSiyrz8PPyZoazuOdFlWdX9XU1bRQHhP6%2BKVrdf%2BAEZ%2FUegrHO%2B%2BzCVu%2FRJcalau3RX0z58VCVqqWNfPUyXsNf2sbsqrxlSDUMqf6VmW2S0sqUkpT0qDcnLqHKom1MFUmK8QsLHNQeOMwRb9RwZF6pNzexA085yqTasA%2FNy%2Fae1a%2BxVQOHOB%2BPzNIJNO%2FpNlK2elZfkTIwLIDE3I5Ul8RUEPLGEWSOnsRuEoslJtGF%2FX03tfPdZsC6inFOYGUv3PzGBpxkI6PVO%2Fl47HqkJbfAAdHbNVX|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2047675

I was told to leave and never return to the woodwork class because I was so bad, which embarrassed my father no end as he was a fully qualified cabinet maker

Well, seeing as we are doing a 'show and tell', here are my stitching clamps thingies #1, the first one I made over 20 years ago, still used occasionally. #2, as #1 is a bit tall I bought a cheap smaller one, cost under £10. I added magnets, changed the foot board and made it swivel-able. The spanner for the wing nut which locks the swivelling is held by a magnet on the inside. Maybe some day I'll add the springs I bought specially for these and maybe do other improvements. In the meantime some leather is calling me to cut and fashion it. . . . . .

I use a wee thickness gauge which cost me £3.50 but is sold by some for as much as £25. Its jaws only allow going into the hide by a couple of centimetres, but it is accurate It looks a bit like this one, just slight design differences

I've used MrMuscle on leather boots and shoes to clean off oily gunge from my motorcycles or picked up in scrapyards. Spray on, leave for just a few moments, wash off, job done, but it is risky if you don't know what you're doing with it.

If the marks are dark and shiny, I think its the aluminium oxide rubbing off. Aluminium always has a layer of oxide on its surface. Spraying the area with MrMuscle oven cleaner might work as that dissolves aluminium, but thats risky as the MrMuscle might affect the rest of your boots.

I like magnets on mine. Somewhere for the needles to hang whilst I move the project in the jaws or just when I want to have a break from sewing. Also, a handy place to hang the awl, spare needles, if required. Never had thread hang up on them

I dunno what 'Reddit' is. But so far its been the Eu breaking the rules which were agreed. Assurances nothing would hamper drugs supply; the Eu blocked supplies of Astra Covid Vaccines back in January. They have imposed regs on the transportation of horses; a judge had to over-rule the suddenly imposed regs which would have led to the deaths of horses coming from GB. Eu imposed regs on 'soil' imported into N.I. Farmers and building contractors could not bring their machinery back from Scotland if there was so much as a speck of dirt on them - I do not exaggerate. One farmer who owns land in N.I. and Scotland could not bring some of his machinery back, it was stopped by customs 'in case' there was 'soil' on it. N.I. produces a lot of meat, it is sent over to GB for further processing, eg made into oven-ready meals, pies etc, but from this weekend the shops cannot bring that produce back over! And there is so much more which is known on the local scene and not reported by papers. Eg, petrol stations ran out of diesel fuel for a period of 5 days. The main fuel suppliers had problems with some of the new Eu regs (some of those 800 which have been applied in the last few weeks) It was the Eu which demanded the Irish Sea Border. After enquiring why my post has been late, the Royal Mail tells me all post is now going to and from GB through customs checks which is making an average delay of 5 to 6 days per item. Today I received a packet from GB posted on July 19th, (10 days) yesterday I received a packet from China posted there on July 20th. (8 days)

I cannot show you the info sent to me by my MLA - a government minister. Its confidential in nature However, scan down through this on-line news story. about 1/4 down, just above a photo of M. Martin https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1463424/brexit-live-news-ursula-von-der-leyen-visit-ireland-micheal-martin-northern-ireland and The Belfast Telegraph news report https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/eu-dropped-800-new-regulations-on-northern-ireland-without-notice-says-government-40654157.html

The EU just imposed 800 new rules in the last three/four weeks. Rules which were not agreed upon at all. The UK knew what they signed up for but not these 800 new rules which if not obeyed the EU will take the UK to court. The court action has already been started. And there are to be a further 1200 new EU regulations by Christmas time

Latest info; a rant! The 'Grace' period of N.I. imports is coming to an end now and things are looking bad. Shortages of fresh fruit and veggies and other foods in the shops*. From this weekend the main shops will not be allowed to bring in processed meats, eg sausages, pies, sausage rolls. The local Royal Mail tells me there is excess of 5 million postal items from N.I. to GB sitting in Liverpool docks waiting to clear customs, and approx 10 million postal items from GB to N.I. Worse is that over 2000 types of regular pharmaceutical drugs are no longer allowed into N.I. Those are drugs Ill people need. The Jewish community here, only about 250 people, cannot get their Kosher foods * in 1980 I spent a holiday in Jugoslavia and not since then have I seen food shelves in supermarkets totally empty or some with buying restrictions on them eg, 'Only two items per customer' I know you guys aint stoopid but let me put this in a context for you; imagine that all goods and mail in and out of Texas going to the other 49 States has to go through 'customs' because Mexico says it has to. And Mexico also puts restrictions on what meats, bread, fruits and veggies and other goods are allowed into Texas to be sold. Maybe Uncle Joe would allow it but Brother Donald sure wouldn't! PS. I was in touch with Le Prevo who got in touch with the courier. Each hide I buy would need a certificate signed off by a qualified veterinarian (we call them vets) which would cost approx £35 to £50 per. Thats on top of the other courier fee! So 5 hides which used to cost me £16.50 delivered would now cost about £265 to £340. Roughly, the same sort of hides from Tandy in Texas would cost me £32 delivery - inc all taxes! The Le Provo courier cost is not 100% certain. I'm told, buy, get shipped and see what charges will be made, but I can't afford to take that risk But, as Baldrick would say; I have a cunning plan. As cunning as a cunning fox teaching cunning at the university of cunning. I have a friend in England I could get the Le Prevo hides shipped to . . . .

That is true, but for why would you want it adjustable over a large range? I wear the one size of hat. My different hats' thickness of material only varies but a couple of mm overall. One time I measured around 4 of my hats with the idea of making bands for them. The length of the band around only varied 5mm between the shortest and longest

I dunno how the maker has dun it but if it was me I'd hide a couple of snaps behind that tongue,. Actually, maybe two or three half parts of snaps on the tongue and one half (the counter part to the others) on the strap between the end and the keeper, then the strap can be adjusted a wee bit

Move both the leather and the knife

Is the adjustment lever screwed tight with a reverse screw thread?

How long ago was this? As you have a postal address I'd send a letter. Include something along the lines that she still owes you $1500 for the sample tack. People usually fall for that and will respond by saying they don't owe you anything for the tack, which, if they word it in a certain way acknowledges that they have it Do you have one of those 'better business bureaus' that I sometimes read of? Go there and see if they can advise you. No sense me advising you, or some of the others on here, as the remedy available to us may not be the right one for you in Mn Don't feel bad yourself. Most of us have been in this situation at sometime. Its a calculated risk that sometimes needs to be taken. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes we get ripped off

Me too. I just slashed the top of the bag open with a knife and tipped it into the meal bin

Whatever type of dye I use I dampen the grain side of the leather before I dye and as I dye it I reckon it helps the distribution of the dye thru the leather, giving me less patches of differing colour density. Initially the dye colour might be light but I just apply more coats of dye to get an even depth of colour