fredk

Put in the spacers. Angle the tops a bit to guide the blade into the sheath On this copy of a 16th century sheath the knife has a 1 inch wide blade. I cut spacers to the main shape and to narrow the blade area down to 1 inch wide. In this case the spacers are also the welts, but the same idea holds

did you remember to take photos to share with us?

I've got the pattern from 'DieselpunkRO' This one : https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/637482329/plague-doctor-mask-pattern-diy-pattern?ref=related-1&pro=1 He does a number of different styles. His instructions are to sew from the head towards to the point of the beak along the bottom join then from the tip to the eyes along the top join. He also does some very good instructional videos I've the pattern pieces cut out, I really must translate them onto leather

What are you ordering now? 2 ways; 1. order belly leather, than is usually very supple, but it can be stretchy as well 2. tell your supplier that you want supple and not stiff. I have a good working relationship with my leather supplier, Le Prevo, and I can tell them what I want and they sort it out for me

Yes, quite often, where glue is not always required. I use tape meant for ordinary sewing as its cheaper than rolls labelled 'for leather' I keep, 3mm, 6mm, 10mm and 15mm widths in my 'sticky stock' box

I think I found these photos you speak of and I think the person who posted them has managed to lock them into place in the 'Gallery' I think you/we should contact Johanna or someone who has the suitable permissions to remove the photos

oh, ok, but I don't see them either

I don't usually see the adverts across the top because I have installed an ad-blocker. I can choose to show the adverts if I want to see them, or not

yes it is and also kitchen cutting boards. That plastics place sells it in sheets from 1mm upwards in thickness. I use 6mm, 10mm, and 16mm thick

Would HDPE or Delrin work for you? Thats what I use under my shape cutters (I'll not raise them to the level of clicker dies, ) I'm only cutting out, (stamping out), small shapes from up to 1mm suede or pigskin for bases to put on games playing pieces I get my sheets from this place: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/gfgplasticsltd I've never really damaged a sheet yet. I buy a lot of nylon, delrin or HDPE sheets from them as I use the sheets for all sorts of odd jobs, like sticking wet & dry paper to for a flat sanding surface

All stamping should take time. When you use a bar and hammer, walk the the stamp. 1st hit, centre to locate it, then tip to top left, hit again, tip to top right, hit, tip to bottom right, hit. tip to bottom left, hit. Finish with another centred hit. All this takes more than 20 seconds. The time is needed for the leather fibres to become fully compressed and retain that compression. If you just press down briefly and release the fibres can reshape themselves a bit after release of the pressure on them Try it this way and you'll find you get sharper more permanent impressions

The grey one; https://tandyleather.world/products/craftool-pro-hand-press?_pos=3&_sid=2f2862f43&_ss=r I preferred the grey one as I bought the adaptors for the 3D/2D stamps for it https://tandyleather.world/products/press-dies-for-hand-press?pr_prod_strat=copurchase&pr_rec_pid=4602824392839&pr_ref_pid=4602666549383&pr_seq=uniform Not many people do this; ~~ its not just about pressing the stamp, the leather needs to be cased just about right, and leave the pressure on for about 20 seconds or more Would you believe that no place in my country had an arbor press of any size. Only one was willing to import one. It was large and was 12T pressure and was going to cost around £600. Tandy had theirs on sale so I got it for about £180 Nonsense. The Tandy is 1.25 T and if I don't carefully adjust its depth to press I can, and have, punched a stamp right through 3mm thick l leather. Just the other night I tested a self-made resin stamp on 2mm leather. I didn't use the press nor a hammer, I just pressed it down hard on the cased leather and held it there for about 20 seconds. I got a very decent test stamping, not great but passable

With the Tandy press I can screw the end of the ram up or down so I bring the ram down to the leather and adjust it so that the stamp is just pressed into the leather by a few millimetres. I also use various thickness of delrin sheet as a base

I have and use the Tandy press. 1.25T pressure afair. More expensive than a bog-standard arbor press

Short answer, yes you can. even shorter answer, yes I never made shoes or boots from new, just repaired plenty and I used the same leather I used for making bags et cetera I found that belly leather, about 1.5 to 2mm, was good for wet forming over the last for the vamp

I was in Hobbycraft today and tried to check out one of their card cutting presses. I say tried, cos they were out of stock. However, a nice young lady went and searched out the information required. This is for their machine priced at £54. https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/sizzix-big-shot-die-cutting-machine/606169-1000 Cutting width is 15.6 cm Cutting depth is 1.6 centimeters, so I was waaaay off I reckon this has potential. I'm for ordering one of these machines I already use some of the card cutting steel templates for impressing into leather. Here is just one example, the knitting things, not the letters*. You can buy literally thousands of different pictures in different sizes for only a £/$ or two through ebay * I got the angle wrong on this one, the knitting looks too much like a flag, but the lady still liked it and a correction from me, I kept calling this a 4 piece set, its only 3 piece and its his number 4 set. I got the numbers mixed up

Thats pretty good so it is I really like the rough look to the bevelling (?) around everything. I think that just makes it extra so different

I've used woodworkers type PVA glue which is water based. I usually use a solvent contact adhesive. One thing that I've found is that the water based glue will shrink the leather, as any water used on leather will do. I've used the PVA on re-wrapping sword grips and the nature that the leather will shrink as the glue dries out pulls the leather tight, and this needs to be taken into consideration in making sure there is sufficient leather. A solvent adhesive does not, in my experience, shrink the leather at all.

Measure the length you need and note the cross-section profile, then try at an auto parts store We have the same problem with our 1930 to 1934 Austin cars and thats how we get fan and drive belts for them

you guys need a time to have a beer ?!? I just have one when I fancy one. Its simpler that way

Nicely made

1. I use them in my Tandy press which is about 1.25 tons pressure afair 2. I use a 3mm steel plate over them to spread the load. The plate is the width of the stamp and the length of the longest piece 3. I adjust my press so that the stamp (any stamp) goes only so far into the leather 4. On the first stamp I do the centre of the stamp first to locate it then I work to the left of centre, then the right of centre. I know when its stamped well as a further pull on the press handle does not put any more pressure on the stamp 5. (See below) on the next stamps I first do the end which goes on the end of the last piece, then the centre, left and right et cetera 6. On other stamping/embossing tools I have you need to align the ends of the first stamping with the next one and so on. It needs very careful alignment to get it straight and no gaps. With the stamps this Russian chappie makes you overlap the second piece onto the end of the first. This does two things. 1. you get perfect alignment, 2. you can adjust the overlap to make the total stamping different lengths. This overlap is why in 5 above I do the end of the next piece first, to fix it in place. 7. They are excellent quality. They are thick enough for use and very detailed. As the chappie says, they are for use in a press, not for use with a hammer 8. Plenty of detail. How much do you need? I use these as a border on some game boards. It used to take me several hours to do four of these Celtic lace designs on a board Now I can do all four in about 15 minutes, and that suits super-lazy me! This is the short one piece one. I bought this one first, found it was too short for my liking so I then bought the 4 piece set. This is just a test/sample pressing which I keep with the stamp. Its on too thin a leather for the stamps best to show up A close-up of part of the stamping Plenty of detail there to keep me happy

Is this the one you know of? Its the chappie I've bought from. A good & helpful chap. Currently, toolmaniac https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/toolmaniac/m.html?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEFSXS%3AMESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654 I've bought two items from him. 1. a single short Celtic lace: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Celtic-Style-Leather-Belts-Embossing-Stamp-For-embossing-VegTan-Tooling-Leather/224174510639?hash=item3431d7922f:g:KMoAAOSww5hZNZki 2. a 4 piece Celtic lace: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stamp-Set-4-for-Embossing-Vegetable-Tannned-Tooling-Leather-Belt-Blanks/224174509535?hash=item3431d78ddf:g:KPAAAOSwEHpZNZkh edited, to add. A few years ago a friend jokingly suggested I get a table top old fashioned clothes wringer for embossing larger areas, eg book cover fronts. I've considered them but they go for top ££

The roller machines for die cutting card for card making have a small limit on what can go through them, max is about 4mm (thin aluminium sheet, card stock of max 200gsm, metal die of 2 mm and another aluminium sheet). I have a set of the acrylic embossing stamps by that Russian chappie. The stamps are about 4mm. Then add your belt leather, minimum of 3mm. I'll have another look at these machines when I'm at Hobbycraft next

Have you got any beeswax & nfo mix? rub some of that in. Let it rest in a warm place for a while then work the leather. You might have to repeat this, but that should do the necessary