fredk

Please lets not fall out over this in my not so humble opinion - buy the best tool you can afford from a maker with a good and proven history of quality, where-ever they may be located. One of the main things to look for in a stamping tool, especially a basket-weave, is that it gives a sharp impression. I have Tandy ones. They are moulded and the moulding has softened over the years and then they are coated with chrome plating which softens the impression even more. I/you can get a result from them but a better tool gives a better sharper basket weave look. I've bought from this Czech chap. Excellent quality. Speedy delivery. Just three days to my letterbox. At a very reasonable price. Amongst the tools I've bought from him is a square shaped basket-weave stamper https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/007designer007/m.html?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEFSXS%3AMESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654 I've not bought from this chap yet but I'm tempted to do so https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=tuningstarltd&item=264685930097&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xbasket.TRS0&_nkw=basket&_sacat=0 It suits me, especially in the pocket to buy out of Europe. If it wasn't for shipping & handling charges plus customs duties I would be tempted to buy from Barry King or someone similar (an item I bought a couple of years ago cost $19, but when other costs got added on it ended up at $65)

I made enquiries in that direction - answer was a big No. Not even if they were free to them

It would help if you told us where in the world you are. This is a very international forum with members from all the 4 corners of the flat Earth

I wonder if this is relevant to the discussion; Back in summer 2016 I was asked by a local Arts & Crafts and Local Development authority to run basic leather work classes. They'd done painting, pottery, and other similar things and now thought of leather, mainly cos the person in charge of the scheme knew me. I'm no teacher, so with a special experienced tutor type person we worked out a plan. Three classes, over three successive Saturdays for a real basic introductory course, then three more 'advanced' classes over the next three Saturdays. People were to sign up for the first 3, then if they wanted they could sign up for the next 3. Each session was to be about 4 hours, 11.30 to 15.30 approx. The cost of the 3 basic sessions was to be £15 per person for all 3 sessions, it was being subsidised by the local authority. Flyers and adverts put out. We had 120 or so enquiries within about a week, which is very good for Mid-Ulster, or anywhere in Ulster. 24 or so filled in the booking form. 2 weeks before the first Saturday we had 16 people booked and paid up. First Saturday we had 8 people turn up. 4 left at the lunch break and never came back. The remaining 4 finished that first Saturday, they came the second Saturday but not the third Saturday. I still had a few people on that last Saturday, the educator, her daughter, her brother, who dropped by to say 'hello' and the manageress of the community facility we were using. As part of the package I had made up tool kits. Each person attending got one of these to keep. In the first sessions the people were to make a coin purse and a draw-string bag. 6 tool kits went away. 2 were returned to me later. I've now got about 14 tool kits left over, taking up space in my storage unit. I'm not out money directly on these, I'm out my fees, but the authority and I came to an arrangement, some fee money and the tool kits in payment. Thats my experience of trying to teach some leather craft to the people of Ulster

All of us have very different regulations and systems in our home countries, but many are quite similar in principle In the UK one can set up as a 'Limited Company quite easily'. It costs as little as £100. A one-off payment. Within that the named 'directors' of which there must be a minimum of 2 have a personal liability 'limited' to £1 each. I used to see that as 'insurance' When I had several business I had them all as 'limited companies'. One of my business was producing and selling a motoring magazine. One time I got a 'claim' from a reader that he'd cut his finger on one of the pages. He was trying to sue. I handed the case to my company solicitor (lawyer) who sent him his £1 with an advice letter and that was the end of the matter In the UK a claim type case goes before a judge first who listens to the basic arguments then decides if it should go further or if its a 'frivolous' case and should end there. A lot, or a fair amount, of cases get no further. eg, a recent case, a woman tried suing a top-line hairdresser for cutting her hair badly, judge decided it was 'frivolous', especially as by the time it would be heard the woman's hair had grown. If a case is to go ahead the respondent (ie you) can ask the court to order the claimer to put up court fees in cash in advance in case they loose. Not many can lodge £20,000 + cash for an indefinite period with the courts. Again, I have experience of this but it was I was being sued for alleged libel. The court demanded the claimer put up £35,000 in cash to proceed. End of matter.

Gob smacked! that there is some tooling, and dye work

That is right tidy so it is. and thanks for all that info on its construction and finish. If anyone but a leatherworker were to read it they'd be totally confused, it reads like a secret code!

According to ISMACS - a 31k from 1948 - 1954, made at St, Johns Singer factory

umm, thats what I said in a different manner

East coast, about 20 miles east of Belfast, near the mouth of Belfast Lough. 7 miles further east of Bangor https://www.google.com/maps/place/Donaghadee/@54.5890347,-5.7743502,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4861762a42e07373:0xe985d44e36324315!8m2!3d54.6425555!4d-5.5375995 Mayobridge, a place where I've rallied through but never needed to stop in.

Actually, no, It was taken in Belfast Courts. On grounds of 'misrepresentation' of an 'endorsed product'. The shop did not promote the T-shirt as endorsed or official. They lost, compensation of £10,000, costs (estimated at £50,000) plus destruction of £25,000 worth of T-shirts. Shop no longer exists, owner on social security benefits and social housing. In the US a person has automatic 'copyright' of their image so this case could have been taken as 'breach of copyright' in the US There's a world of difference between me taking a BMW badge and adding it to my own key ring and me taking that same badge and adding it to products I could make for my son's garage to sell (he sells BMW car parts and services BMW cars) without BMW saying its ok. Its just not 'American' big business, its all companies which have a brand to protect. BMW own the brand name of Mini and produce a new version of the car. Late 1990s they sent a cease notice to a club in Northern Ireland. The club was Minis In Northern Ireland, M.I.N.I. The club let it go to court. BMW lost as the club origins went back to the 1970s and the court ruled Mini was a descriptive word and its use could not be enforced outside the context of using as describing one certain car.

Even that will be seen as copyright infringement and false representation of the item being endorsed by the company*. If you make less than a dozen the big company may not notice you, but start making a hundred and you'll soon feel their weight. * a number of years ago a T-shirt company in Belfast fell foul of the singer Rihanna. They obtained photos of her and printed them on their T-shirts. There is no law here, unlike the US, to protect a person's image. The company was sued for false representation that the T-shirts were 'endorsed' by Rihanna. Some of the photos used were Rihanna's own publicity shots sent out to publicise her events Harley Davidson has come down hard on people making items and including bought HD merchandise. One that comes to mind was someone making a plain leather 'biker's wallet' and attaching a HD key ring to it on its chain. HD told him to cease, they had not 'endorsed' the wallet and buyers might be mis-led into thinking they had

Please refrain from typing all in capitals. It is equal to shouting and it is not necessary

I guarantee all my work for life too but in the UK the law is that guarantee is only applicable to the first buyer

On the 'flower' type ones try getting needle-nose pliers under each petal, gripping it and bending it upwards. If you can get petals on opposing sides up a bit you can use regular pliers to go across two and squeeze and they'll bend upwards, then inwards towards the centre.

Even if you have a million quad zillion holsters made there will always be someone who will try to blame you and your holster on their failing. People do not want to accept their own failing and always want to blame others and in doing so go to law and sue. But its rare, very rare. If you read it in a newspaper, its because its rare. Here in the UK, for a small amount, like a few ££ we can buy 'product liability insurance' which gives cover up to £5 mill. No, I've not bought the insurance cos I'm not worried about any claim. I did have an incident which reflects on this. I used to make battle-ready medieval type shields. One day I got a letter from a lawyer type going to sue me cos a guige strap on a shield had broken and his client had got hurt. Through a friend I got a video of the incident. A. the client was not someone I'd sold the shield to b. he was through it around holding by the guige. c. I got a piece of the guige strap which had broken. Answer to lawyer; a. client was not my customer, guarantee of goods not transferable, b. his client was using the shield in a manner it was not designed for, ie the guige is only for carrying the shield. c. the bit of strap was PVC not leather, the client had replaced the leather strap with a bit of old handbag strap. Never heard another word about it but I heard that that 'client' was banned from numerous societies for trying to make stupid claims.

Put up a length of washing-line. Before you do thread it though the finger parts of bulldog clips so the jaws of the clips are a right-angle to the line. Then you just use the bulldog clip to hold the belt strap by one end, hanging down. Easy to get the strap on and off. Assuming each bulldog clip is about 1/2 inch wide then you can get about 24 straps hanging to the linear foot.

@Professor Well. thank you for finding that and sharing it

I do just about the same as LatigoAmigo but I use tray. Actually a stainless steel oven tray. I should point out that I thin my dye, about 2 water to 1 dye, or 1 water to 1 dye. ~ I'm not very consistent I wet the leather, not too much, before placing it in the dye. As you're doing straps, they can be loosely coiled and put into a small bucket or large jar of diluted dye.

naff = not good at all. or very poor

Thats the main reason I say to make the rubber negative first. I recently spilt some moulding resin on a well sealed and waxed scrap piece of leather. The resin stuck to the leather like it was part of it.

Dip dye. Not individual straps, but do a piece wide enough to cut several from, say 6 inches wide. Dip dye and let soak, then afterwards cut into 3/4" strips

I would 1. apply plenty of wax to the tooling 2.build a dam around it using something like blue-tac 3. pour in a moulding silicon rubber 4 . this will give a negative of the tooling but is too soft to use 5. Make a moulding rubber copy of the negative, this should look the same as the original tooling 6. use that second rubber copy to make a resin negative of the tooling. Use polyurethane moulding resin. Make it about 20 to 25 mm thick with some glass-fiber, aka fibreglass, in through the resin

The latest Copydex I've bought has no smell at all. I miss that fishy smell ml for ml Copydex has got really expensive

Although this guide is aimed at what is the current tool versus an old tool which has maybe been discontinued it does show the tool pattern and its number. Other makers usually follow these same numbers https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/product/1416/craftool-conversion-chart