fredk

Basically, yes. You can also use that hardware for fixing a screw-on concho as a front for a snap. Tandy sells packs of the necessaries edit. Tandy https://tandyleather.world/products/concho-snap-adapter-10-pack?_pos=10&_sid=93680ea78&_ss=r 10 pk for £3.12 afair the screw size is the same for almost all CS

Either side is good, but on raw veg tan I prefer applying to the 'flesh' side - your 'matt bottom' The other side is called the 'grain side' I have some 4 - 4.6mm veg tan and its quite pliable so if your 5mm is very stiff it sounds like its dry. Its always best to wet the section along which you are going to fold. Also a groove gouged on the inside of the bend helps

Depends on just how stiff it is and why. If its a case of being stiff as it is too dry just about the best option is to apply Neetsfoot Oil. 1. use pure Neetsfoot Oil and not the compound 2. apply it in small amounts and let it soak in. Its very easy to apply too much and the leather gets saturated with the oil and then you can just write that leather off as its almost impossible to get the oil out again

If you go down the pop rivet road, you can get automatic pop riveters, which work as fast as an semi-automatic gun. You can get types which run off compressed air or are battery operated ie cordless. I did some work with a place which rebuilt old trucks and buses and the workers there used a compressed air type. They put in the rivets faster than you could sneeze https://www.hansonrivet.com/tools-machines/blind-pop-advel-tools/pop-blind-rivet-tools/pop-rivet-feeding-systems/

a. the folks who glue it to cardboard use a rubber glue which just peels off b. compressed cardboard is like cereal box or 'do not bend' envelope backs, to differentiate it from regular corrugated cardboard as in regular boxes

All of us were there at sometime btw, another tip, put some layers of parcel or duck tape on the back of the leather piece. Some folk even glue it to compressed cardboard. This helps to reduce the stretching of the leather as you stamp and tool it.

Did you let the leather start to dry? Yes 'casing' is the correct term and you did right wetting it then putting it in a bag so the water can get through the fibres. But after you take it out of the bag you should let it rest and start to dry. As it turns to a dry, normal looking colour, but cool to the touch then its about ready for stamping and tooling. I keep a bit of the same leather but dry near my cased piece to compare the colour to. When the cased piece is almost the same colour as the dry piece then I reckon its ready

I would highly not recommend either of those Unfortunately, I have experienced that the funny rubbery plastic used on mobile phones, ipad etc can get stained by these. I had to replace two phone covers because of this. Fortunately one was mine, t'other was my dottir's and not customer's

1. leave it as it is and it'll wear smoother through use 2. a nice slick lining is glazed pig skin https://tandyleather.world/products/glazed-pig-lining?_pos=1&_sid=c3c46daab&_ss=r or this https://tandyleather.world/collections/leather/products/economy-mission-grain-lining

I think the OP is dreaming of problems that will probably never arise. In over 20 years of leather work I've only ever had to re-sew a few items, viz 1. Medieval shoes repairs, as the original maker left the sole to vamp thread on the outside surface of the sole where it wore away 2. one small waist pouch, mine, because when I originally made it it had no lining, later I decided to put a lining in it. The seams had been glued with contact adhesive and sewn but this was cut through carefully using a scalpel. Other than those I've never had to re-sew anything at all. I've made a good many items for medieval history re-enactors and presenters. They are hard on their leather items, not looking after them, moreso than the ordinary person, and yet I've never had to re-sew anything but those shoes Proper use of thread and sewing practice will ensure a good sewn seam. I very much doubt that a thread inside a card wallet will ever wear to the point of replacement. I am still using a cheap leather wallet I bought in 1986. Only in a couple of spots has the thread come out or broken. The wallet is still in use and serviceable. That is the only reason why I've not yet set to and made myself a new one.

A conservation expert at the RAF Cosford museum showed me how soaking metals in a mildly strong citric acid solution worked wonders on cleaning the parts of corrosion. He showed me parts made of iron, steel, aluminium and brass, both before, during and after treatment. I've since used it on metal parts instead of my usual hot vinegar & salt solution.

This may give you a start on your search https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165-RARE-LEATHERWORKING-BOOKS-ON-DVD-LEATHERCRAFT-GUIDES-MANUALS-LEATHER-TOOLS/163689933492?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

2 things you need to watch out for 1. some makes tell the size by the centre hole, others by the diameter of then outer ring, thus 6 mm from two different makers, one will have a 6 mm centre hole, the other is 6 mm overall with a 3 mm hole. 2. The larger you go the thicker the leather you can go through. Small sizes for very thin leather. I wanted to go through 4 mm leather and had to use 10 mm (centre hole) rather than the 6 mm I really wanted to use.

I think they look like 3mm lacing slits

No difference except price. When I started leather work I got my sail grommets - the ones with washers - from a sail maker. Then I found Le Prevo and bought from them. On a couple of occasions their grommets came in packs with the same name on as the ones bought from the sail maker

Depends on whether you want to buy in US or go abroad. I get my brass stamps made in Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. A 2cm across stamp costs £15, a 6cm across stamp costs £25, and sizes in between and over at pro rata prices. I send the artwork as a jpeg and I get the stamp back in about 10 to 14 days usually. The artwork needs to be binary though. My makers stamp, 3 cm across, cost £16.99 afair

1. Dyes penetrate the leather fibres into its depth. Paints only go so far in but really remain on or near the surface 2. Paints designed for use on leather remain flexible, other paints can crack and even peel off when the leather flexes. For small areas the craft shop paints will be ok

Scrap value, about 75p. Current scrap steel/iron price in the UK is about £75 per clean ton. However, I've seen a vintage car engine that was used as an anchor totally rebuilt and put back into a vintage car. The engine was given to the car owner as an anchor for his boat. One man's scrap is another man's required item for a resto

What size is this thing? I think the way I'd tackle it would be to make four wood bucks; #1 for the main body and #2 & #3 one for each end and #4, one of the complete shape. Then wet mould thin leather over/around the bucks. When they are dry I'd sew them together around buck #4 I think thats a way to do it. Anyone else have any ideas?

@Chris623 Just round them a wee bit, not much, and smooth the top corner edges and the corners 1. just a bit off the edges will help prevent the leather getting marked by any roughness there if the leather is drawn across the edge 2. if you round it as much as a counter top edge there is chance, however slim, that you may accidentally do some work close to the edge and the piece may slip round the curve and ruin what you are doing (don't ask how I know this can happen, )

12 x 12 inch or 14 x 10 inch

you had to ask, didn't you? you just had to ask! I don't think anyone really knows what the letters DFS stand for. There are plenty of ideas tho DFS is a furniture company which has 'this week only' sales running just about continuously through the year. Their short-term sales never end. Its become a joke in the UK. You have to see their TV adverts and experience them over several years to really understand the humour

It'll probably be fine.

The glaze is basically a top coat varnish. Your fav finish won't get through it. It'll just stay on the surface. But if its to feed the leather you can get in through the back side.

Its a matter of both quantity and refining costs. There is actually not a lot of lanolin on the wool fibres. This has to be washed off carefully and then go thru several refining stages to clean it and turn liquid oil to a creamy state. As an idea; imagine how greasy/oily your hair feels if you don't wash it for a few weeks, but there is actually very little grease/oil on the hairs, one wash and its off. But you cannot see it in the wash water.