fredk

Is it better to have a. just one set of holes cut through to from the edge? b. to cut the sides of that cut to an 'arrow head', or just trim them a bit, or need they be trimmed at all? I'm thinking, trimmed to an 'arrow head' might be removing too much material for the gripping, not trimmed and the bits might not lie flush too well, just a little trimming will help them get through the other hole but yet have enough material to grip ??

I've been following this on the Q-T. Interesting construction method. I've finally got my head around it. Now to design somat I can use it on

I'm not going to get mixed up in a bun fight. Threads often drift a bit on here. If anyone thinks a thread has drifted too far or is being hi-jacked too much lets direct the offender in a nice way (no accusations, no pack drill) - sometime it will be you/me that offends. Lets just be friends and get along. Right, back on subject; a mix of ideas - clamp up about 6 straps between a couple of lengths of timber, allowing the edges to stand proud. Swipe on to them all some beeswax mix and burnish in with a linen/denim cloth. Doing 6 at a time like this would take only slightly longer than doing one. If the strap edges are bevelled, do a final quick burnish with a carrot slicker when the straps are separated.

If you try to shrink the goat it will thicken and harden, what you don't want. Put your hand out with fingers spread, close your fingers together then make a fist, thats what happens to the fibres in leather as you shrink it, they pull together. Two things causing the shrinkage after glueing: 1. using PVA glue, which is water based. as the wet leather dries it pulls in. 2, You might be stretching the goat a bit as you place it As you don't want to change these the only thing I can think of doing, which I do with goat lining, is to cut it oversize and cut it neat after the glue has not only dried but cured, eg after a couple of days.

If you can't get what you want from a mainstream commercial seller check out contacts through the SCA - the Society of Creative Anachronism and other medieval re-entactment type groups. Usually either a member or someone associated casts their own buckles and fittings. As you do not seem to be looking for very many items they might be able to meet your needs

Either before or after, it really makes little difference. I usually put it on after sewing as it helps in around the thread and gets down into the thread holes Carnauba wax just makes the beeswax a bit harder when it all dries. you can do without it. Heating up both the wax mix and the leather helps considerably. Use a hairdryer on low heat, you just need about 60*. If you live in a very warm place then extra heating may not be needed. My area is 8*c now (very warm for winter) and rarely goes above 21*c in summer so extra heating is required. But if your wax mix is soft enough it will just rub into the leather. Let it sit awhile, give it a second coat, wait, then burnish it in and off with a rag and polish brush Whoever told you not to heat the wax is either in a warm place or should be there for giving false information

yes and no. Craftool is Tandy, but there are many, many copies available with Craftool on them but they are not from Tandy yes, Tandy originated the name Craftool, but see above. Early Craftools seem to be all steel & brass, newer ones are a cast alloy. Cheap copies are an aluminium alloy or low grade steel with alloy heads (the stamping part) To hide the low quality they chrome plate the tool and the plating fills in the detailing of the stamp. Its a lottery out there whether you get a good tool or not. I have 'Craftool' stamps from Tandy, some are good and some are rubbish. I also have cheap ones from Taiwan and China which also say 'Craftool', again some are good and some are rubbish.

I made a silly mistake, x 9, today. I'm making something to which I want to add a loop for holding a pen. I cut the loop pieces, x 9. Then I glued two of the opposite edges and clamped them using stainless steel bulldog clips. When the glue was dry I wet them and slipped them over a couple of dowels to mould them. I re-clamped, but tighter, using the s-s bulldogs. I clamped up all 9 pieces first then I meant to go back and put some lolly stick between the bulldog jaws and the wet leather. But I got distracted and didn't. By the time I remembered, a few hours later, I have iron staining where the jaws were on the wet leather and a little bit has spread further. Its no biggie as, a. these are being dyed very dark brown b. the bit with the iron staining will be sewn into a seam and hidden.

I very much doubt that: she has form, having previously tried to hire a hit-man to murder a fur wearing person. She needs a spell of incarceration and rehabilitation. I could fill volumes with tales of animal rights activists and the damage they have done here in N.I.

and I fell for it Just another finished goods seller spamming us

I'll tack this news story on here. I just hope its not going to set a new trend and we'll need to wear kevlar vests in the near future https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50519899

Check your notification settings, you should get an email. I used to turned it off. I chose to only get an email notification when I get sent a PM. Also check your spam box and check that emails from this site are 'white listed' add a small amount of disinfectant to the water

I don't know the whys and wherefores but I've found the harder the blade it sharpens well on a plain steel. My local butcher uses a plain steel rod for sharpening his knives and they are razor sharp. I used to have a proper professional butchers knife. The only way I could sharpen it was along the stainless steel shaft of my spud masher. No stone would sharpen it.

For just a few ££ I bought a knife & scissors sharpening unit from a local supermarket household items section. It has steels in one slot for knife and another slot for scissor blades. The handle/holder part is design so that you sharpen at the correct angle.

tbh, no matter how sharp the punch or hard the surface I never get a fully clean cut hole. There are always fuzzy hairs which need burnt away

Try delrin or acetal as a block. I use both these as pressure bearers when stamping using my bench press. They are harder than HDPE or nylon plastics, but soft enough not to damage a hole punch edge

I use lengths of lolly sticks, cut to length and split if necessary. One piece on each side. The lolly stick lengths go the whole way around. For clamps I usually use 'bulldog' paper clamps. I prefer this style; The length helps spread the clamping pressure along the lolly stick

I've only had to cover a base a few times. Each time I just superglued the head of a ready-rivet on. I matched the colour of the head of the snap with the same in the rivet.

I make it myself. No percentages or proper mixing. I just heat some beeswax until its liquid then add some nfo, let that cool and see what its like. Then either more wax of nfo until the mix is a soft paste, like a firm butter, then I add in about a teaspoon worth of carnauba wax. The mix is then warmed to liquid and poured into large enamelled tins which have lids. In use, I get some mix on a cloth and wipe it on across the edge of the leather, at intervals, then burnish each blob into the edge and meeting all the blobs up.Some paste mix gets on the front and back of the piece and I just rub this in and buff it off. I've only ever done edges this way and its pretty quick.

Glued and buckstitched with lace is plenty strong for normal use things

I only use a beeswax/nfo/carnauba wax mix for my edges. Edge is dyed and then the mix is applied with a cloth and burnished using either a wood slicker or just a piece of linen.

What I would do is; use a fine nib paint pen to out-line the letters and dragon head - some workers on here use a small bottle of paint with a very fine applicator needle to do the same job. On the scales I would paint over them all and the surrounding area with a couple of coats of a resist such as 'Pledge' floor polish - which is actually a thin acrylic varnish. When that is dried I'd paint over the scales with my colour and before it had fully dried wipe it off the top areas using a solid block covered in cloth or kitchen roll paper. The block will keep the cloth just wiping the top and not allow the cloth to clean out the groovey bits

There is available an acrylic vinyl paste designed for this sort of job. Its used by car restorers mostly. It is usually a set of about 6 or 7 base colours which you mix to match your leather then apply with a spatula to the scratch area. The kit also includes some imprinted sheets with different grain patterns on which you press into the applied paste before it hardens. The kit costs from $3 to $25 depending where you buy it from example on ebay; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sofa-Car-Seat-Leather-Hole-Burns-No-Heat-Liquid-Vinyl-Fix-Rips-Repair-Tool-Kit-o-/352706937011?hash=item521ef8c0b3 Note; apply after re-dyeing as you cannot dye this repair paste

I'll throw in my $2 worth (inflation) For over 20 years I made custom medieval style items with no maker's mark. Only year before last I got one made. Sometimes I use it sometimes I don't But - see below, Some customers do care plus its handy to see who made it in cases of returned work. I've had several items come to me, supposedly my work returned cos it was shoddy or falling apart. The customer swearing blind they bought it from me at a such'n'such craft fair. On two occasions there was a maker's mark which I showed the punter ~~ 'Not mine - his', on other occasions I had to argue that I never attended any such craft fairs - I never did attend them, punters found me, usually down in t'pub. I got the maker's mark stamp made cos customers wanted my stamp on it, so they could show others they got it from me. Its embarrassing really but its like an artist signing one of their paintings. If the customer doesn't want your stamp on it then don't put it on. I have a simple rule which has solved arguments in designs, patterns et cetera - who is paying the bill? they get what they want

No one has mentioned two things 1. gravity feed versus suction feed airbrushes. I use gravity feed, it needs less air pressure and a less powerful compressor 2. the capacity of the compressor - its rated free air delivery, it FAD rating. The greater the FAD the longer you can work at any air pressure