fredk

They are nicely made and attractive at the same time. I reckon they'll last the owners quite a whiles They are not something I think would be sought after in N.I. or even the UK as a whole. We have no 'history' of carrying pens in top pockets. Although, my father, being from Chicago, carried a full office in his top pocket I wish we had a 'like' button

Whatever you call it, don't sell it cheap. Don't under-value your work

Ask Le Prevo. They won't have it but they might know where to get it. In the distant past I've asked them about certain things and they were able to source the item for me

That is a real good bit of refurbishing work Thats going to last him a lot more years. You'll inherit your own work

Na, gotta disagree witt you d'are Texicans were known for having used the 'jock-strap' loops. This a "Forester British California Slim Jim Arizona type Mexiacan Loop with half skirt closed-toe gun holster"

Mexican Loop with a half skirt Nice work on it

Nice one.

me too. Now I'm thinking 'where did my pan go?' I might have to buy a new one and ever so tasty - with or without filling. Great as extras in packed lunches, snack boxes, in-car nibbles . . . . oh, almost forgot; nice work there YinTX

I reckon you've discovered one of the best ways. Two other machines are 1. variable speed saber saw [aka jig-saw, especially in the UK] 2. bandsaw. for some bandsaws there is available a knife blade specially for leather and rubber cutting

The pattern came from a book. The pattern was drawn on two pages due to the size of the pattern and the size of the book pages. I have it scanned already. PM me an email addy and I will email it to you. There be no pixies in Ireland - only faeries and leprechaun That be a leprechaun in the last photo . He's in his 'day off' clothes

Yes, a very slight tipping of the angle can mean its punching the wrong place on the back side. Two ways I have of dealing with this. 1. I usually like a stitching line front and back; not always a groove, sometimes just a line marked lightly 1a. draw the stitching line exactly the same distance on the front and back piece 1b. punch the stitching holes in the front piece only 1c. glue the pieces together, or use double sided tape 1d. use an awl to punch through from the front side through the rear piece, taking care to get each hole on the line you marked 1e. or use the stitching punch lightly to press through the front holes to mark the rear piece, check the marks are on the line, then make the holes 2. alternative; with these you still need to take care and they are limited to the stitch width, in these 2st per cm or about 6spi You need to take care that both sets of teeth are on the marked line. Once aligned just a squeeze and 3 stitches [4 holes] are punched I bought these for just under £10 (E11 or $13?) I have another pair to punch just two holes

Looks most excellent

Is this the sort of hat? This is made of 4 panels; Using the same basic pattern I make this version By using 8 D shaped panels I get a better fitting hat;

Probably take 15 mins, maybe 20 mins to sew up

Simple solution; insert a thin piece of mdf, use chisels to cut stitching holes, use curved needle to sew

I've had that for months now. I use the same one on all the forums I'm on

I use, and have used for about 15 years, a 2nd hand air compressor designed for 'spray tanning'. Mine is made by 'Babyliss'. It cost me £8 [about $10?]. It has no pressure gauge so I never know just what psi I'm using; I just turn the pressure knob until I get a nice even spray for whatever I'm spraying I reckon wetting the leather will 'open the pores' best; not soaking wet, but dampened right through. I wet it with a sponge, back and front. I always dye the back side of my work. I dilute my dye with water and meths [alcohol] and give the leather a good wet coating by spray. On a coffee cup cuff done recently I started at one end, by the time I'd reached the other end the first had soaked in and looked dry-ish, so I started there again towards t'other end; back across again and again until the dye was taking much longer to soak in and was still looking wet, as I did this the strength of the colour deepened too. I could have stopped at any time, at any light shade but I wanted a deep colour.

Rub in some bees'wax / neetsfoot oil mix.

Airbrushing the dye on can get the same penetration. I've only recently started spraying dye on. Just tried it on some coffee cup cuffs. Make sure your leather is on the wet side of damp, thin the dye a bit more than usual and apply many, many coats

1. dampen you leather 2. dilute your dye 1:1 or even 1d:2w 1 & 2 together will get the dye going deeper into the leather 3. apply diluted dye; many coats might be needed until good colour density is obtained 4. allow to dry out for at least 24 hours after last coat 5. buff with a clean cloth, buff again and again until no colour is seen on the cloth 6. apply a finish sealer like resolene; thin it like the dye and apply several coats, front and back. 7. allow to dry for at least 24 hours 8. apply a beeswax/neetsfoot oil type mix, or something similar 9. allow it to rest for 24 hours then buff it up

also, contact Le Prevo up in Newcastle. They often have odd hides at discount prices. A large piece from them costs less than a small piece from Tandy, plus they have eons of experience

any regular hardware store will carry them in stock. The bigger the store, the greater the range of sizes and finish

Very nice work indeedy The screws are pozi-drive [or Phillips drive] counter-sunk head screws or machine screws set into screw cups - depends on what Mike has on the other side, if anything I use brass screw cups to back yellow or gold rhinestone rivets and shiny nickle-plated ones for silver and coloured rhinestones. Holds em better and makes em look a bit bigger

Saw another use of WTF? today WTF? "Where's the Food?"

That is nice