fredk

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

Basically you only need to allow for the thickness of the leather to be used, and most times you don't even need to do that. A male fitting tightly into the female part will just sit further out when leather is put between. The only time you really need to consider leaving a size difference is if you are using a buck and a frame around it to press the leather down over it

In the UK you can buy a car leather upholstery cleaner which will give off a 'new leather' smell after use. Car dealers use it on both new cars and used cars. The cleaner works on the PVC and plastic parts as well, shining them up but adding that 'leather' smell

I've not received an email about this and there is nowt on their website about it

In RAF we had one very important one; WOP....... Warrant-Officer on Prowl Its not so much the abbreviations, which are now quite common, but the names of everyday things that can cause confusion eg; US truck = UK pick-up. in UK a truck is a heavy goods vehicle weighing 3 tons or more or a small light weight wheeled vehicle for handling very large goods US, bill-fold, UK - wallet.

Almost all those abbreviations are standard fare in the UK, mainly due to t'internetty Not all British slang comes from Cockney!* TTFN was a popular phrase coined by a favourite radio presenter called Jimmy Young * in fact most British slang has nowt to do with them sort of Londoners IMHO = here, mostly is In My Humble Opinion we separate ATM from atm. But it is extremely rare for anyone here to ask for an ATM; they usually call it a 'hole in the wall' or 'cash point' Old one which still causes confusion; LOL - to some = Laughs Out Loud, to some = Lots Of Love afair, it was Lots Of Love originally to the British, but the US and international Laugh.... took over; thus older users use it for Love WTF; has a clean form, = Why The Face?

I did this game board about 15 years ago using a gold gel ink pen; I also use metallic ink pens by Molotow and also paint pens No problems so far. But seal the ink with resolene or something similar; the ink remains water soluble. If your item gets in the least bit wet the ink will thin and run.

I would 'wash' them down with lots of cellulose [lacquer] thinners and clean rags; until they are about dry of that oil, then apply neetsfoot oil to restore the lost oil, but not as much nfo, just enough to feed the leather

x

Taking a random sampling, we in the UK are paying approx 50% more than you in Canada for the same item, plus you have items in that flyer that are not in mine

They also used shellac varnish. I believe shellac is still used on the boots of the Household Cavalry, the long ones worn for official duties