fredk

I've been buying from LePrevo for 17 years - never had a problem with any leather. I tell them the thickness, square footage and type I want and let them send it to me. Only twice did I ask for a small sample first Hardware; do you mean rivets, buckles and such or tools? I used to get all from them as they were the only ones who would post to N.I. Now I buy rivets from China. I still get buckles from them as I like their range of brass ones. I usually/normally only use brass fittings and Le Prevo have good prices. Tools; I bought my first ones from them. Most are good, but they're limited in what they have. I bought a load of tools from Tandy last year, I also got some from China [via ebay] - eg a pair of special pliers which punches 3 lacing holes £35 plus P from Tandy, £9 from China; exactly the same thing cos they make them for Tandy You're probably paying an arm and both legs for delivery from UK. Have you tried that Parcel drop-off service? It sort of uses a N.I. post code to a place which then forwards it to a pick-up depot in Ireland - I think thats the gist of how it works

Nice

1. Two questions there a; any type you want to use, from any animal. The more exotic the animal the harder to get leather and more expensive it is. But leather from some animals is forbidden b. Soft leather. Soft leather can be thick or thin. Harder [stiffer] leather can be wet molded to make features on doorcards or dashes, or even a head-lining 2. Tandy keeps some. Sometimes they have leather that looks like its from snake or alligator, but its a lot cheaper. If you search on here you may find a list of leather sellers closer to where you are 3. What do you mean by this? More explanation please. For patterns just cut card or heavy weight paper or whatever, just whatever you do for cloth

I get my leather from LePrevo http://www.leprevo.co.uk/hides.htm

A thought. Ask "Scottsdale's Mueum of the West" in Scottsdale, Arizona. They are supposed to have one of the best collections of Chaps http://scottsdalemuseumwest.org/

I use a simple test. Burn a bit. Take a bit about the size of a quarter, hold in pliers, apply a flame. Real leather will scorch and smell like burnt meat, bonded leather wil start to burn, give off black smoke with black particles in it.

looks like a stuffing needle; for pushing stuffing up into tight places

Probably not a boot / shoe cobbler, but ask in equestrian and gun stores if they know a leatherworker. I reckon you're best bet will be through a gun store; they'll probably have contact with a holster maker. Holster makers work in lighter weight leather and generally don't mind to do it; saddle makers work in heavier weight leathers and may not have what you need As for samples to get or retain; I reckon you'll need three - the middle side and one from each end. The end pockets may not be exactly the same but made a bit 'lop-sided'

H'actually, thinking about this, I think the pockets have been made of cheap PU leather with a sprayed on finish. It takes a lot of rubbing to get through properly dyed quality leather. It takes months of regular hard use to make it start to show up, not two weeks. The saddle and holster makers on here will confirm this Whatever you chose to use, it will only stay on the surface. I'm not sure a leather dye is right on this occasion, it won't soak in properly and a lot will come off easily.A lacquer paint might be better

My ex- was conned into selling my Cadillac for £100. Guy forged a letter. He was to buy some spare parts kept in the trunk. By the time I got home and told police guy was across the border Junk mail - dunno if this would work for you; I pack up the junk mail, with old newspapers and stuff and mail it to the company. Only I don't pay the postage. I mark it 'Urgent papers inside' so the company feels compelled to receive it, thus having to pay the mailing charges. [return address is that of the company] I include a note; 'you stop sending me your carp and I'll stop sending you mine'. Works every time sock; yup, all black socks for me

As long as the plastic is HDPE it'll be ok. Here methylated spirits and other alcohol is often sold in HDPE bottles

I shall not get into the arguement and observation. To answer the OP question; what can be used to thicken it? I have not tried this with leather paints but with acrylic paints in general; Artists Medium, available in gloss, sem-matt and matt. Its a gel specifically for thickening artists acrylic paints so they can be applied by spatula or when by brush it leaves the brush strokes in it; making the smooth flowing acrylic paints work like oil paints. It does however slow down the drying time considerably and use of too much will actually stop the paint from drying at all

Watch this space for further developments

Reason for not being able to get one; probably two - 1. plastic ones are dirt cheap, 2, no-one has thought of making them Ask a general purpose leather worker to make it for you. It could be made up in upholstery leather. But leather has a finite size so the cover will have to be sewn up in two or three sections for the top depending on the size of your table

A log, bout 4 inches diameter, covered in nice cloth, like felt or suede. Supported at each end. Buckle collars round it. Have to undo the buckles to get them off. An extra security could be chain link joints; [the ones that are a link shape with a bit that screws from one bar to the other to close it] put thru the buckle parts. Have to undo that, then the buckle to get it off the log, or use a plastic cable tie thru the buckle; just cut and thrw away, easier for sales person maybe

Okee-doakly; I'm going to give away some leather Yup, free, no strings [or lacing ] attached I'm re-organising my work room and for reasons I'll not go into I have far too much leather. Much too much Here's the plan; I'll give it away Today I want to assess interest. I've not sorted out what is to go yet. But we ain't talking 6 inch square waste, we're talking some decent square footage However what is to go is pre-dyed in odd colours, some may have a pattern imprinted into it. I reckon most is chrome tanned, some might be veg tanned, but I'don't know either way. It was all bought from Le Prevo, mostly out of their 'special offers' list How do you get it from me? A. if you're in Ireland you need to drive to Dungannon in Co. Tyrone [don't go heading to Duncannon in Wexford like some eejits I know! ] B. Scotland/England/Wales; I'm heading to Telford in Shropshire in November [thats a long time away, but I'm slow in the sorting bit, ] I plan to get the ferry to Scotland then drive down, making stops along the way. Thus you can meet me along the route. Warning; I'll be arriving in Scotland at o'silly o'clock in the morning cos I want to be in Northumberland for about 9am As I sort out what is to go I'll post up details and a photo or two of each bit. Who gets what; first to ask gets it but if they fail to arrange collection it goes to the next asker - ok? So youse can fight it betwixt yerselfs so yez can I'd prefer a few people each takes some rather than just one person Expressing an interest now is not a formal commitment; only when yez knows whats on offer - this is just to find if any of youse are interested so I know I can bother sorting it out and not just bung it all back into my storage. Offer to those in the UK or Ireland only

First off; get the problem sorted under warranty. If you attempt anything now it will invalidate your warranty completely which may be needed if another problem shows up Then with that done work on how to prevent it happening again

I think its too far gone. A feeding as YinTx suggests then retire it to a display as an exhibit. I find that often people forget that leather is flesh, it will eventually rot away. It will last a long time if looked after, but if not it'll rot away as fast as any dead body.

W70 DT in the list http://www.leprevo.co.uk/buckles-steel.htm

A few random thoughts: A; I have nylon straps on things from about 1970, so longevity isn't a problem B; if you glue the nylon to the leather it might stabilise the leather, ie as the nylon won't stretch neither will the leather attached to it. It might stengthen the thin leather C; if the leather is very thin and the nylon has a coarse weave that weave pattern might eventually show through on the outside

I use loads of the small office bulldog clips as well, with the lolly sticks. For a thinner stick is a McDonalds [not the farmer chappie - the fast 'food' place] stirring stick. I do not advocate taking a big load from them as that is stealing, but an extra one or two every time you're in and you'll soon have several hundred...... I thank Blue Peter. John, Peter, Val et al. They say you can age someone by who their favorite BP presenters were and their fav Dr. Who. I confusethose who want to know my dob with; fav Dr. Who is Patrick Troughton and for BP its Konnie Huq Sticky back plastic rules!

A. my upholstery leather is soft and is about 1mm thick, 1.5mm maximum. I handsew it all the time just using a glovers needle. Thread is 0.5mm or lighter. Only when I double it up do I use a chisel or punch first B. On some bags I've glued the upholstery leather, two pieces flesh side to flesh side, sandwiching a bit of compressed cardboard in between for ridgity. No problem doubling it with whatever you choose to do with it.

yes, the edges on the Tandy letter blocks aren't finished off too well. I file off the roughness with a coarse metal file. The press will make a real difference though

try a powerful magnet

not wallets; but I've made medium sized messenger type bags, hats, coin purses, an apron, slip-on book covers, even a tabard from upholstery leather. I have about 50Kgs [maybe a lot more than that] which I acquired very cheaply, lots of uses for it