fredk

You can use sand paper to tidy-up the edges. I sometimes have to do that. The worse the edge the greater the grit. eg. a really bad edge needs 200 grit, a not to bad edge needs 600 grit dumb question; are you using the edger the right way up?

@CFons also; make sure they are in alignment

Is it veg tanned and how thick is it? Veg tan is usually always mouldable, and if not too thick

I use these to bevel my edges; They are sold on ebay as leather edge bevellers, BUT also as finger nail cuticle trimmers. You can also find them in the local shops in the beauty/nails section They are cheap; I buy them 10 for $5 but in the shops they are dearer. They are very sharp and take off the leather a thin string.

I bought a load of dem tings. Not used them yet. I may go back to using map pins and small blocks of cork

Try wetting the leather before dipping, and leave in the dye for longer

@SUP I only use my marble block for skiving on I found this piece in a builder's waste pile* ; it is 18cm long to the broken edge, 10cm wide and 3cm thick One thing I like about it, it has this bevel on one edge. Thats come in useful I also have this re-constituted granite slab. Approx 17.5cm square by 2cm thick. It was a kitchen work top thingy which I repurposed several years ago I've tried to get some thick marble or granite for a new bigger block but despite this country being being one of the largest exporters of granite I cannot get a piece. Local places (kitchen fitters, grave marker makers, et cetra) which use marble and granite use a thin veneer over concrete As I don't, or very rarely, do tooling on them I don't bed them down on anything * this piece started out much bigger. It was about 30 x 40 cm. I asked one of my son's mechanics to cut off 10cm. Being a furiner (Latvian) he did just that, but he didn't keep both pieces as I'd asked. He disposed of the 30cm square. Not just disposed of it, but took a hammer to it and broke it up into gravel sized bits! Then he handed me this 10cm piece, 'there you are, why you not want the big piece?'

I don't use tokonol so I'm not affected by any shortage What do you use it for? and why? I just use a wax mixture for burnishing

In WW2 Winston Churchill is supposed to have directed a sea convoy of ships carrying tea and tobacco to special protection. The Admiralty told him that if they did it meant removing ships protecting a convoy of tanks and other munitions. Churchill is supposed to have said 'the British worker cannot carry on without his tea and cigarettes but he can without tanks'

I used to use a piece of concrete paving slab but I changed to a piece of marble I found because I found a skiver just glides along the polished surface of the marble. When I use a skiver to do an edge at an angle part of the skiver is on the marble and it just glides over it

Unfortunately, Yes - Thompson's Punjana, blended in Belfast https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-tea-producer-runs-out-of-tea-after-red-sea-supply-hit/a1977796519.html The End is Nigh! The sky is falling! PS. We may have to arrange to send you 'aid packages' of tea,

Last month I bought one of those bags of 440 tea bags. I'm set for another few days yet. Local company thats blends a range of popular teas has already run out of tea. Their stock is on a ship coming Round the Horn* * Round the Horn, old BBC Radio comedy show

Now there's going to be a 'run' on Tokonole. PPL will be buying stocks of it as an investment opportunity, there will be a black-market for it, with dodgy traders supplying 'cut' Tokonole at inflated prices . . . . . .

I used LCD Saddle Tan oil dye then Eco-flo Dark Brown antique

I'm putting together some items for no.1 dottir's archaeology kit I'm way out of practice. The stitching on this is terra-buble but here it is anyway And with what goes in it It doesn't look so very bad in the hand This started out 'a bit of leather folded over . . . ' and it got more elaborate as time went on Next are some tool rolls for small scrapers and brushes, and a case for a magnifying glass

A 'former' is simply something in the shape of what you want to mould around instead of using the actual item. In this case, a wood block made to the shape of the shears

This is the Mark 2. Longer straps, two less of them and holes top and bottom. I left it with a couple of ladies last week. This week I'll find out how they got on with it

Happens even on expensive leather. I made this Navigator's Board and when I dyed it a lot of wee dots appeared. Bug bites It was covered in these, bottom left, but only showed up after dyeing

I use the shafts of screwdrivers

You can make shoe lasts by pouring ready-mix concrete in made shoes. Take an old or cheap pair, that fits, line it with a plastic bag and pour in the concrete mix. In a few hours you can remove the cast. If you're lucky you can remove it without destroying the shoe, or you might have to destroy the shoe, hence the use of an old or cheap pair I have done this so I know it works

Its not a problem, its an annoyance

You should ask this in the Leather Sewing Machines section. You'll get an answer quicker. I'll 'report' this to get it moved

How many would you want?

One I can think of; on bought-in patterns with prepared sewing holes marked, the holes don't align