fredk

I store some leather in the cardboard tubes which carpet is wound round. They are usually about 12 to 15 feet long. I got some free from a carpet shop and cut them down to 4 foot lengths

Does it really weaken the leather so much that it matters? Perhaps in some items it does matter, but in a shoulder bag or belt pouch? When I was involved in medieval re-enactment I had a regular flow of items to repair. Mostly it was where the thread had worn away and broken and the two parts had separated as the stitching had become un-done. In all these cases the original maker did not use a groove. In the repair I grooved before re-sewing. I never had one of my repairs come back to me.

yup; we shure are

Happy to help and further learning

A few points 1. No 'congress' in my country; HMRC set the import tax rate. 2. A recent order for $25 from the US cost me $24 in taxes = $49 3. The $23 stamps from Hong Kong cost just that - no delivery or taxes added 4. As a private user I cannot set up either a Fedex [who do not deliver in my country anyways] or UPS contract in my country - their rules 5. My bank does not do 'wire' transfers 6. I have to jump thru hoops to use my CC in direct sales in the US, but not in Europe or via paypal - hoops include posting to the seller a signed written order before the CC will recognise and accept it - that takes 5 to 7 days. 7. The order mentioned in #2 came into my country 2 days after ordering it, it then sat for 14 days whilst it cleared customs; meanwhile the order from Hong Kong dropped thru my door's letter box.

I scanned thru that article; published on May 9th 2017, but copied from another article from when it was actually found, or slightly afterwards - June 2010; 7 years ago. As would be normal with such items the Archies will have written up the find; ie, the context of the find, the materials of it, measurements and its construction with line drawings of it, major points of interest and cross-sections The University College of Cork [in Ireland] was primarily involved so if anyone is really interested they could ask the Uni for a copy of the Archies report on it. The report might be free or there maybe a small monetary charge for it The shoe looks to me like a turn-shoe; only sewn along the seam where the two folded up sides meet on the top of the foot. No seperate sole sewn on, thus no welt. Basically, wet moulding would fit it to the foot then

Hand stitching is possible; pre-punch stitching holes on the edge of the piece which is on the outside - contact glue this overlapped part to the other [to hold in place] - use an awl to pierce the inner part, going thru the pre-punched stitching holes, sew it up. If the base is really hard to get into use a curved needle, from the outside. I've sewn up repair patches on the sides of repro-medieval shoes doing it that way IMHO the latch looks too big and heavy for the smaller bag. The Sam Browne fitting is a good idea, or a very light weight strap & buckle Seach out chinese and malaysian sellers of leather goods on Ebay; you can find them selling ready-rivets in all sorts of sizes, styles and colours and they are usually very cheap

Scroll down about 3/4 on this page and you'll see another; http://www.paintstoreonline.com/museum.html

Some arbor presses have a hole in the press bar. This just happens to match the adapters that Tandy has for its own press. On the other side the Tandy 3D letters fit to the adapter https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/press-dies-for-hand-press https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/category/alphabet-number-leather-stamp-se

Not ebay, an 'antique' shop in Ironbridge. I picked up some leather working tools for about £1 average each as they were wrongly classified with woodworking tools

Really Mike? [not doubting you, just an expression of surprise] I've seen some 'sharp' comments but I think I've missed seeing any outright nasty postings on here

Its a vintage wallpaper cutter. My father had a a dozen or more similar to this from the time he was a decorator in the late 1940s/early 1950s

you can get nails which are bigger than 1/4" diameter

If I lived in the US I'd buy US, but I'm not there so I buy where I can get things from. By the way I have bought supplies from the US too - cos suppliers there had what I wanted, A couple of points which stop me from buying more; 1: import taxes in my country 2: the sellers, either will not sell to over-seas or simply do not answer inquiries

As I have found out through vintage cars there are three catagories of old machinery buyers 1. Collectors; they want the machine in the exact colour and shade it came out of the factory in 2. Users; don't care too much about the colour as long as it works well 3. Collector users; want it to work well and preferably be in a factory colour, exact shade not too important and they'll accept a non-factory colour if its nice

The main ingredient is patience grasshopper Apply the thinned dye in stages to build up the colour. When its dry; buff with clean cloths to remove any excess on the surface. When you think you've buffed enough, buff some more, and some more Then apply a sealant. I'm happy with Resolene. Apply thinned coats in stages. Allow 12 to 24 hours for each coating to dry. Apply maybe four thinned coats, more if you want the leather shiny. Allow to completely dry for at least a week. Then wear it over a white linen tunic to make sure you haven't missed anywheres.

I would prefer to give my money to a local worker; but when there isn't one I have to buy from abroad

Try masking off the already darkened areas; allowing the lighter square to get light - that might bring it a bit darker towards that of the already darkened part

I just gotta agree with them two; I think its a fine bit of work

I use this one mostly; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351557320132?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=620582510649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and I've used this person too http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Seal-Stamp-Logo-Leather-Carving-Tool-Foil-Embossing-Stamping-Machine-Mold-/131849677396?var=&hash=item1eb2da6a54:m:m8JF0-uDByLiJGhePKo_gVw not much to choose between prices, service times or quality; both I find very excellent A couple of weeks ago I got a 50mm [2 inch] wide stamp made; cost me £24.86 [about $30], taking the day I paid as day one the stamp arrived in the mail on day 10

I think they look just spot-on!

If a joint is not to have any forces upon it then glue only would do. I glue the leather to my boards when making gaming boards; no joint under stress there. All other items I use glue to hold bits together until I get them sewn up Reading of Viking age finds of Dublin [Ireland, in case there is another somewhere] a great many knife sheaths were only glued together; but these were also the majority where the joint had ripped apart or failed and they ended up in the trash pile, whence they were found.

Depends on what happens after its restored a; for sale onwards - then original grey b; for personal use - dark green or dark blue would be my choices

I acquired some car upholstery and house upholstery leather. I used lacquer solvent [aka cellulose thinners] to cut through the top finish The car upholstery was pearl grey; I can do it most darker colours, eg blue green dark red, browns and blacks The house upholstery was mixes of medium to dark brown; I can only re-do that in dark browns or black I just use Fieblings dyes

I've been getting stamps cut by a dealer in Hong Kong [cos there is absolutetly no-one in my area at all that can do this]. He cuts the design on brass, so it can be used for stamping or with a pyrogravure/soldering iron it can be used for burning in. His work is able to copy the finest of lines. A 1 inch stamp costs about $23 and I get it about 7 to 10 days after ordering & paying.