fredk

If you go through this living history forum there are a number of shoe/boot makers. Perhaps one of those can help http://livinghistory.co.uk/forums/index.php

The raw soling surfaces on mine have never shown rust and I live in a place where metals rust very speedily. I use mine for tacking on new heels and soles. In my case any coating on the surface would soon be chipped and damaged.

I just left my two as they came to me. The antique used look makes it look like I use them a lot and its part of their history.

What I write now is not a refelection on Dougster or anyone. Just my experience and the way I do things. A few months back as I was filing away an invoice I noticed that my leather supplier [not Tandy] had undercharged me on the S & H by £13.50. It was noted on the invoice that the the amount I'd paid had been undercharged. The supplier didn't say anything, never contacted me about it at all. But trust goes both ways. My supplier has always been most helpful and easy to deal with. I contacted my supplier and got them to raise another invoice for the underpaid amount which I paid promptly. They were rather shocked that I did this, but it takes the trust between us to a new level. I've noticed that my last two orders were dealt with and with me within a week rather than the over two weeks, nearly three weeks, it used to be. They even set some specials aside and gave me first dibs on ordering it. If I have good dealings with a company I'll pay up if I've been undercharged by them, that money shortage may have to come out of the worker's pay packet. If I have bad dealings then they can go fetch.

Here's how I do a belt; I do a 2'' fold around the buckle tongue bar. From that fold to the waist size which I'm told, a tongue hole, and centred on that two on each side at 1'' spacing. From the furthest hole I add appox 4 or 5 inches. I've just done a belt for a lady. 36'' waist. >> From tongue fold to main hole = 36''. Then five holes at: 34'', 35'' [36''] 37'' & 38'', then add approx 4''. Thus from tongue to end is 42 [38 +4] add the 2'' fold = 44'' approx. Approx almost 2'' of the free end is cut to shape. I use the same formula for all simple belts. For my medieval style belts I add 15 to 20 inches beyond the last hole. hth

The way I see it; If Dougster complains to Tandy HQ, he'll end up worse off. He may well get that $21 back, but Tandy will want $21 more for the leather, and a complaint will turn the shop boss aganst him, making future shopping unpleasant. Unless consumer law for where Dougster is is similar to the UK. If this was in the UK; Tandy can't ask for the extra $21 after the sale. But the buyer can claim back any over charging. So the buyer wins. Complaints of over charging aren't seen as personal attacks but as 'errors' to be corrected.

What she did is totally illegal in the UK

Connelly is a tannery. Where does Connelly get the leather to tan for Royce?

I seem to remember reading in a car magazine that Royce [and Bentley by default] and Jaguar got their leather from Sweden.

Good to hear you got it sorted to your satisfaction.

I use Evostik Weatherproof PVA. Being weather proof the joint won't come apart if it gets damp or slightly wet.

Possibly military. Break it down into the two component parts; a latch and a ring. The latch part is very similar to to ones on a pair of canvas WW2 dispatch motorcycle's saddle bags which I once had. The latch was on a strap which was sewn to the bag, and the latch clipped onto a metal frame on the motorcycle. On the ones I had the centre hinged bar was flatter and wider with a wide flattened end for a thumb to press on. hth

I believe this is normal. In the UK leather is measured by thickness in millimeters. My supplier told me they take some random measurements and take the average above the minimum thickness which is the base size. ie if its supposed to be 2mm thick, that is the base line, random checks should give a thickness of 2mm or slightly above. If a measure is under 2mm, then the skin is re-classed at that lower base. Thus when I get a hide or part of and I want it 2mm thick I'll be told its 2mm to 2.3mm, or 2 to 2.5 etcetera.

jcuk said 'weld' but I think the burn is from trying to flame braze the ferrule. I like Art's way of fixing. The knife is not cheap so it deserves a good refurb. If the metal work is beyond you look for a model railway group in your area. Usually someone in such a group is very good at metal work and might be very willing to help. When I needed a brass part for my vintage [antique] car a model railway chap turn not only the one part on his lathes but did me two spares f.o.c. - because he could help he said.

That is remarkably tidy. How do you do it? Now, my work room... thats a real different ball park. I started a real good clean up last week and found a pair of medieval shoes a guy asked me to repair 5 years ago. Fortunately he's forgotten about them too. I'll get them done in the next few weeks and surprise him.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, brought up and living in Northern Ireland [pronounced locally as N'rn I'rn] aka Ulster, and one of the three Kingdoms of the UK.

I took a spare large wad punch and used an angle grinder to cut it in half diameter wise, then cut one semi-circle off the punch = result one 1/2 round strap end cutter

What size are you looking? On UK ebay [probably on US ebay too] you can buy small oval hole punches from sellers in China for a small price. Downside is having to wait up to 3 or 4 weeks for it to arrive. An example; a 3 x 6 mm hole punch is about $4.10 [inc s&h]

Thank you chaps

I get nearly all my supplies from LePrevo. A fair amount of their tools and dyes comes from Tandy, but is cheaper. The staff at LePrevo are very helpful. Tell them what you want the leather for and they'll recommend some. They'll also post you a small off-cut to check out. Keep an eye on their Special page on their website, many bargains can be had.

I too have one of these awful V gouges. Its now somewhere in the bottom of my main tool box. Thanks for the info on the fix, I'll have to try that. I got this V gouge to replace the wood working carving chisels I was using. It never replaced them.

I had to search out my tools. I have a 104 as well and its pretty tiny. I have a G619 which has the same pattern but is approx 1cm [3/8''] square, it covers about 10x the area of the 104. But I've checked on the Tandy site and the place where I got my 619 and its no longer listed - so thats no help to you. I don't know where you are located, but here is link to the place I buy from; the B series has some larger background stamps. However they are finer and bevelled. http://www.leprevo.co.uk/photos/stamp1.htm or the 114 in the Tandy list looks much bigger; http://www.tandyleather.eu/en/category/leather-stamps-backgrounders or the G605 'geometric' stamp; http://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/g605-craftool-geometric-stamp?sSearch=g605

What size of area are you trying to cover as background?

Another use for small off-cuts; put into small self-seal plastic bags and sell for a $1 or £1 to women who do the hobby of scrap-booking or card making. They are always looking for these sorts of items to adorn their projects. I make board games, and the game pieces, so I punch out small discs from off-cuts for the bases for the game pieces

Hi folks, Just a brief introduction from me. I'm Fred, hence the very clever log-on name. Its one I can remember easily. I've been doing some leather work for about 15 years now. I've not been doing much, not really much output in that time, but it should increase greatly over this winter. I've been involved with medieval historical presentation groups for about 18 years. I got fed up not being able to get quality made leather items here in N.I. for myself and family members so I set to and bought in leather and made the items myself. This has expanded to making items for others in the groups. I make mostly belts, bags, hats, an occasional knife sheath that sort of thing. These I make as near as possible as copies of real medieval items. I've orders for hoods, a jacket, more pouches. I've also been asked to start re-covering car steering wheels. Another range I make is board games. Wood boards covered in leather and then tooled. I make the game pieces as well. A couple of years ago I made a re-enactor a Star Wars belt & holsters kit, now that was interesting. Lots of wet moulding, and all to a tight time schedule. A small film company approached me the other night. They want me to make a couple of hand-gun shoulder holsters. So, whilst searching for patterns or pictures I came across this forum. From scanning through it I thought it looked like a good place, thus I joined up. I'm self taught in leather work. I have most of Al Stohlman's books [who doesn't] plus a lot of others. I'm always looking out for ideas and methods to improve my work. BFN, fredk