fredk

There are some for sale on ebay and etsy https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1501382929/2-sling-clips-carabiner-clips-military?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=carabiner+clip&ref=sr_gallery-1-25&organic_search_click=1 They are a form of carabiner

1. I use big long plastic boxes meant for storing artificial Christmas trees. The lids overlap the base part and there is a snap lock at each end. I always reckoned they were maybe just about water tight but I found out last week they are 100%. I was moving them about and put a few out in my yard and forgot about them. That afternoon, thru to the next evening we had a real big storm. Not a drop of water in any of the boxes This sort of box; the blue things at the ends are the lid locks which become handles when open Unfortunately you can only really get these boxes at around Christmas time 2. I bet I can compete with you on that. We don't have humidity - we just have rain, all the time. Actually our average humidity level is around 75 to 90%, all year. Today, a relatively dry summer day, humidity level was 80% and tonite it will be 90%. Get more house plants in. Certain ones take moisture out of the air and plants purify your air

Depends on your leather and your requirements. Wetting and drying veg tan will stiffen it, The faster you dry it and the warmer you get it whilst drying the greater the stiffness. You can dip it in boiling hot wax, or boiling water. For chrome tan, laminate it with compressed cardboard or thin MDF

Unless you've had an illness, you don't loose your ability to smell. You've just got used to the smell of leather and your brain blocks out the scent. Its like your garbage collector, he/she has become so used to the smell of their truck that they no longer notice the pong. Or my local butcher who no longer notices the smell of chickens roasting in his machine, but he notices if they start to over-cook! Like some others mentioned, I keep most of my leather in sealed boxes and I get a real knock-out smell of the leather when I open a box Maybe when you were at Weavers there was a smell of leather but it was subtle and not as strong as you are used to. Just a thought A smell for me is Castrol-R oil. Its an oil added to petrol/gas for racing car engines. That and 2-stroke oil & petrol/gas. Both remind me of of race days before we got so environmentally 'friendly' and banned those oil additives (note that the word environmentally has within it the word mental!)

oops,

I mostly use pieces of scrap leather. If it needs to be soft-ish, like in an archer bracer, I use pieces of carpet felt under-lay. Soft chrome tan leather is good, its stiffer than the felt but almost as soft

By hand would do. The way I'd do it is to pre-punch sewing holes in the leather with a stitching chisel. Spacing at about 4 to 6mm. Then use a sharp glovers' needle of the appropriate size to sew through the elastic material. You can do a straight running stitch, or by going one way then back wards you get a sort-of one needle saddle stitch, and that is what I'd do

I wonder if a 'feather' stamp, like F120, used inside the pear shader would give some leafy look?

No. You'd be best painting the details first and waxing over them and the rest of the vessel

Gezzer's is good Those are rose leaf stamps on the one you like At Le Prevo. Look under L, last two on top row - with rough edges are L948 & 949, and first two on bottom row, with smooth edges L953 & 954 http://www.leprevo.co.uk/stamps.htm#rx Tandy used to do the same ones You might have to search out your local Tandy stores or other places to find if they have them ~~ I just spotted that on the one you like the vine stalk is made using a rope border stamp

and thank you @Gezzer for finding that. I found it interesting as well but didn't know it existed

an aside; to kill glue smells, get some large fresh onions and cut in 1/2 or 1/4s and leave them out in your work area. Cut onions will also kill smells from fresh paint, put near the painted item. They also kill smells in the fridge and refresh it. You can leave the onions until they start to dry out or replace sooner. You can still use the onions for eating and cooking afterwards

I notice that you did not read what I wrote. Try again

Good tips and ideas from you both. I'll need to get 'creative' to figure out how to hold the removable punches in my Tandy punches For some sharpening I use some W&D used dry wrapped around the handle of an old artists paint brush inside the punch tube. Just lightly, not too much, not enough to enlarge the hole

When making wide hat bands, over 3/4 inch wide or so, cut the strap with a modest curve to it. It will sit tighter to the crown then

It would be nice to see the photos on here, and with some details about construction

I find a simpler way is to right-click on the photo. In a menu which opens I chose 'search image with google '. That opens a side-bar showing that photo and ones like it and you can find its origin

Why is that called a 'Rudder' wallet? Is it just some silly catch-phrase? Just to make you/me/us look? I used to see these, made in fabric, in the discount store (Dollar store?) and they sold for no more than 50p (say 50c). I use to buy them to keep odd things in in the car, the tool box, in the sheds

Thank you for another idea. I'll be re-enforcing the join, gluing it and lacing it. But I do believe No.1 Favourite Dottir doesn't like fringes. No progress on this yet as I've been giving my leather room a really good sorting out. I'd run out of any surface to actually cut and work on. Tools sorted and put away, all those odd bottles of dye put away, why did I keep so many empty Fiebings 4 oz (US) plastic dye bottles?

Bruce doesn't say it directly but SHARP chisels. Sharpen them and polish the sides of the teeth. 1/2 hour maybe to do them, maybe longer, but sharp and polished teeth will go in and out of the leather much easier

Depends on the material of the board. A stiff kitchen cutting board, maybe 5mm. I have some kitchen cutting mats from Ikea (£1 for 2) they are about 2mm thick and they do the job as well as any thick board. You only need to get the tips of the chisels through the leather, not the whole tooth or even 5mm of it. Even an A4 self healing cutting matt, about 3mm thick, will do the job To help you pull your chisels out, use one of these; I made this one out of a scrap piece of clear acrylic plastic. You van buy all different designs now, including plastic and metal ones with a wee handle on

Try using a set of these. You still need some care to get the teeth in alignment both sides but its easier, and they work fast and silently

You should resist the temptation to wiggle and tilt the irons to get them out. I used to do that. But the wiggling around distorts the holes and can make the stitches look wonky

Most times I use a kitchen cutting board from Ikea, Cost me £1.50. I also made a big wax block for use with small and/or delicate items. Melted candle wax into a big aluminium oven tray. After it gets a lot of marks the surface is re-melted and when hard its as good as new When I do a lot of bigger hole punching I use a block of wood blocks glued together ends up