fredk

I recently bought one of those off Temu for £12, for tool, 2 sets of dies and some snaps. Not used it yet. I have one for use with KAM snaps and it works fine so I reckon the new one will as well

When I'm soldering anything very close to plastic or leather I wrap a piece of wet cloth around the item, just slightly past the area to be soldered. That keeps the rest from getting too hot

you could solder/braze or whatever to join it and make it more secure

Even I could make it. Anneal some brass rod, bend either free-hand or round a former then heat & squench

afaik its the same in the UK and Ireland

Smaller stitching holes, these keep the thread tighter. Pull each stitch real tight Have you tried the pierced-thread way of putting your needle on?

Yes. I have a large block of wax that I can push the whole die into, at the start and about every 4 or 5 cuts

Whatever you use as a show table use a cloth covering it. I/we found dark red or brown best with leatherwork. There are websites which tell you which colours are welcoming or 'cold' et cetera

The 'Speedy Stitcher' does a lock stitch and I've used it a few times. In places where I wasn't able to do a saddle stitch

Different nations; the true Brit will not start talking to you unless you start with the weather. At a show today I must have made about 50 new friends. All conversations started with small talk about the weather @ThisIsMyFirstRodeo I do not recommend you doing what we did at shows to get round the regs over food & drink. We were showing typical medieval foods and drinks. Some was for sale but we didn't say that. We let ppl try 'our lunch/snack'. Then if they liked it they could pre-order and pre-pay for it. Delivery was later. Like 20 -30 mins later I sold my medieval style mead by selling the fancy bottle and including the mead in it for free. An inspector tried to say that wasn't legal but he checked and came back to me and said as long as the ppl could buy the empty bottle and got the mead free there was nothing he could do about it

My bestest guess is, the bullet holders were sewn in place then soaked in water and the bullets forced in, basically wet-moulding the holder

Good job Invert the top plate every 6 presses or so. You'll find the press dishes the plate and inverting it before it gets too bad sends it dishing in the opposite direction I buy steel and aluminium off cuts which are sold on ebay. I get them relatively cheaply

I would; use a coin or something, draw round it for the curve, in ink. Then cut using scissors or shears on the drawn line. I find cutting out-side curves easier with scissors

Its very hard to judge the right amount That is definitely too much. Too much can surely ruin a pair of boots To limit how much NFO I'm putting on I have a NFO/bees wax/carnauba wax mix that I apply all over. I let that sit a while then I buff the waxes to a semi-glossy shine. I've never had anything so dry that it needs more than one NFO/wax application. Perhaps in your case, another coating in a weeks time, then another after another week should see it getting enough feed

The blade is blunt. A good sharp blade will skive off a very thin amount By edge; I mean the surface, to thin an edge for sewing of gluing The second one takes the same blades as the first. A sharp blade will take of a very small amount. Change blades every time you start a new project. It makes life easier and blades are fairly cheap

This?

I just retired* a 20 year old belt. Thinner than Dwight's, about 3.5mm. Not used every day but often. The resolene finish coat was still alright * retired cos I wanted a change in pattern on the belt imo, leather items should show some wear and change in colouring over time. Its what makes leather so unique

Good point about the bags. I forgot about that. I use white paper bags with handles on them. They cost a fraction more than than plain brown bags but look so much better. Sometime in the future I'm going to get sticky labels with my brand printed on so I can stick them on to the bags

I presume you have one of these; Get one of these; Get a couple of these; for tidy skiving of edges I have several in 6mm, 8mm and 10mm widths Avoid this like the plague, sold as a 'skiver'. You'll waste your money

In medieval times leatherworkers who traveled about had rails to hang belts, scabbards, gloves and pouches and other items from. A clothes rail will work too but one made of wood suits leather better. I'm not a wood worker by any means but I made myself a wood one which could be knocked down into its parts for carrying in my car. Mine was an A frame spanned with two 4ft pieces each side, at different levels, between the end A's Have you got camp chairs? a couple spare for weary customers. A flask of hot water, to make coffee? This may be very different but you'll get some ideas; when I published a few magazines we bought an old caravan and converted it to a hospitality caravan. At shows we were after subscriptions and selling odd car related items. (like books) We had seats in the caravan and a kettle for tea & coffee on all the time. We always came away with plenty of paid up subs and far fewer books and such. You need to push yourselves to the front, far beyond your competitors. Then people will remember you; maybe not your name exactly but 'those nice people who had candy/coffee/a seat for us' Actually thats how most of the car enthusiast ppl remember me; 'didn't you have that blue caravan with tea and a seat?'. And it was 30 years ago!

You'll be doing a lot of talking. Take some confectionery and keep a large bowl-full on the table. That attracts ppl like flies to horse manure. Then when they're over talk to them, about anything, their coat, the weather, anything. Ppl will find you very friendly. Don't be shy or reticent, thats for losers Find out what ppl like in leather. Talk leather. Talk their hind legs off. When they're ready to talk Something I saw done once but I've never tried it: have a sign with a price on it $(hundred dollars) and put that on something small like a wallet or purse. Ppl will ask 'is that right?!' then you say 'oops, that sign shouldn't be there . . . ' gets their attention so it does Have plenty of freebies for the trainee grups. A happy trainee is a happy and interested grup

That looks nice but I don't think it would be a good burner. No holes for airflow to the charcoal

I've made a few simple baccy pouches. I used material called 'rip stop'. Its sort of a nylon fabric, very thin, available in many colours. I glued it to the leather than sewed the pouch up

If the shooter is so particular about things I'd go the extra distance and use cow horn