fredk

Actually somebody did. Canon. Nearly 30 years ago. But it cost about £30,000, just for the main body

I had a look on youtube last night. Not one maker glued the lining curved. In fact some of the tutes are really bad and in some cases use of tools is dangerous However, I did, some years ago, download from this forum a PDF tute on making a 'California' holster and the maker tells how to glue the lining on curved

I believe that is actually a catapult, A trebuchet works differently, with a sling A catapult A trebuchet Notice the different lengths of the main arm. The one in the video appears to have only the one long arm for the missile whereas a treb has one short arm for the drop weight and a longer arm with a sling for the missile

Join a local group who gather paper for re-cycling, Many years ago my wifey did some volunteering with such a groups and right from the start she said she told them she would be keeping old interesting books - but putting some money in to the coffers for them. We got several dozen old books that way. My favourites are 4 old 'magazine books from 1802 to 1816 A most excellent book there chuck. But be careful using those recipes which need lead!

I should have started on some special little sewing accessory pouches as gifts for the ladies in my Knit & Natter group A simple pouch to hold three (supplied) items; a pair of snips, a tape measure and a thread cutter. With a fold-over flap with 'K&N 2023' stamped on it. I need to do 16 or 18, all the same-ish. And one variation with a few small tools in one for the other man in the group I think I'll glue up a couple of frames for setting the spacing on the pouch pockets et cetera

After that very negative response from me; I don't think there is any one phone which will meet your needs I think you need to make some compromises; Write down in order of preferences what you want. You may have to compromise on water protection. I know there are sealable cases to take smart phones under water and still be usable. You can get mixed rubber covers for phones which will protect them from drops and hard knocks. #1 uses one on a 'tablet' (?), it works well but it doesn't make it weather proof

You are looking for a unicorn My #1 son goes through about 9 or 10 phones a year. He buys 2nd hand cheap ones. He breaks BMW cars and sell the parts. He has 3 yards and several workers. The mechs keep a phone on them so he can call or text them at a yard to find out if a certain part is available there. The phones get knocked about, dropped, near welding or metal cutting, rained & snowed on, photos & videos taken, but the phones don't last very long

Before the petro-chemical industry weapons were stored in goose grease. Right up to WW2. In the late 1990s several barrels of iron arrow heads were found stored in a spare basement of the Tower of London. The barrels and their contents dated to the mid-1300s. Just over 600 years old. The arrow heads were packed in goose grease. About 8 years ago a friend of mine, a curator/caretaker of some places here discovered several boxes of unused crated Brown Bess muskets in an old fort, date of the muskets is uncertain, but of between 1780 and 1820, all packed in goose grease. All very perfect. One was cleaned and test fired. No Problem Apparently goose grease does not go bad, it will harden and not be edible though. It can be removed from weapons, such as muskets, simply by pouring boiling hot water over them In the recent past when I / you bought high quality steel tools they came wrapped in greased paper. Many of the older tool companies still used goose greased paper, even if they didn't know it was goose grease. Some tool companies use oiled paper and in the main the oil used is a petro-chemical oil of the form like 3-in-1 oil The US started to use petro-chem oils sooner and more of than Europe / UK did, mainly because the US has so many, and easily accessed, oil fields

Its easy-peasy; just add a wee bit of olive oil to beeswax. Just enough oil to make the wax soft enough to spread with a cloth. Like butter just out of the 'fridge

I'll throw this idea in the pot here; if you have some nice chrome tan you want to use, maybe for its colouring or pre-made impression, you can laminate it with veg tan Glue the two leathers together flesh side to flesh side. Use the veg tan for the inside of the sheath or holster and have the chrome tan on the outside. If the veg tan is thick enough and the chrome tan thin enough you can even wet mould the laminated leathers I do this but use them the other way round on shoulder bags; ie I buy thin chrome tan leathers for their colours and laminate it with thicker veg tan. The coloured chrome tan is the inside lining of the bag and the veg can be tooled or stamped for the outside

One of my wife's aunts, named Elsie, was a tax collector. She stood about 5ft 2, was very 'rotund' and within the family a very quite and pleasant person, A 'sweet' lady - the 'aunt' you always wanted. But when she was on a case she was a real bulldog. Another aunt worked with her in the tax office, but just on paperwork. She told us that whenever a tough case came up the message went around 'Send in Elsie!' Although she was based in Belfast, N.I. all the other UK tax offices would send for her. One of her famous cases was getting £50,000 in back taxes off a farmer who claimed poverty and unable to pay. She got the money in cash from the money he kept in a bed mattress in a spare room

errr, I meant to put 'on our swords and daggers as well as the armour' - not on US. That would have been a bit tooo kinky!

I fear that that rubber tubing will be far too stiff and solid for your needs

Interesting thoughts and suggestions from everyone. Thanks Actually, come to think of it, the best snaps I had came in a small packet of ten with a silly small setter & anvil. You put the very small setter in a hole in a piece of plastic and the anvil into a hole on the other end of the plastic. But I've not seen those for years

At the end of a season playing at knights we (my family) used beeswax. A wash down, and towel dry, then a thick coating of beeswax. I also used to use beeswax on my sports fencing swords. Another chap had scabbards made using sheepskin with the woolie to the inside. The woolie was loaded with natural lanolin which lubricated his blades and kept the damp off the iron or steel Food grade oil is good on blades which will come into contact with food. On other metal blade tools such as handsaws, chisels et cetera I always use a thin oil such as 3-in-1, or if I'm desperate, old used engine oil

Here, oil tanned leather is veg tanned stuffed with oils during the tanning process and is quite different and distinct from chrome tanned leather

On my Singer domestic I just used the minimum of presser foot pressure. Just enough grip to help me push the leather through. It was content enough to go through approx 4mm leather. Its happier doing it on manual drive, less stress on the drive system. Your 4411 may well take 4mm and say 'pah!, give me more!' Other fixes are to; cover the feed dog teeth with thick tape, eg duct tape or plastic electrical tape, or use a couple of layers of low-tack painters tape on the leather

@SUP You have titled this thread 'Oil tanned leather. . . .' Then you mix in chrome tan and we discuss chrome tan. Chrome tanning and Oil tanning are two different things. We need to seperate them and decide which

I've found that results can be very variable. I made a scabbard for an antique sword using some cheap chrome tan. Because I didn't know any better. The sword has not been out of the scabbard since 2014. I just checked. There is rust on it - but it went into the scabbard with rust and water on it in '14, so I think its no worse However, I made a little sheath for a small pair of pocket snips. I used chrome tan. The snips were new and I lightly oiled them. Within days there was rust on the blades

For that a domestic sewing machine will work - for punching holes using a leather needle. 1. I picked up a working domestic in a charity shop for under £10. I also got an old (1970s) domestic 'free' with a sewing machine table I bought for £20. I use a domestic Singer 99K for punching holes around the perimeter of wallets and card cases 2. On manual, which I do, you can control the speed of making the holes, fast or slow 3. I use a magnetic guide on the sewing machine to set my edge to hole distance

Looks like leather-cloth. Leather dust mixed with resins and sprayed on to a heavy cloth backing. Main test, cut off a tiny piece from underneath. Hold in pliers and apply a flame. If it shrivels up and smells like burnt flesh then its leather. If it starts to burn and gives off a light black smoke with small black soot particles then its leather cloth

Thanks y'awl for your input

Timing, both awkward and needs to be just right. The way I would handle it is; wait for their next visit. Tell them and show them the plaque, just telling them you felt like making it. When they say how loverly it is and before any tears start, just ask, in a sort of telling them way 'Here, you can keep this'

Thanks, I'll try those two tricks as well

Thanks. If I have the correct size punch or somat I'll give that a try