fredk

Please be aware there are three types of good PVA glue 1. Indoor use / normal grade. With this as soon as an item gets even slightly damp the glue reverts back to being liquid 2. Weather proof. With this the item needs a good wetting before it reverts back to be liquid 3. Outdoor or Marine use. This will not normally revert back to being liquid at any time due to application or immersion in water afair, all three of these PVA adhesives will release upon application of direct heat on the item, eg by use of a clothes iron on it, or sometimes by placing it in front of a heat source such as a hot gun or space heater

ummm, beeswax is honey. Bees consume honey and extrude it as tiny wax platelets which other bees press together to make larger sections of wax. For every 1 pound of wax bees have to consume between approximately 5 and 7 pounds of honey. I used to have a recipe for boiling and reducing down fish heads and bones to make a (very smelly) glue. Used to make it and use it in wood working

Thoughts; 1. use smaller rivets and more of them, even if not needed, to make one continuous line of them 2. shape top and bottom edges of the picture piece to follow the shape of the gorget 3. sew the picture piece onto the gorget 4. rub some dark shoe polish over the picture piece and buff that off lightly - should make the picture stand out more

excellent

Nice. That blue around the letters comes across as very vibrant

Thank you chaps. Most informative. I've added a spool of artificial sinew to my latest order from Le Prevo. Just to have some on-hand I used real sinew to make a string for a medieval crossbow. The bow owner supplied the sinew

Whilst searching for that youtube video, which I eventually found, I came across another, well lots, dozens, but one where the person uses cellulose, aka lacquer, thinners to dissolve the poly. I wish I'd seen that one first as I have a gallon of cellulose thinners here and may not have needed to order the xylene

I've ordered a bottle of xylene. I can't get it locally I wonder if it would be safe to use inside a water/wine bottle

That must have taken both time and plenty of concentration

Whilst wasting time watching those DiY videos on youtube I came across one made by an Eastern European chappie in which he dissolves expanded polystyrene in acetone to make glue and in xylene to make a waterproofing coating I've lost the actual video I was watching The things that interested me was that when the white poly was dissolved in the xylene it made a clear liquid. When the chappie applied it to some cardboard and cement floor it was seen to be clear. But it was also flexible I'm wondering if this could be applied to certain types of our leather items to make them more waterproof. Say, on bicycle tool bags, or motorcycle kit, or even shoulder bags? I'm for trying to make some and see what happens

Just curious; when would you (me) use sinew or artificial sinew? The only time I've used sinew in the past was in fixing up an ancient crossbow. I was just replacing like with like on it

mozzies = mosquitos

Either, use a single punch or, and I'm thinking on the quick here; get a larger spacing chisel which also has wider teeth, say 5mm teeth at 5mm gap. File down each tooth to 3mm, that then gives a gap of about 6 or 7mm between teeth. Then use it to punch holes, After these holes, go again, but putting the teeth in the space between each of the first holes edit; normal 5 x 5 chisel ----- ----- ------ reduced size tooth --- --- --- double punched --- --- --- --- --- ---

I'll add this on here rather than start a new thread At approx 06.20 on 24th January I emailed Le Prevo asking for samples of threads I received those samples at approx 09.30 on 25th January Pretty mighty fast by anyone's standard methinks

I think your use of the word chamfer is wrong But, simply cut a curve round the corner to join the vertical and horizontal cut lines. Just as you have for the outside corners

A new thread for fresh jokes This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator. What's the smallest calibre that you would trust to protect yourself? Here’s her story in her own words: “While out walking along the edge of a pond just outside my house in ‘The Villages’ with my soon to be ex-husband, discussing property settlement and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12-ft. alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water and began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive.” “If I had not had my little Beretta .25 calibre pistol with me, I would not be here today!” “Just one shot to my estranged husband’s knee cap was all it took. The gator got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace. The amount I saved in lawyer’s fees was really incredible, and his life insurance was a really big bonus!”

You could burnish it with a beeswax & carnauba wax mixture. Warm the mixture, warm the leather, apply wax and rub well in whilst playing a hairdryer over it. Then burnish the heck out of it with a good rag

My set had a meths burner, basically a small lidded jar with a wick. Fill with methylated sprits and light up. One time I spilt some meths across the kitchen worktop. Lit the burner . . . . . . . and the worktop was a-flame as well! I got the fire out with wet tea towels thrown on. No-one ever noticed the scorch marks on the cabinet doors above the worktop When I got my set I was just told 'don't blow the house up, ha ha' Nearly did a few times. Made plenty of 'stink bombs' and sold them to school chums for a goodly profit

I must disagree with this idea. A chef's knife is no sharper than a good field knife and they don't 'poke' holes in their sheaths One reason I think for having the blades exposed is that in sets of high quality chefs knives all have the exact same handle. By exposing the blades the chef can pick his/her knife easier. My #1 has a top quality set of knives and they all have the exact same handle and except for maybe two of the set all the blades are a similar length. He keeps the knives in a box in a drawer so he can select one easily. He tried to use a knife block but he found he was pulling out each knife in turn until he found the one he needed

A word I hardly ever use - Cool!

The easiest way is to laminate the chrome tan, sandwiching a layer of cardboard in the middle The harder way is to dip the chrome tan in boiling hot water. That will make it shrivel up and harden then the pattern can be cut from that

NFO is short-hand for Neets Foot Oil. Mixed in with the dye it helps spread the dye On a recent project of some coin purses I had to put on 6 coats of purple dye to get it even looking and even then a couple dried a wee bit patchy looking

@Kovant If you put your location in your profile we might be able to help find a place for you to buy from

Just not enough dye put on

I use a wood-workers awl to punch into the cap, which sometimes raises the edge then I wiggle in a small pair of wire side cutters and snip the rivet post.