fredk

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.

Two short-shank double headed ready rivets, and cover the rivet heads inside the holster with a thin piece of leather if necessary

Can you get a replacement needle bar easy enough?

Go to a hardware store to find oxalic acid, or to your local pub and ask what they use for cleaning down the serving tops of the counter bars. This is often sold as 'Bar-Keeper's Friend' for cleaning bar tops. Although not a lot of pubs/bars actually use it. Another source is your local beekeepers; they might use it for disinfecting bee hive parts

Both 'scratch' awls work fine. I have several of both and they do work well for poking holes in leather up to about 3mm thick. I have several as 1. I have them left over from teaching kit 2. I have numerous work benches and a couple of transportable work kits in which I keep them

The ring is a thimble ring

Several ways to tackle a plain breast plate. I'd suggest you get or make a buck to form the leather over. An old shop mannequin, or a few planks nailed together. The size of your torso plus an extra 1 or 2 inches in girth. Wet mould a piece of 4mm or thicker veg tan over it. Tack/nail the leather to the buck, then when its fully dry cut out the shapes for the arms and neck and trim the bottom edge. If you want a breast ridge down the centre add a strip of wood to the buck for that The back piece can be made in the same way

Thems shure do look nice

From leather bottle making to castrating beeves what a load of bollocks! Just joking. Some of the words we use for livestock come from old Anglo-Saxon, some from Norman-French, and in the US some from Spanish-Indo When I see the bullocks being gathered in a field, getting ready for the slaughter houses, I think; thats a lot of burgers and a lot of leather, I wonder where that goes

Are you trying to make a plain breast & back plate or articulated?

Excellent

In English English we call them bullocks

A selection of iron nails for making holes. A penny nail will make a slot for lacing

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