fredk

About 4 years ago I got a windfall of much ££. I decided to spend some of it by buying a load of stamps. Le Prevo had nearly all what I wanted, made by Ivan. Tandy had the same ones plus the others Le Prevo didn't have. [not discontinued, just oos ] Le Prevo's price was about £6 each, Tandy was about £10 each. I bought about 35 stamps from Le Prevo and about 10 from Tandy. The packaging was exactly the same just the name on the front of the label and on the rear label by the barcode was different I think also Ivan are happy to supply other outlets wholesale but Tandy is not. I used to buy some odd Tandy conchos from an ebay seller in England but he stopped selling them. He told me that Tandy was no longer supplying him as he wasn't a 'Tandy shop'

No, I'm referring back over 22 years; Ivan = Tandy = Ivan, both had the same items in their 'catalogue' at the same time, but at different prices I think Ivan was for the Far Eastern & Europe markets before Tandy put outlets there. Before Tandy had shops in England Ivan was the name for working hardware such as stamps and alphabet letter/number sets

'Ivan' is based in Taiwan All the hardware eg stamps, that I've bought from Tandy has been made in Taiwan Is Ivan/Taiwan actually Tandy? Is Tandy hardware made by Ivan and just relabelled? I get emails from both companies and when they are promoting something quite often its the same item using the same photo of it but prices are slightly different

Whatever spacing you want. The wider the lacing the wider the vertical spacing can be, which looks balanced. Large wide lace too close together looks cramped and thin lace too far apart looks unbalanced loose. eg 1/2 inch width can be from 1/2 inch to 1 inch apart But I'd say never go below 1/8 inch [3.18mm]

Thursday, Friday, two special holidays for celebrating Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee - 70 years of being the Queen Thursday and Friday so a lot of people can make it a 4 day long holiday with Saturday and Sunday added.

I ordered 100 of the 16mm KAM snaps in black. If I use just the heads to cover the bases of 15mm snaps, then I'll have 200 covers. For £4.99 delivered Delivery due soon but we have a couple of days holidays, tomorrow and Friday, no post so they might arrive Saturday

Most, if not all, the tools sold by Le Prevo are 'Ivan'

Two questions; 1. where do you keep your truck keys? 2. What hymns would you like at your funeral?

I have to admit, that's how it is with me right now; living room, spare bedroom, spare temporary cutting table outside, kitchen table covered in things not for eating or cooking

Thanks A thought; could the OP make a loose fit holster for a SAA or wrap the SAA with some padding and duct tape, allow extra or tape on something for the sights, for a holster?

I have some of the Tandy patterns and they DO say which holster is for which gun Denix are limited on their guns. I have several of them including a couple of SAA and a 1860. The two the OP mentions are not made by Denix. Are any of the other guns similar? eg is a Blackhawk 7.5 anything like a SAA with 7.5 inch barrel?

One wee thing I used to do; I cut a slot template in thickish card board. I got the slot looking good on that first, then I used a pen to trace the slot on the leather and followed the outside of the pen line as I cut the leather. I only did this when I had at least 4 slots to cut.

I use plumbers aluminium heat proof tape. Comes in a big roll 2'' wide. Costs about £5 to £8 per roll. I've multi-tested it and it works perfectly

Two extreme things to try; 1. washing it down with cellulose thinners 2. putting it in a bed of oatmeal or kitty litter, for either of those to absorb the excess oil out, but that could take weeks

Excellent Thanks for sharing your results

I've finally tracked down two of the other sizes of KAM Snaps T3 = 11 mm diameter T8 = 14.1 mm diameter I think I'll order some T8. I want some bigger KAMs and I'll see if that size will cover the 15mm snap base edit; I just found another size T15 = 16 mm diameter I'm ordering those uns

My local version is called 'Astonish'. The instructions are exactly the same as 'Mop and Glo'. I used to use the M&G as it was years ago 'Future' then 'Pledge with Future Shine'. Then it went off the market and I found 'Astonish'. Astonish and the original 'Pledge....' was water thin and clear, now they are like diluted milk, but they dry perfectly clear. I've also discovered, I think, that the US M&G is thicker than water and needs diluting down Check the instructions on that BONA stuff. Especially if it says remove with ammonia. Thats a big clue. Actually you can remove it and thin it with alcohol. I've thinned Astonish with IPA for spraying. It doesn't really need thinning for spraying but the alcohol makes it dry really fast even though it dries fast anyways Thin it down with water until its like brushing on water. I prefer to paint brush it on.

If you have a gloss, add some talcum powder to it to make it matt

Check out 'Bona High Gloss Hardwood Floor Varnish' 32 oz bottle, C$19.99 at Lowes. Check that it says on the instructions label things like 'dilute into a bucket of water' 'use a mop to apply' 'remove after 5 coats' 'remove with ammonia diluted in water' There may be something much cheaper out there. I get a local version £1 for 750ml [25 oz] We gotta find you something

1. a beeswax/carnauba wax mix polish 3. my old favourite - thinned 'Mop and Glo' or similar

Right, we don't buy snap/poppers by 'Line #' but by the mm diameter of the head Here is a photo of KAM Snaps heads on the bases of two sizes of regular snaps On the left, a KAM head is wider than the base of a 12mm classed snap, but, on the right, the base of a 15mm class is about 1.5 mm wider that the KAM head Actual measurements [approx, cos my gauge ain't 100% accurate ] KAM head = 12.4mm to 12.6mm [slight variation] 12mm snap base = 10.9mm 15mm snap base = 14mm If you could be bothered you could file the larger snap base down to fit under the KAN head. It wouldn't take much filing to take off about 0.7mm all round it ~~ I now remember that I used these to cover the bases of ready rivets before I discovered double-headed rivets

Same direction as the rest of the strap, A quick sketch; That how I do them However, sewing is by far better, and I'll stick my neck out and say, saddle stitching is the best. When I was in that medieval thingy I had plenty of sewn strap loops to repair. They'd been sewn on with a sewing machine and when the thread broke all the stitching came away. We once had a very dangerous incident when one of the guys was in the middle of a sword fight demo and the stitching on the belt loop of his dagger sheath gave way, allowing it to fall to his feet, tripping him up just as his opponent was swinging a sword at him. Fortunately the opponent was able to to pull and redirect the blow. The belt loop had been sewn on with a sewing machine. We then went through all the equipment and I re-stitched everything that had been machine sewn

There are plastic 'snaps'. They are available in 3 sizes afaik. They are called 'KAM Snaps' T5 is the most common size. It needs a special pliers tool to set them, by squeezing and squashing the central pointy bit, which actually looks the same in your sample photograph. I use them on 'key ring coin purses' and other lightweight items. I must see if one of their heads will do the same job

The Art of Making Leather Cases Volume 1 by Al Stohlman, pages 7 & 8 Just a small selection of my slot punches; Most useful, especially for the slot for a buckle tongue. If I need a slot longer than one of these I just move it over and hit it again. I've accumulated these over the years. Buying a few now and then. Each cost between £2 and £5 through ebay. But, they are worth their investment. [ I think I need to sharpen some of them, they've been neglected, ] A picture; one of the strap loops on my 'EDC' pouch that I made over 20 years ago Remember, that's over 20 years of irregular use. It got more use this last 2 1/2 years, carrying spare masks, rubber gloves et cetera. It was used a lot from 2000 to 2016 though I skive the edges of the strap but leave the area where the rivet will go thick. I also glue a very thin [ 0.5mm - 1oz, or less] leather over the whole back piece. In the case of my mobile [ cell ] phone holster this extra [ minimal ] thickness helps keep the phone in tightly

a. I have various widths/lengths of 6mm thick flat steel bar. I clamp one of these to a work bench and slip the project over it. The bar is the anvil then I set the rivet, with or without a setter bar. You are doing the rivets the same way, just the strap comes through a slot from the inside [or goes into the inside] b. According to Al, his method spreads the load on the rivet head and the leather. I have a belt pouch I made over 20 years ago. When I made it, according to the instructions, with the belt straps just riveted on the outside, the rivets were pulling out of the main pouch. About every 4 to 6 weeks. A real bummer to replace the rivets as I had lined the pouch so it had to be taken apart, rivets replaced and it all sewn up again. Then I discovered Al's method. I redid the belt straps his way and I've not had to re-do the rivets since