celticleather

Le Prevo (http://www.leprevo.co.uk/) have a good range of leathers at sensible prices. One of the best ranges is available at J T Batchelor in London (http://www.allinlond...y/1218/8296.php). They don't have a website yet, although one is planned. If you speak to Ted or Rocky, they can help with most requirements.

If you don't mind buying from the UK, Abbey Saddlery (http://www.abbeysaddlery.co.uk/) have a good range of top-quality brassware, but you will need to register with them to get access to the prices on their website. Le Prevo (http://www.leprevo.co.uk/) also have a good range of quality fittings, and their catalogue is freely available online. Both companies are happy to deal with overseas customers.

Sounds familiar! See http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=17903&view=&hl=dye-saster&fromsearch=1 I found afterwards that the black dye had also spattered a pair of tan-coloured slippers that I was renovating for a friend. I had to dye them black all over and apologise to him!

That was my first thought, Tom. But this blade is sharpened on the outside of the curve - like a head knife - and on the inside of the curve - not like a head knife. The only linoleum knives I've ever seen are only sharpened on the inside of the curve. I bet Harry Belafonte would know if it's a banana knife!

Glad you meant Pearson and not Person . . . I think you can get into trouble for selling people!

Never been there, but there's some information at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g33657-Activities-Steamboat_Springs_Colorado.html

I usually point people in the direction of these two websites: http://www.bowstock.co.uk/index.html for general information and tutorials. http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/ (scroll down to bottom of page for loads of information). They don't have all the information in the world, but they're a pretty good place to start!

I buy my cast brass buckles from J T Batchelor in London, and they supply them either as plain brass or nickel plated (in the same styles), for the same price. The same goes for most of their brass hardware.

Abbey Saddlery in the UK have the complete range of Sam Browne fittings - in either solid brass or nickel-plated brass. They are quite happy to ship overseas, and don't have a minimum quantity requirement. Link below. http://www.abbeysadd..._cat_id=SAM0001

Happy birthday, Ray! When I heard that the Ludlow Food Festival was on, I knew you'd be there! All the best! And to Luke, too! Hadn't realised you shared a birthday . . . too confusing! Terry

Take a look at http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a week's reading about almost every aspect of leatherworking. There's also a good set of tutorials at http://www.bowstock..../tutorials.html.

Looks like a pretty scruffy Osborne knife . . . their finish is usually much better than this. Why not email your pics to Osborne (cso@csosborne.com), and ask if this an acceptable standard?

Copper rivets start off soft, but they get harder and stronger as a result of the hammering that is required to set them. See - http://www.answers.c.../work-hardening

Depending upon your feelings about using synthetic materials, have you considered using a piece of plastic, cut from the side of a 5-litre container? It could be sewn between two layers of garment-weight leather, and no-one would ever know!

It'll be good to get the 'comfy' skin back! I'm having to wear shades to view this one . . . and I notice Johanna seems to be having the same problem! Keep plugging at it!!

Sometimes works for me first click, sometimes needs a second click.

I wonder if this pattern might work better if the gusset was thonged inside the front and back? The front and back panels would ripple quite pleasingly (see below).

I just got an answer from Robert Sorby & Co, the manufacturers of my mystery knife. It's a banana knife! They say it must be at least 25 years old, and probably much older, since they have only made woodturning chisels for the past 25 years. The company has been taken over many times, and most of their company history has disappeared. It's good to have a mystery solved!

Ray I contacted Robert Sorby a while ago, and it seems that there is no one there now who remembers the full range of products that they used to make before woodturning came to the fore. I found this quote in their company history: 'There was still a certain dependence on sourced products through until the 1960's. The 1958 catalogue, the first produced since the war, shows an increasing range of general hand tools including pliers, hammers vices, cramps. However, it was the edge and garden tools together with ice skates which were still branded with their original marks which remained the cornerstone of the business.' They suggest that this knife may have been a 'sourced' tool, particularly since it has a Maltese cross stamped on it, rather than the more usual kangaroo trade mark, and I wonder if it may have been a pruning knife (modern one below). Is it possible that a previous owner decided it would make a good head knife, and ground and honed the outside curve for that purpose? Terry

Suze - You have pretty accurately described my experience when using IE7. For some unknown reason the IE browser dislikes the Forum with a vengeance, but everything runs like a dream in Firefox!

I recently acquired a small knife as part of a job-lot of leatherworking tools, but I'm not convinced that it has anything to do with leather! It is 5½" long, and although it's shaped approximately like a Dixon head knife, it is sharpened on both the inside and the outside of the curve. The blade is stamped on one side with ROBT. SORBY, SHEFFIELD, followed by a Maltese cross, and on the other side 1??7. Does anyone have any idea what its original purpose may have been?

The new format is great - fresh and clean and easy to navigate, BUT it crashes my Internet Explorer 7 every time I try to use it! Seems OK on Firefox, but I wonder if anyone else is experiencing the same problem. Perhaps it would be OK with IE8, but I'm putting off installing the new Explorer for as long as possible!

Ray An outsole stitcher stitches around the outer welt of a shoe, to fix the sole to the welt (often referred to as a 'Goodyear' welt). An insole stitcher stitches from the inside of the shoe, through the turn of the upper, and out through the sole, also for fixing the sole to the upper. It's more often used on a mocassin-style shoe, and is sometimes known as 'Blake' stitching. Any clearer . . ? Terry

Ray The technical term is 'kerning', and (for instance) describes the way that the bottom of a capital A should tuck under the top of a capital W in a word like RAILWAY. Despite my printing background, I've yet to find a completely foolproof way of getting it right every time with the Tandy lettering. I usually look at the letters side-by-side, with the printing side up, and try to make a mental judgement of how much closer they need to be. Having clouted the first letter, I then leave the stamp in the impression, line the next letter beside it vertically, remove the first letter stamp and move the second letter back horizontally to where I judge it needs to be, and hope for the best! If I'm trying to centre some lettering in a given space, I work out what will be the middle letter (or space), and strike it first, in the centre of the area. I then work backwards from the centre letter for the first half of the lettering, and forwards from the centre for the second half. For instance, the word LEATHER will have T as its centre letter. I strike T first, followed by A, E, L to the left, and then H, E, R to the right. This works ok, but allowance has to be made if the word contains the letter 'I', which is narrower, by moving the centre letter an appropriate amount left or right. If someone comes up with a better method, I'm ready to learn! Terry

Hi, and welcome to the Forum - probably the world's greatest encyclopedia of leatherworking! To reduce the size of your pictures, try using http://www.picresize.com/. You can resize the pictures as necessary, and they should then post ok.