celticleather

Fiebing's Edge Dye is a water-based dye, rather thinner than oil dye, but with a good penetration and strong colour. I usually mix it with about 30% gum arabic, and use it to dye edges. It can then be burnished immediately, and the gum brings up a good shine.

You're welcome! As to how to use it, I can only suggest . . . very carefully!

Maybe a baby camel? I'm not exactly a scrota afficionado, so I'll bow to your greater knowledge!

Ray - This is almost certainly a Turkish or Afghan powder/shot flask, made from a camel's scrotum! I guess it would have originally had some kind of brass(?) nozzle or plug. Now go and wash your hands!

Found it! It's a welt knife . . . see http://ronstools.com/orderform.htm and eBay item no 110312634458. Thank goodness . . . I thought my memory had finally expired!

Damn! I know (knew) what this is - but I've forgotten! I came across it when I was looking for my mystery tool (http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=5977). I have an idea that it's a welt trimmer, for paring down the edges of shoe soles until they are level with the shoe welt. If I can find the link again, I'll let you know!

Three or four points!

I use methylated spirit - which I think is called denatured alcohol in the US.

I've just been asked to make a leather pickguard for a guitar, and I have to admit that until now I had no idea that such things existed! I can see that I would need a very accurate template to make the guard fit around the various gizmos on the face of the guitar, but I'm not clear about the method of fixing the guard to the guitar . . . is it screwed on, glued on, or what? Has anyone had experience of these? What are the potential pitfalls? Might I regret getting involved? Just in case anyone else doesn't know what these are, here's a picture I found!

That's pretty eyewatering!

Rugby is probably the nearest thing to blood sport that we're allowed in the UK nowadays! Certainly beats beach volleyball!

I just finished a belt for a guy with a 58-inch waist - and he wasn't the King of Tonga or a Sumo wrestler! It fastened easily around my wife and I together. I'm sure that's the biggest waist I've ever accommodated, but I'm sure there must be bigger people out there . . ?

Quod erat demonstrandum.

If I quickly grow a tree, can I have one too?

Our government in the UK is talking about reducing taxes . . . though they don't really seem to know where the money's going to come from to allow it to happen! It will probably be the usual case of giving with one hand and sneaking it back with the underhand! Don't know if this may help to raise your spirits . . ? http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo

Ray and I seem to have a number of parallel opinions, and this subject is another example! My mind's ear hears the high street megastores bleating about poor sales in the run-up to Christmas (in its third month of running already!), and my mind's eye sees the post-Christmas headlines heralding record sales despite the economic worries. For many people, the gift-buying trend in recent years has tended towards things that bleep, squeak, have built-in lasers and far-eastern labels . . . anything less is not good enough. It would be good if gift-buying were to become a less expensive exercise, with the accent on smaller gifts of better quality, and I'm sure this would benefit the leatherworking and other crafting communities. I sell bought-in leather goods in my shop, as well as all the stuff that I make myself, and this year I'm determined to buy as much English-made leatherware as I can afford. It will cost quite a bit more to stock, and the customers will have to pay more for it, but it will be top-quality, and I have a feeling that this year may see a movement in that direction. Time will tell! Please add this 1p worth to Ray's - see - 2p already!

Yes, all four layers are stitched through. Depending on the thickness of material, it may be necessary to skive the edges to reduce the bulk of the seam. Never tried it so it's all strictly theoretical!

I'm not really into garment stitchery, but I wonder if this may work?. It gives quite a rigid seam, which covers the cut edges. Excuse the scruffy drawing . . . it's bedtime! PS - It's the way ancient Romans stitched the seams on their leather tents!

I'll be very interested to know what you think of it, Karl.

This is always the first thing I do when I commission a new awl. I'm sure there's some kind of voodoo that makes spiky or sharp things fall sharp-end down! When I worked at a butcher's shop many years ago, I learned that it is not a good idea to try to catch a falling knife or cleaver . . . just get the feet out of the way!

Oddly enough, I am the local boot man! I also thought this may be a heel trimmer, but these are usually curved to suit the curvature of the heel, and I've never seen one with the strange offset handles. I've tried it for other things like trimming soles, but it just doesn't do the job. So the mystery remains . . .

Always seems a bit strange to me that we celebrate his failure to blow up Parliament!

I bought this tool a few years ago from an antique dealer, who had classified it as a 'leatherworking tool'. I don't really have any idea of its purpose, and if anyone has any knowledge (or theories), I'd be glad to hear from them. Its a little under 8 inches in length, and the curved blade is stamped with the name 'I P HYDE'. I tracked down Isaac P Hyde, who was a knife and blade-maker to the leather industry from 1875, and the company still exists, making knives in Southbridge, Massachusetts. I sent them some pictures of the tool, and they passed them on to their oldest surviving retired employee, but he had no idea what the tool was intended for. They said the blade had perhaps been made under contract for the manufacturer of the tool, in which case they would have no record of its ultimate purpose. In some respects, the tool is similar to a spokeshave, but it has strange offset handles, and an adjustable brass fence to control the width of cut. So come on, boys and girls - let's hear from the world-wide community!

Congratulations to Barak Obama's supporters, and commiserations to the rest! The Kilroy/Chad story was great!

Certainly sounds a bit scammy to me! I would take CitizenKate's advice and ignore it.