Handstitched

LOL, that made me laugh I do markets, have been for 18 years , and Yup !! all of that, especially in regards to ' complete idiots ' ....if only I had a dollar...... @NH97 I used to work in shearing sheds, as a rousy, ( roustabout) . Long story short, it landed me in hospital. So I looked at doing something else, which turned out to be leather work. It was just a hobby at first and I really enjoyed it , but it soon started to make a little money at markets, and now its full time....and a business. But I still very much enjoy it. Perhaps ' test' the waters and see what feedback you get from making a few things. Start off with small items, and hopefully you'll be confident enough to start taking orders to make small items, and maybe work your way up. But when it comes to turning it into a small business as I did , you're in a totally different ball park. Stick to keeping it as a hobby for now. Hope all goes well for you. HS

Man, what beauty !!! And Elk steaks sound delish too . And I still can't find bacon steaks here, I keep looking though . HS

When molding leather, I put the molded items near the wood stove in the house in the cooler months, or in front of my heater in the workshop, but not too close. Do you apply seasoning as well? ....lol......sorry . HS

Now, back onto my favourite subject....food . My shopping habits have changed. I've been buying Pork cutlets( and other meats) in large packs to save a few $$ , separate and freeze , and turning them into nice Pork schnitzels . Bang em' out a bit , and crumbed . Damn tasty with jacket potatoes , with Romano cheese and fresh herbs on top , sometimes with sour cream....except I forgot to get some today Nacho's on the menu tomorrow . My ol man at 92, OMG, he eats more than I do, LOL Not complaining HS

A hairdryer same as @dprezgay said and the same as @rleather . I use one all the time in the cooler months, and also for time purposes . In Summer , dyes dry in no time. My dyes are mostly water based with a little bit of alcohol for drying purposes. I use water based, and some chemical based sealers . HS

You bet. I've loaded a pic and highlighted the water pump, you may have to zoom in bit . Theres no way to get a spanner between the radiator an the fan , I tried. The other pic shows the rad off the tractor, the bulk of the weight is the top tank . Everything is cast iron, top tank, bottom tank and sides , all except the core. Do you believe in karma? I do . I was recently asked to do a quote for some trampoline pads, my price $$$$$$$ ++ , online price $$ . He's a regular customer, his wife keeps me busy with horse rugs. I could not in all good conscience charge him my price when its a fraction of the price online. He got back to me and said: "Thank you for your honest advice" . My conscience is clear, and my reputation remains in tact , otherwise it would have bit me on the a**se at some point in the future if I went ahead. Your conscience is clear and you can now hopefully sleep soundly As for the person that lied to you.....what goes around... HS

'The sheriff goes into the saloon, walks up to the bar,and said to the barman and said, " I'm looking for a man with a brown paper hat, brown paper boots, , brown paper shirt, and brown paper pants" ' the barman says, "what do you want him for?' " "Rustlin' " Ahem... HS

A lot of interesting insights from all sides . ' Cattle rustling' is something you might hear out of the ol' ' wild west' , but it still happens . Happens here with sheep. They use ear tags on sheep here , obviously . After reading all the comments, I now have a better appreciation of branding marks on leather Unless I'm told otherwise, they're staying in . HS

From the ' comix' in our weekend paper: A few ladies talking around a table: Lady one: " My Mother said if you really wanted one , I'd have feed it, play with it and clean up its mess" Lady two: " so, you're getting a puppy?? " Lady one: " no a husband" . One for the ladies: 'What do you call that useless piece of skin at the end of a penis?' 'A Man ' HS

Is that the one that also went through your window? . Your sketching looks quite good actually , you're a man of many talents I managed to get the radiator off myself to do the water pump, , but almost dropped it, nearly broke my back and almost gave myself a hernia all at the same time. Silly thing to do that was . Its just a heavy lump of cast iron with a few gaps for the water to pass through , lol HS

My ol' Fordson is 1951 E27N , its a bit beyond back flushing , and besides, the cast iron radiators on these beasts weigh more than you and I combined. After I got the rebuilt water pump back on, I had to get a friend of mine to use his small crane to put it back on ,,not a one person job. Its also a counter weight for the 3 point linkage. HS

Hey friend, hope all is well in your part of the universe I'll be giving my my piece of iron a birthday.But it ain't going to be cheap. I've just ordered some spark plugs for my ol Fordson, hope you're sitting down...they are $40- ea online from the east of Oz and I need 4 of them . Some places charge up to $80 ea, so I was lucky. Next, is around 50-60 ltrs of oil for the transmission, hydraulics and the engine. The tractor was bequeathed to me and it has provided me with some faithful service over the years and its important to look after it and to honour my late friend that gave it to me. If I ever win the lotteries, I'll get a new radiator core....deep breath, only available in the UK and they cost around the 600-700 Engilsh pounds, by the time it gets to Oz, around the $1200-$1300 mark, yikes. The one that I have is OK, but I have to be 'gentle' with it. So how is your set of wheels doing ? Hope you and yours are in good health HS

Cutting a piece of leather with a ruler, my fingers were ever so slightly over the line , cutting away, I just caught the very tips of my fingers with my knife, no blood thankfully ... however the tips of my fingers were nice and straight As ' Agent 86' would say, " missed it by that >> << much" . HS

A sort of similar technique I have used before is a small wad punch for designs on wrist bands with a coloured leather lining underneath that can be seen through the holes. So yeh, it should look quite good. Never knew what that technique was called until now. HS

I stand corrected and so they stay well and truly in Agreed HS

When I buy my VT shoulders or butts, theres often a branding mark . I do try to chose my leathers to purchase carefully, I sometimes used to reject the hides with marks on them( depending where the mark is) . I use these leathers for belts and I used to work or cut around them for plain belts, or, depending on the project , they might be able to be stamped or carved over. Not any more . With the advent of crap CNN ( Cheap N Nasty) "leather" belts on the market, and so many people keep asking me if they are real leather at my stall (they also sniff them, bend em' etc) . , I've decided to keep them in as proof its the real thing. And as far as I know , you don't get branding marks on synthetic belts. Of course, you wouldn't keep a branding mark on a bag or case etc or on a large coverage . , or especially on a clients order. But on a plain belt ?? Thoughts ?? HS

Yep I second that , its a domestic. It might be OK for thin leathers , perhaps. I have a old Necchi of the same ' ilk' , good machine, but not much good for what I want to sew. HS

That is just beautiful . I've done a buscadero before, so I know how much work goes into them . The airbrushing is awesome HS

Hope it wasn't too painful. Might consider that for a meal next week, love nacho's . Hard to find un-flavoured corn chips here, only flavoured types...but still tasty, with lashings of romano cheese and sour cream and a few fresh herbs on top , yummo +++ BTW, I prefer butter on my pop corn, and sometimes a little salt....mmmmm . By now I'm making everyone hungry, .. am I sorry??? NUP !!! HS

I'm a big fan of cashew nuts, been my fave since I was a kid. Might try a few spice recipes and roast them in the oven next time I get some, but they are a bit ex$y here in Oz . I don't eat too many though , they can make me...um...go Sure glad I got all my fire breaks done early, we've just been hit with a huge storm today , it was almost cyclonic at one point. Still raining heavily as I type. No damage, & all good . This is what I love about Mother Nature so much , its starting to warm up here( despite a storm atm) , but its cooling down where you are . In a few months time, our a***ses are going to get scorched , as you'll be having snow. Its the changing of the seasons that I love and a huge respect for Mother Nature HS

If theres a needle in it, perhaps try a piece of scrap leather that you intend to sew, put it under the foot turn the machine by hand and see what happens, listen for anything out of the ordinary ? It would be good if the owner has some thread to try out, but that might be a big ask. HS

I had to google that, chic peas.Sounds delish, and morish HS

Osbourne have some good range of fixed blade leather knives, but they ain't cheap, but they are designed to last. HS

Looks like it was hastily painted . So what do you intend to sew? Looks like it would sew thin leathers like wallets etc. If it suits your needs, go for it HS

Geez, I'm onto my second box Its now becoming ' hand made vs mass produced' HS