Handstitched

What an absolute beauty That emblem in the centre would look great in gold against the black. HS

They turned out great, great colours, especially the blue ( my fave colour) HS

Thats quite a good pic they took as well , well done I was in the ' local rag' once, just a few paragraphs and a pic . I didn't know I had a double chin until I saw that ...damn it !! I do envy the fact you have ' Leather Conventions' , I would love to see those. . No such thing here in Oz, a few ' craft fairs and country shows ' perhaps, but rarely any leather stalls...except mine. True. HS

Somewhere in one of our sheds is a ' Sunbeam' electric fry pan that we got in the early 70's . Mum did an entire Christmas dinner on it once when we were kids, a little ham & turkey , vegies, gravy , Christmas pudding custard , the lot , how the hell she managed it is beyond me . It tasted great, thats the bit I remember, LOL . As far as I know it still complete and works . The 'Sunbeam' appliances are built to last. Might try and find it. HS

Man, you've done a great job on those Looks a bit of a delicate job too . The brass polished up beautifully. Theres a great sense of satisfaction and achievement when a piece of history comes back to life My workshop is becoming quite a bit of a ' mini 'museum' lately . Lots a little bits 'n' pieces and curiosities everywhere. Just about run out of space now. I told Mum about you're hunting travels, ( she's a bit envious herself, she wants to go to the Canadian Rockys .....one day ) she's was wondering if you make anything from the skins? HS

I know you like old iron, but how about old brass? I only paid $20 for it at a local antique shop. Its a ' Companion' brand , made in Australia under licence from Sweden . Works perfect. I didn't even need to replace any plunger parts. Cool Pretty happy with that HS

That sun looks so spectacular , as for the mud, that looks challenging , even the snow looks good too Awesome pics . Recipes abound for the year.. yummmm The head studs just had a huge build up of carbon and gunk etc. around them making it hard to pull the head right off. Sure feeling it today tho, I ache all over . I have some bourbon for that...purely medicinal, of course . Thank you friend HS

@chuck123wapati I humbly and embarrassingly eat my words ....with BBQ marinade and a salad . I've only just got the cyl head off just this afternoon . One helluva struggle , but I got it off. I could see where the gasket went wrong, between 2 cylinders, quite common. Cylinders seem OK too. So, now to get it back together again and running again . ' In the next episode ....' I do hope you're out and about enjoying Mother Nature , hunting some good feeds, enjoying a ' cook up' and spinning a few yarns around a camp fire....*sigh* I envy that Have fun HS

I'm way late on this, CA can go off a bit too soon in the tin, but to thin out CA, I use ' toluene' to thin it out * . Too ex$y to keep throwing away. Depending on how much is left, around a table spoon( maybe more) in the tin. Leave over night, and its ready to use the next day. *the chemical make-up of other brands of CA maybe different to ours. Toluene is strong in vapour , and hard on the skin,( it burns) be careful. Use PPE . I used to use it in the fibreglass pool industry in another life...amongst other nasties. Toluene turns you into an Olympic sprinter to the wash room if it gets in the eye . HS

They would be good for those that have machines. I'll stick with my hand held English tip cutters

I have put a piece of wood inside the item . Also, as you mentioned wallets, and I assume the leather is thin (?) be careful not to hit the tool too hard as it may go straight through. A piece of scrap leather inside will help with that. HS

O'h dear ! Hope it wasn't a big project? Whatever marks you put on leather stays in leather. I guess the only thing you can do, apart from starting again, is to get creative and use stamping tools and hope they will hide the tracings ? HS

I have done something similar to wrap the handle of a knife . The leather was approx 1 " wide roo hide. Approx. 15- 18" in length. Although there was no stitching until the very end, I carefully applied adhesive as I was wrapping it. A bit of a laborious job, but effective. Some of the components on handle helped to keep the leather in place as well. I like those. Perhaps round leather lacing would do the trick? Hs

Same here friend. Mum has an assortment of cook books , especially one similar to your Great Grand Mothers . I don't know how old it is , but must be older than me, because she was using it when I was a wee lad. Its 2" + thick with magazine & newspaper cuttings tucked inside , its frayed, falling apart, but has some really delicious foods in it, mostly the ' olde' English recipes, many of which are bound to have copious ( and unhealthy ) amounts of cream and custard , no such thing as " diets" back then HS

Now that is a thing of beauty . I've only ever seen one on display. I've often been asked to do boot & shoe repairs , but I simply don't have to space for the extra machinery. Good find . HS

G'Day, Not sure if this is of any help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXPbWrySZQ HS

Thank you all kindly for your feed back You're right, but lets just say I 'repaired' its appearance , or "repaired" my ability to make watch straps, haven't done them in a while.... lol , whatever I really should do some more , even just to practice. HS

OOPS! I left out the letter ' r' , sorry. But this is the company, here in Oz : https://www.vardhman.com.au/. They have a listing for ' Gutermann' threads HS

hear hear !! I don't even lift a finger....or type a single word . . My customers seem to do that for me. I have a lil' 'A' frame sign out front on the verge, and thats it . People find me. God bless em' HS

G'Day, Not sure if this is pertinent , or has any relevance at all, but one of the suppliers that I have been dealing with , Vardhman , based in India, now owns ' Gutermann' threads . It must have been quite recent I've been using Gutermann upholstery threads for years , still do . Just by browsing, I found this company that does all the hardware I need for my horse rug repairs etc. in bulk . Always on the look out to save a few $$$ . Always good acumen to have more than one supplier too After I placed my order I was contacted by a manager(?) Au. asking what it was that I did, I would have thought the hardware was a giveaway , but quite friendly, just simply offering any other products or services , but he also told me that Vardhman ' now owns Gutermann' (as I mentioned that I use gutermann amongst many others) . First time I've been contacted by the manager (?) though . HS

G'Day, I don't always do watch strap repairs, but this one turned out quite well. The client was quite happy too . The leather for the main strap, x2 layers of 1.2mm veg tan , dyed , glued & stitched. The other straps x 1 layer of 1.2 mm VT , thinned out a bit bit to feed past the pins on the watch . Machine : Pfaff 60, leather needle , thread: Gutermann upholstery . It has a bit more ' body' to it than the regular industrial thread I use. The only thing was that I have big hands, and the buckles are small ...= fiddly = sore hands , lol HS

@chuck123wapati A lot of what Mum taught me was when she was a kid in the 2nd world war, as well as a few horror stories. Annual chores all done, the ol' Fordson went sweet ...woo hoo I can now focus on getting the ' Ol Grey Fergie' sorted , get my weber BBQ and my spit cleaned . Its almost Summer here, feeling it already , or should I say BBQ season be good HS

ALL sewing machines of that era are worth saving, even if you don't use em' That looks a beauty. Won't take much to get it up and running . The motor is an interesting feature tho. Never seen one with an oiling pad .

G'Day, My response is in regards to sewing belt keepers, but in regards to sewing belts, I use the ' Al Stohlman ' method ' The span of my arms , as noted in Al Stohlmans' ' The Art Of Hand Sewing Leather ' *. To have too much thread, it gets tangled up a bit when sewing. I can be a bit clumsy at times . Depending on the length of the belt, they take around 2 - 2 1/2 spans of my arms . *Should also be, ' The Joy Of Hand Sewing Leather ' IMO, hand stitching can be therapeutic, ...except the sore hands lol HS

I hear ya friend !!! My Mother taught me to be frugal , ' make do' , use up left overs etc..and how to cook, best thing she ever did , simple survival . Dad never cooked , ...he can do toast or a cheese sandwich lol God bless our Mothers HS