8thsinner

I love Boar bacon, oak smoked if possible, grated mature cheese on top, grilled enough to melt, place a fresh chilli on top, roll it up and skewer it closed, grill it for another few minutes add a sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper and fried chilli flakes. OMG wonderfull, and hot enough to make anyone happy. Add garlic and herb mayo to the centre of the chilli to cool it for the weak. Or simply for flavour if your making 10 or more...hehe Aside from that I love rabbit way more than wood pidgeon, with kangaroo and alligator coming in next followed by mongolian duck. rich as anything but an absolute treat for the palate.

Thats a fantastic looking dragon rat thingy there. Thank you for the inspirational idea,

Bear in mind I am hardly an expert on molding, But have played a little with it for sheaths and stuff. The easiest surest way is to make a wooden version of what you want covered, soak the leather in luke warm water till nice and pliable then tack the edges down over the item of course making sure your leaving enough to get trimmed once it's stitched. You may need to use several soakings and moldings for this but it's the method I have used before with more or less success, but nothing approaching perfect. A bone folder can be used too to create the initial horizontal/vertical crease up onto the snuff can sides, do it wrong however and your left with an unremovable line along it. Of course it takes a bit of practice but not much to get usable results... Hope that helps or gives you enough to continue your search with more ease..

Thanks anyway rawhide. I guess it's the problems I am imposing upon myself by choosing to design fiddly stuff on a large scale. I have been working far too much on this design this week and not enough on getting a job, however I have begun drawing out a rough guide to it and will start a thread on it to be added to as I progress. Also I worked out a few things yesterday...WOW 372m of 1/16th lace needed for cords and knots...Not including edge lacing the bag itself together... 188 total number of braided knots (some are basis of larger ones though) 20 Solid braided buttons minimum... I have worked through a few of the problems now anyway, just a couple of things left which will bug me if I can't get any better ideas, or until I do and have the patience to fix them...

I have been using photoshop since version 3, all the way upto CS3, it's a fantastic program for serious heavy duty photo touching, schematics, art or what ever you want it to be, but it is very costly. I have started an addictive like behaviour with portable apps using an archos as a drive and I have installed gimp in that because it's free and portable. To be honest they are both high end programs. irfan too is a great and small program which sounds like it would suit your needs, but I would recommend trying to learn to use gimp also.

At the moment I am using a Nikon P3 so I thought I would throw in a quick review of it here reviewing what you would need. It's a point and shoot camera with macro, some adjustability in manual mode and a useful selection of scene modes from portrait, macro, twilight, document etc etc. It's not as sharp as my previous nikon 4300, but I upgraded originally because of size limitations. I can get fantastic shots of most stuff on macro mode if full daylight is used, but can be tricky to get used to indoors. It is definately suitable for your needs but there is a definate learning curve with it. If your fairly experienced you won't have a problem. I also point you to the site which I use now to browse digital cameras. It's an amazing site with rantastic detail in all the reviews, I highly recommend you spend a night or two looking through it and using the compare buttons... Digital photography reviews Just had a quick look around and if I was to upgrade again I would look at the canon powershot G9 Now I know you were looking at SLR's originally but check it out anyway you might be surprised. Hope I have helped a bit

I have now removed my bum bag problem 1 & 2, so no longer need ideas on that element,

Would it be difficult to have some sort of similar journal here, edited into a pdf and released for download perhaps even quarterly to begin with. I am personally very familiar with quark express and photoshop. I could edit a lot of it together, Though I would take artistic license with the layout and stuff. Theres already enough people in here making tutorials by themselves, wouldn't be such a big deal to put it all together. And if I may suggest a few things about it... Braiding section - Break down of a new knot or button to learn. Weekend project - Best selected article on something to make over the weekend whether braiding, tooling or molding etc... Tool of the month type thing - Working strategically into tooling from the first tool you should buy to Z metaphorically... Ancient influence - Images and articles of old saddles, bag, whips etc Question time - Questions answered by the pro's...obvious enough Tips and tricks section - People reviewing their own work, like a tutorial but listing all the things they learned from the experience and challenges they had to overcome etc... Web resources - List of useful websites and suppliers by location etc Way to go about it...Select a Moderator for each element, open a new room, and have one thread per release on articles, tutorials up for choosing bla bla bla, I am sure you get the drift... At the moment I have no job so undertaking such an editorial position might do me the world of good and kick start a new career, *S*. So who would like to see this?

I love this idea, Scrabble is by far one of my favourite board games. I might just try one of these one day. Great idea and great result, congrats

ANyone know a good tutorial for a pair of mocasins that go up half way up the knee. I am looking to do something with a suede I have a a bit of sheep fur for walking round the GF's house down in the country.

Even with a tiny bit of practice you can get the hang of cutting a straight edge. After several years of not doing leather work I can, and did, the other day get a nearly perfect straight edge using a camp knife on 2mm leather pulling towards me. You really just have to have a steady hand and recognise when your going off a bit, just don't practice on good stuff.

I am curious to know about machine washing suitable skins. I know you can with both kangaroo and pig from practice but are there any others that you know about? I am curious about a certain bergandy water buffalo upholstery leather for use in a possible second back up to my backpack idea, Buffalo is pretty much perfect for a camping leather back pack like...

Just tried again and no luck, bear with me here....sorry about this

http://k43.pbase.com/u25/8thsinner/upload/...ewwhipsmall.jpg

Actually I just thought I would add a few details about the idea being part of a larger whole idea. You may have noticed I am an outdoorsey type, so carrying a few essentials as part of my regular wear comes in handy for example... Zippo pouch currently a 16p turks head... Watch strap with removable comfort inner which acts as a hunting sling... Three x 1 metres of thonging suits multiple uses...poi, meteor, sling cords, bird hunting boladeros and finally possibly snare use... Braid covered lead balls each with loop on the ends of them, bola, juggling balls (with flags attached) poi, meteor play, keyring toy for fiddling essentially... Matching leather necklace as shown else where, just because it's cool, but really has no practical purpose... Projects planned... Hollow (bicycle inner tube) braided over strap belt, Braid for effect, hollow for syphoning water/making a shower etc... Better leather braclets for practical tying.... Hat band braided to match all the other crap... Edge braided wallet for bits and pieces... New first aid kit design, small removable belt carry system... Washing kit small foldable and hangable... Just thought I would throw that in there.... Thanks again for reading, I appreciate it.

Hey guys Heres the plans and problems of my largest project idea yet, it's been floating around my head for about three years now...I am going to break the whole things down into principes, descriptions and problems.... In it's most basic term, it's a back pack for camping (weekend and week long) trips, carrying around my laptop (15"), general use, BOB (bug out survival bag), Removable water bag (like a runners water pack 5-8 litres), removable hip/bumbag, and finally versatile enough to carry from 25 litres capacity upto about 45 litres of stuff roughly... The main body will be wine red marble effect leather, pockets will be black as will the water bag, and bumbag and lace trim probably 1/8th black lace...It will not be the lightest bag on the market but if it fills all of the functions I think it's a small price to pay...It will have an industrial kinda look about it with all the lace and cord bits but hey, that suits my image anyway... It's basic principles are: 1 - wilderness replacable design so no zips, no rings and no plastic etc...If you can't make it with a knife in the woods it's of no use to this design... 2 - Versatile capacity and adjustable removable strap system. 3 - Use as much cord, braid and thonging as possible and the finer the better...eg edge laced where possible and cords of 4-8strand 1/16th pigskin I don't paticularily care about how much lace ends up being needed as long as I get it done in the next year or so. lol Okay so, initial design..descriptions and problems thus far yet to be over come....This breaks down roughly as follows... Main compartment 25 or so litre capacity in regular shape 2 side pockets to carry a standard sized 400 page paper back novel...Pockets lids double length and close with double buttons cords and sliding knots. (extendable on top for higher storage area.... One front pocket big enough for a standard hardback novel 600 or so pages thick...double button/sliding knot closure Netting using cords which is completely removable if needs be, and can cover the front pocket too, for drying out wet clothes etc on the move... The jackets and lid will close up using buttons thong loops and tightening knots in a three way configuration using the same knot I use on the necklace types I make as shown on my show off thread...(it's really part of an ongoing major wilderness kit idea) Problem 1 WIthout using zips I need a way to gain access to almost all of the bag's inside at one time for plucking that one lost battery from the bottom...Thus far the best way of doing this I can think of is to make an inner bag with very wide top half, which is hemmed with holes which lace up the middle....This would also give it a few more inches in thickness for stuff just threw in as always happens with me... Problem 2 Guaranteed water proof seem using 4strand mexican edge braiding...Will it be tight enough do you think? or should I put a welt in there too, just to be safe??? Problem 3 Major problem. the main bag will have removable straps, the top half of which attach using a larks head loop, the bottom half will tie in its needed position... However the removable Hip belt needs to be effectively a solid ring around the bag (about three inches wide at the hips themselves) and body in order to properly spread the weight of a fully kitted out camping bag, Thus far I cannot without the use of non wilderness materials work out how to do this, Any ideas welcome...HELP please Jackets This is the name I have given to the principle of this part...the lower two thirds of the height of the bag has vertical flaps (much like a jacket in a sense) which close shut almost to meet in the centre line of the bag (on the outside / front) These flaps actually wrap around to cover the main compartment's side and front pockets. These are secured by a thong loop attached to the flap meeting a button set running down through the middle of the main compartment. The flap has 6 pockets total which tuck in flat when not in use, but when packed get filled with (laundry tablet bags used in the washing machine filled with seperated survival gear, such as water kit, fire kit, food kit, tools kit etc... Three pockets on the inside and three in same location on the outside....flat lace stitched... double buttons/cord closure system. When packed out the jacket in it's normal position would no longer meet in the centre, The question of adjustability has been addressed already. This gap however will be filled with the removable water bag....see below... Removable straps Initially my idea for these are to use a larks head method of attachment using round braid in the centre which leads to a flat 16 part braid, sinking to a flattened 16 strand round braid (PROBLEM, Would this need some some sort of strap in the centre of this section to keep shape, I have never tried it before) after this anyhow it leads to two 6 strand cords, using the other two strands to work over the knot, then top that knot with a gaucho or something... I have the idea here of also having removable phone pouch etc, so a few flaps may be added here. Water bag....2/3rds the height of the bag minus about 2-3 inches. Not more than 7 inches wide total. Space for a 2litre filled water bag plus two flatish sitting pockets for hydration sachets etc, also doubles as a small use bag perhaps for collecting berries and leaves for food etc...This will be made very thin and probably out of the toughest thinnest pigskin I have...It will use the same straps used for the initial bag, but can optionally use regular cords as straps if needs be. Hip/bumbag/fanny bag.... This is a tricky one, It's ideals are simple though... Attaches to the lid of the bag (where a rain cover would be) and is removable to fill the use of a bumbag when removed. This to be filled with a permanent survival mini kit, or on occassion simply stock a media kit consisting of an archos 504, mini speakers and leads etc.... MAJOR Problem I want the bag on the lid to suit the following dimensions roughly...8inch on top squarish but rounded top, tapering down over 12 inches to a sort of 4-5 inch circular finish... But on the bumbag front suit the dimensions of 8 inches long 4inches wide and about three inches wide...I cannot work out how to do it as yet. But the bumbag, shoud fit the hip belt of the bag itself if needs be, use the removable main bag straps as a belt or fit over my regular leather belt of 50mm wide.... Problem 2 MINOR Without zips I am left with only button closure options unless someone can suggest an alternative... Element problems Is there is an easy way to use removable buttons? As I will probably start with roll buttons until everything is complete and working before I start braiding 20-30 buttons... I have thus far been thinking some sort of foldable design but can't quite work it right... Any ideas welcomed The rest of the bag itself will have several dozen features from... Battery slots for spares, which also fits a maglight... Internal triangular pocket to hold a khukri without the point in it's sheath wearing through the bottom of the bag... Use a sheeps fur liner to pad the back and double as laptop protector at a basic level... Fur liner and bamboo skewer mat provide a great seat in wet weather on logs... Breathing padded back system which uses virtually flat pockets to take spare boxers and socks etc...probably two of each in total. Internal loops for hanging dry inside out if needs be... Removable stays for structural strength... etc etc, Don't worry Full pics and description will be going up when it's completed I might even try to run through the entire sequence with a camera beside me and being used often... I have started to run through a series of sketches for this design because a friend is interested in it, so I may be able to load them up in the next week or so. For anyone who has read this far I thank you and welcome your comments questions and ideas, also I apologise for it's shorter perhaps less descriptive version, Before I finished writing this (VENT WARNING) The damned cat jumped on the keyboard made the target the web address bar, hit a few jeys and managed to hit enter at the same time removing my original writing.......DAMN YOU DIAGO....Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Just thought I would add a couple more as I found them... as in the other thread, but also It's difficult to see the dragon design here but it's a cleaned up version of a 15th century hungarian family seal with a dragon wrapping a coat of arms with a larger set of three claws on there.... I have the same design on the back of my leather trench coat. If I was using the same design now however, I would use slightly thinner leather for the cover and use a mexican edge braid to finish it... Hope you like it. This one is a balisong sheath machine stitched in the same suede as the above whip...used for a horizontal carry... The last one here is the same sheath beside a Kubaton sheath, again machine stitched and not really all that good but it's a fair few years old to the point where I have no idea where they are now...In a box somewhere probably...

Just noticed Drac's tutorial and wanted to share my own design for a wooden handled flogger... I used a skipping rope handle as such. On a single plain it would move as such (as in on a lathe) straight for 8mm, at 15mm wide (end notch) Straight up to 20mm thick... Curves over the next inch, first out a few mm then back in, then out again over a longer distance of almost three inches but the same curvature continues until the end is about 10mm wide... Next the leather tails Leather/suede split etc, as long as you want the tails to be Ideally with beech or similar density about 22" works well for balance... About 12 inches wide...(going from memory) if it's roled up along this width tightly it should match the end nocth width of the wooden handle.... Hope your following so far...I can maybe add a finished picture of it later to show the outcome.... Leave alone the first 1/4 - 1/2 inch of leather along the width, then cut strands of 3-5mm wide down the remaining length of the leather... Next the glue to use Theres a 2 part glue used not sure which brand it was but it was for woodwork and burns leather as both parts are mixed, The first part is a spray, the second part is a liquid... Roll the laced leather up after spreading a thin layer of the liquid glue over the last quarter inch section, when it's all rolled up spray the end with the spray stuff. It will become a solid block of plasticy like substance...and it may melt the leather a wee bit too. Take one small strip of leather now, and spread that thick with the bottle of liquid glue stuff (this piece should be long enough to cover the half inch of glued end of the lace bundle and the notched piece of the wooden handle, the width should of course be adjusted to wrap the whole way around the handle. creating a joint between the two... Next before spraying the end here, wrap your linen or sinew or what ever, over the wooden handle bit using two strands of fairly thick stuff... Once it's wrapped remove one length of the thread, leaving an alternating thread gap thread gap thread gap sequence. coat again in the bottle liquid, smooth it and spray it as quickly as possible. Again it will go plasticy.... After this simply cover the wrap with a braided knot of your choice. I found a picture here of my original proto type design.... The strands here I used where with an inner core of black suede about 1.2mm thick, with an outer wraping of purple suede same thickness. Of course you could use a fully braided handle after this point and play around with different handle shapes but this one fits most hands well I discovered...

Just out of curiosity... Has anyone developed their own more portable version of a string cutter, or a new and adjustable version of the tandy lace cutter. I like it personally for several reasons...IMO It's easier to teach and show someone else how to cut. It's portable It uses easy to replace blades and has several settings, though these are not perfect. It doesn't even make full use of the length of the blade, And infact cutting from the inside only can be quite annoying if you need larger lace, but is it easy to cut flimsy leather on the outside if you need seriously long laces??? Ideally I would love to have a portable version of both a splitter and a cutter in one using the same blade, But I suspect it's not possible to get a good split when using the same double sided blade...Am I right in this assumption, I have to ask because I have never used a splitter myself. Love your own one btw,

Heres a few things I have done before. I have taken a long break from leather work and am starting to get back into it, slowly. Hopefully it will all come back to me, but until then please comment on my work and add any suggestions or critiscisms.... I am personally very proud of my leather braided necklace, it's attached to a very sentimental pewter dragon, and designed to match a watch strap and zippo pouch, much like the one shown but using a 16b turks head.... And though I do have my own website, I am needing a major reworking of it to display a wider range of things so this is just a sample of the larger number of things I want to add.

When I worked in making leather stuff for a company I used an olfa fabric cutter. It's basically a pizza cutter with a better edge and perfect for cutting upto very thick leathers with shallow curves down to thinner pig skins and such with very tight curves. I still use this type of blade now, 8 years on, the blades are cheap enough if the blade is well looked after, the first ding on metal however kills the use of them for anything important. I also use a victorinox card knife, it's small but uses very good steel which is easy to sharpen and a delight to use, If it's appropriate I lightly hammer it in to a post or similar and just push thicker leather through damp, or pull thinner stuff through much like you would use a sewing machine. I have made axe sheaths down to mp3 player cases with this kit. That we swiss card is handy, the pen for marking out disks for lace cutting, and the scissors handle surprisingly thick leather. I also use a leatherman regular pocket folding knife on occassion or a larger sheath knife. I do like using the old fashioned leather knife that looks like an ulu, but don't have one now.