Rahere

And don't forget, measure twice, cut once, and if necessary err on the side of too long. It's easier than trying to glue it back on!. You can easily add more holes.

As far as the slider's concerned, it gives a door. Zips don't have to be made up, but are available in parts, the teeth cut from a continuous roll, single-sided end and bridge stoppers, and the slider. Everything's measured from the width of the zipper teeth when engaged, zipped together, but if you want a locking zipper, it pretty much reduces your choice to #5. The teeth are from 2 technologies, toothed and continuous coil, usually called chain: locks need the tooth format, generally. Chain's also weaker.

Tooling chromed and hybrids such as latigo's impossible, because they won't take up water in casing.

I'm thinking vellum. I've handled some 600 years old, and it's still strong. It's lambskin that's been scraped almost transparent.

The problem's one of radius. Imagine it's wrapped around a kebab stick. The lining's a radius of 1mm, the back 2mm. Twice as much back leather has to fit into the same distance, so either it bulges out when the wallet's flat or the lining wants to come inwards when it's folded. It's rarely flat, so go for the closed option. The baclk's going to be longer than the lining - experiment with some cardboard to see what I mean. The secret's not to glue the spine around the fold. Depending on how closely the lining's going to come together (determined by how many cards are in the slots), the wrap may be between 3mm and 1cm, and the back between 5mm and 2 cm. Glue it up folded, but leave those lengths unglued, spaced equally either side of the midpoint.

And don't forget the buckle turn-under if needed.

That's why I mentioned iron and alum. In natural dying, it's usual to use a mordant both as preparation and fixative, they were thought to bite into (key) the material for the dye to grop. The truth id the bond chemically, and the dye to that. Another possibility micht be you didn't let the tannins in the nuts release, tbrough too low a temperature.

Try latigo as a halfway house. It's a mixed chrome-veg tan with added fats.

From the size, it's back is a reinforced writing back for a standard-sized restaurant order pad and pen-holder, with a flap-over front containing a currency pouch, likely closed by a light magnetic strip, and various other pockets, for credit cards. That's actually a no-no with my security hat on, never let it out of your sight lest it be cloned. Some seem to have pocket calculators. A security chain to a belt loop is common. We'll have to wait for the OP to define what his needs are more precisely.

USMC would probably use their butts anyway.

Rereading this made me review my definition of hardarse. I mean, I'm a descendant of St Magnus of Orkney, our family became a legend of the Clearances because when the Redcoats tried to drive the Gunns into the sea, we hauled as many as possible into the boats and sailed faster and further than they could march. A day south took us to Newcastle, where we turned collier to London, based out of Great Yarmouth, the halfway point. (you're home twice as often). We have a Navy nickname, and my first training was with the Royal Marines, aged 10. During my time in officer training, I proved unbreakable in interrogation, had no trouble sleeping in the snow, and had a mindset which was very carefully checked through by one of the SAS. Eventually they offered me a job I ghosted on, because I'd discovered what had happened by getting the other side to talk. Silence is golden in some cases. I later showed them how to do it, becoming a legend among the legends - memories of my two year old daughter bouncing on the knee of the guy who invented the flashbang! Precious. Does that make me hardarse? Well, I'm impatient with teenage woofters, candyarses. I passed out top of my Platoon Commanders class at the School of Infantry, having "wiped out" a platoon of gurkhas by precision timing in exercise. I've raised MI5 flags four times, satisfying them every time, the last time so solidly I suspect they know I know. I'm the only spouse ever to meet the Rosenberg interdiction standard. Perhaps I am. But then again, I wouldn't know, would I?

This is a real puzzle, because walnut contains its own tanins and shouldn't need fixing. However, sometimes iron (rust) and alum mordants are used. How does the leather handle other dyes?

Scrap.

There is such a thing as a pounding board.

The second link's good for a download, at least.

You could always rip the sewing, do it right, and treat the machine holes as awl holes for hand sewing.

You also should consider gluing the inside of the stitching. Another thought is a rolled lap, where both edges are buried in the cup formed by the other roll. Bend your fingers and hook them together to get the idea.

Getting there. Now to consider a stitching channeller to allow it to recess and become more of a line rather than a surface, and possibly a stitching pony/horse/clamp to allow you to concentrate entirely on each stitch. Then plenty of practice until it's there. My musical firends tell me an amateur practices until they get it right, a pro until they cannot get it wrong.

It's fun watching folk figure things out! I always enjoy the glow when a penny of my own drops.

I think part of the problem's you're gilding the lily. Applying anything to something means it has to key on. Raw leather, no problems, plenty of grain pores. Burnished leather, you've started to compact things. I'd suggest you get whatever dressing in first. then burnish it. Most industrial coating wants to be the end of the story, and works by giving nowt for any dirt or anything else to get a grip on to. You'll need to abrade it for further layers.

The pockets will make inverting it for cleaning problematic, so you're talking about a loose liner, for starters. The secret here is that this is the real bag, with the outer as a cover.

@mike02130' point on axis might be better explained. If you're punching left-right of right-left across in front of you, the punch post will appear vertical, it can hardly be otherwise with five or six teeth either side of it, without being so in a front-back alignment. The answer's to spin things 90 degrees, so the fore-aft wobble is looked after by the outrigging of the pins, and you can see any transverse. Also, have a slightly greater overlap, 2 pins, into the previous set. Only come down to the two-pin punch on curves.

The only decorative way is to put vertical lines of chisel cuts in, about 1/4" long, spaced by 1/4" between lines and the same apart, staggered | | | | | | | | so they open like a mesh. However, it's not recommended!

Try http://www.kangarooleather.co.uk/

Just "China", likely picked up in a trade fair sometime. My gym's next door to a major exhibition centre. But at the same time, my eye fell on a classic rawhide mallet about that weight I sometimes use. A simple 1" roll of rawhide, nailed and likely glued, with the middle cut through crosswise to take a wooden handle. Nicely dished ends down the years...