Rahere

Another thought is to use an RFID-resistant cloth (to stop scammers) as the lining.

Are you allowing it to soak in before joining? It needs to be nearly dry for the latex strands to entangle. The flesh side can be very "strandy", rather than a solid collagen surface for the glue to to key to. Try sanding it down

You could chat with the maker so it's clear you can return it under your local mail order law if it's no good.

I've also got a lighter 8oz maul, allowing me greater nuance in the power I use.

I prefer a wadded cloth pad to a sponge, getting the sponge to release the exact amount is a pain. It's easier to not add enough and come back with some more than to over-dampen and have to wait it out.

Suede is a split, of course!

I have had, in Belgium, but generally it's a pocket behind the card holders. I've gone for roo hide every time for the optimal valance between thinness and ruggedness.

The pressure forms the join's strength. Yes, of course you'll have a line, it depends on your approach to the edge finish whether you leave it as a feature or not. Edge burnishing simply polishes the edge, leaving it visible. Edge coating covers it over. You can fill the edge too, sanding/scraping a coating back.

Normally tube handles are strip leather glued and sewn closely around a core, then hammered and trimmed back and corner-bevelled repeatedly until circular, without touching the stitching. You can even get forms to encouage it to go. The tabs at the ends are just lengths not treated, but carefuuly flared flat.

There's so many possibles. I'd suggest thinning the leather near the sides so it's no longer fibrous, just collagen. Glueing: spread it from the middle to the edge with a scraper. Let it nearly dry before joining. Then apply pressure. Now scrape and sand. If there's still space, see if water expands the fibres.The edge seal should get in there. Be prepared to put a layer on, then sand it again, and reseal.

Artisan Leather in Newton Abbott have one of the best sets of tools, add JT Batchelor in Dalston for leather, and Abbey in Knutsford for tools too. It might be worth thinking about putting some of that towards sharpening: a 4000 grit Japanese water slipstone is objective, unloss you're into woodwork, when something larger would be wise.

The pros and cons of glue are that it can be messy, cause problems on edge polishing, and affect the rigidity in the long term, depending on whar's used. It may, however, be unavoidable if the leather's very elastic. An alternative's to use a basting thread to tack key points togerher, usually in a distinctive colour so it can be removed as your sewing reaches it.

I'll add Proops Brothers on Etsy, bucause they're an Aladin's Cave of specialist tools.

I simply made a renaissance belt pouch to fit, with a large top flap. It's mostly worn under a coat, so the slight gaps at the sides of the flap don't really matter.

Just in case anyone else is in the zone, Abbey run their own small foundry, so could likely cast anything not normally available.

Also look at violin-makers planes.

It's likely ink on vellum, though. Originally intended for long-term record-keeping, I've handled documents 600 years old.

Perhaps the old belt no longer fit. It would be typical of forgetting the buckle turn-under, though. Another classic in this domain is using an old tape measure (which has stretched) to measure, but a steel rule (which doesn't) on the leather. This is the root of the old adage, measure twice, cut once - always use the same measure.

It's too thick for your plans. Possibly consider forming a liner, then the outer shell, using clingfilm to stop them binding. Both 3oz leather.

What I was thinking about was moulding over the foot while actually wearing 2-3 layers of socks, then the cling film, finally the duct tape. Next up would be neoprene wetsuit socks!

Got a spare bookshelf and won the lottery? Al Stohlman's works are considered fairly definitive.

An awl used as an impresser also works, as long as you use the tip drawing away from the crease lines, never forwards so it pierces.

Might help to localise the problem. I don't have one, but I'm a systems man. 1. It's belt-driven, isn't it? That's a prime suspect. Take the belt off, does the motor run? 2. Forcing a jam's a good way to bend parts - the needle, quite possibly. 3. If you'he had tangles, it often hides in the mechanism. Resolving one doesn't mean there aren't others , in or around the bobbin mechanism.

@blue duck He's not working off a last, but from a foot cast. It's a cheap form of body casting, you cover the body part in cling film as a separating agent, the tape it down with duct tape in 2 layers to get a cast. He's then cutting it just as you would a masking tape design on a standard last, before removing excess clingfilm and transferring it to make a pattern the same way. The thought might be to build up foam on top of the duct-tape pattern and make a new pattern from that, allowing plenty of extra on the seams, to be trimmed to shape on the model. This is where lasting helps, you can stab and cut without harm! An even easier one comes to mind though - get the customer to wear three or more pairs of really thick socks before "casting"!

Try using shearling rather than fur - you can use fur for the top collar. The insulation comes from trapped air, but too much lets the heat out.