Rahere

I've just tried using a digital caliper as a scriber, I'm a fan! A spline curve's defined by 4 points, start and end are known, you set your curve there and mark the intercepts at two arbitrary points, project the distances (lock the caliper) to the other side (I hold it against a thick steel straitedge both in setting and transcribing), flip the curve and match the points. It may help to apply masking tape to the curve to register the points on there too.

Tongue holes? Don't use that wheel punch, get a vertical punch. I've just started using a digital caliper against a 1/4" steel edge to get the exact center, it has stepped my precision up to an immaculate degree, keep the dividers for equal spacing along the centre line, then a spring punch to define the hole centre.

The foot's slipping. Have you tried a walking foot? It often helps with thicker tasks. It hooks a pin on the rear of the foot pillar to drive a second set of dogs on the top layer, rather than just have the foot slide over the surface of the material. Another approach would be to train yourself to only guide the sides of the zipper into place and let it find its own tension. Completely different approaches, of course: I presume you've checked the tread tensions? It might even be worth experimenting with a zip on a piece of scrap so you can see what's happening without the weight of the bag interfering.

The mesh might have become brittle in use anyway, so your idea of a ripstop's a good one. Kevlar's not impossible, but... What I'd suggest is using a bias-cut with the edges turned in to meet at the middle, possibly twice if you like a well-packed band. Just leave it a single layer at the watch pin, you won't have the space for anything thicker. The trick sewing the edges is to leave quite a bit more leather as seam allowance than you're going to end up with, and cut it back to about 1 mm once sewn. Then edge-kote and burnish. This is the kind of project where a skiving machine really pays dividends, to reduce the thickness of the leather to half a millimeter or so.

Go learn from Sveta Kletina on Youtube, she teaches basic skills to this kind of project.

Carefully incise the letters so the punch creates a false repoussé effect. The letters are too large for the width of the piece though, use Golden Ratio proportions and it'll give you enough space for that top/bottom as well, That's 0.7" lettering in a 1" belt, which may be close to what you have, if it weren't for the banding cuts top and bottom. If you're keeping those, then it's 0.7x the spave between them.

So life's not perfect. Mind you, you could stick the entire thing in an ultrasonic bath to release all the glue and start from scratch. No, I didn't think that was a realistic starter...

The usual kludge is a mild steel tube just long enough to fit over the arm. I did once see someone land on his butt doing that when the fulcrum casting broke, though - I guess that's what they meant by a 1 tonne rating!

Separation in light suggests bacterial degradation. Try ensuring your bottle's thoroughly cleaned - I have an Instant Pot cooker which is all but an autoclave in steam mode.

The land of latex workers have looked for something which would glue sheet latex which has been surface-filled with chlorine molecules, "Chlorination", filling in the holes on the surface which create the rubbery friction. The headache is that that roughness was what rubber cement, otherwise known as contact adhesive, gets a grip onto. Nothing would glue it reliably, even sanding it to roughen the surface. Not ever Barge would work. Then last year, I suggested what cobblers use to hold shoe soles on around here, Renia Colle de Cologne. The company which invented chlorination tried it - and you don't get a more demanding test than that - and it worked. They were over the moon. The only issue is that it's far more expensive than ordinary contact adhesive, so they're keeping it for repairs and alterations. But if you're looking for the toughest flexible glue known to leatherwork, that has to be it. It'll cope with a 150kg man for months if not years (not me, I hasten to add), on a surface the size of a foot. I'll leave you to calculate that for yourself. It's nice for cross-crafting to work in both directions!

Nice first post, I was about to say the same. Welcome aboard! One problem's finding things like taxon board in small volumes: I'll add icanmakeshoes.com

Although it's started as 1-3mm skin, it's been stretched down, and so doesn't retain its original strength. It's most specifically not recommended to sew it, and it's highly hydroscopic. She may have used it to stabilise the original leather, so friction holds what are now tabs rather than a solid collagen matrix against the second piece, but it can't be load-bearing as this is. I've been taught how to handle old vellum (I'm researching a European view of the period 1400-1430 on the edge of the Warburg Institute) and wonder what she was about: perhaps it was purely cosmetic.

Fret not, someone was planning a saddle for one yesterday.

I'm hypothesising from his availability pattern and reticence that he's producing an orthodox Jewish religious article of prayer which consists of long straps and very small boxes. The Beth Din religious courrt sets fairly generous specifications, but faith group leaders can be very picky indeed on the source and processing of the materials. His volumes aren't likely to be large, therefore, but organic quality will be a very valuable premium. Bought leather will not work, nor shoe polish, but if I'm correct the haberdashery business of William Gee will know exactly what dyes and glues will work.

Geordie Leather uses a 1 tonne arbour press to put its logo, a 1" roundel, into cased leather. It can also impress their name, about the same width. This, however, is about twenty times taller, and twice as deep. Although arbour presses go to 3 tonnes, that won't do the job, so I think they've moved up to a hydralic press for the control: it's not about annihilating the matrix between, just reducing it.

It's French for ornary. Or in the case of the Health Minister, the bit on the side.

It's not clear from the photo, one of the ends may need replacing because the stitching on the corner's torn the leather out, too. Gets close to Trigger's old broom, at that point.

The thread on rolled handles just woke up, it's here. You'll find the video on there.

There's another technique not shown, butt-joining fabric strips. If you do something like that in leather, you'll probably skive the edge to a feather along the line of the join, so you can fold and glue it back after sewing, maybe even stitching again on either side of the join to hold everything flat. It's still wise to join on the diagonal though as it spreads the weakness along the strap. The issue of fabric thickness also happens in your jig, bringing the edges completely together in the centre doesn't allow for the thickness of the leather or any core when you fold it in half again. The middle has to stretch across two buried thicknesses within, so the edges should be that much apart, maybe more if using a core.

Found it! It's a hoof tool - but for cloven hooves, the one in use is for cows.

The Ho Hosing manual in English is here: http://www.hohsing.com/download/i90m-manual-tw-en.pdf

The original idea of VAT was to pay for Europe, in the EEC's economic interventions aimed at levelling the playing field. It inevitably meant economies of scale boosted the larger economies while others like Ireland became tax havens for transnationals. The UK got pissed off because we got virtually nothing back (farm subsidies being internal to the Nation). As Head of Finance of a precursor body (WEU) my thoughts are unprintable. With the withdrawal, VAT on exports is no longer applicable in the UK, but is at the European frontier, so there's a change in rate betwwen the UK's and the rate charged in France, Belgium or the Netherlands. The same applies in reverse. It shouldn't affect other countries, so this answer's BS. What may be more of an issue is the chaos the Chinese caused in shipping 8 months back, getting back into operations without checking orders were still valid. As a result, a wave of containers arrived which businesses couldn't handle, being in lockdown: many have gone bust, and so the boxes are blocking the ports. Freight costs have doubled, making the problems worse: there's a post on their blog today setting a minimum order value of EUR151/GBP131 on orders from Europe, which I think may be caused by chaotic bureaucracy for lesser amounts. Another issue could be materials sourcing, as the UK's fast giving up on China: JIT only works if the flow's steady, but shipping from the far east has become a headache, They have their own foundry, though, so may be more resilient: the daughter of the house is learning the business from the practicalities, doing what you're doing here, so there doesn't seem to be any issues with long-term dedication. It's just the cost of everything's bumped up, which is actually good news economically,.

Ashford's actually a Kiwi company: you might check if any of their kit's up to spinning 1/8" horsehair.

This is the equivalent in cloth, if it helps: it shows how to make the binder material and then apply it. In the case of a handle, you may use a rope filler in place of the cloth being bound. There's also a video out there somewhere showing how to skive the ends down to form an opened-out sewing tab.

And a cookpot of water on top if more weight's needed. Best done while still cased, I think, but does that argue for towelling beneath to absorb water?