Mulesaw

I use either the vehicle inspired passwords, or I use song that is translated into a password. A lot of places requires both capital letters, special signs, small letters and a number to accept your password, and the song trick works for me, you just replace the words in the songs first line or refrain or whatever part you like with either letters, special signs or figures. Old Mc Donald had a farm, the verse with a cow could be: Aot#hh1C (And on that farm he had 1 cow) I know it is supposed to be a cow, but in this case it doesn't matter. On another note: Spammers are annoying, and generally I think that @Northmount and the rest of the moderators are doing a great job in keeping a tight ship. There is very little spam that compared to what you would expect given the number of users etc. in here. Brgds Jonas

Like: It is going to be organized and spacious, and cozy with a wood burning stove for heating. Don't like: Still not finished. Except for ridge tiles this is still the state of the shop.. (I have been too busy with all other kinds of project to make any progress here)

I read it as palm the first time, it wasn't until now that I noticed the s :-) Another thing is that I find it really practical to have a polished ball been hammer. I was taught to rivet using the ball end of the hammer, and on copper rivets you can make such a beautiful head if the ball is polished. Mostly I don't use a domed head maker (or whatever the name of it is), the rivets just look better with all these small facets that are smooth and shiny. So I disagree on the overkill :-) Brgds Jonas

@rastanley I'd buy a small envelope of curved needles, get some that are around 1.5" (38 mm) in length. (As far as I remember the strange measuring system of curved needles, they measure the distance between the eye end and the tip straight across. Kind of like the opening of the needle). Also get a curved awl. For most repair jobs on saddles I use a curved awl that is round. You can also get one that is diamond shaped, but normally the leather where it needs patching is worn really thin, so I prefer to make as small a hole as possible - hence the round awl. Try to use a backstitch, so you only have one thread and one needle. The curved awl will help navigating to the next hole. Also you'll probably need some pliers to steer and push the curved needle. They tend to be weirdly difficult to use just by hand. Brgds Jonas

Looks really good. I like the shape of the handle on the cobblers hammer. Such nice curves :-) The Tung oil finish looks great, and I like that you haven't sanded the handles down to "new" wood. There is just the right patina on the handles now.

Thanks She wanted it done as cheap as possible, so elastic was never even discussed :-) I think she got those boots at some kind of sale, so she didn't want to spend too much on it. I found this to be a fun repair job, and it really didn't take long plus I had those pink scraps lying around, so it was just a quick and easy repair. Brgds Jonas

Thanks Tom, She's really funny to be around, so I'm pretty sure that she flashes those boots the bet she can. Brgds Jonas

Thanks, I think they turned out pretty hot myself :-) Brgds Jonas

Thanks, and yes kind of the same idea, if you can't hide the defect you can instead make certain that people can see that you have dealt with it. Brgds Jonas

One of my regular customers had somehow managed destroy some short boots that she had just bought. She had forced her foot into them without opening the zipper - and the thin leather of the shaft had ripped apart. As far as I understood, her old similar boots had elastics in the side, and out of old habit she had just forced her foot into them as soon as she got them without using the zipper.. She called me and asked if I could do anything about it, and they were intended to be used as stable boots, so looks really didn't matter, she just liked them since they were like her old and well worn (and slightly wider) boots. She had gotten them on a sale, so it was technically just a question of getting them back to some kind of working state as cheap as I could. The jagged rips were maybe 3.5" in each and not along a stitching but right down the skin itself, not in the same spot but in the front so it was really visible. After looking at the problem and pondering over different solutions, I decided that it was easier to make something that would look like a decoration rather than a repair patch. I called her and suggested the idea and she loved that idea, so I was given free hands to make something a bit flashy. The result was two bubblegum pink lightning bolts on the front part of the boots. So now they look like some cartoon hero boots, and she is the fastest parent in the local horse club stable:-)

Thanks I like it when I am able to make a nice repair job. The customer heard about me from a friend of hers, whose bag I have repaired about 2 years ago. Also some LV bag as far as I remember. Brgds Jonas

Thanks, I have no idea if it is an original LV bag. In Denmark most people automatically assume that if you have a bag like this, it is a fake that is bought in Thailand. But it was really well made, so it might have been real. Brgds Jonas

This time at home, a customer asked if I could have a look at her Louis Vuitton bag where the upper folded leather edge had almost completely deteriorated. I had some light beige pig skin that looked like it was the same that was used originally, and I googled to see if LV used pigskin, and the page I found confirmed this. A trip to the local sewing shop to find a matching colour of yellow and then it was just a matter of carefully removing the old one and sewing on a new edge. The customer had at one point renewed the closure strap with some fairly thin leather strap. She asked if I could see if I could find something a bit beefier. After some Googling I found a picture of the same model of bag, and it looked as it was originally made with a sewn closure strap matching the upper edge. End result: A happy customer and a bag that can be used for a couple of years more.

Looks great. I especially like the padded belt. That is a nice touch!

looking good. And a super nice gesture. It is a great way of saying thanks to someone.

I often find myself thinking that no matter what trade a person have, watching someone who can do that trade really efficiently is always amazing. There is just something about those who are able to make it look so easy and getting a good result that catches your attention.

Thanks Tom. That is an amazing video! blacksmithing is fascinating to watch, and especially when it is someone that really know their stuff! Brgds Jonas

Thanks Klara, I like to challenge myself once in a while, and it was made while I was at sea anyway, so it served as a nice fun play project to me. I have to say that I think my heart and the bone look a bit "flat", compared to how other people are able to carve and stamp. I am not really good at organic shapes. but then on the other hand - I never really practices anyway. So that might be an explanation. I would love to be able to make a rounded heart that doesn't look like a drawing made of a 7 year old :-) But I guess I'll have to be content that I can make a buckle instead Brgds Jonas

Thanks Northmount, I'm glad you like the results :-) At first I had chosen a bunch of files related to the build, but then I decided that I would split the project into the actual leatherwork and then the fabrication, so I only pressed the + on the leather pictures (I think they say "insert into post". And then I pressed submit post or whatever the button is called. I am 90% sure that was how I did it, so without looking much into it I started the post on the hardware Brgds Jonas

Thanks Toxo, it is really appreciated Brgds Jonas

Yes, the problem with the stock is that I only have some 3 mm brass thread (welding rod) and that looked to thin and flimsy. After all it is a fairly large dog that it should be used on. Also I didn't want to make a jig for just a single buckle like I did for the stainless D-rings I made for the stallion halter. I have helped a couple of our trainees making a belt buckle every now and then, and it is worth all the trouble when I see how proud they are because they have made it themselves. That feeling when they discover that they can actually make something like that is incredible to watch. I don't know how I managed to mess up my posting. I didn't think that I had attached all those production pictures in the collar post. Because I decided that they were a bit off-topic for that post. So now I look like some click hungry jerk who double post When my daughter sailed with us, we made a belt buckle out of a stainless steel rod that came from the large industrial mixer form the galley (like a giant kitchen-aid). She liked the idea of using a part of some old equipment and she was employed in the galley department anyway. It is funny but to me and probably you as well, it is just simple thrift to use something like that instead of throwing it away, but for many young people it is called upcycling

I'd love to go, but it is a bit to far sadly. I hope you'll have a great time there Brgds Jonas (a bit envious )

Thanks, I don't know what happened to this post. I thought that I hadn't put in the pictures of the fabrication of the hardware.. Now I am afraid that I have double posted

I originally started the broholmer collar project out here on the ship. I had some leather but I didn't have any hardware. So I did what any other seafaring leatherworking engineer would do - I set out to make some hardware from scratch. I found some 4 mm brass plate (5/32") and made some strips using a hacksaw. The strips were about 6.3 mm wide (1/4"). The D-ring was made by heating the brass and bending it around a pipe to give it an inner width of 1". One of the ends were heated and bent at a right angle. A hacksaw and a bit of filing gave it a good fit, and I could gently tap it flat and silver solder the parts together. Cleaning up with a file and sanding with some emery cloth made it look nice. The buckle was made by starting to heat and bend the ends at a right angle. Then the middle was heated and bent over a pipe to form a round front. The two bent pieces were maneuvered to lie on top of each other to form the bar. A hacksaw cut of the bar in the middle, and it was silver soldered together. Now it looked just like a long D-ring. the middle of the bar was filed round to accommodate the prong and the rest of the buckle had its sides rounded slightly to look and feel nice. The prong was rounded and shaped roughly. The end that would go around the bar was heated and bent around a screwdriver that had a matching thickness, so the back of the prong now had a hook shape. This was placed on the rounded piece of the bar and I used a pliers to tighten the hook shape around the bar so the it could not fall off. The end of the prong was adjusted to have a pleasing overhang and the completed buckle was cleaned up using emery cloth. It took me about two and a half hours to complete the D-ring and the buckle, so financially it isn't questionable to make hardware like this yourself, but there a no hardware shops on the ocean, and doing a bit of metalwork helps to keep the mind and body occupied :-) Plus I feels kind of good to make stuff from scratch every once in a while. Brass plate. Two strips sawed off. Silver soldered the D-ring. The body of the buckle bent over a pipe. The pieces forming the bar still needs a bit of adjustment. Silver soldering the bar of the buckle. Finished D-ring. Finished buckle. Buckle from the underside.

@chuck123wapati Thanks Chuck. I've got a bunch of pictures showing the actual making process of the buckle and the D-ring, but I decided to not include them in this forum. I'll make an entry in the hardware section for those instead in a cup of tea's time :-) Sadly I haven't got any pictures of the dog wearing the collar, but my daughter got a thank you video from the mother featuring the dog proudly strutting down the main street wearing it. Your friend Jonas