MikeCahill

don't you have monumental masons in the states? over here most large graveyards have a mason near by who makes the gravestones. They must have off cuts, or mistakes that they may sell cheap, it's better than paying for shipping

You might remember a few years ago here in the UK we had a problem when they started feeding ground up dead cows back to cows!

I use the end grain of a slice of an Elm log, it works fine, doesn't damage the tool, and when it gets chewed up run over it with an electric planer, as good as new! Other people I know use a block of lead, again when it gets too chewed up you can hammer it back flat, or melt It and recast it, I don't like it because it is a) toxic, and it oxidises, and the oxide dirty's your hands, and the job. I like the idea of fixing it to the bench so it can be rotated, but I would be sure to hit the screw, perhaps I would fix a wooden dowel in the bench top, and let it rotate around that

Ken Hockenberry, who has donated the bootmaking e-book at the top of this forum also sells an e-book about making a simple hillbilly type boot, it comes as an instant download, and is well worth the cost I think it was under $30. I bought it, its really iintresting and comprehensive cheers Mike

I look at the superb hand stitching on this site, and then at my own sorry examples, how do you keep stitching clean? I wash my hands, use beeswax to seal and lubricate the thread but after two or three inches the thread is starting to get grubby, after 5 inches it looks like I've been kicking it around the shop any suggestions ?

Last year ARGOS ( a large UK catalogue company) along with several other large furniture companies settled a class action out of court because customers who bought leather furniture from them developed blisters from contact with the leather. This tallies with what you have suffered, a anti-histamine cream as soon as you feel the reaction coming on might help, but anti-histamine thins the skin so not something you want to be doing on a regular basis Cheers Mike

I can't use the stuff, I have an allergy to rosin, for my 50th I got a fiddle, something I had always wanted to have a go at, after sawing away at it for a week or so I developed a strange rash, and what I and my Dr thought was a chest infection, so with a two week sick note, I had more time to practice, the chest got worse and worse I ended up on a Ventalin inhalor, eventually discovered after patch testing that I am allergic to rosin, I still play (badly) but use a synthetic rosin called "Clarity" it still bothers me but I can live with it! It always fascinates me that you can swop information and tips with someone half a world away and get a feel for their way of living and working. we're not that different after all! Never heard the word Code, but the bit about mixing it where there is no danger of fire rings true, that mixture doesn't take much setting alight, (the voice of experience)

If you add pure turpintine to that recipe you have what I would call Cobblers heel Ball which was used for burnishing heels and soles, (and by small boys making brass rubbings of gravestones). the turpintine makes it more flexable, and tacky for easier application the turpintine evaporates off during the burnishing process leaving a high gloss finish. It would work but I would worry about the sword getting "glued" into the scabbard if it was exposed to a a hot sun, perhaps "dusting" the inside with fine sand would help Cheers Mike

of course I meant to say "former the shape of the sword!!" perhaps the sword its self well covered with clingfilm to protect it and then a couple of layers of gaffa tape to give a clearance fit Mike

reading a bit more about the Brenden voyage, they took butter with them as a waterproofer

well the link didn't work for me type "Boyne Currach" into the youtube search box cheers Mike

not quite on topic, but interesting, this is a link to a clip on youtube, I think you copy and paste the link into your browser. It is a bit of film about building a coracle in the 1930's, they use an ox hide as the "skin" they don't discus waterproofing the hide, but they were a hardy breed in those days, and just put up with wet feet <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

I would have thought lanolin wouldn't work as well in a warm place like illinois as it would in artic waters, it would disperse into the skin, and become less effective over time. as would tallow or neetsfoot oil my next favorite options. they would both have to have repeated application as they are absorbed. Parafin wax, applied warm and then made to soak into the leather with a hair dryer, or hot air gun wouldn't migrate, but all of these treatments are quite heavy, and would add significantly to the weight of the canoe, but at least parafin wax wouldn't be attractive to bears a plus in wilderness areas. You would also need to be able to re tension the skins, as a lot of dressing would make the leather stretchy, mike

I regularly get mice, mainly in autumn, and put traps and used to poison down for them, but it can be smelly if they go behind something and die. I have a pair of wrens that nest in my shop every year,( I move out,and I do other things while they are sitting), and then put up with the droppings all over things. one year I caught (and killed) one of the babies in a mouse trap, I was devastated! I now make sure to remove all traps while they are breeding. spiders I don't mind, but I can't stand Slugs and woodlice (pill bugs?) Cheers Mike

The tensioning mechanism, is a wearing part, they all wear a groove where the thread is pinched and you should expect to replace the shuttle over time. Bob's e-mail is service above and beyond any obligation he has to a customer. Shame more companies don't work the same way, and it's because it's such a good response that you think there has to be a catch. I know it's hard to believe sometimes, there are still nice people out there, Nice one Tippmann Mike

I have to ask! is anything worn under that kilt? and given the number of rivets I think the answer would be:- PROBABLY ( a reworking of an old Scottish joke)

<snip>: I regularly have to re-make old sword scabbards for museums and collectors and although I can make a perfectly adequate 'display piece' replica from modern leather I am still not absolutely certain what sort of leather they were made from originally. An educated guess suggests 1.5 to 2mm thick veg tan / oak bark tan of some kind but was this a special tannage? Anyone got any thoughts on where authentic material might be obtained or where I might find anyone who may be doing the same job as me now? Next question: I'm at a loss to decide how to treat my leather to get the same level of rigidity the 'old guys' achieved. I have tried many types of leather and haven't found a solution to what I call 'scabbard droop' - any ideas? <snip> Modern veg tan leather is I believe drum tanned which continually flexes the skin giving a softer finished product, (a much quicker process). I think I might try soaking an oversized piece of leather in water with tanning solution such as s shredded oak bark for a couple of months and hopefully when dried it will make a stiffer leather I would then work warmed or even melted beeswax into the leather (use friction, a hairdryer or hot air gun to get it deep into the structure from both sides) I think you will find this gives a much stiffer leather to shape it you may need to use a heated iron with the leather on a former the shape of the scabard

It will be made to work at mains pressure and it would have been town gas in those days, so butane would work, you can get adjustable pressure regulators or just "crack" the valve, but why risk it

I think it could be something to do with inlaying leather in a desk top or table, the flame keeps the rabbit glue or hide glue soft and flexible the rake spreads the glue as you roll out the leather, just a guess cheers Mike

I am not setting myself up as an expert, and I've never seen anything quite like it but the chamfered corners, the obviously machine routed channel, and 1970's style spray finish, I suspect you have a telephone table that used to have a light fitting probably in the shape of a lantern hanging from the arm. Just a guess!! Cheers Mike

The old guy stretching the pieces was obviously not in his usual working position, using the stretching pliers is hard work, especially for a 70 yr old. I had the chance of getting a lot of press knives etc. to do with football, rugby and other sports from an old sports shop and factory some years back the old guy was at the point of accepting that he would never use the stuff again, (he had just retailed stuff for years) and he would be better off selling it all to me! after leaving it a few weeks, I went back to finish haggling with him over a price, and found he had died, and his son had taken all his tools, the press, and press knives sewing machines, the lot to the scrap yard, I was gutted Mike

I must lead a sheltered life, all I got was a page of leatherman multi-tools

This one is off topic, but worth a look, it's how they used to make scrubbing brushes http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=47193 this site is a real time waster, you can drift for hours from one subject to another, I defy anybody to not find something interesting!

and another about moleskins from 1941 http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=37650 British Pathe is a really good site, put any keyword in the search box (these 2 were from the word "tannery"), some of the films date back to pre WW1 a lot of the films are about british empire countries, and breakaway colonies