MikeCahill

another old film about a tannery in the cotswolds can be found here http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=8718 I don't know if this link will work outside the UK

reminds me of Fractal patterns Cheers Mike

nice attitude storm, shows a generous spirit, some people are too protective of their work, there can be lots of different interpritations of an idea without it being copying Cheers Mike

I am more into form and function rather than decoration, They look "right", great bit of craftsmanship

Just noticed that the buckle has holes all round it for lacing, forget what I said about adding a 1/4" round the outside, just trim it to size, rub the gaffa tape with your thumb before peeling it off the buckle, it will leave indentations where the holes are, then go round with a pencil and puncture the tape where each hole is, the holes will close up when you stick it to the paper, but you will still be able to see where they are. Providing you are gentle, and don't stretch the tape when peeling it off, you will have 100% accuracy

cover the belt buckle with gaffa tape, trim the excess tape all round the edge with a sharp knife, peel the tape off and stick it on a piece of paper, bob's your uncle, fanny's your aunt, that is your pattern the lace holes are round the edge of the gaffa tape, add 1/4" all round, for material thickness to lace over. Works with any shape or size of buckle. This style of pattern is called a sloaper, the name comes from dressmaking

I can see some some fantastic applications for this technique, but there are some limitations, a stylised carved rose works because people see the pattern, and the mind accepts it as a representation of a rose, but life isn't like that, most flowers are asymmetrical, the eye might have a problem picking out what it is looking at, think of those drawings where you have a sketch of a beautiful young girl, which when you look deeper you have a picture of an old crone. It should work ok with animals and landscapes, and as an aid to composition, and scale. cheers Mike

Over here (UK), this is known as cobblers heel ball, and is available from shoe repair suppliers, a mix of rosin, beeswax and natural turpintine, I however can't use it because I am allergic to rosin, and If I use it my hands swell up, and I get a really bad itchy rash, I just use bee's wax, not as good, but it works! cheers Mike

Drawing Pin!!

It's not rocket science, I did this for my 11+ exam, the other one was calculating the volume of a cylinder, I can't remember that one probably because I've never had to use it, perhaps the problem is the quality of my explanation. I can see a mental image of it as I write this. by the way, the answer to your PM is sure, any time, give me a bit of warning, and I'll spend a couple of days digging some of the rubbish out of my workshop so you will be able to get into it

Drawing the first line like that was just so you wouldn't run out of paper when you started constructing your drawing. your wrist is narrower than the flesh of your arm near your elbow, line up the outside of your fore arm with the first line with your hand pointing to the start of the line. Now mark how wide your wrist is on the paper at the inside of your wrist, and mark how wide your forearm is at the point where the bracer will end. Move your arm, and you have two marks on the paper. use a long straight edge, and draw through the forearm mark, through the wrist mark, and keep going until the line crosses the first line you drew. Still with me? Now using a big pair of compasses, or a piece of string, pencil and nail, so you can draw curves fasten the nail, (or put the point of the compasses) where your second line crosses the first, and use the pencil and string to scribe two lines from the first line, one at the wrist mark and one at the fore arm (elbow mark). measure around the wrist and mark that length on the wrist arc from the first line. put one end of the straight edge against the nail, and draw a line through the wrist marks, and on through the forearm arc. The shape you have just drawn is like a paper cone with the top cut off and then cut along its length and opened up. It's not an easy thing to explain, hope you understand, pm me if you want me to send some pictures, can do that tomorrow

usually I trace the design into dampened leather surface, so that it leaves the faintest of impressions, then holding the race like a pen I cut freehand rotating the leather so that I am always pulling towards myself, I try and plan short cuts so I can use the heel of my hand for support. the particular design I posted, I pricked the leather at the intersections of the lines, and traced a couple of arc's on some thin scrap ply, cut them out, polished up the arc's with a bit of parafin wax and use the race pressed against them. I do the carving before any sewing so if I make a mess of it it's just one piece of leather scrapped.

Mine is like the one on the right, double headed, one narrow groove, one slightly wider, I wouldn't use it on leather less than 2mm thick, it would weaken the leather too much, to work well it has to be fearsome sharp, or it drags the leather and makes a ragged cut. the cut can be improved by waxing the leather, and putting it in the fridge for a few minutes. I also have a groover with a ring end like slicks, the working end is replaceable because they wear out, that gives a very fine groove and I use that for detail, although I have found that bold designs work best and I don't have much of an artistic flair. cheers Mike

Although it isn't the same as chip carving, the traditional way of decorating the dancing clogs of Yorkshire and Lancashire (England) was to carve a design into the leather of the upper before forming the upper on a last .Designs were often flowers or geometric shapes and patterns no attempt (as far as I am aware) was ever made at making the design stand out by hammering backgrounds and if it had, a lot of the effect would have been lost when the leather was stretched over the Last, but I have seen whitening rubbed into the grooves to make the design stand out. (Lets see if I can add a photo!) The tool used is called a race, not an American Racer which is a push tool but an English race. which is a pull tool held like a pen

I've looked at a random selection of his past posts, and It seems to me that he can be a bit of a Grumpy B******* and calls a spade a spade without thinking if the way he's phrased something could be upsetting, or rude, but there doesn't seem to be any malice. He also looks to have a lot of experience in leatherwork, and has a lot to offer the rest of us, tact is not one of them, but however rude his posts are it still doesn't justify a personal attack. cheers mike end of topic for me, I've had my tupenceworth

looks good to me, it's the "imperfections" in leather that make it so good to work with, and to own, if you want perfect, use plastic, You will always be your own worst critic, as you know the problems that particular piece of leather had, your customer doesn't know how you have had to beat that mold into submission, and doesn't care, like I said, it looks a fine bit of leatherwork to me, and I'm sure it will to him/her cheers Mike

by starting the thread Roo was inviting comment, Slick made his comments and is entitled to his opinion. His comments didn't seem to be a personal attack on Roo to me, abrupt maybe but he wasn't getting at her, I haven't read any of his other posts, so I don't know if there is a back story, and I don't know if his comments will deter other people from posting, but some of the responses are rude to the point of bullying. in a flame war everybody loses. I would like to think that I could give an honest opinion without facing the sort of attack that he has been subjected to. cheers Mike

end grain of a hardwood (beech) log, every now and then I run an electric planer over it a couple of times, I think it should take about 80 years before I need to get a new log Cheers Mike

Hi David, over here (Yorkshire England) I use a lot of raw neats foot oil, Neats is the viking word for cattle and it is boiled out of the ankles and knees of slaughtered beasts, cows have poor blood circulation in their legs, so the oils lubricating their leg joints have a low freezing point. I get it from a local tripe shop, Tripe is boiled cows stomach, it is considered to be a delicacy, eaten cold with salt, black pepper and vinegar. I've never tried it myself!! Anyway, Neats foot oil does darken the leather, but as it is absorbed it lightens up again over a week or so, but never back to as light as it was. I would have thought that the tooled areas are sealed with a water (and Oil) proof finish, any absorbsion will be in the recesses of the tooling, I would think that could look blotchy at first, but again over a week or two it will come back to almost it's original colour People have told me that raw neats foot oil will go rancid, I've never found that but it does make stitching tasty to mice!

Have a look at this site, well worth what he charges for the patterns http://www.bighousedaddy.com/making_a_pair_of_baby_booties.htm

welcome to the group, I'm from just down the A1, Castleford, south of York, nice bag, look forward to seeing more pictures, cheers Mike