SUP Report post Posted April 13 (edited) I have had an excellent experience with an eBay seller in the last couple of days and thought I should put it up here since these days, more and more of us have reasons to mistrust eBay sellers. I bid on a set of about 40 pre-1963 Craftool stamps. The lot included a rawhide mallet in good condition and thread (I have put up the pic here..what type is it?) I won the auction and paid a total of $68 including taxes and shipping, which I thought was fair. The seller, however, did not expect the lot to go for so much and was delighted. As a thank you, he included 2 pieces of leather with the lot. I received the lot last evening and on cleaning, realized that the stamps are all in excellent condition - only light surface rust that disappeared with Evaporust. The mallet is also in good condition, needing only a light cleaning. The leather included seems to be deerskin. A good experience, which put me in a good mood for the weekend and completely wiped away the bad taste left by a crooked seller from France from whom I luckily did not purchase anything. I would love to know what this thread is - it was part of the lot that I received. Edited April 13 by SUP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted April 13 Can you take a micrometer and gently check the diameter of the thread ?? Looks awful big to me . . . but that may be a perception problem as I have nothing to measure it against. May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 13 (edited) It is about 1.2 - 1.3mm thick. I did take the photograph from up close so that it is clearly seen. Incidentally, the seller did not know what this thread is either. Edited April 13 by SUP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJole Report post Posted April 13 Does the thread melt or burn when you apply a lighter to an end? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 13 (edited) It burns when I put a lighter to it. Burns down the length of the piece that I cut. No. That is wrong. I think it melts and leaves a small amount of firm black residue which would not happen with natural fibre. Natural fibre would leave ash. This thread burns up so fast, initially I thought it burnt up but now when I look, it has left a firm black residue. So synthetic fibre. Edited April 13 by SUP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 13 It looks like it is linen. Is it in about 6 foot lengths? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 13 @Aven, Yes, I believe so. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 13 They look like what shoemakers used to attach the uppers to the sole. They didn't use needles. The end is tapered so a boar's bristle could be wound on to it and used as the needle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 14 @Aven Is that used these days? Boar's bristles as needles? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 14 They are still used, but not like they once were. Now monofilament or split steel is the use for the needles. I had a bookmark of someone going through the whole process of waxing the individual linen threads together, tapering the bundle, which is what you have there, and then winding a bundle onto a needle, but I can't find it. If you go to about 29:45 you can see him using the inseaming awl and then the needles with the thread attached. Looks like monofilament to me. At 29:50 he using the awl again and you can see the tail of the thread on the right side of the screen. That's the "needle". Because the needle is the same thickness as the thread, it doesn't require a large hole to get the works through. Loafers Made by a traditional method Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 14 Thank you @Aven I'll look at the video. Thank you, @DJole and @Dwight for your guidance as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 14 Here are a couple of videos to add onto the loafer one. Steel Bristles Lisa Sorrell's Its a Boot Life Start at 4:30. Its a Boot Life Hand Stitching Start at 6:00 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 14 Thank you. @Aven. I learn such unexpected things on this forum, it's wonderful! I've been looking up boar bristles, to see if they are available. Not that I am anywhere close to even thinking of making shoes but its good to know. Found one seller on Etsy and one on eBay. There should be more since boar bristles are used for other things as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 14 Steel bristles might be easier to start with. And you can buy a single guitar string size in bulk. Or you can hit up your musician friends for the E string when they change their strings. The boar bristle has to be split just right down to a certain point. The thread is laid in the split and then the hard part begins, doing the magical incantations and hand movements to get the tread and the bristle to be come one. I still can't find the video on threading onto the boar bristle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 14 E-string. I will remember that. I think I will just try to learn this technique on some thick leather that I have. I don't need to make footwear for that. It is nice to think that I am learning techniques that have been done for centuries. A lot of leatherwork is of course as old as well. New tools and techniques are easy to purchase and use and convenient too. But it is things like this that make leatherwork so much more fascinating, for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 14 Boar bristles, linen thread, hand wax (coad) definitely old school. Enjoy the rabbit hole lol! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 14 (edited) LOL. That's me! Always disappearing down rabbit holes - the older the better. That's the fun of it! New ones too though. Check my experiment on the effects of different oils on leather. Edited April 14 by SUP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted April 14 Rabbit holes are just so tempting. You never know what bit of arcane knowledge you might find. Yeah you might never actually be able to put it to use, but you know it. I'm a magpie in that sense, I love collecting knowledge. Thanks for the link I will check it out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted April 15 (edited) Yep. Knowledge is never wasted - I told my professor that once when I was a student when he found me reading a completely different subject. Made an enemy that day. LOL Incidentally that is not 'my' experiment. Others play as much a part, from @fredk , who is also conducting the experiment, @chuck123wapati who had started as well to those who give their input from their knowledge. Any input from you is welcome too. Edited April 15 by SUP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aven Report post Posted June 8 Took me a bit, but I found it. Start at about the 4:00 mark. She goes through the entire process of putting linen thread on a boar bristle. Making Medieval Shoes By Hand Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SUP Report post Posted June 8 @Aven Thank you. I will look at it. It's fun to learn something new to me that is an old technique. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chiefjason Report post Posted June 16 Got something similar from a buddy. He gets it in Maine and told me they use it for repairing sails, IIRC. It's thicker than I use most of the time. He uses it on his leather belt buckles Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
