Heritage Craft Association

   I am chuffed to report that I have been accepted into the Heritage Craft Association. As soon as I get my account credentials I shall updating my profile. You too can join as a friend of the HCA.

Victorinox Pruning Knife sheath

   I have been promising myself to practise wet forming leather and a sheath for my pruning knife. The two promises came together as made a sheath for my knife. Wet forming sounds simple and a suppose it is however a number of things have to be just right. The leather has to be wet enough to succumb to the tight shaping it is to undergo. The manipulating of the leather must not but so rough as to damage the leather's surface. Most folk mold the leather directly onto the item that is to be encased in leather. In some cases, where the item is fragile or not waterproof for instance, it might necessary to make a timber of plastic pattern of the item that you are going to encase. In my case the pruning knife is a robust item.

    The first job is always to design the finished item. It is at this point the order of build is decided. If the sheath was to be lined  or have pockets, loops or straps accommodated this would be the time to decide how the sheath is built. In this case the belt loop needed to be made and fitted to the sheath's back first.   Next the leather is selected. Sometimes the leather dictates the design and not at other times. It is important to give allowance for the flap which is made from the same piece of leather as the back. The front need plenty of allowance because the leather is going to forced around a pattern. Insufficient allowance on the wet formed leather and you make not have enough margin for some or all of the stitching.

  One can use hot or cold water to soak the leather. Hot water penetrates quicker but it tempers the finished leather like a very stiff cardboard. This can be an advantage in certain circumstances. Leave the leather in the water [hot or cold] for too long and you may have a jelly like substance that will take and age to dry before it can worked further. Very wet leather will take an impression of anything that comes into contact with the leathers surface with the slightest of pressure e.g finger prints, the weave of cloth or tools used it shaping the leather. To short a soaking and the leather will not be sufficiently supple. Forcing the leather when it is too dry is where damages to surface finish occur. When the leather is just so drape the leather over object or pattern and start to work the leather into take the shape. Be careful not to rub or press so hard as to rub off the surface layer of the leather. The time it takes to form the leather depends on the leather's characteristics. A re-soaking might be needed however patience will be needed at all times. When the leather is formed to the desired shape it has to be held in position whilst it dries. When dry the leather will hold the shape. Some folks make A and B patterns. The A pattern may be the inner shape if the piece to be contained in the pouch. The B element is often the outer shape. The B element holds the piece in shape whilst it dries. I usually leave mine overnight however a couple of hours is usually enough to fix the shape.   

 

The back section remains dry. I marked up where the belt loop was to fit. The decided what width the belt loop billet would be remembering that the had to be rolled over at the top. The trouser belt would ride against to inside of the rollover rather than against the stitching if the belt loop was sewn on flat. I made the belt loop wide enough to fit over my work belts which are 2inches [50mm] width. The edges of the belt loop needed the usual prep, bevel, dry and burnish. I stitched the belt loop to the sheath back. I also put a rivet in the top anchor of the loop just as an insurance policy. The bottom of the belt loop is to have a snap so the belt loop can be undone allowing the sheath to be detached from the trouser belt without unlooping the trouser belt.

   Back prepared and front piece molded it is a case of joining the two elements together. Cleverer folks than me cut the pieces to size then do the sewing. I leave the excess of both the back and front pieces, sew the elements together, making sure there is no distortion, then oh so carefully trim of the excess to reveal the piece. My pruning knife is curved so I left the flap over size. The last cutting job was to bring the flap down to the desired size. All the edges need the usual finishing of bevelling, dying and burnishing. The final job was to mark up and fit the Sam Brown that secures the flap. The sheath is a friction fit so the knife will not drop out, even when the sheath is shaken up side down. The flap is just for other folks sensibilities. It might be the law too!

   I can make a sheath for your knife. Please use the contact page to drop me a line.

Feedback

It is nice to get feedback on your work. This job was a replacement strap for a field lens case.

Jules from Birmingham emailed "I thought I'd let you know the strap you made for me arrived safely and fits
perfectly.

The Midlands Game Fair

   The weekend of the Midland Game Fair was a long, long weekend. It took a lot of preparation. The Midland Game Fair is treated as one of the last major game event of calendar. The Great Wall Motor World Series Clay Shooting Final and the Great Wall Motor World Series Gundog Championship Final with Chudleys, the European Field Target Championship and the Countryman’s Weekly Champion of Champions in the Terrier and Lurcher events were all held despite the weather on Sunday. As usual is missed the Falconery, working dogs and the heavy horse. I spent all my time in the Knife tent.

   I got to the show ground at Weston Park at 7am on Saturday and managed to park right outside the tent that was to be my home for the next 48 hours without any drama. I was at the event supporting Jackie and Sarah from The Identity Store [click HERE for their website]. Sarah set up their stall along one wall of the tent. I had a table at the end of the run of stall. We had arranged that I would do a series of demonstrations and from that we would sell kits to make the things I had demonstrated. As soon as you do anything on a stall you get an audience. We hoped to gain from that draw. One kit was for a leather tooling set and the other was for a sheath for a knife.


  I started off by do a "Blue Peter" and making parts of the sheath kit to show the various steps. The kits contain a generous piece of leather, a pair of needles, thread, an awl, a pattern and instructions all for £15. The kits are available from the Identity Store. As Saturday progressed I had worked through the Blue Peter parts and was starting to end up a series of sheaths. Part of the demonstration was saddle stitch. However once I started a saddle stitch I had to complete the piece even if it was after the folks had dispersed. By Sunday I was finding different ways to finish the sheaths.

   The tooling kits were a bit different. For a start they are fairly expensive at nearly £50 and that is without any leather to tool. I really only had five to ten minutes to show the skills before folks wandered off. I set upon a tactic. If some poor beggar that would be standing near the bench, when the allotted time came round, I would have a chat with them then ask them their name and set about tooling a piece of leather with their initial letter. That would keep a couple of people at the bench. I would manage to demonstrate the techniques and as I said before as soon as you started doing something a crowd would appear. We also had some people that bought the kits because they had come that purpose in mind then I would show them a few basic techniques. It seemed to work well. I was encouraged when folks asked when the next demo would be and actually turned up at the agreed time.  

    We sold quite a few sheath kits and several tooling kits. I was able to press Diamond Awl. I did a few on the spot jobs, a hole in a belt and stitch or two in gun case. The jobs covered my lunch. I picked up a small bespoke job along the way. I was surprised how many of my business cards disappeared from my bench. I hope those folks are reading this post and drop me a line with a job.

   The time passed quite quickly. As I mentioned we were in the Knife tent. There were six stall holders selling knives of one sort or another. They covered the breath of the market. A couple of chaps from London were selling Indian made Damascus steel blade in a bowie or Indian style. Another chaps sold skinning knives. Another sold all kinds of blades from lock knives to collector bowie knives and a chap from Preston was selling fixed blade knives he had made. They were beautiful. He started with a steel bar, cut it to shape, ground it, polished it and made a handle. If I have more than £140 spare I am having one. The only trouble with him was that he makes his own sheaths for relaxation. He make really nice sheaths.....bugger.

   The weather on Sunday was a bit iffy. I had a lie in but was at the event by 7.15am. The gates for exhibitors closed at 7.30 as the event opened at 8am. 8am came and a flush of people came through. The early bird and all that. I had a nice chat with a young farmer and his girl. 8am really was a lie-in for him. I did not get his name but I wish him well. It was steady all day but quieter than Saturday. Rain was forecast and at 4pm will got a hours worth of downpour. The game was declared and will all started to pack up.

   I managed to do some market researc on my tack. In essence folks really liked it and most of them understood the cost but the reality was that the stuff from the Middle and Far East made in webbing was easy to look after, just chuck it inthe washer, and was cheap. The same old story really. My only let down was not getting to the chap that was selling Pith helmets in time. He was rained off early....doh!  
 
        

Events for September

  It has been a couple of very busy weeks. My holiday did not really materialise as I had to intervene to make sure a certain job got finished and delivered. I suppose that is the leather workers lot. I have had interesting conversation with several people about collaborations. I cannot say anything about them in case I jinx it.

   I went to vintage fair on the 26th. I met a very interesting fellow and picked up a few of lovely objects to embellish one of my current work in progress. I should have that piece completed this week along with the two repair jobs sitting on my work bench.

   I am just in the process of arranging a joint outing with a leather supplier to the Midland Game Fair which is to be held Weston Park on the weekend of the 14/15th September. Click HERE for the event website. I will be doing demonstrations of leather carving and stitching in conjunction with The Identity Store. Click HERE for their website.

Gate Post versus Knee Roll

  I got a call from a local equine supplier [tack shop to you and me]. A lady had brought in her saddle. She has failed to negotiate a gateway and walloped her knee on the gate post. Luckily the gate post was unharmed in the incident but the rider and saddle were not so lucky. The rider is sporting a dislocated knee. That's going to smart for a while. The knee roll of the saddle is partly separated from the saddle flap.

 The job was to restitch the knee roll to the saddle flap. That is easy to type but not so easy to execute. First I examined the saddle and then the damage. The saddle was made in Sutton Scotney apparently by hand. It says so on the badge attached to the tree underneath the skirt. My idea of "by hand" and what I had in front of me are two different things. However after a cup of tea and a bit of thought I reconciled my issues. The saddle was machine stitched throughout. The stitching thread is nylon. There is no question that the saddle is robust. It looks like it has had a hard life. In a sense that is a good thing. It means the neddies [my term for horses or ponies of either sex] are getting ridden regularly. If I had a horse I would ride it everywhere. Perhaps not to London or Manchester but certainly in twenty mile radius of home. Returning to the damage on the saddle.....

The customer said the stitching had ripped. This was true in part. As I tidied up the stitch holes I found: A. the machine stitching and B. There was a 1 1/2 inches gash where the leather had ripped. The funny thing was that the loops of the stitching was still in place. It took a few minutes to clean the area of thread and figure out a plan to repair the stitching. Tea always comes in handy at this point.

   I figured there was nothing I could do to repair the ripped saddle flap. The customer was not going to buy a new saddle on account of this damage. I guessed I would be able to piece together the seam between the knee roll and saddle flap and restitch the seam using the existing stitch holes. When the stitching got as far as the rip I decided the stitch line would have a detour. I would take the stitch line inside the rip so the new stitching would be still provide support in joining the two piece of leather together although looking a light asymmetric. Symmetry would mean a new saddle and we knew that was not an option.

   I decide to do the easy bit would be restitch the upper stitch line first. My rationale was that the leather and holes were not damaged. Also that in securing the upper line it would hold the piece in place whilst I tackled the lower stitch line and the rip area. The first five inches were easy enough. The saddle flap was errr....flapped back and forth at give access for the needles to execute saddle stitch. I started the stitching over the end of the machine stitching in order to secure the end of the machine stitched line. It got really tight as I approached the skirt and the big rivet that secures the saddle flap to the tree. The "D" ring of the martingale anchor also served to reduce access. The needles are about two inches long so that is the minimum space required to pass the needles to and fro. Once I got to the end the stitch line is was straight forward to turn the corner and make the three stitches down the start of the lower stitch line.

   I back stitched here partly to reinforce the seam at this point but also to start a new thread. My plan was to stitch along using the existing holes until one stitch before the rip. Take the stitching through 90 degrees for two stitches then another 90 degree turn to bring me parallel with the rip. I would stitch along parallel to the rip then do two more 90 degree turns to bring me back onto the original stitch line. This was a great plan except there was no room to work in. The detour stitch line line needed new holes. The leather is three thicknesses at this point and I had to be careful not the stab the existing saddle with the awl point. It is enough to say but making the twenty odd stitches to execute the detour took nearly and hour and a good deal effort. I probably did not help myself my doing the stitches at 16 to the inch. I figured many stitches would provide a secure repair. In hindsight that was probably overkill. Once I got back onto the original stitch line I was away again. I had plenty of room and difficult bit was behind me. I took the new stitching over the end of the old stitching to secure it. A couple of back stitches and the repair was complete. I cast eye over the rest of the saddle and found a small section of the welt on the knee roll had been opened up by the impact. I could not help myself and repaired that section. The access was good so it only took a few minutes. The customer drove a hard bargain on the cost of the repair so a baulked at cleaning the saddle and repairing the other areas of general wear.

      The repair closed the joint between knee roll and saddle flap to its original position. It also closed the rip. The top edge of the knee roll saw to that. I got the fine paint brush and the dark brown dye out. I carefully painted the inside edges of the rip with the dye. The inside of the leather was a lot lighter than the outside surface of the saddle leather which had weathered and had the patina of age. The dye toned down the contrast essentially making the repair disappear to the casual observer. What the owner of the saddle thinks remains to be seen. My customer, the tack shop, seem pleased with the repair.


   

Draycott in the Clay Summer Show

   Summer fairs are something of a lottery in the British summertime as the weather holds the key to the visitor numbers. The weather has been mixed in the week leading up to the show. I had committed to the show so I went. I was at the show ground at 10am, a nice civilised time of a Sunday morning, and was directed to my pitch. The avenue of trades was was laid at very well and the pitches were mire generously sized than other shows. My pitch was facing a roped off area. It was not until later did I find out that this where the tug-o-war competition was to be held.

   I said hello to my stall holder neighbours for the day. We all set out out stalls with one eye on the skys. I was ready by the appointed time and dropped my car off to the trades car park. The walk back to the stall was the most I saw of the show all day. 11 0'clock the gates opened and folks drifted in. The tug-o-war-ist organised themselves and commenced the competition. There was a lot of shouting and grunting as the competition wound its course. Apparently this event was part of an international tug-o-war league.

   Folks had their "leather" stories they wanted to share with me. Enquires were made and cards taken. That is part of what the show is about. A couple of people sought me out which bodes well. The Denna costume created lots comments. It quite surprising the range of ideas folks have about the piece. I dressed costume with my sword and buckler. One young lad must have come by to look at the sword a dozen times. With his Dad's permission I let the lad hold it. I showed him the "at ease" and "attention" positions. he could hardly hold it up. The sword is a basket guard cavalry sabre so it can only be carried and used in one hand. It turned out to be a bit heavy for him but it made his day all the same.

    About 2pm the sky became dark and the rain started to fall. A heavy drizzle to begin with and then it pelted down. Despite the rain the tractors and vintage cars had their parade. The heavy horse presentation were made but half hour of heavy rain and the show was effectively over. The Welsh man giving a demonstration of working dog using Eygptian running ducks in the main ring was entertaining but he could not save the show. The visitors ran for their cars. I just sat it out. The rain did abate but its dastardly work was done. I left the stall up to dry in the wind. In the end it went away dry.

   All packed away for 4pm. I took a trip to the beer tent for a pint and a sandwich. Then wandered down the far end of the beer tent where a steel band was playing. They played all day as backround music when there was no event in the main ring. They were great. Next door to the band but outside the beer tent was a toss the wool sack event. The game is simple, a hession sack is filled with wool. You have a pitch fork and there is a bar to throw the sack over. This look like a game for the locals. In truth, besides me, I think it was only the locals left. As the bar got higher the fancied players started to join the competition. Eventualy youth and bulk won the day. And that was my day out. A nice event spoiled by the weather.