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Iron acetate seems to be a fairly stable complex - I have a solution that is now 3 or 4 years old that still dyes quite happily. I keep it out of the light & airtight, other than that no real precautions.

Good point. When you take the last turn, tuck it into the loop formed by the outside straw.

That was my impression - spin it clockwise 90 degrees, repeat 3 & 4 until done.

Oh yes. Quite definitely if you want something where the food tastes nice, as opposed to the "well, you can live on it, but it tastes like..." :)

Indoors diving (with the possible exception of the SETT in Gosport) tends not to do a great deal for me :D

O1 is an excellent choice for stock removal; I buy mine from Cromwell (incidentally, they have a branch down by the Volvo garage in Southampton). I also buy silver steel from them for forging, which seems to be more-or-less W1. Admiral do ship to the UK quite happily, but I haven't used them...

That's a cute thing, Dunc. Still trying to work out what I'd do with a knife to put it up to that price... Hand forged, pattern welded steel (and an interesting, labour intensive pattern at that). Something along the lines of mammoth handles, as previously mentioned. Maybe mokume-gane...

DIY ;) http://www.homestead.com/beknivessite2/leathergouges.html This is a fairly simple project taking next to no tools, which is nice. As for stitch marking - rather than just using the ruler, if you get a pair of dividers it'll make layout a bit faster.

Would have liked to have made it, but unfortunately I'm off skiing. Given this is my first time, I'll probably spend most of my time sitting down in the snow (or maybe making a snow hole?).

First off, make sure your leather is clean. Degrease it with some isopropanol too. Then, you have a couple of choices: 1) Dip dye. Immerse the entire item in dye, gets a very even deep coat, but uses a lot of dye. 2) Spray. Use an airbrush or some sort of sprayer, mist it over. Not...

I'm sure I've said it before somewhere, but I really, really despise Compeed plasters. The last time I used them it was in relatively warm conditions (35-40C) and the blasted things dissolved to goo on my feet rather than do any actual good. As far as mini torches goes, the Fenix range...

The last time I had to walk around in public with an air rifle, I carried it in a nondescript plastic gun case. *I* thought it was obvious what I had, but everyone who asked me assumed it was a snooker cue...

Stepping briskly away from the pun, here's a couple more links on techniques: http://www.gustavus.com/heidi/scrim.html http://www.marinearts.com/Pages/scrimshaw_technique.htm http://www.scrimshaw.com/id12.html http://www.lahainascrimshaw.com/history.html (lousy layout under Firefox)...

Now I've finally had time to read this, it's about time I said thank-you! This has raised even more questions, I'm afraid - how long should the skins be in the tanning solutions? Given the size of a salmon, is the quantity of brains really enough to do a whole skin? How many egg yolks to a...

Only just noticed that bit... I have a lot of info on Western bootmaking (including a fairly full treatise on the subject), the only thing that has scuppered me to date is availability of lasts. Short of reproducing a foot (with the correct heel lift) in e.g. pine, I really don't know enough...

Seaxy, isn't it?

A quick jaunt to Siberia, a good shovel and you're away :) I haven't yet found a UK supplier that provided terribly good examples of mammoth ivory. There's a guy by the name of Bob Hergert over at http://www.scrimshander.com - he has some details (and also a very good DVD). From what I've...

Plastic teaspoons are a nice cheap source for scrimshaw material - and recyclable too. Essentially, all you need is a needle (preferably in a handle) and a tube of black oil paint. Incise, coat with paint, wipe off the excess leaving paint in the recesses. I use stipple (on the rare occasions...

Flipping 'eck! We got the same times on both posts!

Done! Added a post on the end.