Search results

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
  1. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    Yup- if I knew then what I know now, that would have been a much better purchase for the long term! You live, you learn, you pass some knowledge on!
  2. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    OK, so my eyelet experience goes as follows. 1) Cheap does not mean good. If you are planning on using eyelets on multiple projects, my suspicion is that you will do better buying more expensive tools than I did 2) If you are going down the cheap route, know the size of eyelet you want to use...
  3. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    It's been slightly postponed - had a lot on and have been doing some experimentation with eyelets and have learned a few lessons which I'd be pleased to share. Would be interested to see the rawhide you found - Mine is very good for forming and will serve my needs for this project well, but...
  4. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    Janne - yes the stretch is good enough for forming to fit the shape of the knife and not too bad on the shrinkage. I'd deliberately allowed for some excess in the first sheath attempt for shrinkage and I massively over estimated it. As you can see from the red marker line, that's where I was...
  5. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    That's a really interesting option Keith_Beef. I really liked the contrast between the coffee stain and the untreated colours when I laid the sample piece on the handle for the photo above, so this could be one way of achieving it. I'm thinking that some sort of punch to cut a nice round (less...
  6. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    While I am doing pictures, here is an illustration of what I meant by making a template in negative to clamp the sheath. In the meantime the dyed rawhide pieces are drying and as they are they are changing - I'm liking No 3 more now (placed it agains the handle to show how it might look)
  7. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    OK so here's the results: 1) The starting point. No stain applied 2) Soaked in warm water until soft, buried in damp coffee grounds and left 48 hours 3) Same as above, but soaked in warm coffee 4) Left dry and painted with a coffee/coffee ground slurry You can see the knife and the first...
  8. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    The water / coffee I've used has been warm not boiling hot and doesn't seem to have negatively affected any of the test pieces I've done to date
  9. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    Thanks JohnC - I like using natural materials, especially if they are to hand and free, but let's face it you don't just dig bits of stainless steel out of the ground, nor the epoxy which I used to secure handle to blade! Your suggestion is a good one. So for those interested in the rambling...
  10. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    Thanks SaraR - I'm trying a couple of variations of that now. Will report back with results. Polecatsteve - that looks like an interesting little tool and not too expensive. Did you stitch it while the hide was still wet/soft or will that make a decent job of going through it when it's dry...
  11. sparkplug

    Dog Chew / rawhide rambling and request for advice

    Hi everyone, After a long absence from tinkering about with knives I finally finished a small knife I made as a gift and decided that I would put a bit more effort into the sheath than I normally do. I have no leather working tools or skills and all my knives are practical tools which get used...
  12. sparkplug

    Head torch for children walking at night

    I haven't used any of these, but I noticed that Decathlon are doing a range of really very inexpensive head torches that might be worth considering.
  13. sparkplug

    EDC for the office

    I saw these and I though that they might make a good gift for the bush crafter who also works in an office. :D
  14. sparkplug

    Exped Synmat UL 9 failure

    You don't need a receipt, the beds have a code on the label which will tell Exped what the manufacture date is. I've exchanged a few with them over the years and have always found them very helpful and accommodating, never shown a receipt.
  15. sparkplug

    Some of my handforged stuff.

    Love that setup Martin - is that all Launditch's work? I could really use something like that so any info gratefully received
  16. sparkplug

    True Utility Cash Stash TU41 in grey

    Didn't actually look at what they cost! If its only a fiver then my swap requests are probably a bit ambitious :) open to offers or might just offer it to a good home if you cover postage
  17. sparkplug

    True Utility Cash Stash TU41 in grey

    Unwanted gift - brand new in blister pack. Not a picture of the actual one - but it might as well be! http://pocketsized.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_20120907_102248.jpg Would swap for a knife such as mora or vintage pocket knife / garden tool type of thing. Or feel free to suggest...
  18. sparkplug

    Should I be worried about this vine?

    Thanks to all - will get some appropriate fungicide and treat all 3 as suggested. Might not have had grapes yet, but did stuff a few leaves with brie and crushed almonds and black pepper and did them on the BBQ - yum!
  19. sparkplug

    Should I be worried about this vine?

    I planted 3 vines this year for the first time. Two seem perfectly OK but I have one which has a few spots and a few malformed leaves. I'm not sure if this is something to be worried about? I did have some whitefly earlier in the year but they have now been dealt with - I don't know if it...
  20. sparkplug

    Pyrogravy book

    yes please! PM inbound