New leather strip for the tool box lid has now arrived.
It was custom made and sent within 2-3 days, by an Australian business that I will definately use again. I can think of several areas that will require custom made leather pieces, including straps for the sunshine roof on my CMP.
My cut tacks are here now too. This is equivelent to the larger of the sizes originally used, and they are SHARP! I'll do a test hammer through the end of my leather strip, to see how easy they drive and what, if anything, happens to the leather. It's a good thickness so hopefully they won't distort on the way through. If they do, every hole will need to be punched, or have an awl poked through.
I've been cleaning up all the screw heads by sanding to shiny, then applying two layers of gun blue. They should look quite nice when finished, and will match the brackets and hinges. I know it's a lot of work, but I thought they came up well.....until I took the closeup photo. Now I can see there is still grot in several of the grooves. Those will get another run through with sandpaper. I'm sure my eyesight is getting worse.
If the good lords willing and the creeks don't rise, I should have color on the box itself this weekend, and the lid should be completely finished.