BY RON EDWARDS
In 1982 I began writing a series of small books dealing with various aspects of leatherwork concentrating on the special skills and techniques that have been developed in the Australian bush over the past century. Fortunately these skills have not vanished, and in fact interest in them seems to be growing. There are a number of plaiters working today whose skills equal that of any of the great names from the past, and many bush people are once again making their own leather gear. We know this from the increase in orders from outback areas of north Queensland that come into our saddlery business in Cairns. At present I have written and published eleven small books on leather, and they are all in this one volume, plus a section on making thread, taken from my book ‘Making a Stock Saddle.
Ron Edwards. November 1984