Ian Head of The London Tanners

There are some good companies but no one else, that I know of, that does hand stitching. Not that I blame them some days when my hands are aching from holding the needles.

 I thought that there would be a bottom to the market, and that eventually everyone who wanted a paddle or a spanking strop would have one, but that just doesn’t seem to be the case. My business just seems to have become part of the norm. We do business every single day.

 Do you have trouble filling so many orders?

No, but sometimes I get a little behind and there is a bigger gap. It just doesn’t leave me much time for a life. It’s really hard to juggle any kind of personal life or fun time for me because when I go away I have to really juggle it so when I come back I haven’t got a whole sea of backorders. That is the only thing, but we are coming up to a busier time, so what happens is I have to work longer hours.

Usually you do a special implement for the holidays, but I didn’t see one on your site this year.

Yes, normally I do. I didn’t two years ago but I won’t disappoint anyone this year. We will be offering a limited edition traditional razor strop.

This unique hand crafted strop is made in a rich supple Deep Burgundy Red Harness Leather. The Strop will be 22 by 2 inches with a heavy black leather second layer attached to a nickel swivel snap for conveniently hanging on display or by way of a deterrent. It will be available in two versions, an extra heavy 10-12oz leather for those especially naughty girls and boys who need to be severely punished and the standard 8-10oz for those who have just been naughty and need that extra special attention that can only be given with a traditional razor strop.

Each strop comes conveniently in it’s own Christmas stocking.

Christmas Razor Strop 2009

What is your favorite implement to use?

Domestic Discipline Strap

My favorite of all is the domestic discipline strap. I have people call and say they are thinking about the domestic discipline strap and I tell them they may think I say it about all my implements but it happens to be my favorite. Everything is right the length, the width, the weight, the shape and from a top’s view, the shape of the handle is right. Also from what I have heard from the bottoms it is a pretty good strap, it has a good feel, it’s not too thin, it’s solid, it makes a good slap sound, it’s got the psychological affect and it’s got a nice wide blade that gives a good smack.

 I have to say I like that one too both as a top and bottom; I also like the Spanking Strop (the 17”X 2” version) which is just a little shorter at 17” X 2”.

This may sound lazy but I’m loath to add any new items to the line because I already have over 30 different items in 4 different colors and it’s really hard some times to keep up and keep adding more.

Yes, that is something I might do in time and have done in the past. A year ago with the click paddle you notice that that isn’t available and hasn’t been for over a year. I took it off when I added the grandmas’ slipper paddle. Because I think the grandmas’ slipper is a better paddle all around and so that is what I think I will do. If I find anything that is really nice I’ll replace something else. I’m thinking about replacing the barbers double razor strop with a new razor strop. I’ll pull the existing one and replace it with a new one. The people that follow our website will hopefully be seeing that in the New Year.

The general rule to using straps is not to reach. With a strap you want to get your distance right from the end of the strap to the outside edge of the target area. You want to get that measured pretty accurately and the way you stand and deliver it with a full arm stroke, but don’t reach like you would for a tennis stroke. When people do that the strap will tend to wrap, which is a common mistake with straps. Another mistake people make, especially in the BDSM scene, is they twist their wrist. I think that is because they are used to using floggers or whips, sometimes also with the people who are used to using canes. There is a lot more wrist action in canes, floggers and whips. With straps you want to avoid twisting your wrist otherwise you will tend to land with the side of the blade, instead of the flat of the blade. It should be a full arm flat swing and doesn’t require any writs action.

 Exactly, but it is sometimes hard to teach an old dog new tricks. If you have used floggers or canes exclusively for years it is hard to change the habits that have been developed getting the technique for that implement set. People tend to use new implements in much the same way they have learned to use others of the same size even if they really need a different technique, for instance floggers, canes and straps each require a different technique. When people switch from using a flogger to a strap that is when you tend to see people wrap or land with the side of the blade instead of the flat of the blade.

They differ in that they are modern reproductions, but I try to make them historically accurate. Like the John dicks tawse. I try to get them the same weight and length, but just the nature of leather they will never be exactly the same weight, but the length is the same. I took all my information from the original Lochgelly Tawses. Some of the later things like twin triple tawse one of our customers in Belgium asked if they sent some photos could you make one like it. He sent pretty exact photos down to having a tape measurements and a tape measure right next to it in the picture. That piece was a 1940’s or a 1950’s piece. So we have been lucky like that. Others like the razor strop I can’t make it like the original razor strop because you can’t find the metal fittings anywhere and I’ve really searched worldwide for them.

Prison Strap

Corpun.com, which is a site run by a gentleman name of Colin Farrell in England, has always been very helpful in providing me with information about things like the authentic Canadian prison strap, giving the exact specifications and as many photos as he has or can find. Where that one differs from the original is at the end of the handle you will see a point on mine. On the original it is straight across. The only reason I did that was to take the weight off that particular part of the strap, because it wanted to start hinging and getting weaker there.

 

I don’t think anything is really difficult for me. I would think the hardest thing to do well is to cut, especially with a curve. A lot of the implements have a curved edge; like the grandmas’ slipper paddle, the boudoir paddle, even most of the straps have at least one curved edge. We don’t cut around a pattern; we trace off a pattern and then cut to that line freehand. A lot of the skill is in cutting it without making it jerky. It is very easy to cut a straight line using a straight edge, but it is another matter to cut a curve unless you are using a stainless steel template, which we don’t. That I imagine would be the hardest part.

The sewing isn’t hard, it is just laborious. I can sew really fast. I can probably hand sew as fast as anyone I have ever seen, now. Some of the implements just have a lot of sewing on them like the Irish school strap which is 2”X17” which is about 35” or 36” of stitching. It just takes a certain amount of time and you can’t make it go any faster. So it’s become a kind of meditation to me. I’ll just sit there with the radio on in my workshop and just sew. It’s therapy I think.

Cleaning still one of the best things is saddle soap. Most people don’t really know how to use it, so I’m going to tell you real quickly how to use it. You take a tin of saddle soap, get a slightly wet sponge, squeeze out the excess water so it is just slightly damp, work the saddle soap up into a lather and apply it to the leather. Then let it dry to almost a powder finish and dust it off with a soft cloth. Some of the things that they market now have harsh chemicals in them which dry out the leather. They contain some alcohol or petroleum based product which will dry out leather and cause it to crack. On the website we sell from one of our suppliers a very good cleaning wipe that is effective and it isn’t harsh on the leather. For preserving the leather, a pure lanolin or beeswax based oil. We recommend the Fiebings Aussie leather conditioner and we also sell that through the website. I recommend that as it doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals. When you look at a product label make sure there is no alcohol, white spirits, neoprene or petroleum in the ingredients list, as they will dry out the leather. Often a lot of the show polishes contain those types of ingredients. If worse comes to worse use some Mazola from your kitchen cabinet rub it into the leather. Basically leather is dead skin and so think about what you would put on yourself. You would use an oil or lanolin base product on dry skin.

I recommend twice a year.

 So what about a quick method for disinfecting them, for example when you are at a party?

What I recommend is baby wipes. Just go to the drug store or the baby isle at your local market and buy those wipes that they use for baby’s bottoms when they are changing them. They are very mild obviously being made not to irritate the baby in those sensitive areas. They do contain a slight bit of bleach for disinfecting but it is so diluted that it won’t hurt the leather. So it is good for getting traces of human off of your toys.

Leatherworking by Ian Head

Very good, very good. There are some highlights in my life and especially in the London Tanners part of my life that have made me feel very good. The first time I ever saw my leather work book in a bookshop was an unbelievable buzz. The first time I saw any of my implements being used in a video was a definite buzz. I don’t remember whose video it was I first saw with it in. It could have been Real Spankings or Spankings Online; it was one of those two companies. Now of course I see them all the time, which is very nice.

You see them all over everywhere at parties in videos in personal collections.

Like it says on our website I don’t think any other implement manufacturer supplies more of the spanking video manufacturers than we do. From the biggest studios to the smaller ones as well

 Anything else you would like people to know?

Just keep sending those checks and money orders because we’re getting hungry here in Florida. No really I’d like people to know is I’m really grateful to the people in the spanking and BDSM community that have told people about our implements and have recommended them. It doesn’t matter how many links or how much advertising we do, there is nothing like the support you get when someone says look at this they make great stuff. That is really what has kept us in business. The London tanners in this form has been around for about 10 years and in that time I’ve seen twenty or thirty implement companies come and go and we’re still here. That is hopefully because we have good customer service and make a quality product but I also think it is because of the support we have had from the community.