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I missed this string earlier but here's the grumpy old guy evaluation. "I did get to do some Clean Up work on the blevins, removing old glue, rust, staining... We'll be reusing the old beat up ones. They tell me they can't be seen, So why not." Plain and simple - because the pins are corroded and partially eaten away. At some point those pins may fail and even though this is a favor to a daughter's friend, shit gets real if that happens. She may have said not to change them because they can't be seen. If she lands on her head, somebody else may not be so casual about it. Yeah they can't be seen when riding but they are seen now. The only reason they haven't been seen is that she didn't care or know enough to look at them once in a while. Pretty basic part of a routine maintenance and safety check. This is like being asked to change the hubcaps and finding the brakes are about shot. Seriously, for the cost of stirrup buckles - change them out. You have more cost in leather than a set of new buckles. Have I seen worse, yeah. What would I do if somebody dropped this repair off and said don't change the buckles? Even in the black hole period of my life when nickles counted, I would not have done it. They would get a call about "hey, we need to change the buckles". If no, they would get the pieces back to go somewhere else along with best wishes finding a shop that would do it.

Alright, I've certainly heard enough about SLC that I'm no longer considering buying leather from them. I am, however, considering this Goliger Leather in Ventura. From what reading I've done about them, it does in fact sound like the Hermann Oak they sell is graded to the same quality levels as what you'd get when ordering directly from the tannery. Their A Grade HO Tooling is charged by the square foot, ranging from $12.10 for 2/3 oz to $12.50 for 10/11 oz. This will average out to around $300 a side for the 9/10 oz I need, the same as Maverick's new price per side of HO B Grade. Has anybody else had any experience ordering from Goliger?

Some years, I get weird allergic reactions for a week or three, that locals blame on 'snow mould', or other phrases. Usually well before anything pollenates, or even having the temperature up to zero. Glad your furnace doesn't need more, but that reminds me, I have to schedule some inspection/maintenance on mine. I still don't do everything myself, so try to book this stuff when the lads aren't busy.

I cut the cross out of 1/2 inch A/B (smooth ) plywood , then 5/8 strips out of the leather and use contact cement on the wood edges and the strips . Apply and trim flush front and back , next same with face and trim , bevel edge and burnish , apply finish . ps: I tool the face before gluing it on Thank you Sir !

Also if you can tell us where you pulled the pic from, link would help, we may be able to track it down better.

That's a great repair, yes hand stitching means you can put the stitches where they should be, this going to sound silly but I have repaired and stitched saddles sitting on a old sofa with the saddle upside down between my legs found it was easier and quicker to do it that way. On the wear and tear it may have been damaged with the horse getting loose and running into something, or more likely that part of the hide may have been a little inferior it does happen even on expensive items of tack have seen this you won't believe somethings that are sent out for top money at times. We have have all seen it with other things made from leather, sometimes I see the price of things and shake my head at the price they are asking for somethings when you know the leather is not that great. But yes riders will sit odd sometimes and don't even know it, some even will ride with one stirrup leather shorter than the other mostly just one hole but have seen two at times. Again great repair. Regards JCUK

The 12 oz is roughly 3/16" (4.78mm) thick so two layers would only give you about 1/16" ( 1.6mm ) of max sewing thickness left. Depending on how tough/dry the veg tan leather is, needle selection and thread size a class 341 may Not work. My experience with a Techsew 2750 Pro (Juki LS-341 clone) with a speed reducer using 6.5 oz chrome tan, V138 and a #25 needle it will happily chug along doing 3 layers and says NO to 4 layers. For me this is the cross over to the Warlock Class 441 clone. Since you are going to do flat articles like wallets a flatbed attachment is going to be a must have item. My rule of thumb is buy a new machine that will do 90 percent of your items and a good used machine to cover off the other 10 percent. In your case buy a new Class 341 / 1341 clone unless you can afford a new Juki LS-1341 ($6,000 USD) that will cover off your items and for the heavy stuff buy either a motorized or manual "one armed bandit" Class 441. Here is a link to a good needle size to thread size chart ( https://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html ). kgg

When I moved to this town, I'd been on well water for quite a few years. The smell of the chlorine in the water here just turned my stomach. I bought a water cooler, and at first was using spring water. Then, I found the Home Hardware store sold water without any chemicals in it and it was only .98 cents to fill a 5 gallon/18 l. jug! You could also clean your jug at the time you refilled it! Someone told me that the water I was getting from them was exactly the same as what the Coca-Cola company sells under the Dasani brand name, charging $1.98 for half a liter! (That's half a quart, for you non-metric folks.) Bottled water has to be the world's biggest ripoff, unless you're travelling somewhere where the local water isn't safe to drink.

I like laid out patterns. I have gone through considerable amounts of leather, scrapping "almosts" and "not quites". But my friend Robert, who up until his death a few years back was Meco Pocket Holsters, made some of the most beautiful and serviceable holsters ever made. Without a "stitch line pattern". He had a rough shape he used for his popular models, and then boned / molded the leather before sewing. STUNNING work. Seacamp (the gun maker) used to call him for 25 or 50 at a time, requesting they be made with THEIR stamp, which they provided to him (so you may have a seacamp holster made by Robert and not know it). In Robert's defense, I did get him using many patterns as time went on, and in fact he sometimes called me to REQUEST that I design a new pattern for a gun he had orders on. And those he made with these patterns were just as nice as the ones he made prior, so .... apparently each his/her own ....

Well, that's good news! A heating tech can do the same thing here, but only if the problem is bad enough to be a danger. I can see an unscrupulous HVAC person doing it to force you to buy a new system, but I knew when I hired this guy that he was a good person. He replaced a furnace for very little cost for someone whose furnace was totally broken and not repairable. Conditions in the home were so filthy that he told me he burned his clothing when the job was done. Other heating techs who had been to the home had refused to work there due to the unsanitary conditions. A community group had a fundraiser to help pay him for the work he did. Darren, the condensation drain hose for my furnace was clogged up. The furnace guy fixed that on his first visit. My allergies have 90% vanished since he did that! I can't explain it - may be the problem was mould, not dust!

Here is a couple from YouTube that maybe of use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9c5WgNV5ZM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVlXsR-ucA Hope this helps JCUK

I suppose hand-carved may have some value there too, but my skills aren't ready for market in that arena yet (in my opinion) Wallets have sold from at least 2 of the three shops I'm stocking, and in the case of the airline shop, I'm quite surprised. Didn't really think it would fly alongside some of their other branded items. At the airline shop, they are currently just sitting on shelves for display. (pic showing 2 black wallets) I'm starting to think I may be able to do something better to show them in-store. Going to think awhile on it though, since my lumber stock is currently under a couple feet of snow. The biggest gallery has them in a glass display case, very near the checkout. I am a bit flattered, because it does look like a very good spot in their store. The last (smallest gallery) has them in a small shelf cubby, along with some other leather goods. Not optimal, but we'll see how they do with sales. On the one hand, there is other leather there, but on the other, I think mine looks like better quality. I also have been closing in on another leather worker in town. He sells at some of the galleries too, and has very good designs and skills, though he machine sews. His inclusion of sealhide will surely catch more eyes, but bigger pieces are a bit tougher to sell, and tougher for a tourist to fit in their bag to go home...I'm now given to understand that he wears military fatigues, and looks a bit younger than me. I may decide to send him a message to go snoop around his shop, or lure him to mine with some whiskey or such. Be good to know someone around me who pursues this. Most 'artisans' selling here have shifted focus to production. While this leathercrafting lad may do the same, he still seems to be small and experimenting. Lastly, the young man from the airline suggested again, that more story would sell them better. I should write something, since he is probably correct about that. Not sure why I hate the idea so much, but I guess it's because I wanted the work to be the only thing being judged...

Thanks this is all very helpful and helps me put it into perspective. Sounds like a 341 clone might be the better option. The thickest material I might sew (but not regularly) would be 2 layers of 12oz veg tan, but the majority of my projects are bags, wallets, and belts. Wallets I'll probably continue to hand sew but I need something to help me cut down on the production time of bags and belts. From my research, it seems like a 341 type is what is recommended for the type of work I do.

You're lucky i wish we could be a little milder in the winters !! We have decent water, but I still have a three-stage filterthat takes out all the added chemicals plus one of those black light filter things.

Some people do an inattentive job. I don't want to accuse your fine tradesemen, but if I were stuck doing it... I would examine the ducts, and plan my attack. Generally, attaching a truck-vacuum to pull from where the main fan was (I move it aside) Then, I take a specialty tool, and go attack the ducts from the opposite ends. Starting at the furthest end, the air-skipper goes in, and skips around knocking dust loose until satisfactory. This is repeated at every vent, from furthest to closest. Then, a small hole is punched into the bigger ducts, to allow more access for the skipper. There are a few versions of the skipper, but the important thing is, if they didn't go to the far ends of the ducts with such a tool, then they didn't get as much dust out as they could have. In the end though, it may not have outpaced your sensitivities anyway. Stay warm!

Very cool, I've seen some folks using them, it's a dandy idea, especially for logos and such.

I'm glad you're warm and safe. They can clean those condensers, so if it's still a sealed and working system, there would be no need to replace it. What sucks and i dont know about Canada, but here, a heating tech can red tag your heating system and pretty much make you replace it. I'm lucky that I have the knowledge to keep mine up and running lol its old but in good shape still, I keep some spare parts. There has been very little snow this winter to catch the dust, so the winds here are just killing us. My sinuses and head haven't felt good for months. Usually, the snow drifts at this time of year are hard to tell from piles of dirt they get so covered with dust, now its just blowing around. My house is so drafty i can tell the wind direction from which end of the house is warmest lol.

can you give us a hint as to what country you live in at least? what is the logo?

Thank you, Gezzer, for responding. Do you glue the leather, then? I love the look!

Machine sold. That was fast!

thanks for the ideas, I'm going to test out the folded edges. Thanks. Here is another photo of the edge treatment on the canvas it is a separate strip sewn on and folded over. I wonder how hard this would be to duplicate. I would have to skive all of the pieces, fold and glue both edges, before even attaching them. I realize the purpose for canvas and that it's not really even needed with leather, so how much extra work for just aesthetics?

Very nice Work!

Thank you ! Thanks again .

Thank you , no I covered the edge and then the face all dry work . No , back is uncovered .