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Hi Lee, I suppose somebody may be willing to provide phone instruction. A more immediate solution should be one of the many tutorials available online: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pancake+knife+sheath+tutorial&t=brave&ia=web A specific question here usually gets a good response. I'm going to flip this over you there knife sheath section and see what kind of response you get. Also going to tweak the title.

Depending on the embossing height, if high enough I'd use a combination of layered leather bits to get up close to the level needed then dust goop for the final shape. The main difference is that using just stacked leather, you then have to remove leather to get to the final shape, sort of like whittling wood it's a subtractive process. Goop is more like working with clay, you pack it on and then move it around to get your shape, more of an additive process. I haven't done anything practical with either as I'm a crap sculptor but I did play around a little just to see what it's like several years ago. - Bill

@Westaussie Yes we have our fair share of idiots in Canberra however they are generally not home grown . They are born and bred in other parts of the country then elected and sent to us . We tolerate them because we must . Canberrans have to wear the flack when its not of our doing. To the men of the country i say ,If you put half as much thought into electing a politician as you do analyzing a footy game post match we would be in a much better place.To the women i say put half as much thought into electing a candidate as you do buying shoes online and we are good . I asked a customer last election who she will vote for . She said the best looking candidate . I thought to myself typical . But then she elaborated . Whoever i vote for is going to screw me and if i am going to get screwed it may as well be the best looking one . LOL i can't flaw her logic . I make and repair shoes for some of our politicians and their advisers. Not all of them are dumb arses but some are world class idiots where i wonder to myself how these people even have jobs . I would not employ them to collect shopping trolleys in a car park let alone sit in parliament. I think democracy is a bit over rated .

Oh wow Tastech this is very helpful, I think I’ll pursue this method. Thank you so much from the other side of Australia, who said ‘Not much intelligence is spoken in Canberra!!!’ Oh that’s right it only refers to Pollie-speak! I will get onto this repair Tastech.

A Florida State Trooper pulled a car over on US 19 in Clearwater, Florida. When the Trooper asked the driver why he was speeding, the driver said he was a magician and juggler, and was on his way to St. Petersburg to do a show for the Children's Hospital. He didn't want to be late. The Trooper told the driver he was fascinated by juggling and said if the driver would do a little juggling for him, then he wouldn't give him a ticket. He told the Trooper he had sent his equipment ahead and didn't have anything to juggle. The Trooper said he had some flares in the trunk and asked if he could juggle them. The juggler said he could, so the Trooper got five flares, lit them and handed them to him. While the man was juggling, a car pulled in behind the State Trooper's car. A drunken good old boy from New Port Richey, Florida, got out, watched the performance, then went over to the Trooper's car, opened the rear door and got in. The Trooper observed him and went over to his car, opened the door asking the drunk what he thought he was doing. The drunk replied, “You might as well just take me to jail, cause there ain't no way I can pass that test!"

@Westaussie. Although your problem may seen unsolvable, it is a reasonably easy fix . I own and have restored a few 308's and the problem you have is not uncommon for a machine of its age . If you know a welder take it to them and get them to first grind the teeth flat and then with a mig welder get them to weld some "meat " to the feet . It is then a matter of filing the shape and the required grooves . You can do the filing yourself . You will need 2 files .1 flat medium file to get the dimensions and 1 triangular file to make the grooves . The foot is case hardened from the factory which makes it hard . The welding will soften the steel to make the filing easy . After welding it is important to let the foot cool on its own , do not dip it in water or oil while hot as this will cool it quickly and harden the steel . Once the shaping and filing is done and you have done a test and you are happy with it . You can then get it red hot with a blow torch and drop it in oil while its hot to harden it

@friquant I oiled and sprayed wd40 over anything that moves when I press the pedal but nothing changed @kgg I don't exactly know what a "binding" knee lift shaft is but I assume it means the knee lift shaft moves when I press the pedal, which it does. I gave up and switched to the knee lift and now it's as smooth as silk, problem solved lol. Thanks guys.

Hey guys, im new here. Im Lee, im trying to make a personal knife sheath (pancake knife sheath) for my favorite knife. How do you find teachers online who will call just to teach you what you need to learn?

Did the test piece stick ok? If it did then you're probably just imagining that something is different. If you thin it too much, however, it might reduce its overall effectiveness, I guess.

Know anyone with a welder? Have them build up the damaged end with weld and then file to shape, creating new teeth.

Looking to purchase an embossing machine or hand crank machine for belts. Up to 1.5 inches. Im love hand tooling but my forearms cant take anymore. I can't afford the weaver or tandy machines Hoping someone can point me to an inexpensive option.

if that's the best it does, it's nowhere near better.

I´m on the other side of the big pond (the land where the CLAES come from 😉) and yet I only have heard of the "Cowboy Clones" of the 8346 but I have no info when the will be released and how good they will be. I´d say time will tell. I have none but from what I read here they are equal and probably come from the same factory (guessing) just with a different color and name on it. Since you are in NH I´d check with a dealer that is close to you. Toledo Sewing Machines (he is member here too - check out @CowboyBob) is not really close but probably the closest and from what I read they have an excellent reputation so maybe worth checking with them.

2 follow-up questions: — After thinning, do I need to wait before using it? — And should I expect any difference in how it works? I added acetone to the cement can, and I *think* I stirred it in well enough, to an even consistency with no liquid pooling. Definitely thinner, though I am on the fence about thinning further. But, as a tester, I glued up a small tab for a box (maybe ½ sq.in. if it matters), and something seemed… different somehow. Wish I had the words to describe it. Thanks again, — AZR

new SD28 / 308 parts are made of "unobtainium" those who have parts usually keep them except they rip apart worn / broken machines. if it was me I´d tried to look up "cheap" toothed feet for top feed machines and see if I can cut and weld the toothed end. maybe: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32861132738.html https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005010121787509.html https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009251866963.html just a wild idea.... 😉

The leather paste conforms better to the shape of the embossing.

I hope you find that English translation, if anyone you do, please send it as soon as possible. Please tell me how much I owe you for your time? And whose name I should write the check and where to send it? If I may ask you a couple questions I know they’re not out yet, but the cowboy clone of the Claes should be coming to the US in a few weeks, do you know or have any secondhand information if they are worth it? Also, I’m interested in starting saddle repair. In your opinion, which would be better the CB4500 or Cobra class 4?

Yes, its a 8346-20 medium hook machine. Top threading seems to be okay but indeed, the "wedges" don´t belong to the machine (check the parts list - see picture below) and are probably part of the problem. I assume when the top tread goes around the hook the thread keeps handing on the wedges - somehow (maybe not but they don´t belong there anyway). Hard to tell what the guy 5 years ago did with the machine. I only can guess what he tried to achieve with the wedges. 1.) Either he tried to "rise" the hook a bit to eliminate a timing issue (Needle bar to high so he tried to bring the hook higher 🤨 or 2.) he tried to compensate wear but I doubt the machine can we worn that much already. So I assume its 1.) What I would do is removing the wedges and lower the needle bar a little bit. Some years ago I translated a 8346 mechanics manual from German to English for one of our members. I´ll check if I can find it and send you the file. It includes all values for timing and how to replace worn shuttle drivers and set the needle bar correctly and so forth. Thats the best I can do from the distance.

As @KillDevilBill was saying , and how I understand it. The laminated leather has 2 layers of full grain which is the strongest part of the leather. And they would be in different directions adding strength similar to how a weave or braid does.maybe better would be something like plywood. The layers are laid in opposing directions allowing for a strong end material. And the contact cement itself is strong in its own right and probably adds a bit to the overall strength of the laminated leather.

Just add the info in a new post. The "Edit Window" is only open for a few hours, somewhere between 2 and 5 hours. I haven't been able to nail down the exact number.

The "Edit Window" times out after a few hours, from what I see, seems to be between 2 to 5 hours. So the best way is to just add the info in a new post in the same thread. Other option is to ask a moderator to make the changes to the original post. Need to provide the wording to be changed/inserted.

The art of Embossing by Al Stohlman shows how they use plugs slightly sculpted or tooled, wouldn't that be much easier than all of this ?

I have an old coffee grinder that hangs on a wall I will try that; they are like a grain mill but smaller. belt sander sounds good, but I will need to figure out a V- trough to hold the leather pieces and to press them into the sander. Leather dust is mixed with rubber cement and used to help create a 3D affect to a leather item like a picture. It is called embossing or extreme embossing.

Actually I should add a couple of "tips" to help with holsters . . . especially western / cowboy types. 1: Once the contact cement is applied . . . I like doing the liner first . . . allow the whole shebang to "almost" dry to a DRY state. The piece that makes the outside of holster and the inside of the belt flap is my dryness tester. I let all of it dry until this piece is still just a tad bit still sticky. It won't glob off on your finger . . . but you can still feel a tiny little bit of sticky there. That will allow you to take it apart if something didn't quite line up right. AND . . . yes . . . that's the voice of experience talking. 2: Go to a hardware store . . . buy a hammer handle for a typical old style 16 oz carpenter's hammer. Cut the end off of it where it would go thru the hammer head . . . sand it real smooth . . . and put some poly finish on it. You will use this tool once the two pieces are put together . . . force it down thru the holster . . . keeping the stitch edges together. It opens that sight track very well and will give you room for the ejection handle as well. Latigo Smith wrote: "Alrighty, it sounds like pre-bending is the way to go. Do you find that simply applying pressure with your hands when cementing the layers results in a strong enough bond? This was the only reason I had planned on gluing flat, that I have more confidence in the hold of the contact cement when it's had a little time with some weight applied to it while curing. You use the gun to wet mold the individual layers to the correct curve radius before glue up? That sounds like an excellent way of doing it. Do you leave the gun in the leather while it's drying like when doing final molding or do you just mold it to the proper curve, take the gun out and let it dry? " Yes . . . hand pressure is usually enough . . . have never had a problem with it. And actually . . . once it is sewn . . . it ain't gonna go no where. I only use the gun for wet molding the interior liner . . . everything else is molded over top the liner piece. The gun is in a plastic bag while doing that bit of molding . . . and once I have that mold (about 3 minutes) the gun is not needed in the rest of the process. Have fun . . . may God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the information. I will make the adjustment and see how it goes. I really appreciate your assistance.