Jimbob

Kevin U rock, these are awesome....just as ur other work....just one PROBLEM here!!!!!!!!!! I need to hide this page from my wife, or she shure will call u and want one of them nice bags....szzzzz.... Keep it up, always enjoy looking @ ur work!! Aloha James

uhhhh my, what a wondeful rig,,,looks like it just came out of the old days.....very clean and love the color variation.... dig the knifes and sheat too....I am a knife lover...and real knives need real leather sheats.....holster is very fine too!! Show us more of ur work.. Greetings Jimbob

Well, see thats when it gets tricky...haha.... Been using lots of different stuff, still experimenting. BUT....seems like Aussie conditioner keeps water out sort'a fair....tried some neat-lac on my own seat and it did make spider webs/cracks....when flexed....now trying to rubb it on instead of brushing it on.....whiping on works great never thought it would ( sheepwool) But several layers of conditioner and some wax/shoepolish neutral, will surly do the trick....I love neat lac but need to do more testing....seats get wet like boots, if the owner knows how to take care of it the seat will last very long! Just my 2 cents.... kepp us posted, sure other people need info on that too....!! Aloha James

Got mine from Bob Kovar, has gear reduction and sews anything I can get under the foot....super slow to fast....I can go and get a sandwich and a drink inbetween stitches...haha....love this servo motor...have two of them....call Bob he will tell you. James

I do use Aussies leather conditioner on tooled and not tooled leather.....not had any problems yet.....seems if I use Aussies conditioner on any, tooled or not....it gets a almost orange darker tan when exposed to sun...(bike seats) Ordered some Montana pine pitch past....will see what that is allabout...lots of people love this product...I will keep ya all posted... Aloha James

wow....and double wow... I love your work, absolutly awesome!!!!!!!!! Great art work....I pull my hat....!!! Jimbob

Grandpa's always know well....and you did well too!! Nice start into leather hobby....till you know it you will be deeply in love with this hobby....I like your own desig and you do tool well....there is tons of different leather work to do, hats, belts....picture, boots, holsters and mask, wallets and backpacks....purses and mores....bow and arrow gear and leather floral arrangements too....a huge world where you can mix art, crafts and talent into an ocean of creativity!!! Keep it going, keep it coming and ask a lot.....there are gazillions of nice people here on this forum!! Good luck!! Greetings James

Great reply, thanks a lot.... I tend to go away from lacs now....so many good facts you mentioned! I love ot to seal my acryl paint stuff, but I think on bigger seats...main seating area....it makes me thinking about Montana Pitchstuff....done ordered 4oz....pretty expensive stuff! Shipping is a killer too....szzzzzz... So back to the bench...maybe I do the not so flexing seat area with lac and the skirts will be sealed with dressing... I keep u all posted how I progress....thanks again to all.....still open thread to hear more... Greetings to Finnland!! James

Have not used much tan kote....I will try this on a test piece.....thanks for all the input.....I love the waxy shine of neats lac and durrability.....shure works gud as sealer too... So back to the bench...tnx Aaron James

I see what you are saying....been using neat lac on my wallets too....to protect my colored carvings...rest is dyed and with some wax sealer////never had a problem there....and they get flexed a lot too....so I really dont know....I am in the progress to do a seat with natural tan and antiquening...Fiebings paste....of course I need to seal leather before antiquening....later after wipe off another coat of neat lac to seal this....now I am concerned to do that....hmmmm...any ideas....?? Thank you to all that read this.. James

how do you apply...airbrush, felt , swab...brush....I did it rather liberal with large brush... Thanks for the input!!! James

As my mom said...if you dont listen it will bite you later on...she was right AGAIN...hahahaaa... Some one said neat lac does crack on motor bike seats as top sealer...guess what...I tried it anyway on my own little Sporty seat, it looked great...applied lots of Aussi wax on top and sun light did great job on giving tan color....now after 6 month it seems it has crackelt and some Lexol conditioner must have seeped under it....made dark spiderweb kinda places! So, what can a man use instead of neat lac if you want to protect natural tan leather on a scooter seat....will dressing like Aussie, Montana pine or sno seal be enough to protect natural leather and the carving on a seat...? I have used Neatsfoot oil only before on other seats...no problem, but not a bit of a little shine...darkens a lot but ok for what I had in mind then....Resolene and bagkote seems not to be tough enough for a seat?? AND can I remove this neat lac with alcohol or what else? ...to re-do at least the smooth skirts without carvings to make it look OK..? Thanks for reading and sure would like to hear from ya all about this...heck some people talk even about a mop-n-glo thingy?!??? Greetings ride safe James

I am surly not a pro, but there is NO such thing in leather sewing machine as a "compact" machine....these table models ( Sailrite and such....) are for webbing and sails .....none of them will do serious "ever now and then" leather sewing.....you will be out of some serious money and find yourself with an boat anker.... Look for an old Singer (111, 211, 16-88 or such....) build yourself a micro table and get a small motor....still somewhat portable, put rollers under it for moving it arround....if you do light stuff a Singer or Adler short arm patcher would be cool, hand wheeled and sure will fit on a bench....but only for 69thread and down.... These Boss machines are slow and expensive, the new aluminium ones lack quality I read.. .well, thats why they call them industrial sewing machines...no such thing to put on the kitchen table...if you do leather work...haha...now guess how I know that....?!!!! greetings Jimbob

check your leather needle point for burrs, the lightest kind of burr or nick will fuss up and eventually break your thread....also as said....check your bottom for straight clean cut exit holes....needles are cheap, change often....its like oil in old motorcycles...it never hurts!! Greetings James

:thumbsup: very nice belts...love the floral pattern....how did you apply the antique.....is it paste or Fiebings antique dye?? Tell us a bit more how you antiqued them so well... As I said, very nice and good tooling....ohh and please change your name ...

Wallet leather is usually softer, and up to 6 oz is not a problem...I have done 2 layers 2-3 plus liner...works well....especially with the roller feet.... Now, this is not a heavy leather stitcher....never was meant to be that.....lots of people using 31-15s for upper boot Stitching, wallets and light chap work....so I think you Should be just fine! Let me know.... James

Assuming you have been carving before....you cant do much Depth in 2-3oz leather....if you go 8-10oz then you get much more material to go "deep".... As you mentioned.....a modeling tool (spoon) will help some... A crisp deep cut with ur swifel knife is needed, then a sharp Outline with the right size beveler will do fine....you be surprised What a clean cut well beveld 2-3 oz picture can do looking three-dimensional!! So go and give it a shoot.....when done, paint with acryl and then seal with neat lac or simular finish!! James

I have a very nice Singer 31-15 for sale (head only) ....ping me or call 2 seven 6 six nine 0 five 0 84 james

There will be a most constant need to make tension adjustments to most machines and surly for such differet thicknes of leather.....that one said, there is no such thing as the same leather.....some soft, some more dense some seems need more some less tension! I take a scrap piece of exactly the same leather/layers and run an 8 inch test seam....tension adjusted to just that as it will make a perfect seem for your project....and when 1 or two onces up or down makes no difference!! Just takes a few seconds! But you have assured that you produce a top quality stitched seam on your work!! Remove the nail polish and start turning knobs.....the machine will do what you dial in and you soon get a real gut feeling whats needed and what not....you see, you may even feel a little pride in being able to dial it in just right to do top work!! ...........kinda learning how to dial in a carburator....just a little practice!!! Greetings James

Shure do.... Search for Kevin Kings wallet tutorial....he had a real nice tutorial on french rolled edges for a wallet....( look under wallets) same principal... just more work on a bag or such, an edge is just so much Cleaner done in this way!! James

This one was meant to be for me...ohhhh well, somebody wanted it real bad...so it's gone... Back to the bench, I have a few more ideas for a new one...hmmmm@@???? Greetings James

Here is a Sportster seat, hard arse.....may I call it so...haha....NO foam, 13-15oz saddle skirting, all vinegeroon and design is in acryls with neat lac sealer...rim is braided with roo lace...well oiled and a good coat of Aussie wax...done!! Greetings Aloha James

Here is a new backpack for a workmate, also a Christmas present for his wife....she loves Navajo style....like silver conchos, turquoise and tan leather....so here we go!! It was a great pain for some reason to find turquoise colored thread in 138...and also had some trouble finding 1-2 oz goat leather in this colors...the welt cord in front is an old vacum cleaner electrical cord....it gave the bag a good shape and made a solid welt!!...Liner is from an old couch cover and conchos are used from e-bay......All is well now, she loves her new backpack and he got some extra points, haha... Thanks to Kevin King for inspiring me to try this french rolled edge...works great.....I am learning.... ya all let me know what you think... Jimbob