JLSleather

I have one I'm selling - but not for that price. That's under my "buddy" price. You see 'em for twice that and they sell quickly - so if you can make one that works reliably and sell for $200 I would think you would stay busy for a bit. I recommend stop discussing and start doing. Has it been two weeks yet?

If you're just talking about marking the spacing, i like the wheels - they're fast and follow curves better than a multi-point punch. Down side is i don't know what spacing they come in - I've only seen 5,6,7 per inch.... though I suppose with a little common sense a guy could stagger the 5 per inch so it marks 10 per inch, 6 per inch could mark 12 per inch, and so on.... though 11 per inch would be tough Tell the truth... HOW MANY people never thought about running the 5 per inch TWICE to mark 10 per inch?

buckstitchin' must be "coming back"? they were sold out of these last year too. somebody helped themself to my buckstitch chisels years ago, never did replace them.

Always took my own pics - just never trusted anybody to do it the way I wanted it, then sometimes the pace just didn't allow "outsourcing". These days with camera prices dropping and fancier toys coming out, my customers sometimes take better pics than I do

I don't know if there's such a thing as a decent priced template. If you make 10 belts a month, a paper pattern will gitter done. If you make 10 belts a week, just have the die made to cut the ends for you

That machine doesn't pull thread "up from the shuttle area through the needle". I assume that first of all you changed the needle? That type of issue likely boogered needle (which I would check first) or very easy could just be something in the top thread path - try cutting off the thread at the spool and rerouting through the tension disks 'n' stuff... could be twisted or a booger between the disks causing that. Change the needle and rethread the top thread would be where i would start.... could very easily get to the bottom of it with no trouble at all.

Oh, yeah, if you got a type of dye / paint that you can buff the high spots that certainly would be virtually the same thing

Guess I'm the odd man out here -- I think you certainly could use the watch to form over. Since you say WET FORMING we'll assume you're talking about vegetable tanned leather, and since its a watch we'll assume fairly thin veg tanned. Maybe 2/3 or 3/4? Cover the watch with plastic wrap... you won't gain enough bulk to matter.

Actually, that case might be the exception. You have acrylics keeping the brightness would just mean staying off of those areas. But I might go on and do JUST the area between the roses (staying OFF the border area above and below the name) since your letters are "inverted" and set down that's a classic place for that. OR, depending on the size of the lettering I might just do that with dark dye in a pointed tip brush. ANY brown on the blue/white areas would look ... not great prolly. Some might not mind some "ant streak shading" on the roses , but I think that's better done by just hi-liting the red... as in use the red in the "shadow" areas, then add some white to the red to "lighten" it a bit before painting over the rose. Hope I said htat in a way makes sense to not just me The rose on this page might explain it with less words. This is painted ONLY... no tooling, and no antique. "Red" in the "shadows", then lighter red over the whole thing.

Stamp_Maker.pdf In no particular order or preference, here are some who have been recommended by members here.

I've use Watt edgers and was NOT happy with them (gave em away, as in free). I might try Ron's ... only because Don Gonzalez says he uses them, and Don is about the only u-tube thing I have much regard for at all.

When using paper patterns, I only mark ONE side. If I'm making a rightey holster, I need to see the WRITING (RIGHTing). If I don't see the WRITING, then either the leather or the paper is back-ards. Course, on our patterns it actually says "left" n "right" hand, cuz not everybody does things same way. If it's LEFT, then the pattern SAYS left. Then, that don't prevent a fella having the leather backards.

'Sup LC Kaint really help with the thread you mention - we use machines so when we hand stitch (which we do) we use the same (machine) thread. $20 get you about a mile - seriously. As for weight, your belts and holsters will be fine with 277 or 207, which IF I remember rightly is a 4-cord and a 5-cord. Some say 207 breaks too easily for holsters, but to that I say "show me" (I'll send you some 207, you show us how you break it, and I'll buy you the heavier thread). sound like you mean TUCK-TITE clasp ? https://www.google.com/search?q=tuck-tite&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS763US763&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=VxhRxufDc12TQM%2CG4U6OHy5uqbmoM%2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTc9HiZcNm1-fbZ1__akbjr9tKbbQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjd8qWT-vXtAhVDZ80KHfVsBQ4Q9QF6BAgJEAE#imgrc=VxhRxufDc12TQM I had them made. You could make your own out of about anything you want to use depending on how durable you want it to be, but I just sent the design to https://am-leathercraft.com/ He's across the water, so shipping isn't over night, but you don't care about that anyway. I've seen LOTS of "maker marks" and this guy is as good as any and better than most. Alex made this one ... less than 1" across but highly detailed. Uh, have you tried water? Seriously, some these social media / u-tube / instagram babies will stand there telling you to get a good edge you have to do it on Tuesday while standing on your left foot facing south -- if that gets you to stay on their "channel" a bit longer. Those videos ... are ADVERTISEMENTS (duh). Saddle soap is what it sounds like.. SOAP. When you cut leather, the EDGE absorbs (wicks) better than the surface. This is why when we dye solid colors, we cut the piece over-sized, dye the whole thing, THEN cut out the shape, so we don't have darker dye on the edge than the rest of the project. If you're working ONLY in black and brown shades - as some do - then it likely doesn't matter. Course, the "custom" they go on about is very limited, too .... so each his own. You're doing better than me - I've been doing this quite a while and STILL sometimes think about switching up the spacing Sometimes it helps to see what you DONT like. I do not like holes a full inch apart (some do). Some of that is determined by the size of the strap and the buckle (small, light buckles get spaced a little closer). As for the other end, I took a page (literally) from an old Stohlman book when I started out. Again, there's some cases where it gets altered a bit, but as a rule, I still use that same basic layout. More on belts, holsters, stuff, at https://www.jlsleather.com/information/ if you care to check that out. Free, but we offer a full refund to anybody who wasn't happy with the info

They ALL have some rough looking leather. Only problem is so many of them trying to charge a premium price for it (either they don't know better, in which case they shouldn't be your supplier, or they DO know better but are hoping YOU DONT, in which case they still shouldn't be your supplier).

Good to see the 'new guy' remembering to budget in LEATHER. I'm not kidding -- TOO many times I've seen people (sometimes here) spend money on mallets, knives, "maker stamps", and such... and not have any money set back for LEATHER (tip: you can't work leather if you don't have leather). I seem to be the dissenting opinion around here re: round knives and mauls. I'm sure they are "good" and have their place, just convinced that not everybody has need of them. Like a cantle pliers ... indispensable to the saddle maker, pretty much useless to the wallet guy. Same principle - expecting fairly heavy snow today here. The ugly old truck with the blade on the front is worth more today than the Mercedes. Shiny is okay, IF AND ONLY IF it does the job at hand. I like rawhide mallets. Relatively cheap, very effective, and will last for years. You can get mallets (or mauls) with replaceable heads, but I never have - doesn't seem worth the trouble to assume those will still be available in 10 years when I need new ones Each his own, but I started with a Garland rawhide mallet because that's what somebody said I needed and I didn't know otherwise. That mallet stood up to YEARS of tooling HOURS EVERY DAY... before I replaced it for under $30. I agree that Harbor Freight is the leather man's friend. Utility knife is like $4 - blades are 25¢ and don't need to spend time sharpening it. Square, 6 foot straight edge, and angle marker are good price there too. At some point, you might consider a drill press (harbor freight has a low-res version, or watch craigslist / local sales). These are great for burnishing, MAKING your own burnishing tools, even punching stitch holes. Oh, speaking of stitch holes... you might want to add a STITCH SPACE MARKER (sometimes called an "overstitch wheel") This one is off the tandy site, but anything similar works (note, you "could" mark your stitching with a set of dividers, but .... not optimal) https://tandyleather.com/collections/tools/products/craftool-spacer-set

That's a good start. Also budget and acceptable time frame is nice. https://www.jlsleather.com/leather-craft-gallery/

That (Consew) machine will sew a pretty wide range of leather goods... I used mine to sew everything from 2 layers of 1 1/2 0z kidskin for wallet linings up to about 12 0z with 7/8 veg tanned glued to 2 layers 2 oz kidskin. And I sewed from thread sizes 42 to 207. Idea is to NOT run a machine full on at capacity, but that thing will sew 1/4" of leather (even firm veg tanned) quite well. Good little machines... still regret letting mine go.

Dye shouldn't continue to buff off, and certainly shouldn't be getting picked up in the resolene finish. I would have recommended you let it fully dry, but since you say you gave it DAYS, I can't tell you what the issue is. I don't have that issue with the SAME pro dyes, so I'd have to see what you have going on to know the issue. Just posting here to say that it IS possible to use these dyes and NOT have that transfer.

Boots - $200. Tooled Boots - $400 Boots made by her Dad - Priceless! She must be as spoiled as little girls should be (even if they're 30-year old little girls).

In the "technical" sense, your beveling around the design is quite choppy. But on this project, I kinda don't mind it -- gives the whole thing a different look. That design been around like 70 years, so it's good to see it done a bit differently.

SHOOOT ... somebody cancel this. Turns out, we need this a bit longer, though even less frequently. Not actually "sold"... just not available

A ...n... d... there's another reason for tension screws. What is fine for you may not be for somebody else. I've had people pick up holsters at a show, try the fit. One person complains that's far too tight - the next person loves the fit. You get a call, somebody says they want a holster, "not as tight as some I've seen". I have no idea what that actually means unless I've seen the ones you didn't like. Not to long ago, we made holsters for Sig 238's, fella and his wife (not a matched set, but same layout). He likes to PULL a gun, she likes it to slide out in her hand. Gun that small, just one screw lets them both set it the way they like it. A rubber washer acts a bit like a lock washer - a little starter tension on it keeps the screw from backing itself out. With a little thought, it can be placed where it would be difficult to "over crank" it. Josh, that's nice lookin' stuff ya got there -- simple and clean, but still solid and functional