Matt S

I don't suppose that your recommendation of a totally inappropriate machine would have anything to do with the fact you happen to be trying to sell that one and that you've been spamming your ebay links around the place since Wednesday?

The engineer part of your brain is running with insufficient data Spyros! Stitching single-thickness leather will reduce stretch over time. It also increases stiffness which, in this case, might be lacking in the handles. Judging by the rest of the bag I'd estimate that they wouldn't stand erect like that without the stitching. That stitching definitely has a purpose. From a leathergineering PoV I have a lot more problem with the postage stamp stitching of the shoulder strap clips. Having a practiced operator run those handle straps through a machine will take a couple of seconds max. Pennies of labour and an almost incalculably small cost in thread. Lining with leather you have the cost of leather, the cost of the die cutter, the material and labour costs of gluing the liner in place, the drying time, and maybe trimming. Some of those costs reduce with scale (the die cutter will, within its service life, ameliorate to virtually nil) but others (like labour and drying time) are per-unit costs that largely don't scale down with volume.

I love my Stockton-made strap cutter, after years of struggling with Ivan and other Far Eastern-made looky-likeys that cut poorly, never cut straight, or just plain self-destructed. While at first glance they look the same the devil is in the detail. When I got my first Stockton about 5 years ago it was £30 -- double the price of the cheapies -- but readily available through a few UK outlets. Even at that price it was great value considering how many times I'd paid that over and over buying crap ones that ended up in the bin. A couple years ago I realised how much I rely on this tool and wanted to buy some backups, only to find that the original manufacturers seems to have disappeared, and all stock sold out. I even spoke with a large UK retailer/dealer (who now sell the cheapy) about getting the original one reproduced. They'd looked into this themselves when the supply dried up but decided against it. I've now managed to get hold a few backups second-hand, so the pressure's off. I've been tempted to set up to make a few batches from some nice hardwood incorporating some product improvements I've come up with. Then I remind myself of the 60+-hour weeks I do already and that I'm setup for leather not wood...

It's a shame you didn't get nicer bits in your bag. £40 for 3Kg is pretty steep even if it's nice stuff. I like what J Woods sells for the most part but I don't think I'd pay more than a tenner for a lucky dip with no indication or direction what's in it. Scott, I'm sorry to hear that you've had those issues with Metropolitan and J Wood. They were disappointing I'm sure, but if they're "one offs" I hate to say that these things happen in any largish pick/pack warehouse, especially where the product is variable like with leather. I hope that they made things right in the end. I've had issues every so often with what dealers have sent me, and to an extent their workers seem to just pull what first meets your order from the stack. Sometimes they read your order wrong. To be fair to them they often don't know what you're looking for, might not know what to look for, and sometimes aren't paid enough to care very much. Generally the more experienced/knowledgeable/senior staff step in and sort any issues I have that are big enough to make a fuss about. Sometimes I've been outright told "for this price we're not going to search through a stack of hides looking for ones to meet your spec" and I respect that. It's just part of the downside of ordering blind vs. buying in person.

I agree with you about how the handles were constructed (machine sewn single thickness w/skinny thread then hand sewn to the bag w/ chunky thread) but there are reasons to sew single-thickness: appearance (to give an increased appearance of completeness, finishedness and matching with other stitched parts), and to reduce stretch. I often stitch single-thickness keeper loops for both these reasons. I'm not too keen on how it was executed here with the thread mismatch, would have been more elegant riveting the handles on IMO.

This is my experience also, both with hand tools and machine tools but I don't know about it taking more time. I guess it depends on the nature of the leathers, especially their temper. Soft chrome-tanned leathers are a breeze to skive with a sharp knife, whereas some are positively flinty and suitable only really for machine work.

A lot of these more specialised sorts of hardware are often custom-made for manufacturers in small batches, to their spec. Same as high-end handbag manufacturers, or people who use special widgets for making their pistol holsters. You're probably not going to find what you need off the shelf unfortunately. Making ones and twos is tricky, cos you'll be working with stainless which is a bit of a pig in the home workshop.

I've heard of them, and good things at that but never used them myself. Don't be surprised that you didn't get a reply within 24 hours, this forum appears to get a lot less traffic than it has in the past, UK leatherworkers are a small proportion of that, and then think how small a proportion of them may have used GH. That price looks pretty good, I usually pay about £4/SQFT + VAT for similar leathers. Out of interest, what bad leather did you get from J Woods and Metropolitan? I've used them both for years and never had an issue.

I wonder if the meaning has changed slightly over the years since that was written, or perhaps she was a little mistaken in her understanding. Normal white PVA (like for builders or woodworkers) works well on porous and non-greasy leathers, but it's slow and has no tack. You have to keep it held together with clamps/weights/staples/tacks while the glue goes off. I think that Fiebings leather cement (did it used to be called Tanners Bond?) is basically normal PVA too. If you want a water-based contact adhesive there are a lot more around these days, like Renia 315. Not my preference, but to each their own.

Yes, I've used Anglo Adhesives 441 ("Howstik"), 939 (neoprene) and 125 (rubber), sold through Abbey England. Mostly the 441. Like most contact adhesives a 2-coat method is better on porous surfaces but unlike the more common builders-type contact cements a single-coat method is strong enough for flesh-to-flesh bonds if you get the timing right. The bond seems to work better with hammering/pressing, but I have found that a one-off squeeze with hand pressure is plenty with the 441. Usual procedure is to remove excessive grease from the surfaces to be glued, brush on the 441 to both surfaces, let it flash/dry at room temperature for a few minutes, then put them together and let dry (minimum 15 mins) before sewing. hammer/press/roll if I'm in the mood but not normally needed. I tend to press them together while the glue is still slightly tacky as this gives a little bit of repositionability. If you let it dry too long you can either put on a second coat or reactivate with heat, but it goes off fine without heat. I don't really do soles or other rubber-to-leather bonds much. I have reglued soles with the 441, which seemed to work well.

You're definitely not the first to come across this issue, and I don't think that there is an ideal solution. It's a dilemma that most wallet makers face. FWIW I used to think that putting leather tabs on nylon pockets (nearly universal in the commercial SLG world) was a cheap dodge. I stuck my heels in and went with cut edge full-leather pockets as a "no shortcuts" thing. I had to get leather split specially to make them out of what I wanted to make them out of. Yet still the bulk, once you get past about 3-4 stacked pockets, is a problem. Some people like the bulk. I once made a custom bifold entirely out of 2mm (5oz) leather, with brass rivets, for someone who wanted the look and feel. That's a valid aesthetic or approach for those who like it. Most of my customers don't. I've found that the slimmest approach to full-leather pockets is with the tightest grain leather you can get, as thin as you dare. I've gone as thin as 0.5mm (about 1.5oz) but wouldn't recommend it unless you're super selective about your leather, and that gets expensive. Some nice veg-tanned goat, cut near the spine, for instance. The other thing is the top edge receives a lot of wear and tear, so generally the thinner it is the floppier and more prone to tearing it gets. One way to avoid this is to use a thin leather (say 0.7mm/2oz) and fold over the top edge. If you glue it well you probably don't have to stitch the foldover. (Note that this is pretty similar to how a lot of commercial manufacturers do their pockets tops). Another approach (which I prefer) is to use a thicker leather (say like your 2-3oz) and skive the hidden parts of the pocket to a feather edge. It needs some skill with the skiving knife but really reduces the apparent bulk of multiple stacked pockets and gives you a sturdy, chunky pocket top. It also gives you some flexibility with spongier-than-ideal bits of leather. Having considered it for several years (and tried several approaches) I now lean towards a folded-top pocket from thin leather, with a full nylon lining. Partially due to a lack of bulk, partially due to speed of manufacture, but also partially because I can then make wallets out of just about any leather I choose. I'll probably be replacing my cut-edge wallet dies after Christmas. As an aside, having had full-leather-pocket wallets in use for several years now I've found that almost any leather is "grabbier" than almost any synthetic fabric I've tried. It also tends to rub silver lettering off cards (which bugs some people) and stains things like business or loyalty stamp cards. Can these approaches be done with hand-tool techniques? Definitely, and some (like the skiving I mention above) pretty much require it. An appropriate skiving or sewing machine speeds things up, especially on batch work, but is not necessary. I'd be very interested in hearing some of the larger-quantity manufacturers' takes on wallet pockets, such as @RockyAussie Here's a video of one of the higher-end British SLG companies (Ettinger) making a billfold. I believe that the leather is Sedgwick bridle shoulder, quite a firm and dense-grained leather, and yet they do their pocket tops with folded-over 0.7mm (2oz). While they use several machines to speed up the work almost everything they do could be done by hand.

The Little Workshop (a few doors down from JTB) definitely has a band-knife splitter (or it did about 3 years ago when I last used it). From memory it's either 12" or 18" capacity. A reasonable charge per hour, or a small donation to their tea/coffee/biscuits fund if you only want to do a few bits. I've never been sure exactly what the relationship is between JTB and Little Workshop. Certainly they work closely together, but I think they may be operated separately.

How can a collection of islands be part of a continent? I know many people who conflate "European" with citizenship/membership of the EU. I consider that to be factually wrong and often deliberately misleading, but it is their opinion, to which they are just as entitled as I to mine. That's a great question! There must be some, or else all those army boots (for trampling Marxist love onto decadent Western pig-dogs) and pistol holsters (for the transportation of dissident execution machines) would have been hand made. I have a vague recollection of something like a bad copy of the Singer 45K manufactured in one of the former-Soviet states being discussed once on here but can't remember any further details, except that it had non-interchangeable parts.

It's a somewhat vexed question, one which most Britons can't even agree on the definition of what is and isn't European. Certainly we are no longer a member of the EU. Discussing that in a civil manner has become a bit like picking up a turd by the clean end though so I think it's best I leave it there. Pearson/BUSM machines are beauties of engineering and machining from a past age. The No6 is most common (closed eye needle feed with a jumping foot). No4s are pretty rare beasts, IIRC I've only "talked" with owners twice online whereas there's hundreds or thousands of No6 owners around. They were real beasts indeed -- the catalogue says the head alone weighed c.450lb, used threads size 10/18 to 20/18 and sewed up to 1" of leather. (The No6 is rated for 3/4" of leather but I've done 1" and a bit more on mine so maybe the No4 could do more too?)

I don't know if Britain counts as "European" but Pearson & Bennion (and then BUSM when they bought them out) had one, they called it the No4. Big brother to the more common No 6.

There's a lot of factors. Using a machine and operator combination that's not running right at its upper or lower limits (thickness, thread, tension, speed, general ability...) is 90% of the magic. Correct choice of needle point style and matching thread to needle size (no spaghetti down manholes or hotdogs down hallways) are important too. Some leathers are "springier" and will largely close up around stitch holes, especially if persuaded with a rub or a tap, whereas others are harder and more prone to blowouts. Some leathers simply don't mark much, or the machine is fitted with smooth dogs/plates/feet (maybe modified). I find that needle feed machines tend to mark less and leave smaller holes (less blowout) than walking-foot machines. Out of interest, what's a round hole chisel? I don't tend to associate round holes with good stitching, hand or otherwise.

I'm not aware of any burnishing services but I'm sure there's someone out there who'll do it. Can you maybe teach your friend/kid/neightbour/whatev to do it? Motorised burnishers are handy. Depending on your leather and what you're using to burnish with burnishing by hand isn't hugely slow once you get the knack. I use diluted PVA and a bone folder and can burnish a belt in 10-20 minutes so long as I'm using good quality leather. I always use a motorised wheel for the wax though.

Bloody hell, our 110-year-old house has a 100-amp 3-phase supply! (Sadly electrical renovations have reduced the consumer side to single-phase again so it was cheaper to build a phase splitter for my meagre needs than get the other 2 phases reconnected). My (limited) understanding is that the 415/440 number quoted for 3ph supplies is the peak measurement across two phases (rather than phase to neutral). As they're all 120 degrees out of phase to each other you're getting the full 240v from one phase plus a fraction of the negative swing of the other phase. Since they're sinusoidal IIRC you multiply by 2^0.5 which would give 240+(240*1.4)=415ish. Most 3ph motors are reconfigurable between star and delta (star also known as Y or wye configuration), and most under 3KW 240v rather than 415v coils. That's part of how I was able to get my splitter running on 240v 1ph -- reconfigured the motors to star, put the control transformer onto a separate supply, and built a simple Steinmetz circuit across the biggest motor and supplied 240v across one of the windings. Big motor start capacitor from the first phase to the second phase via a time-delay relay (only in-circuit for a few seconds on start-up) and a run capacitor permanently in place. The run capacitor's approximate value I calculated based on the expected load and adjusted through trial-and-error for best average performance. I get about a 10% phase-to-phase voltage differential (measured phase-to-neutral) when running light, which is acceptable, but it bogs down on heavy loads and trips internal overloads. The motors aren't quite as balanced as I'd like and it's hard work on the biggest motor I'm using as part of the phase balancing but it does work. Thus wanting to build a rotary converter, which would have a wider range of operation and take the hard work off the hard-to-replace motors on the splitter. There are other ways of doing it, some people use 240-415v transformers to get 415v 1ph and then generate the two pseudo-phases from that if their equipment expects to see 415v phase-to-neutral. Some VFDs can do 240-to-415 too, though with a VFD you have to connect it directly to the pump motor and make other arrangements for powering the control transformer. I wonder if your converters "need" 15 amps, rather than "can cope with"? What's the tally plate on your clicker say? My splitter draws 1.5KW total, which translates to under 7A. Over 20A on startup (through a 13A fuse and 20A breaker), but big motors do that. Not a problem for very short periods, if you've got the right breakers installed. This is a popular make of phase converter in the UK. They do both rotary and static. Commonly used in hobby workshops and some industrial places that don't have 3ph laid on. https://transwave.co.uk/

That is very true. For the UK Singer stopped making industrials at Kilbowie in the late 60s I think and started rebadging Seikos and Adlers. BUSM concentrated on automated machinery and I expect hasn't made a manually guided sewing machine since 1945. Most people don't want to rely on a 50+ year old machine for their business, and often can't due to safety features. There used at least to be alternatives to the Chinese fare by going for quality and reliability for European or Japanese made. Pfaff is making some in China, apparently now Juki too. Not sure about Seiko, Mitsubishi or Brother. Yes QC is a factor. I've heard anecdotally that the added costs of doing effective QC to Chinese-made goods often brings them up to a cost comparable with making them in the West. You're right that being made in any particular country is not a guarantee of how well it's made but I think we can agree that there is a strong correlation based on local culture. Quality and price are not the only factors when choosing where I spend my hard-earned lucre. I feel it is morally wrong to support China wherever there is an alternative option, and has huge security, ecological and economic repercussions that are only yet beginning to be felt. I see China a bit like the supermarkets. They replaced independent and small-chain stores in the UK since WW2, and in earnest since probably the early 1990s. What they did was very plain -- they put up a shop and sold everything cheap. Partly because they had economies of scale, partly because they could afford to sell at a low or negative profit in that store. Local shops went out of business. Prices crept up, but now they've got a captive market and can charge what they like. This is called "destroyer pricing", or on a smaller scale "loss leaders" when certain items are sold at a low profit to entice shoppers, who then buy everything else there (at a higher profit margin). Then when they're the only buyer the price that farmers can charge for their produce is squeezed (UK farm-gate milk prices are now at or below cost to the farmer). They squeeze wages, especially in areas where they're the only big employers in town. They lobby governments into policy changes that suit them, such as the recent hiccup with lorry driver shortage (some supermarkets want the army to step in, where this could have been avoided by paying HGV drivers a decent wage and working conditions for the past 20 years rather than rely on importing cheap Easter European labour). China has been doing this for decades, but factors of magnitude bigger. Initially it was simply "cheap" to have stuff made there. Then they got very good at copying, cloning and industrial espionage (what this thread was about initially). That undercuts those firms that actually invent, innovate and invest in R&D. Then as regulations around a safe working environments, fair pay for workers, consumer protection and environmental protection got tighter (and more expensive to comply with) China became a far more attractive centre for manufacture simply by saying "yeah no, we don't do that". They are using their manufacturing capability to acquire strategic infrastructure such as ports around the world, especially in the developing world. China is the modern, global version of the "bad old days" 18th and 19th century industrialists and imperialists we're constantly being told we ought to feel shame about. Those "dark satanic mills" Blake wrote about, with undernourished workers stamping about in clogs and waistcoats on 12+ hour shifts at slave wages are no longer in the Welsh valleys and Lancashire towns -- they're all conveniently out of sight on the other side of the world wearing flipflops and T-shirts. I refuse to believe that Chinese-made stuff has as much of a stranglehold on trade as people think. I suspect that is largely perpetuated by middlemen, who profit from it. I was in Primark last week (don't like it, but one of very few clothes shops local to me now -- see above for why). They had a jacket I liked, in the utility/workwear/chore style you used to see everywhere. £35, made in China. Identical jacket from better cloth from WSC Workwear is £20. From Yarmo (more famous) £35. Both made in the UK.

Beautiful work. Very clean and graceful. Great contrast and definition. May I ask what sort of cobbling work do you do?

I've had Chinese sewing machines before. The unreliability, the broken parts, the spongey castings, the crumbling screwheads, the lack of compatibility with nearly-but-not-quite fitting parts, all made them less of a deal than they seemed. I admit that there are varying qualities. Some may approach the quality of a "real deal" "premium" manufacturer. I doubt that many do, or that any equal them. I thought I was the only one who saw the irony! The tooled and hand painted "screaming eagle carrying a stars and stripes 1911 holster" sewn on a Chinese 441 clone. The wallet made from ox hide pit tanned for 14 months in English oak bark sewn on a "Wung Hung Lo" 335-a-like. The "local hand tool artisan" marking his stitch holes with a $15 copy of a Blanchard pricking iron. I buy Chinese-built tools and machinery only when there is no other option or I simply can't afford anything better. I'm rarely impressed with the quality, and I'm always disappointed sending yet more trade to that slave empire. Even Juki now?

I've got two LCW-8s, have worked on others, and will would not hesitate to buy more. Quality-wise I'd say they are largely on a par with Jukis and Adlers I've owned and used. Slightly better than Pfaff to my taste but I'm biased, I never got on with the 335s I've tried.

Creating ersatz 3-phase from a 1-phase supply is a fairly common problem to solve in small and hobby workshops. There's a number of approaches all with various advantages and disadvantages but none of them are rocket surgery. Simplest is to buy a professional static converter. I built one for my splitter as the cost of replacing all 4 motors, or installing 4x VFDs, was quite high. It works but due to some foibles of the machine I'll be upgrading to rotary soon. Out of interest, why is conversion to 1ph not an option?

I have found that some hides tend to have "hidden" tensions that cause the strap to curve a little. Grain direction (and where/what direction) the pieces are cut seem to have an effect, as does the general quality of the hide. Slight bend in straps tends to be stretched out or overridden by use quite quickly. Further manufacturing steps can eliminate or exacerbate the issue -- I've had laminated straps corkscrew when I've forced excessively curved pieces together with glue. Unless it's really bad it all tends to come out in the wash after sewing, and if not I can force the issue by running it through my roller machine, or hammering, or staking it round a post. You could also aid the fibres slipping past each other by wetting or heating the strap but that risks damaging or marking the leather.

So why the change? What did Iranian and Middle Eastern tanneries use for dyestuffs in the past? Are those materials still available?