billymac814

When I built my work bench I just built it really strong and heavy and I have no problems with vibration or anything. I do use a heavy piece of rubber about 1/2" thick in between my granite and the bench. My only regret is not recessing the granite into the bench somewhere and having it flush with the top. I don't think it would hurt anything to put rubber in between the top and the frame but I think you'd be fine without it too if the bench is good and solid.

I reuse them until they just about fall apart. I will admit I don't bother cleaning them though. Sometimes ill clean out the one I use for resolene if I only use it real quick otherwise those ones get tossed. When I'm done with a new one I dip the very end of the wood part in the dye that way I know what color it's for. That works for me but I don't generally use more than 3 different colors regularly. That may not work as well if you use a bunch of colors or colors that are very similar.

Anyone here have any experience using Uship? I'd like to buy a press that is in Kansas and need to get it to PA which is about 1200 miles, it weighs a bit under 400 lbs. I could go get it but I'd have 3 days out of the shop and probably 600 bucks at least in fuel. I've read a bunch of bad reviews but a lot of them were from truckers who don't like the idea of it and its always more likely that someone with a bad experience will post reviews while people who had positive and uneventful experiences may not be as inclined. Any one have any other suggestions if Uship isn't the way to go. Its not crated or anything but the guy will put it on a pallet if need be but I have to arrange it. Its about the footprint of a pallet or probably slightly smaller.

If you really wanted to do it go to the end and back stitch as normal then go back to the end and then around your edge, that way if it does wear it won't really affect the rest of the stitching. I don't personally see any advantage of doing it though and I don't think it does much to add to the looks either. Is there any reason you don't do anything to finish your edges? I'd think that would go farther as a selling point than the thread.

It would also help if you said what kind of dye you are using. I use Fiebings Pro oil dye and I never have a problem with the dye penetrating. It could be the leather though, especially if it was one of those 20 dollar shoulders. I order all my leather from Wickett and Craig. I don't have to worry much about not seeing it because I know it will be good quality leather. Tandy is hit or miss though, I do order those 20 dollar shoulders when they are on sale and sell them in my store, I'm upfront with people about the quality but they usually go to new people that don't want to spend a lot. If all else fails use some dye prep or something similar, it should open up the pores and let the dye absorb. I wouldn't suggest sanding it though. The only time I ever had issues with black dye absorbing was on certain molded areas where I rubbed it too much and burnished the leather which prevented the dye from penetrating. In those cases I basically rubbed the dye in until it penetrated enough. I haven't had those problems in a long time though. You may also find that that leather won't take water very well which might make tooling it or molding it difficult.

Ray, Thanks, that makes a lot of sense actually, the one thing I noticed when using the anvil is it is sometimes difficult to line up the spot with the anvil so the rubber mat does make sense. The only problem ill have on this job is that they are existing saddle bags so they won't lay flat, ill have to get creative. I think I'll put a piece of rubber on my boot jack last and use that so I can get behind where I need it. When you're laying them out do you use one of the points as the reference mark to get them evenly spaced?

I got my setter and spots in the other day. I tried it using the method in the video which does work but it seems easier to just use the anvil that comes with it which clinches the spot all in one step. It'll be a while before I start on his bags but I should be able to set the 50 in an hour, if not I'm doing something wrong. So 2.00 a spot seems pretty fair for that many of them. If it was only one or two I'd charge more.

I've never done any gun shows because I've always been busy enough that I never felt it necessary however there's one coming to my home town so I think Id like to do that one just for the exposure and to let people know where my shop is at. The problem I see is I don't think I'll have the time to be able to make up a bunch of stuff to sell. I plan on selling some holsters and belts and ill probably take some sharpening equipment and sharpen knives while I'm there. What items sell well that you don't have to make? Would it be worthwhile to take a patcher along and be able to sew patches on? My thought is even if I don't sew many or even any patches on at the show there should be enough local guys there that will see that I can and they'll know where they can get patches sewn on at in the future. It seems a lot of gun owners are also bikers so they may go well together. Also for you guys selling double layer belts at the shows, do you take a bunch that are all sized or do you have a way to cut them down and finish the ends right at the show? I don't want to make up 20 or 30 of them to just sell a couple. Ill take the single layer ones, they are easy enough to cut there.

I bought a Cowboy splitter which is another inexpensive option. When it came the blade was basically unuseable, I had to spend a lot of time sharpening it at first but once its sharp it works great. I'd second the recommendation of having someone sharpen it before you give up on it.

Machine stitch nearly everything as long as you have the correct machine for the job. If not then you're better off hand stitching it. I melt my threads when I'm doing large runs, I have a fine tipped soldering iron mounted to my machine and I can trim the threads very easily with it and doing it that way doesn't make it have a sharp edge like you'd get using a lighter or something else. If I'm just stitching one or two things I just snip it with my scissors, as Dwight said, its not going anywhere if its locked in and finished.

It normally takes 1-2 weeks if they are splitting it. For some reason it has been taking longer than it used to as well, I'm not sure why, I've had to adjust when I order it to make sure I don't run out. I learned this after I ran out once and I had to order some from weavers to get me by. Its always been worth the wait though even though it is annoying that it can take so long, I really believe they have the best and you can always tell its really fresh and hasn't been sitting around in some warehouse or on a shelf for a while.

I know I'm a little late in seeing this but I have not seen a coach purse yet that is made of veg tan leather. I have my doubts that this will work. I would use Fiebings Pro oil dye, you won't get the run off like you will with the regular dye. Good luck.

I don't think the edge should start to get fuzzy at all. On my belt my edges are still smooth and it has been worn daily for about 4 years. I think if you're using just saddle soap and not sealing it good enough the soap in it loses its holding power so to speak and the fibers don't stay down. I'd follow it up with some wax and then seal it with resolene. I did a post on how I do my edges not too long ago, you could probably search it out easy enough. I used to over do and over think all the steps to do my edging and I found I could eliminate a lot of them and still get the same results, if not better.

I think I'll get the setter, I've had enough people asking about them in the past that I'm sure ill use it again. I've always been able to get away with using domed rivets but that looks easy enough and I don't have to punch holes first. The only thing I don't get is punching them into the rubber first, I'd think if you had a steel backer that it would clinch the posts in at the same time. Ill have to experiment with that. The domed rivet setter may work but I have a feeling that the prongs might end up bending since they won't be covered up. What's the going rate on spot setting? I charged 2 bucks each on these ones.

I've managed to never need to set a spot up until now. I have a set of saddle bags that came into the shop to have spots set on them, they will be 3/8" round spots. In the past I've used domed rivets in place of spots and I have the setters for those, should I just do the same here or should I use spots, if I use spots what's the process on setting them, do they pierce the leather without cutting slits first? There will be a total of about 50 of them.

You can get the same brushes at Jo Ann's for 5.00 for 25 of them, plus if you download the Jo Ann's app on your phone you can usually get 30-50% off one item each visit.

I've tried 3 colors in the past but it didn't make any real difference unless the third color is black and even then its still slight. Even with 2 colors you get a 3 tone effect, you have the saddle tan in the center, then out from that you have the saddle tan with some mahogany over it and on the outside its just mahogany since it has no problems covering the tan and you can spray it heavy and get it really dark around the edge if you want.

The foam brushes I get are from Jo Ann fabrics or michaels, they have the wood handle on them. I've gotten some with a red plastic handle from Hobby lobby and they weren't as good. If you use them long enough they will fall apart but not that quickly. The easiest way to get that look is with an airbrush, it takes almost no skill to do that, you can also do it by dry brushing it but that takes more skill to master the effect and it takes longer. I'd dye the whole thing saddle tan and airbrush mahogany around the edge and fade it out to nothing in the center, that should be pretty close to that color.

For the edges I use pieces of thick felt about 3/8" thick, I cut it in small rectangles and hold it in a small clamp. I use this felt for my ankle holsters so I always have plenty of scraps for this, it works like a large felt tip market basically and makes a nice crisp line. Belts ill either dip dye or use a foam brush to apply. I use the foam brushes for applying the finish as well. They work good and they are cheap.

I have one and never use it, I just sand whatever I'm roughing up with a flex shaft grinder or for larger items I use my finisher with the coarse paper on it.

I'd be very curious to hear the answer to this as well, even ballpark figures. That is an incredible piece and I look at all the pieces and I can't even imagine the time that goes into it. How long did that take to make and how many I divididual pieces are there in it? Thanks and awesome job!

The belt looks good. I'm thinking your folded part is longer than it needs to be but that doesn't matter a whole lot. I tend to agree with you not putting on a keeper with a center bar buckle, I don't think they look right with a keeper right after it and they really aren't needed. Another trick to get rid of some of the wax is to pull the waxed thread through a piece of a paper bag, just press the thread between two fingers in between the paper bag and pull through, the friction will melt some wax off and the bag will absorb it. You should be good with about a 5 strand linen thread, you could get away with thicker too depending on the look you want.

I'd be pretty confident in saying a double layer belt that was just glued together would likely never come apart if it was glued with a good contact cement and hammered together. Cement is all that holds on a lot of shoe soles these days and they don't come off. I still personally wouldn't make one without stitching it either though, more for cosmetic reasons over fear of it separating. I hand stitched a belt once....its doable but hard to make any money doing that. You could also find out if there's any shops nearby that could stitch it for you. It shouldn't cost very much.

You got those terms backwards, Billet is the end with the holes and Chape is the buckle end. I use the billet term but I prefer to call the buckle end "the buckle end" otherwise no one that's buying a belt from me would know what I'm talking about, they figure can figure out the Billet end since that's the only end left:-)

I used to work in a one room apartment too, I started with a desk and then eventually built a huge workbench with overhead shelf that I attached a light to since I couldn't add lighting. I'd recommend making on high enough that you can stand and get a stool so you have the option of standing or sitting.