Mack

Well, I'm all of us can speak to the 'quality' of a lot things that Tandy has put out of late. What gets me is that the thread they include in their kits (however the heck they do it) is really nicely penetrated. I can't help but wonder if it isn't some combination of something like beeswas and neatsfoot oil ? it's well penetrated and handles really well (so kudos to them for that) and if it's included in the kit, I NEVER have to rewax the stuff. Thanks for responding....but my search continues ={;-)) Hey, when you get a second, can you share where you get your preferred linen thread ? Thanks !

Hey guys, may seem a little picky, but it's been under my skin for a while and maybe you have found a solution to this. What I've noticed multiples of times, on the occasion that I've sprung for a "kit" from Tandy that included linen thread, it always contains this thoroughly saturated, pliable and frankly, quite lovely thread in the package. However, when I buy spools (really from anybody) it has what appears to be the same thread but woefully underwaxed and so I spend a portion of my time pulling my piece of thread through one of my small blocks of bees wax. While it ends up being adequate, I would love to be able to produce whatever it is they do that produces the effect of the thread I find in their kits. Has anybody run across anything along this line ? Just took a shot here that maybe somebody has figured out how to do something like this. Thanks in advance.

in most instances, I've never found the need to 'preclean' the leather I'll be dying. Lots of advice to this but basically, if used responsibly, i.e. plenty of ventilation (that goes for your dyes as well as the alcohol by the way) and don't make a point of splashing it all over your skin in large amounts. Small amounts are fine and safe (It is called RUBBING alcohol btw) if you follow the directions on the bottle. wearing gloves, I find is a big help with dyes (not worried so much with the alcohol) but what you should be worried about is breathing the fumes. Make sure to have plenty of ventilation for dying , etc. if you think alcohol gets into your blood stream fast through skin absorption, that's nothing compared to how fast it's absorbed by your lungs. Use the stuff responsibly, follow the bottle direction guidance (as it pertains to exposure) and have lots of ventilation and you'll be fine.

I agree with Kings X and a couple of others that I read. Once you have familiarity with the tools and what they do, the craftaids will be more of a hindrance than a help. And you don't necessarily have to be great at drawing to do some interesting stuff on your own. I use images from the internet that I find interesting, crop and combine them with other elements, resize that image on the computer, there's a lot you can do to express your own creativity (something I cherish) and not rely on the standard patterns that TLF has been selling over and over again for years. For me, the one exception might be western style belts,, but even there, I would want to perhaps customize with a name and unique font. If you're starting out, I would recommend you practice with them as it's faster to getting yourself to the carving and tooling. But, once you have your skills up, I think you'll find most templates unsatisfying for what you want to do. and that's my $0.02

I saw this and wondered myself about availability. I did online search and couldn't come up with anything in 5/32 width. On a lark, I went out to my work area and dug through my lacing box as I seemed to remember having some white latigo buckstitch lacing from way back when. I found the spool, it's an old Tandy labeled spool back when they sold under their own label. Anyway, I measured the width of the lace and it was 1/8" rather than the 5/32" that you refer to. It's literally been decades since I purchased it so can't remember if there was more than one width sold back then or not by Tandy. Anyway, white latigo lacing in 1/8" width is still available if you can make that work. Best of luck.

I've got an Artisan sewing machin (see attached picture) that I bought for about $2,575 and it was used once, presumably for a demo (I paid a guy $100 to show me how to use the machine and he taught me how to re-thread the machine and spent the rest of the time making adjustments to it ). It really is essentially new. I've never done a project on it yet. What I've come to is the realization that this was way overkill for a hobbyist like myself. I even had a bolt on custom table made for the thing to help handle flat work. It's got a non-tabled arm style that allows you to sew unusual shapes, etc. My intent in posting this message here is to see if anyone would have an interest in this machine if I offer it for $1,975 The buyer would be responsible for either picking it up or handling shipping. I'm in So.Calif. so I'm hoping someone in the area could come by and pick it up so I don't have to fiddle with shipping this thing out. It's very heavy, but I got it home in the back of my V8 Mountaineer, so know it can be done. Pickup would work better. I'm not out of work and don't need the money to make a mortgage payment or anything like that, just hate seeing the thing sitting here not being used. I'm offering this machine at almost a 25% discount so if you're thinking of coming back with something lower than that, don't bother. I'll just keep the thing.