JohnD

This has been a great thread, I'm glad I saw it. I just wanted to add my experience to the mix. I called last week, spoke with David and ordered the "Sylvia" deal. wihin 2 days I had the press, 8mm double round rivet die, ligne20 and ligne 24 ring snap dies. I passed on the rivets because I prefer solid copper or stainless steel. The press worked great for both the rivets and the ss snaps I use, until Monday morning, while setting a snap I managed to break the press in half. The bottom part where the anvil slides in snapped off. Now I dont know if maybe I pressed too hard or if the thing leaned forward as I pressed ( I didnt have it bolted down yet). Right away I started trying to figure out a way to fix it, when I thought maybe I should call Goldstar and see what my options where. Well, within 5 minutes of calling they had another press on the way, no questions asked, well, she did ask me to send a picture of the broken press. I called Monday, before noon and have my new press ( its Wednesday) sitting on my kitchen table, waiting for me to bolt it down to my workbench this time. It seems to me Goldstar Tool is a great company to deal with. Their customer service was great and they gave me no hassle at all before sending out another press. They didnt even ask me to return the broken one. I'll be ordering some more dies from them soon and will be going through their catalog to ake sure there's nothing else I need. Great company in my opinion.

thanks for the info Ill keep that in mind when I look at them.

Evo160k, Thanks for such a quick response. It looks like both machines are suitable for leather. I'm going to go take a look at them tomorrow and your links will be very helpful.

I have an opportunity to buy one or both of these machines locally and could not find any info. I tried the search here and on Google and came up empty. I was wondering if anyone here might be familiar with either of them and if they would be suitable for my intentions. would they be sufficient for bags, wallets and upholstery of, at most, maybe 3 layers of 3-4 oz leather or even heavy canvas? I have zero experience with machine sewing and thought the price was right enough to play around with these if they would do the job. I appreciate any input. Thanks.

I have these also and I will say to use them lightly. Only for marking. The tips can break very easily if used too aggressively. Actually, the tips on a couple of the tines bent slghtly and when I tried to straighten them they snapped off. I filed the rest down even and cleaned the ends and it seems to work fine again now. Other than that theyve been fine.

Another method Ive seen is to aquire some grip "blanks" in one the ways Tramps Leatherworking described and cut and stack and glue some heavyweight leather washers, chuck em up in a lathe or drill and sand smooth, then apply some sort of epoxy or sealer to seal the whole thing. kind of like a kabar knife handle. A cool option with this method is that you can dye the washers different colors and end up with some cool effects.

I have a side of calfskin from Springfield. Ive only gotten one side so I cant speak to the consistency, but it is very white and I have left it in the sun for a few hours and didnt notice any color change, but I didnt look for it either. I have noticed that when oiled or dyed, it develops spots that werent noticable before, like scarring, but very small and all over the leather. Also, with just neatsfoot oil, it turns an ugly grayish brown and gets a waxy feel that doesnt go away. The only dye ive used is vinegaroon, which seems to color it consistantly ( except for the scarring).

I have toyed with the idea of tanning my own leather, just for the experience of doing it. As far as sourcing hides, if you hunt or have friends that hunt, most folks dont use the hides. Several of my friends offered to let me have them (I myself am a terrible hunter and only see deer during turkey season and bear, moose and turkey during deer season.) If you' re set on tanning cow hides, I spoke to a guy that runs a slaughter house and he told me that right now ( May or June when I spoke to him) hides are going for top dollar, but he would sell me steer for $67/hide and calf for $15. just to give you an idea of what the cost may be for you. My thought was to maybe start small with like squirrel or rabbit or maybe even a small deer to run through the process before committing to something the size of a steer hide and seeing if its something I can do before spending any money.

I dont have any pics, but I do it the same as recovering a seat, heavier leather for the top(5/6oz, 7/8 if any tooling) and thinner leather for the sides (3/4oz). You can go heavier on the sides if you're wet molding, it just take alittle more work to get it all smooth.

My wife and I both love the smell of leather, she smells everything I make, especially when I finish it with Montana Pitch Blend. The chromexcel has been sitting for a few weeks now, so its not nearly as bad as it was, but, I took a whiff last night and it still has some odor. My sniffer barely works, from too many punches, I think, but to me Chromexcel has almost a sewage smell to it, exactly like that old tannery.... maybe it is just the piece I got, but It brought me right back to the days of my friends and I putting away the football or hockey sticks and going to watch TV til the smell went away. I did just get a side of Austin and it smells fine.

Funny... I grew up around the corner from a tannery and every day around 2:00 or so, they would vent the place or something and stink up the whole neighborhood. Recently I ordered a piece of chromexcel from Springfield, to see what the fuss was about. Before I even opened the box I could smell that same smell. It stunk up my kitchen and my wife made me bring it straight down to the shop. It's funny how opinions can differ on things like that. My wife and I both think it's horrible.

Very nice work. I like the lettering alot. As far as face mask to keep warm for riding, I prefer to grow my own.

Just got this one from amazon. Havent had the chance to fill it yet, but it seems to seal up tight. http://www.amazon.com/Big-Horn-19040-30-Ounce-Container/dp/B003NE5AMI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1410886410&sr=8-5&keywords=glue+pots

Just to throw ideas at you, Velcro maybe? either velcro tape, part on the handle and part attached the lid or velcro straps attached to the lid and strap the tools in. Or line the lid with wool felt and wrap the tool handles with the hook part of the velcro, it may not be the most comfortable, but you can just toss the tools at the lid to put them away.

I usually cut the length I need from zipper tape too and only use regular needlenose pliers to remove unnecessary teeth. I used to just stitch the ends together too, but found that using the stops holds everything a bit more stable and looks more finished, to me anyway. I use pliers and a small tack hammer to set the stops. So, I guess the answer to your question would be that the specialty tools are not needed but, I would think, may make the job easier.