TomG

Ummm..You are not trying to turn the hand wheel backwards are you? That will jumble your thread in a hurry. To back stitch, either lift the pressor foot and pull it back 2 or 3 stitches, or when the needle goes down and then just starts back up, lift the pressor foot slightly, spin the leather 180 degress, drop the foot and sew the 2 or 3 stitches over the top of the originals. My only real compliant on the 155's

I have the same machine. I never did develop the "touch" with the clutch motor. I wound up buying a servo motor, modifying it to give better control and installing that. MUCH better. As for the bird's nests at startup, I pull some slight tension on the threads and it eliminated the problem. You may need to adjust the bobbin tension, but read up on how to do it before you start. And make SMALL adjustments.. like 1/8 of a turn on the tension screw. Yes, you can buy prewound bobbins. They come in plastic, cardboard sides, and sideless, which is what it sounds like you have. They also have ones with magnetic cores but I'm not sure those would work in the 155. It's a pretty light thread - mainly sized for machine embroidery and light fabric weight threads. But I use them exclusively for those jobs.I do have some 138 I think that are sideless. But I think they are "M" sized and don;t fit my machine. Someone gave them to me to use the thread to adjust the 155 when I was setting it up for leather. So a search through the sewing machine forums and you will find a virtual wealth of information on this machine and the servo motor issues. Good luck

Hobby stores sell small square tubing for model making. Not sure if it would be strong enough. You can also get solid square pins at some hardware stores, woodworking supply stores, machine tool supply stores, etc. You would have to machine it to make a cutting edge. Also, check the hobby or scrapbooking stores for small square punches used on paper hobbies. No problem with repurposing as along as it works <g>

Well, There should be about as many opinions as there are users . BUT.. I don;t use Super Sheen for anything any more. Super Sheen is water based and I found that almost anything "wet" washes it off. That's what you are probably experiencing.. I use Leather Balm with Atom Wax on top of my dye. Let it dry for an hour or so, buff thoroughly with a piece of fleece, then apply Fiebings antiquing gel. Let that sit for a few minutes and then use a folded stiff rag (like a flat pad) to wipe the surface gel off.

I make dog leashes with a twist braid on each end. I can't remember the name of the braid, but am attaching a picture. It's normally 1 strap of Latigo. I need to be able to make the handle a separate piece of leather so I can still make my 6 foot leashes, as the side I am cutting from gets shorter. (See 2nd photo.) I'm usually down to only being able to make 4 and 5 footers about halfway through the side. Does anyone have instructions on how to do this? Thanks

Bump. Still trying to figure it out. Should I move this to the Braiding section?

Thanks folks. That is perfect.

I have a friend who wants me to make her something similar to this. She calls it a travelers Journal. I've done some searching but can't find a pattern. I can probably make one once she decides on dimension for her pads, but I prefer not to reinvent the wheel <g>. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks

I make dog leashes with a twist braid on each end. I can't remember the name of the braid, but am attaching a picture. It's normally 1 strap. I need to be able to make the handle a separate piece of leather so I can still make my 6 foot leashes, as the side I am cutting from gets shorter. I'm usually down to only being able to make 4 and 5 footers about halfway through the side. Does anyone have instructions on how to do this? Thanks

Black has an over-abundance of the dyestuffs that compose the color component of the dye. Black need to be opaque, whereas other colors can have a bit of translucency to them. The leather can't absorb all of them, so you get a crapload of loose particles. All you can do is keep buffing until it pretty much stops, and then seal it with several light coats of Resolene or some other sealer. And expect more to come off as you do that. It can loosen more particles. A power buffer can reduce the pain. You can also reduce this problem by going to the Fiebings oil dyes. I picked up some black from a lady who was getting rid of the last of her elderly father's shoe repair business stuff. I did a quick dip dye test a while back and had zero ruboff. I haven't had time to do more testing or confirmation of that, but just ran out of my black oil dye yesterday and will be messing with it tomorrow. Can't remember the name of it, but will post it when I go to the shop tomorrow.

There are some YouTube videos and thread here that discuss sharpening punches, knives, etc. The weird thing is that I have purchased the expensive punches from Tandy and the cheapos. The cheapos are 10 times sharper than the expensive ones. But ALL have to be sharpened or at least stropped. But you do need a piece of marble or granite, a cutting board of some sort on top, and a solid (Not Metal) hammer/mallet/maul. If you have a Harbor Freight around you, go buy their big dead blow hammer. The plastic coating really doesn't bounce enough to hurt you on punches as long as you hold firm downward pressure as you hit it. But definately sharpen the punch first.

I got a bottle of neatsfoot oil COMPOUND a long time ago , and it did turn rancid. It has other components in it and I think those were what went bad. I've had a can of pure NFO that was 20 years old and still good as new.

I had a side of Chrome tan like that once. I had a horrible cold at the time, but when I got it home, my wife almost threw up it was so bad. Took it back to Tandy and they exchanged it. Got one of the same sides and it (and the others) didn;t have the smell. I always figured it just didn't get rinsed properly at the tannery.

Here's the bottom line, IMHO. Like every other vendor in the world, you can get good stuff and bad stuff. You can have a great Tandy store with terrific, knowlegable staff, or a dump where half the staff don't know which end of a skiver to use. I've bought some horrible leather from them and I've bought some beautiful sides and doubles. Their regular stamps are not the best in the world, but they will let a person who is new to the craft, to at experience a variety of designs without breaking the bank. And if you are careful and mark your tools to keep the same side forward as you stamp, you can actually do some nice stuff. Their new line of Pro tools is actually very nice. At least the ones I've tried. I would never hesitate recommending a new person buy from them. They can always return items they don't like or are not up to par. And when you sss that you are really going to get serious about the craft, you can upgrade your most used tools with better quality stuff.

I've used it and never had a complaint. It's made by Fiebings and I doubt that they would make something to deliberately damage leather. The can says it waterproofs, protects and conditions the leather.

Lots of folks dip dye. Personally, I don't soak, I dip it is and pull it out. On straps I use 1 hand to hold one end under and pull it through with the other in a smooth motion. The only issue I can see by doing what you describe, is lighter colors might be uneven, or darker than you wanted.

Weird. I never got notices of your replies. But glad you found your answers. I use the 1.5mm for 1" letters and use the 1mm for smaller. Now, the Molotow 1mm tip has been called a SpecilTech or something like that. It clogs as badly as the Sharpies. But they have a new one called Crossover that is supposed to be shipped with the 127 EF model marker, which is what I use. You can soak the tips in water to help keep them clear. You can also take a little piece of sponge and put it in the cap to keep the tip open. Then you are using the pen in the grooves, don't push down hard. Prime your tip on a pad of paper, and if you have to push down to renew the flow, stop moving to do it and then continue. You'll get the hang of it. Let me know how it goes.

Here are a few that I've used the Molotow paint pens on for highlighting. If the letters are colored, then that is probably acrylic paint on top. Note: The "Chicken" collar is done with a black regular Sharpie.

Pictures would help. But I do a ton of this. I stamp, resist the stamps surface with 100% Resolene or Mop 'n Glo, hand dye with a sponge, dry thoroughly. Then coat both sides with Leather Balm with Atom Wax. Dry and buff. Then I apply the Fiebings Antique Finish with a wool dauber. I let sit for about 1 minute. Then I use a scrap of old jean or other coarse material, folded into a firm pad. I hold it flat and rub all of the surface paste off. Then I turn up a clean side of the cloth, and buff the strap, getting the excess off but leaving the rest in the grooves. The Antiquing finish can not be used for large depressions. It becomes a cake that will flake off with flexing. I may be wrong, but I don't think it is meant as a filler but more of a highlighter. I have recently discovered Molotow paint markers. They come is a wide variety of colors, and tip sizes. They are also refillable and the tips/nibs are replacable. BTW, don't waste your time with the Sharpie Oil Paint pens. The leather fibers and stuff plug them up very quickly. Not worth the money. I'm attaching a photo or 2 of a couple of examples of the Antique finish versions.

If they are too lomg, I use a sanding drum in my drill press and sand them down. You can also skove then off if you have a bench mounted skiver. Then I use leather balm with atom wax and rub that into both sides. Tom

I've used the permanent a couple of times and it tended to gum up my needles. Tom

Does anyone know where I can find white veg tan leather? Thanks Tom

Pasted with what?

I normally use 10 oz Latigo for some of my dog collars and leashes. I need tot make a lighter version so I ran a piece through my splitter and dropped it to 8 oz. But the back side lost its smooth, waxed "finish". I rubbed Aussie Leather Conditioner in pretty liberally. Let it sit for about 30 minutes and then wiped it down witha clean rag. It's acceptable, I guess, but is still a bit waxy feeling. Hopefully it will absorb in overnight. Is they something better to use in the future when I have to do this again? Thanks

Here you go. 1 way to do it..