TomG

Based on the photo and looking at the holes, I'd say that 1 - the leather is too thick at the bend. That's more than the finish cracking. So - you need to skive it down about 50% thickness from before the bend to the tip. 2 - Wet the back of the leather and let it sit for a few minutes to soak in before you bend it. And like RiverCity said, let the thing dry after bending and then put your finish on.

If you're making any type of dog collars, belts or other strap items, a strap cutter is the way to go. I do have a 6 foot long piece of cold roll steel I picked up that I use to make the my edge on a new side straight before I strap cut it. For my lined belts and collars, I cut a full-length strap, use a splitter to make it the same thickness from end-to-end. Glue them together. You have to develop a touch to make sure the edges are perfectly lined up when you put the glued faces together, but practice makes perfect. Or, you can do what cyberthrasher said, and make one bigger than the other and trim. I always seem to screw up the edges when I try that though.. I always seem to forget to put pressure on my straight edge and the leather moves under it as I cut. One trick I've used for the lined collars is to apply the contact cement and let it set. set one strap on its edge on my slab. Carefully line up the 2 ends and stick them together, then slowly join the resat of the strap, working from that end. The slab helps to line the edges up perfectly. Any slight variations go away with some sanding.

So, for the sharpest edge, what angle is considered the best angle for a head knife? And -- What is the difference between a head knife and a round knife?

Not sure how the MOP will work after gluing and stitching, but I'd play with some test pieces to see. The paste will darken the leather depending on the leather and how much you use. I wonder what would happen if you did the treatment to both backs, and sewed them together without the glue?

Bump

I make belts, bracelets and dog collars/leashes. Most are not lined, but I treat them with a Kiwi Camp Dry Mink Oil Paste. I rub a small amount into the length of the strap on the back and then run the strap through my hands in a curved motion 2 or 3 times from the front and then from the back. Makes most of them limp and soft as spaghetti. But if you glue your liners in, I doubt it would stick to the oiled backs of the straps. But, I could be wrong. You can always try it and see. Tom

The key is still that "3 Phase" you mentioned. You can not run a 3 Phase motor on standard Single Phase 220 voltage that 99.9% of households have. 3 Phase is a commercial voltage and is only avaiable special order You can buy a convertor to make it work but last time I checked they were $400 - $500. Tom

You said it has a 3 phase motor. Silly question, but do youi have 3 phase service to you shop? Tom

A coworker was surfing through Craiglist the other day and came across someone locally giving away 2 PALLETS of what was described as PIG SKIN LEATHER. I called the lady and she said it was raw and untanned. It was in a storage locker. I asked her if it stunk, and she said it was beginning to. She also said it was wet. Does anyone have any idea of what reason someone would have to store untanned pig skin in a storage locker for? It's a little too far a way to just shoot over and take a look at. but I AM curious. They had a picture but it looks like they took the listing down <g> Thanks

Mike - PM sent Tom

I'm looking for a rugged and water resistant leather for making belts or collars. I know Latigo will fit the bill. But's it usually only comes in burgundy, and black - although IO think I saw some other colors somewhere. I'm wondering how the Stoned oil or Drum Dyed leather like they are advertising on Tandy would hold up. Some of it is 8/9 oz, and I can line 6/7 if need be. Or double it up. It needs to be strong and pliable, with minimal stretch. Suggestions? I'm using vegtan now, but just looking for a different look and feel for some deluxe type products. Thanks

I looked back at the wet formed bag tutorial and see what you mean. I would assume that using nails to hold the leather over the form would not be the preferred method if you were going to machine sew the bag together, right? I don't see how you'd get the stitch line close enough to cover the nail holes.

If you use the technique of nailing it down over a box, what do you do to hide the nail holes?

I agree with northmount... and add All The Above. I do a lot of stamping on 3/4 oz veg-tan. I find that I get MUCH better impressions by doing 2 things. 1) I stamp with my casing SLIGHTLY wetter than normal - don't let it get quite as dry as normal 2) I put a piece of scrap 8-10 oz under the piece I'm stamping. try pressing down on the stamp and tapping it a bit lighter or use a light maul or mallet. You can make multiple hits on a stamp as long as you don't let the stamp bounce.

I primarily have used veg-tan for all of my projects. I recent got a bunch of pieces that I an unsure of. I was told one was Kip and one was Deer or Deertan. The deertan - How do I tell if it's deertan cowhide or real deer? It is very soft top and bottom, had a smooth grain side and a suede-like flesh side. Golden in color. Will not accept water or stamps. Oil dyes penetrate but color is variable depending on the dye color. The Kip just looks like a very thin piece of veg-tan. I haven't messed with it yet. It looks like it would be great for linings. Tips and suggestions? Thanks

I have a piece of what I think is deer tan. I've tried to do some test dying with Fiebings Oil Dye and have mixed results with the colors. Green and Purple look OK. the red and 2 blues I used are weak. First question -is Deer Tan cow dyable or like Chrome Tanned? If oil dye is OK, what finish is best to keep it soft, yet prevent dye ruboff? Thanks

I use 50/50 Resolene on most of my dog collars. I also use a thick mink oil paste applied lightly to the back side the night before applying the Resolene. I think it's the Kiwi brand. Some of the oils and thin pastes are too easily applied too heavily and can darken the finish. I have also used Saddle-Lac at a final top coat instead of the Res. It seems to hold up well also... BUT I found that if I applied it first and then applied the mink oil paste to the back, the Saddle-Lac flacked off easily the next morning. Probably something to do with not letting one or the other fully cure. I will say this about the mink oil paste. I apply a light coat, then wrap a rag around the collar and pull it in a curving motion through my hand. It softens that strap up like a noodle most times! Anyone else have experience with oil and Saddle-Lac?

I've used a rubber ink pad and stamp to mark sizes on the backs. It's pretty permanent and doesn't risk compressing the leather from the back and showing through the front.

I got one off of Amazon also. Pretty rough edge, but it does cut. I tried doing some stroppingon it that helped but a strop isn't going to get the rough out of it in any reasonable amount of time. I picked up a 4-pack of fine W/D sandpaper at the auto parts store today. I started with a couple of strokes on the 220, but it was really too coarse, I think. Switched to the 400 for a few dozen strokes, then to the 800 and finally the 1000. Out store has this up to 2000 grit. I probably should have wet it, but did this one dry. I'm not very experienced with sharpening this way and to this degree of sharpness. I don't know if using it wet will make it last longer or what the differences are. Anyone know? But I finished up with the strop. Cuts pretty well, but I'd like it a tad sharper. It goes about 3/4 of the way through a piece of 12oz veg-tan pretty easily, on the first stroke. For under $10, definitely worth a try.

Be careful with that plier setter from Hobby Lobby. They are no longer made as well as they used to be. I actually bent the handles on 2 of them in short order. I then went to West Marine and bought one that was sturdier, as most marine snaps are stainless. I bent the handles on it too. I returned it and the guy said they get lots of returns on them. You are applying a lot of force to roll that post and the pliers are made with cheap, stamped metal.

Dwight, Do you dip dye or use sponge/dauber? I've had to do the same thing with some stuff I've lined with suede or splits

BUMP Johanna - I see the site is still up, but do you know if the DVD/Download is still available?

Billy -- Yes -- that was who I was referring to. If I remember correctly, it's was a fairly involved process in that it had quite a few steps. We also have an embroidery and screen printing biz we do out of our garage. I'm not sure what the ink dryer would do to leather, but I don't think it would be good. the typical plastisol ink has to hit around 320+ degrees throughout to cure. Not to mention that it really needs to "wrap" around the threads of the fabric. So the smooth leather would probably not let it grab on and hold. I suspect it out flake off. The relatively new DTG printers are basically an Epson wide-format printer that lays a deposit of Pigment-based ink down. It would probably do really well on leather. As long as you accepted the fact that the ink is transparent. Sort of like dye. the base color of the leather is going to alter the ink color. Some of the printers will lay down a base coat of white first and give really good color reproduction. That's what I suspect might have been used with these brightly colored wallets. But like Kate said - check out Billy's site.

It may be DTG (Direct To Garment) printing. There is also a method developed by a guy named Shews, I think, that used a liquid to coat the leather and do a transfer of some sort. I think the stuff was purchased at JoAnns fabrics or something. Tom

If you used Veg-Tan, you may be able to wet the inside and force something inside that is slightly larger than the phone. But I'd try it on a piece of scrap of the same leather first.... I've had bad luck with brown dye shifting if I wet from the back, but since this looks black.. you'll probably be OK I don't know if they still make it, but there used to be a product made for stretching shoes. You wet the shoe and wore it. I only tried it once, and it didn't work... Smelled like alcohol and someone told me that was all it was. Tom