Jesleright

did a quick search and found a topic that answers my question. (mine was $35, too. No other bidders.) Going to give my "new" old knife a much needed resharpening. Still surprised at how these knives sometimes sell for so low.

Recently bought this CS Osborne knife. What does the XX marking indicate?

Brettuns Village recently got some football leather in stock.They state that it is 5.5 to 6 ounce, which would be good for a tote bag https://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/leather-sides/football-leather-on-sale/

The Angelus Brand makes a matte acrylic finish. Here is a link to their store: https://angelusdirect.com/collections/acrylic-finisher

That Hand Made Shoes for Men book is look at the steps of bespoke shoemaking. It's not a how-to book; It's more of a "How It's Made" kind of book that you would see on somebody's coffee table. The Bespoke Shoemaking book by Tim Skyrme is very detailed. He only teaches how to make shoes with lasts, though. If you can find a good source for lasts, then i highly recommend his book. If you are in the USA, you can order this book from http://www.walrusshoe.com. You'll need to call to place an order. He also has other shoemaking and last making books, as well as some lasts. The books by George Koleff are also worth a look. i have the Last Designing and Making Manual. It is a good book to have if you want to make your own lasts. i'm sure his other books are good as well. There is a dvd set called Healthy Handmade Shoes by Glenn Leisure. This one is $150, and teaches how to construct Veldeschoen (lastless) shoes. You can find the website here:http://www.healthyhandmadeshoes.com/dvd/ . I don't have this one, so i can't say if it is any good.

Sounds like an interesting experiment. Does the coated thread leave wax build-up in the machine?

Being C.S. Osborne, it should definitely work. It's the no-brand snaps that ya gotta watch out for. I've got one of them snap setting kits from SLC, and there are unmarked snaps i have that won't fit in either the 20 or 24 die.

For 9-10 ounce un-skived, i use 1/4" posts, but since you're skiving it, 3/16" posts should work. When figuring out what length post to use, remember that 8 ounce leather is about 1/8" thick. Sounds like you are skiving to about 6 ounce thickness. 6 ounce = 3/32". 3/32" x 2 is 3/16". The leather will compress some if the post is slightly too short, and that's ok. If you go too long, it will slide around, possibly getting caught on pant loops, and the holes might stretch. Something else to remember when installing chicago screws is to put a dab of thread lock on the threads of the screw. Make sure you use the kind that isn't permanent.

Greetings fellow leatherworkers, I've recently designed a wallet pattern that includes a bar snap for closure. The snaps are from Springfield (which are the same as Tandy's snaps). Difficult to set, and the male part (a ball-bearing soldered onto the bar) broke off of one while i was setting it (i do use the bar snap setter tool). Finding the proper leather thickness for the socket was frustrating, as there are no instructions i could find anywhere on setting them properly. I've searched google, and could not find ANY place other than SLC and Tandy that sell these (and NO place that sells jiffy snaps). Is there really no other source for this style of snap? i could use glove snaps, but that would leave the end of the flap limp.

Howdy BodegBrasil, I don't know anything about the Adler 69, but I do have a clone of the 227R that i ordered from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It came with a servo motor - very easy to control the speed. If that Consew you tested only includes the machine head, stand and motor, then $1.9k sounds a bit pricey compared to what the clones sell for. By the way, this topic is in the wrong section. I would suggest that you start this topic anew in the "Leather Sewing Machines" forum of this website, and include more information on the Consew 'deal' you found (what accessories are included? is there a warranty? is setup included? who is the dealer?). Also mention the type and weight of leather goods you are intending to sew. That should get you more replies, with better answers from those who have much more experience than i.

The one i bought was a single knife.

Greetings, Bought a knife from this seller on ebay; http://www.ebay.com/usr/m16dodge2012. It is pretty hefty; the blade is thick (0.082") and full tang. It was easy to sharpen, but i haven't used it enough to know how well it keeps an edge. Has anyone else here bought from him?

The poly board i got from tandy three years ago was bowed in the center. It has flattened out most of the way since then. If you want to use the one you have, and you have a marble slab, you could try leaving the poly board under the slab for a few days. i don't know how badly warped your poly board is. Getting a new (bigger) one wouldn't be a bad idea though; As electrathon said, those cutting boards are cheap. Jesse

I just use the leather as is; it comes pre-dyed and finished. Here's a couple photos of the wallet i use. In this photo, i circled the areas on the lining that have the most finish rubbed off. And here is what the finish has rubbed off onto. Is this normal wear, or is there something wrong with the leather's factory finish? Jesse

Greetings from WV, I am having problems with Mission Grain pig lining used in wallets. The finish sticks and rubs off onto the wallet contents. Someone who has one of the wallets i made won't use it because of this rub-off. Don't want to sell wallets that have this problem. This is the leather i am using; http://springfieldleather.com/32400/Lining%2CMissionGrain%2CBrn%2CRegula/. Jesse

That is nice tooling. Glad that you found the right circle cutter.

Greetings Kevin, i bought an 'Olfa' brand CMP2 heavy duty circle cutter from Cutting-mats.net. cuts big circles (smallest radius is 3.5cm [about 1 3/4 in.] Best for pre-cutting the circle (with blade extended part of the way), and then finishing with a knife. Don't try to cut all the way through smooth leather with it; pivot tends to move.) the pivot point isn't needle sharp, but it will poke a small dent. and the measurement is metric, so you might need an inch ruler. i don't cut circles very often; bought it to use as a makeshift strap cutter. What kind of project are you cutting circles for?

Hi frank207, i had trouble with one of those tandy strap cutters as well, and had posted a topic in the "How do I do that?" section back in September. Celticleather told me to put a narrow strip of card (1/4" by 1/16") inside the handle on the cutting side. i tried it, but it didn't work on the tandy strap cutter i had. So i experimented with an "Olfa" brand "CMP2" heavy duty circle cutter, (bought from cutting-mats.net $37.80; can be bought from other drafting, art, and hobby stores at lower prices) started out using the pivot needle and then 2 small pieces of wood as a fence, but both methods produced an uneven cut. Then i read the topic "Tips/tricks For Cutting Straight Edge The Length Of Full Side?". (see Frank's post in topic, quoted here). Thank's Frank!We had redone the pantry, so i had some spare shelf standards/pilasters to use. Asked my Dad (He has more experience in cutting metal) to cut the shelf standard short and remove the sides from the middle of it to fit the circle cutter; filed the ends somewaht smooth; placed leather in the gaps between the standard and the circle cutter; and put the large washer on top of the standard to prevent bending. To start the cut,clip the corner of the leather (The shelf standard tends to catch on the leather when starting the cut). Set the blade to just touching the cutting board or mat. Cuts smooth and evenly the rest of the way. Sometimes needs a second pass with a knife to finish the cut. There are a few cons to using this thing: 1. The scale on the circle cutter is metric, so if you want inches, use a ruler; or with blade slightly exposed, place object of desired width between blade and shelf standard, and tighten the nut. 2. Limited cutting width (about 1 1/4" to about 5 5/8"; about 2.8cm to about 14.4cm) 3. Unless you cut part of the depth and finish with a knife, cutting boards or mats are required to protect work surface and blade. 4. Leather thickness is limited to thicker leather (i have only cut about 8 oz. with it thus far, so i don't know how thin it will go). And that "Original" strap cutter sounds like it is worth a try, from what i've read in previous posts. jesler

To those experienced with strap cutting, i have a 'Finished Double Shoulder 8 to 9 oz. Black' from TLF. Cut a straight edge on the long side, but every time i try to cut strips with the wooden strap cutter, the strap tapers from the start of the cut. The leather itself is EXTREMELY difficult to cut with any of the knives i have. The strap cutter doesn't taper with other vegetable tanned leather of the same thickness, just with this black stuff. i tried changing the blade, and have used both sides of the strap cutter (one side is slightly dipped in where the blade bar goes through the handle; the other side is flat.) So, is the leather the problem, or is it the strap cutter, or is it me?

Thanks to all for your input. i did try sharpening it about 2 weeks ago. It will cut leather, but takes too much effort to be practical. (though it does slice celery quick and cleanly.) conclusion: It is a vegetable cutter\chopper\slicer, to be used in the kitchen. Not for leather. may the Good LORD bless ya'. Jes

hmm... when i first saw it, i thought it looked like some sort of cheese knife. (i forgot to mention that my great-aunt was a world traveler, and brought back many things that are now antiques. So this may have come from another country.) a cook's round knife... what kind of food would be chopped with it? dough, pasta, fruit? might be fun to use in the kitchen. so would sharpening it for leather work be a bad idea?

Greetings fellow leaherworkers, found this in a kitchen drawer. my dad inherited it from his aunt many years ago. no one here knows what it was used for, so i decided to try sharpening it for leatherwork. as you can see the paint has worn off the handle, and there is a layer of greenish paint under the red and yellow.(maybe a base coat?) i have searched the google pages, but haven't seen any knives with rounded tips like that. thanks for any input, and may the Good LORD bless ya'. Jes