BAD HIDE

Basically, there's a few things wrong here: Some people will buy whatever Kate Spade makes - this goes for handbags, shoes, kindle covers, you name it. She's an international designer, we're not. Some people drop lots of money on things just to say they spent $125 for a kindle cover, and here is where Kate Spade is competing with you. If you make a better product or nicer design than she does, it's possible to snatch some business away from her, but so is every other international designer with sweatshops churning them out and stores to sell their goods. And there's people like you and me, who'd never spend that much for a cover - so we go and get the $15 one, and it lasts as long as the kindle does - which isn't very long. Actually, I'd never get a kindle anyway - books aren't that heavy, don't need batteries and I can drop them plenty of times without breaking. It is pretty crazy when you stop and think about it. But in the handmade business, it's all about finding the customer willing to spend a little more for something that's unique and high quality. Selling on Amazon isn't something I originally considered, but it's possible.

I really like the hole and hanger idea. maybe use a clothes rod and some wire curtain hooks, or even make a few hangers out of 12 gauge wire. I don't use many types of leather, so I don't really have a solution for you. I have 3 track shelving strips with 2 long brackets on top and 2 shorter brackets each strip - basically 4 shelves without actual shelves. I toss all my rolled up hides and even belt blanks across the brackets. If it's too small to roll, it goes in the scrap box. It all kinda depends on your inventory as to what will work best for you. I only really keep 3 weights of tooling leather, about 2-3 hides each, and about a dozen different lining, chap and garment leathers. If you can't figure out how to store it, figure out how to use it up.

What your probably looking for is a belt loop folder attachment. The bigger expense will probably be the double needle sewing machine used to do both stitches at once. There are other ways to fold and sew a purse handle with a single stitch line, and plenty of folder attachments out there that will do it automatically. I worked in an awning shop for a few years, and we had piles of attachments for folded hems, piping, binding, you name it. They were all for canvas, but I imagine they make most of them for leather machines too. As for doing it manually, it kinda depends on the leather, but this is most likely done with garment leather anyway, so it'll fold just fine on it's own without any pre-bending. I'd just draw a line down the middle on the flesh side, contact cement it, then carefully fold each edge to the line, use a roller or hammer to flatten, and sew it with an edge guide.

For edges, I'm mixing about 70/30 beeswax and paraffin. Beeswax for flexibility, paraffin for polish. I'm still doing edges mostly by hand though, so when I get a polishing wheel set up, I'll probably move up to 60/40 or 50/50. I melt it in pie tin in some water over the stove, let it cool, pop it out and break off chunks. Pure beeswax works, but it doesn't get as glossy. For sewing threads, I just use pure beeswax. It's nice and tacky on it's own, but I've seen in other threads where guys mix a little rosin in their sewing wax. I've seen white beeswax in stores too, just go to a craft store that has candle making supplies.

Bumping for more info I picked up a small bottle, and am not getting what I wanted or expected. I've tried it over a resist, and it almost completely wipes away. I tried it on raw leather and the most I get is a reddish tan color with only minimal pooling in the crevices - not even enough to call it an antique finish. For me, it's anything but goof proof. Since there's no instructions, how do you use it to get a good finish?

Al Stohlman's Art of making leather cases Vol 1 has a shotgun shell 1 box case and a 4 box carrier. To make one like his though, you'll have to make up your own pattern and experiment a bit.

I wasn't going for red hot, just hot enough to do a fair stretch on a dry belt. I haven't done it very often, so I was still trying to find what temperature and # of passes would give a good edge. I don't have a heat gun, just a propane torch and oxy/acetylene - which wouldn't be any better. Seeing this, I wouldn't even try a Bunsen burner. It might have been aluminum or tin or some other crappy alloy, but it definitely wasn't decent steel. I just was not expecting in a million years to melt it so easily and quickly - it didn't even cross my mind that it was in the realm of possibility. This post is more of a warning to anyone who does it this way, or hasn't yet tried it but might. I'm still kinda shocked that they'd make something so cheaply and still call it a tool. Oh, and I'm not mad. It really is quite funny.

Ya know all those pics and such you see of guys heating an edging tool with a torch? yeah, those tools must be made better than mine. This was done with a regular propane torch, ya know the kind where you have to hold it for 10 minutes to just get steel red hot, first couple heatings I noticed a little metal bubble up and flake off, so I'm thinking it was just the plating coming off, no biggie. Go to heat it up again (couldn't have been more than 10 seconds) to get a good long groove on a belt and ploop, I'm out an adjustable edge groover. Ignore the dye mess on the paper. Friggin cheap tools must be made out of pewter or something.

That's awesome Definitely much better than any homemade costume I had growing up.

It looks close to it, but idk for sure. It might be waxed or be the wrong size, hard to tell from a picture. I just got the thread from Campbell, it's expensive, but that $46 is going to last a hand stitcher a looooooooong time. I think I used up a couple little 50 yard waxed spools before I got this one, and I should have just gotten this one first. I still use some waxed poly cord for colored stitching, it's cheaper and comes in 4oz spools, but not as nice as the linen threads. And the whole point of leatherworking is to not use plastic and synthetics, right?

came up with a new one.

I'm with Art. Unless you get a really good deal on it, the kits aren't worth it. The quality of the tools are the same as you'd normally get from Tandy, which are hobby grade, but there's gonna be a few things in there that you don't need or won't ever use. There's nothing wrong with hobby grade tools, I have quite a few, but once you get to a point where you're able to drop some coin on some good tools, you'll see a difference. You don't need everything all at once, just pick up what you need and expand from there. I tell people focus on just one project, start to finish, think of all the processes involved, and pick up the tools and materials to do it, and make a few times before trying the next item. There's lots of getting started lists on this forum that goes over what tools are necessary, and picking up a few books will get you goin.

I think if I watched fox news while stitching, I'd be more prone to stab myself. And if you're a gamer geek, FTW means "for the win" I'd definately go for an awl, and pick up Al Stohlman's book. it'll save you a lot of trouble. If you still want round holes, there's 4 hole round lacing punches which are much faster than dremels, and if you want to mimic awl pokes, get a 4 prong diamond chisel punch. I still use the later on thin leathers that would be too hard to use an awl on. I'd also go for thinner leathers, you want a handmade wallet that doesn't feel homemade - the thinner the wallet, the more you can stuff in it without it getting super fat and uncomfortable. I make backs out of 4 oz and liners out of 1-2 oz, with folded over top edges - still loads more rugged than store bought wallets made entirely out of 2 oz and fabrics.

Most of what I've used so far is just tooling and garment leathers, but I've gotten a request to do a bike messenger style bag. It's going to have some carved tooling leather panels, and probably suede on the underside of the strap. I want to use a durable, water resistant 5-7 oz leather for the body and straps, but I'm not sure what to use. I was thinking oil tanned or latigo, but I haven't worked with either, and there might be something better out there that someone knows of and I haven't thought of yet.

Yeah, I've never really looked at the boxes (what can I say, I'm a guy so directions are for fools) and that really doesn't do me much good when I have 6 bottles of dye and the boxes are long gone. I'll look at them next time I order some. Canning jars would work, and I use one for neatsfoot oil, because it's easier to slop out of that than the jug. I do two types of dying though, rag and airbrush. Wide mouth jars would be great for rag and dauber applications, but you still have the conundrum of filling airbrush cups, which would spill if you poured them and who has time to clean an eyedropper. Anyway, I ordered 24 of the 8oz. http://www.sks-bottl...40c/fin43a.html , HDPE for more solvent resistance, and caps instead of twist tops for less evaporation. I'm already planning on building a little carrier tray that can hold them all. 24 is more than I need right now, but I'll have space for more colors - and I really like having lots of colors, and all the bottles will be uniform size.

I'm not much of a klutz, but I think I've spilled more Angelus Dye than actually used it. Nothing against the dye itself, it actually is very good, but I've ruined a couple projects because of the bottles. I don't think it's me, because I've never tipped over the Fiebings 4 oz squareish bottles, but again, the possibility of a spill with an open bottle is there and it'd be even worse with Fiebing's wide mouth bottles emptying even faster. I think what I'm going to do is get a bunch of squeeze bottles with twist caps to put all my dyes in. Then it'll kill 2 birds with one stone, I won't be spilling much, I can squirt directly onto a rag or into an airbrush cup. Another thing is the strength of the dyes, which are all a little too strong for me directly out of the bottle. If I get 8 oz bottles, fill the rest with alcohol - win win. I did a similar thing with all my one-shot sign paint - just squirt them into dixie cups to use - and it turned out great. Anyone else have similar problems or do anything similar with their dyes?

If you're having trouble pulling through every hole, there's something amiss. Either your awl blade is too small or your needles are too big. I generally sew with small needles and two awls, one bigger than the other (not by much, but noticeable, it's really just a brand new blade that hasn't been sharpened down much). All my starts and stops, wherever I'm going to pass 4 threads through it, I'll use the bigger awl and even twist it to make the hole bigger, and then it's still tight but no problem getting the needles to go through with just my fingers. Then switch to the smaller awl and go to town. I probably have to use pliers maybe once every 2-3 hours of sewing, but definitely not every hole. Once you figure out what's causing the extra resistance and can sew without the pliers, your speed, consistency, and your stitches will be a lot better. As far as the puckers, lighten up on pulling your threads - they really don't need to be any tighter than an easy squeeze - and make sure the leather is dry.

it'd work, but I don't know how that could possibly be as easy or as clean as having a single stamp.

For some reason, the Craftool sets don't have a spade stamp, I've never been able to figure that out. Hidecrafters does have all 4 on their website. I've been meaning to order it myself, but just haven't gotten around to it.

I have a question for those of you who recently ordered, and I'm just wondering and covering my bases here. Basically, I'm in a 3rd floor apartment and have never ordered anything off a pallet to a home address, so how crazy heavy is the whole thing, I'd have to unwrap it on the street or back of the truck and does it come in enough pieces that I can haul it up without too much struggle? And for any cobra owner, how light can it sew? Not fine silks, but I've been making a few messenger bags and similar things out of canvas and denim. If it could work for that, I could ditch my more-trouble-than-it's-worth sewing machine, even though it says "heavy duty", it's still a craigslist-found home sewing machine that can barely do the job. Also, even though I doubt I'll get that feature - EPS: did you get it or not, and was it worth it?

No sharp edges, you should be fine carrying on all your stuff. They might want a look in your bag, seeing how most tools would be pretty funny looking under the x ray machine. Just don't look suspicious.

Ok, they got back to me this time, so I'm gtg. I don't have much of a problem phoning in orders, but I'm a night owl, and usually I'll place orders late, which is why I like ordering online. It's definitely a little cumbersome going back and forth between the pdf catalog window and the shopping cart, but as long as they get the order right, I'm not gonna complain much. I've dealt with worse, and can't blame them for not updating to a proper shopping site with the amount of coding that would have to be done for that much inventory.

I did their new customer request thing about a month ago and never heard back from them, so I just sent in another tonight. I know I'm small time, but if you're going to put the forms online, you might wanna have someone check them.

yeah, I just use the same thread I use for hand sewing - Barbour's 6 cord linen. I just wax it a little bit less, and if it's hidden, I'll just do a running stitch. I use a 4 prong diamond punch instead of an awl for the holes. I've thought about getting some nylon thread for this purpose, but I don't think regular #69 machine thread would look good if done by hand.

Yep, if you started with #1, you wouldn't have had that problem. I did the same thing and bought #2 first, and one look through it convinced me to buy #1 and #3 in the next order. Incomplete as it may be, the amount of info in those books is staggering. I guess it's just easier to sell 3 $15 books instead of one big $45 book.