Ferg

Well, I am no expert on stitching/sewing but I have been doing it a long time. Sorry, there isn't anything wrong with the organ needles, most problems with thread fraying in my experience is WRONG SIZE NEEDLE! A side note: You have the presser foot pressure too tight. You are making a deep impression with the foot into your leather. I understand you are using a scrap to sew in the vid. Your adjustments are way off. Ferg

Photos???? Ferg

Your art work is great. Reminds me of the 40's. Ferg

It really doesn't matter to me what folks decide to use for edge painting. I do know from experience, the grooved roller coaters are the best for small shop use. If I was doing belts like some folks do, I might try some other method. I am not bragging, simply saying how simple this can be, I can do the edge on a round coaster in less than 60 seconds. Lightly sand edges keeping them as square as you can, one coat sealer, sand, one coat finish, sand, second coat of finish, DONE! Ferg

Yes I am. Where are you located? Just generally, don't give me an address. Ferg

I don't slick the edges, I do sand the edges. I apply a coat of clear sealer, let it dry overnight, sand with 600 grit, apply the first coat of finish, sand it until I see no shiny areas, then apply a second coat of finish. No hot tools or anything. I have three or four applicators. The cone shaped one is by far the easiest and best to use IMHO. Ferg

Put the blade of a screwdriver in the slot at the end, twist slightly until you feel resistance when placing the bobbin on the shaft. Ferg

Other than a blueprint shop catering to builders, you can find the French Curve in Michael's some times or Amazon. Lol Ferg

IMHO You done a nice job. With the design style you decided on, I don't think you have too much background. How you finish that background will be the determining factor. My hands are not steady enough to do much hand drawing anymore. When I do a new pattern etc. it is usually with the computer. I appreciate anyone who can draw. My wife and youngest daughter are excellent artists. Ferg

No, I haven't tried the Heat-n-Bond. You have to be very careful the heat in the oven isn't too hot and you don't leave it very long. It definitely will dry the leather and burn it some times. I am working on the pattern for a Tote. I want to make the lining just as the outside of the Tote only a tad smaller and only connect it around the top edge under the rolled edge. I have always attached the lining completely with glue. Ferg

Of course I cannot find the piece of white Deer Skin I transferred a laser image to. I cheat a little. I have a 16" x 20" pressure plus heated platen press. I can take a piece of good quality copy paper intended for laser printing, print the copy of whatever I wish, normally a Black Line drawing, lay it on the piece of leather. I set the temperature on my press and lay the copy over leather in the press. Lower the top for about 20 to 30 seconds. Then transfer the piece of leather to a small oven set at 300 degrees. Leave for 30 to 45 seconds. When I remove from the oven the image is permanent on the leather. I have transferred black line images to brass then framed them. BTW: Unless you have extra Laser Printers you can use for a replacement, don't try to print a piece of leather on the pass through. Ferg

I am in no way criticizing folks who make the "Funky" looking shoes, whatever floats your boat. If I ever decide to make a pair of good hand made shoes I want them to look like my well worn "Rockford" Loafers. I figure the best way to get to that point is, very carefully take an old comfortable pair I have apart. Take many photos with a lot of commentary and markings. Find a pair of wooden lasts that will come close to my feet, I can alter them, and dive in. I don't wish to buy machinery I don't have, I may decide this is a pipe dream that I don't wish to encounter. I have an idea this is going to be something I will pursue in the future. I think it would be a blast!!! Ferg

I wrote the previous version of this on the 17th pf April. On the 20th I discovered Godaddy had deleted my entire web site for the Leather. I had discovered the day before, they had charged me $450+ for Top Tier SSL for the two sites. When they deleted that coverage, they also deleted the entire site as I said. Told them I wanted a refund of that $450, they wouldn't give it to me, would give Company Credit towards other product from them. Decided to use the credit to extend some of the coverage for more years. Evidently ticked them off! Imagine that. I sent an e-mail to my previous "agent", didn't answer me. I waited 24 hours and made contact again. Still didn't have my site back. Actually, they wanted to charge me $150 to restore it. Won't say what I replied to that. No site. I wrote again saying that I would make them a deal. Get my activations back on line with the correct settings etc. and I would rewrite the site myself. No answer. I got on the Chat again. (I am essentially deaf so I cannot communicate on the phone even with my hearing aids) Asked for my previous agent, mysteriously he wasn't in the office. My account was all screwed up. Wrong settings etc on the wrong site. One and half hours later, I had the sites reactivated. Monday or Tuesday of this week I finally finished the leather site enough to get it back on line. Search engines I had connected to weren't active now because the site had been de-activated. That will start all over again. Some of the items I had written are gone from my brain, may never get them back. Lol Changed some things I hadn't liked before. Discovered a number of things you cannot change from their offerings. The Info Bar at the top of the page can only be changed to either a very small Logo or the name of the site. Everything else is controlled by what you do in other areas of the site which makes sense if you don't know enough to do that yourself. They actually asked me for a recommendation. Ferg "fergsleatheronline.com"

Well, I wish you were closer to Ohio. I use a wide belt sander in our woodshop. If you want to load them in a pickup or trailer and get them here. You and I could do them pretty quick. Cost would be $20 per hour. Ferg

Keep your finger nails cut very short. Ferg

Obviously I done this for the 1776 celebration. I was prepared several years ago to put it in the trash bin. Kept thinking about it and decided to keep it around although we don't have it displayed anymore. Thought folks might like to view it. Ferg

We moved our wood shop from 10,000 sq.ft. to 5,000 sq. ft. and finally downsized to about 1300 sq. ft. We built the shop onto our log home. It has three sides open to the weather plus a little. Ceilings are 12 feet because I wanted to be able to turn a 4 x 8 sheet of material end over end if need be. Fluorescent lighting, used kerosene space heater for several years. Finally hung an electric heater on the ceiling just out from the wall exposed to the North, with 8 x 10 overhead door and service door to outside. Can't remember what the BTU is on the heater but it required a 30 Amp Breaker. When below 40 degrees we turn the heater on the night before we are going to work in the shop. I have thermostat set at 55 degrees. Chilly when you first begin working. Large air compressor and Vacuum pump helps heat. When really cold, below 30 degrees, and windy the electric bill climbs pretty fast. At my age I can take the bill to be reasonably comfortable plus that heater stabilizes the moisture in stored material. If I had my leather shop out there, it would be way too cold. Shop has 8" logs on a portion of it with remainder having 2 x 6 fully insulated walls with six inch batts in the ceiling. Shop is drywalled, no windows and we don't air condition in summer. Not practical. We use fans and open the overhead and service door, also have a small spray booth with a 24" exhaust fan we turn on in summer. BTW: My leather shop is on second floor of home with heat and air with a carpeted floor, two large and two small windows. ALSO: Shop has never dropped below 40 degrees with no heat turned on. We have temps in the teens to twenties in the winter. Ferg

Thank you, I always done either lacing or hand stitching until my fingers and hands met Mr. "Arthritis". That will make you begin to save pennies for the first machine, then another, then another.... You get the idea. Lol Ferg

I am curious about the bottom of your bag. Did you simply leave it the thickness of your leather or did you place a "hard" material inside the bag for a flat bottom? Noticed you stitched the bottom ends from the outside, hand stitched? I have an idea manufacturers of great numbers of these have a "Post Bed" machine to sew the bottom from the inside of the bag. I would be interested in any and all ideas as to how folks are handling the bottoms of these. BTW: Take a look at some of "Moore & Giles" Tote Bags. Ferg

I have finished my new website for selling a few leather items plus I done another site for our main business at the same time. I used GoDaddy. Dug deeply into the five most highly regarded Hosting, Domain Regstrars, Site building companies on the Net. After much fussing and fuming I decided to use GoDaddy. It wasn't easy. These companies have one thing in mind, make money. I have no problem with that as I like to do that also. My problem with them is how they approach getting it. There are hundreds of little traps in the programs to either convince you that you must have so-and-so or they require you to "sign Up" for trials that will automatically Renew unless you figure a way to get out of them. Approach these with extreme caution. If you are not at least an Intermediate User of a computer, have someone else do the site for you. If you are adept at writing the different nuances of WebSite Code, by all means use an editor and a program you like, don't go this route. I have written several sites with code. It has been several years since I done it and quite honestly, I simply did not wish to refresh my memory and dive into it again. Secondly. This is not cheap. I have Hosting for my two sites, Top Level SSL with McAfee, GD holds the Domains, I have WebSite Builder with Online Store for both. I can change/edit anything I wish at any time. Use my photos or theirs, redo their suggested layouts, etc. they will give you a dedicated e-mail Free for one year, you pay for after that. I can set up Search Engines from my sites, we will see how much good that does. I never pay for Search. I have done it myself for years after finding the money spent with most done absolutely nothing. When I learned how to do it with Meta Words etc. I was consistently within the first ten to twenty sites listed. If you are beyond that you will get very few "Clicks". Which BTW, you can buy from the "Slicks". They amount to absolutely nothing in my opinion. They can make your site have "Hits" if it rains. What it boils down to? You must have something to sell that is either unique or better than what is available and at a price at which you can afford to manufacture plus offer impeccable service. If they say a Swivel Knife cut is out of alignment and you know it isn't, you replace the item and ask for the item to be returned to you in original condition and in the original packaging. Then you send a new item with a smile. Price: !!!!!!!! For the two sites I just finished enough to put them On-Line, I have between $800 and $1000 invested. That breaks down to parts being for one year, some two years. I may never sell enough leather items to cover the cost of that page, I know that. The Puzzle Site will pay for both of them in one year. It is established and we have had that business for forty years. I am not advertising for anyone nor trying to sell to any of you. I sincerely hope my experience will help some of you that are riding the fence to make a decision. "fergsleatheronline.com" "namepuzzles4kids.com" Good Luck! Ferg

Well, you done a nice job on the belts. What is the material you have on the backside? You may have a problem with those not being sewn on the edges. Ferg

As thin as you can make it and still retain the strength of the leather Ferg

I am sorry. I forgot to post that the stamps have been sold. Ferg

Chain, Tried to place situations close together until I get a feel for what I really want it to look like. There will be several pages that is for sure. I am also rewriting another business page of ours. Transferring Domains etc. Ferg