Ferg

I guess some fun is FUN. Isn't this getting a little out of hand? Cute? I am not so sure. Doesn't this belong on a Dating Site? ferg

I looked at their site. All I can say is, "WOW! Oriental folks have the touch when it comes to intricate design and perfection in their work. I only wish the miserable trash we are exposed to by the Chinese in almost every avenue of our life these days, would stop. Honestly, I think I would gladly do without. ferg

Cincinnati Tandy had a large inventory of them last summer. Haven't really looked anywhere else. Seems I gave about $60 or $70 per hide, 6 to 8 sq.ft. Love the doggone stuff. ferg

I have bought about eight of these hides. Afraid I cannot give you much on the tech's of it but I can tell you it is a great leather. I make cell phone cases, wallet backs, etc. with it. You can tool and stamp it. The colors are very nice. ferg

My rotaries are definitely "Vintage". I have had at least two of them for 60+ years. Never bent or broke one, just continue dressing the copper pad so the hole is cut complete. Guess you might look for an old one.lol ferg

What really brought this subject up? I guess I haven't been looking for anything to antagonize about. I have lived through five major wars the USA was involved in, some much worse than others. I try real hard to find good in most everything that happens. I agree that is difficult at times. ferg

Veery nice. ferg

Horween is maybe the only tannery doing Cordovan Shell Horse in the USA. I know of at least one Italian tannery that does it also. Horween has a video of their tannery that is educational as well as very interesting. If you haven't seen it you should. Over sixty years ago I bought Cordovan from Horween. For those not knowing what portion of Horse Hide it comes from.... The Rump of the horse. There are two shell shaped areas the cordovan is cut from. Thus: Shell Cordovan. The leather has the tightest grain of any I have used in the weights available. You cannot tool it but it will take a hot, gold, transfer as no other. Hard to come by most of the time since the high end shoe and accessory manufacturers use almost all Horween has at any given time. I have two cordovan shells I bought from Horween three years ago. I have cut an exterior for a wallet from one the other is untouched. They aren't as nice as what I used to buy. ferg

Okay, To begin with, if you want a very artistic transfer you are going to need to "Heat Transfer" plus white leather or as near to it as possible. I have gotten reasonably good black transfer onto most any leather but Veg Tan works best. There is a lot more to the transferring of images to leather than I am going to go into here. ferg

Never used to for upholstery BECAUSE? it rubs off on clothing. ferg

Some folks have good luck with the safety skiver, I hate the darn thing. I use a round knife that is kept very sharp when I want to skive thin leather. I have the French also. Rolled edges are beautiful and "Sassy Classy" but they would make your wallets more expensive because of the time involved. I think the burnished edge is the way to go, along with the crease. If you do not incorporate a flowing curve to the top edge of your pockets, try it. With the crease they look very nice and add little to the cost. ferg

If the blade is sharper than anything you can imagine and adjusted perfectly, you can do it. With a lot of patience. ferg

You are welcome to your opinion. I don't see any difference in your two scenarios. If I get undercharged, I don't care where, I make sure I pay the correct amount. Overcharged? Of course I am going to pursue that also. I do not wish to get into a corporate "yay-nay" here. Why do so many folks have the idea that corporate is so wrong all the time? I admit, some times the big boys can get carried away. Do any of you realize how much is pilfered from big box stores? We visit Lowe's often, many times for small amount of plumbing fittings or screws, etc. This particular company is double bagging small product to slow down actual theft. People will take screws out of an electrical cover package and actually hang the pilfered bag back on the kiosk or shelf. The stealth in retail is unbelievable. Of course there are those that think nothing of it, "Oh they are making millions, they don't need that." I observed a gentleman, I use that loosely, sorting through smoke alarms one day. He actually opened a number of them taking one or two items from each until he had a complete product, stuffed them into his pockets and walked out. No alarm at the door since he didn't have the box. He was there for 20 minutes. I wanted to walk up and give him a big kick in the rear. Shopping carts left in the parking lot that may be ten feet from a corral, disabled folks are excused. I have watched while folks load their car, push the cart over to the vehicle next to them, pull out and if the wind is blowing or the pavement slopes, BANG ! into someone else's property. You are not owed anything you didn't work for or pay for, PERIOD! ferg

The disc needs to be fairly tight on the thread. The disc base is adjustable,side to side. You may also have it rotated slightly so that it isn't in perfect alignment with the bobbin. When adjusted properly they work fine. I think the reason most of us build winders is so we don't have to use the sewing machine to wind plus our winders are faster. ferg

I have defended Tandy many times. The business situation in the US and other parts of the world tend to define a lot of how a company, corporate or otherwise, does business. Tandy has had to buy from China, Mexico, and Lord knows where else to stay in business. Their tools aren't much any more but what they have gives and has given thousands of young and old the opportunity to delve into a craft that almost every person can learn to do. That cannot be said for Painting, computer programing among many. I began my leather crafting 62 years ago. Tandy was in it's Heyday. Leather was high quality, tools were probably made in the US, and we had Al and Ann Stohlman among a few others. Al wasn't the best their is/was but he knew how to illustrate and write tutorials so anyone could understand them. In later life Ann became the best designer and leather crafts lady. I probably own most of the books Tandy has carried over the years. I hate attending school to learn how to do things. I devour books as though they were GOURMET Ice Cream. Frankly, I am glad those old books are still available as well as new ones I have. You need to spend much of your life in business that is highly competitive to fully understand some of the predicament Tandy finds itself in today. I spent a large part of my life building houses. The last, almost 40 years, have been in manufacturing children's wooden furniture and toys. You haven't lived until you fight for your business life in either of those. BTW: Last summer I visited the Cincinnati Tandy and bought some of the best leather I have ever used. And that is my .02 ferg

When you immerse the leather into warm water, only allow it to be submersed until the bubbles stop. With thin veg tan that can be just a matter of seconds. Your tooling isn't sharp on the edges. when too wet it leaves a blurred edge. You can actually use a wet sponge to temper your thin leather. Begin your tooling when the leather is beginning to look as it did when it was dry. Use the sponge to dampen when it begins to get a little too dry. Swivel knife will drag when too wet, other tools drag some also making your carving look blotchy. ferg

Try e-bay for an older copy that will run on your present computer. ferg

I believe your leather was too wet while you were trying to tool. ferg

If you are thinking about going into the business?????? How deep are your pockets and have you done any prep work as to potential customers? There are a lot of companies with computer equipment that can outperform "Hand Made" by ten miles. New Manual Helmold Bender with a starter set of dies might run you $4000. You will need a steel rule cutter, not sure how much they are. Angle cutters and notchers. $$$$$ Steel rule in small quantities, 30" strips, will average $1.35 per foot to $1.75 per foot. Many styles of rule available to cut different types of material. Rule comes in point sizes as with printing fonts. Most popular I guess would be 2, 3 & 4 pt. Some have the edge ground while others are shaved on the edges. Different angles of grind as well as length of grind. Different widths of rule. Steep learning curve. Die makers may apprentice for several years to become real good at it. If they are lucky enough to get hired by a reputable company they can spend most of their remaining working lives learning more about making DIES. lol It is one of the many things I want to learn to do. I am retired (long time) and simply wish to make my own dies. I scrounged for a used Bender and plan on building my cutter. Don't anticipate needing notchers or angle cutters, YET. My intent is to make the dies I want without having more invested than it would cost to have them made for me. Should be interesting in the long run. ferg

Bobby, I have to offer my congratulations also. Thank you many times over for all the help you have given myself and many others. May you have many more like this day. ferg

And how are we supposed to be able to contact you? ferg

From one old Sailor to another, boy! I am glad you are okay. How is Mom Kat? ferg

Tink, I bought a couple of those blades to have as patterns. They aren't real great quality but they are cheap. My knives have blades that were made with the shape of two of these. ferg

I bought a Consew 206RB5 from Zamir several years ago. It hadn't been adjusted for anything. Between Wiz and Bob Kovar I got it set up. I also ordered a binder attachment from Zamir with the assurance it would work. There was no way in hell it was going to work. I emailed him numerous times. He finally answered me saying, "I don't have time to waste talking to you." I returned the binder, he never refunded my money. He has crook written all over him and for those of you that have had good luck with him, good for you. Mark that up on the wall. ferg

Buying the brass is easy. There are companies selling small pieces of most any thickness you wish on the Net, just"Google" The knives I made are very easily done. I have in my shop a small bench top belt sander I used to rough out the shape I wanted. I then used 600-1000 grit sanding medium and finished with polishing compound on a "Flap" wheel. ferg