Ferg

I guess my red flag went up when they seemingly ignored my e-mails. While he said he was looking at the e-mails, saying what I had written, I also was looking at them, he was wrong and had no intention of acknowledging the fact. When they sent the confirmation of the order it was almost all wrong. When I spoke to him on the phone to verify the order he mentioned the lettering I had chosen was going to be a further charge then told me they would absorb it. I have a feeling someone higher up told him he needed to make up the difference. That came about by intending to give me the brass, stamp for wood, and a further order for a hot stamping tool. When the gentleman wanted to argue with me I let him have it. My wife says,"Why do you do that?" My nature I guess. LOL I definitely will never recommend them to anyone. ferg

I agree with Billy on everything except the reverse. Both of my machines have reverse and I simply would not be without it. Also: Believe me you will decide you want to do other than watch bands when you get a machine. As Billy said, call Bob Kovar. Tell him what you wish to do now and think real hard about the future. The cylinder machines come with a table you can remove giving you almost, two machines in one. The heads of these machines will weigh on average 100 pounds. The floor plate is steel on a cylinder arm, it is heavy also. They need to be heavy to dampen any vibrations from the machine when it is running. ferg

You got something started anyway. Now you can practice some more. LOL ferg

We received a credit memo from Infinity yesterday evening. That doesn't mean the CC has been credited, we will see. Talked to Steel Stamps rep this morning. My vector drawings were okayed will receive a proof later today. They were considerably cheaper than Infinity also. ferg

I reordered a stamp from Steel Stamps this evening. Their stamp will make impression 3/16" deep. I want to have the capability to stamp many different types of leather, dry or dampened, didn't want the Delrin. ferg

I ordered a stamp to be made, from INFINITY. Sent vector image with name of font I wanted used along with size I wanted the final image. I requested a steel plate, no threaded hole in back, no handle. Just a smooth back. E-mails seemed to get ignored about proper designations. Received the confirmation of order this morning. Brass plate for Hot Stamping wood, no mention of back being smooth plus the dimensions for the piece didn't add up. I called the guy order was placed with. Told him the order was wrong. He said, "That is how you ordered it." Not true but he insisted I would have to pay extra. Imagine that. Anyone like to guess where I told him to place the order? Ask for an immediate credit to my CC, he refused. This guy hung up on me. A few minutes later the phone rang, it was THE BOSS! Wife answered the phone, wouldn't let me. Was sure this could be worked out. Wife told him to credit the card and tear up the order. Any problem with that? "No, he would take care of it." You can bet I am going to access the card account frequently. Buyers beware. ferg

It was embarrassing to say the least, when a customer enquired as to the extra charges. We ship via USPS when possible since it is cheaper. We found out about the extra charges from one of the clerks at our PO. Some of our packages may weigh 6 or 8 pounds, we only give a value of $19 while the actual is more like $150 to $175. I know you will think we are taking a chance with the product package getting lost. We have been shipping to Canada for about three years I believe. Never have had a damaged product returned. Biggest problem is people moving two or three days after they give an order, not very often though. We shipped close to 2000 pieces to Canada this last Christmas. ferg

Andrew, I don't mind the smell of the adhesive so that makes me wonky right away. I use Weldwood Gel and love it. We glued laminate for many years so the contact cements are almost second nature to me. Ten minutes might be pushing it if your shop space is a little cool or high humidity. A good test for proper time is a piece of wax paper touched to the glue, if any of the adhesive sticks to the wax paper it is too soon to adhere the two sides. Proper use of any contact cement applied to either side of the leather will/should give you excellent results. Also: remember, most adhesives used with leather or similar substrates do not result in ultimate adhesion for at least 24 hours. ferg

We ship a lot to Canada, no other international shipping. When we began shipping to Canada we valued the product at what it would cost to manufacture plus the extra shipping. Their Customs sent the customer a bill for, sometimes over $20 because we valued the item too high. We re-evaluated the at cost, they stopped charging the customer. USA customs works a little bit like Welfare Department, "Handle and lay aside, you don't want people to think we are too good at what we do." I have had items I ordered lay in Customs office for more than two weeks before they are actually shipped to their ultimate destination. ferg

I have only bought punches from GoodsJapan. I have a complete set of deco punches. The owner told me they were a little fragile, I needed to be careful when using. I found immediately you need to dampen the leather to make the holes. Most any size of the punches are this way. They are steel, not stainless. If they mark the dampened leather I have not noticed it. Shipping from HongKong was quick considering. The time lapse for this company is not the shipping, it is getting through customs here in the states. ferg

Pay close attention to what Wiz says. I pull my thread from the tension discs every time when I end a stitch line. Have gotten into that habit and just continue since when you are sewing with a small needle pulling the thread through the needle can bend or even break the needle. Larger needles will bend before they break. I have found when the tension is actually correct you need very little adjustment when changing thread sizes or material thickness. I adjust my bobbins exactly the way Wiz described. Also, never turn that adjustment screw more than about 1/8th of a turn each time, it is very short. ferg

I found this: http://www.fratellialberti.com/lang2/skiving_machines_av2.html I didn't see any bottom and top feed machines. I don't see any mention of a grinder so I am guessing it has a grinding wheel that is in contact with the bell knife all the time, I do not know that for sure. Many configurations of the machine including, head only. Four hundred bucks is awfully cheap, may not include shipping. Appears the machines from the factory would ship from Italy. The heads will average 100 lbs. Shipping from Italy could cost you another $400 to $500. ferg

Sorry, never heard of it. Are you familiar enough with the machine to see if it is built as the Fortuna? Many clones with most having almost all the features of the Fortuna. If this machine is new I would leave it where it's at. ferg

Looks fine, need to work on your burnished edges. That would make it "dressy" ferg

You are truly amazing! ferg

It was snowing heavily and blowing to the point that visibility was almost zero when a young Blond teenage girl got caught in a blizzard. She made her way to her car and wondered how she was going to make it home. She sat in her car while it warmed up and thought about her situation. She finally remembered her daddy's advice that if she got caught in a blizzard she should wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it. That way she would not get stuck in a snow drift. This made her feel much better and sure enough in a little while a snow plow went by and she started to follow it. As she followed the snow plow she was feeling very smug as they continued & she was not having any problem with the blizzard conditions. After an hour had passed, she was somewhat surprised when the snowplow stopped & the driver got out , came back to her car and signaled for her to roll down her window.. The snow plow driver wanted to know if she was all right as she had been following him for a long time. She said that she was fine & told him of her daddy's advice to follow a snow plow when caught in a blizzard. The driver replied that it was ok with him & she could continue if she wanted, but he was done with the Wal-Mart parking lot & was going over to Sears.

If you have a program on your computer that will let you convert the image to a "Grayscale" image first then a line drawing, this will help you get the image transferred easier. ferg

Please remember my critique is meant to be constructive. You need to plan your design before diving into a complicated Coat of Arms. When you do Coats of Arms you will eventually get hammered by someone that believes all of them should be perfect, as in original, with no little "asides". Doesn't matter if the person you are doing it for has little or no requirement for same. Use a more subtle backgrounding stamp, the image is your focal point don't obscure that with deep colored dye plus a deep impression. Your swivel knife cuts aren't even. I know, you have only been doing this work for a short while, doesn't mean you should ignore this. You should do your swivel knife cuts, modeling and shading stamps, apply a resist, a paste dye, wipe off, then do your painting with a better paint than available at Tandy. All of these processes should be allowed to dry thoroughly before proceeding to next. Buy some good quality artist's brushes. The broom you are using isn't going to cut it. LOL Never get discouraged by what someone like me tells you. Work, read, study, and buy the best materials you can afford. AND PRACTICE! ferg

Well, you did ask for a critique. You need to do a lot of practicing with your Paint/Stain before attacking an image such as a Coat of Arms. The dark stain in the background is totally out of whack. The painting simply isn't very good. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your work that practice won't improve. ferg

Your holsters are a nice clean design with one caveat, you need to burnish the edges or if you are burnishing, you need to work on it. ferg

If you mean what machine did I sew it with, Seiko Cylinder Arm and Consew 206RB5 flatbed. It is 138 Bonded Nylon thread. Sorry, she has it full of her "stuff". Unable to take a photo of inside.

Ron, From my own experience.... I don't have time to do much leather from July through Christmas so whatever skills I have with my sewing machines is hard to get going again. Stitch something just to be doing it, if you have time. Keeps the mind working anyway. ferg

Wife did not wish to have any pockets. The purse holds everything well and in intended place. I am in the process of making a change/occasional paper money, wallet with blue interior to match the Checkbook/card purse. ferg

An embossing wheel on a handle can be done in a few minutes by hand and you didn't screw up an expensive piece of machinery that was never intended for a purpose such as this. ferg

The feed dogs can be lowered or removed. A narrow slot plate can be made to fit the machine. Wiz has this machine and I am sure he has a narrow slot plate for his. It may be an accessory Bob Kovar has in stock. I have a slotted for my Consew but not for the Seiko Cylinder Arm. Biggest advantage to the slotted plate is the nice smooth backside of the stitching. Gets a little tricky in some leathers without a feed dog. ferg