Ferg

Are you planning to carve/stamp your projects? You will need at least 5-6 ounce veg tanned. Get a shoulder if you want all thickness to be nearly same weight. A back will give you some thinner leather in spots you can use for card holders. The garment leather is fine for some purse designs with no tooling. Buy ready made wallet/purse liners, you won't need another leather to line. Large carved purses do best with 6-8ounce veg tanned. ferg quote name='RunKittyRun' timestamp='1343255842' post='257923'] For wallets I think you want something like 3-4 ounce veg tanned. Springfield leather will sell you a smaller, like 5 sq ft. piece. You're also going to want some lining leather like pig or sheep in the 1 ounce range. Straps would be best with latigo or harness leather I think, For bags and such you'd want a 3-4 ounce garment leather. That would be chrome tanned. It's softer.

I am sorry you had a bad experience with the servo. I have a Consew rb5 and a Seiko cylinder arm, both have servo motors, one from Bob one from Consew. They both work perfectly. I have plenty of torque at every speed in almost everything I have tried to sew. That is why I suggested the servo. If you bought the servo from any of the dealers that frequent this forum I am sure they will almost stand on their heads to get you going correctly. If you bought the servo off e-bay, what can I say? ferg

Sylvia, Wife and I drove over 3000 miles in February on our vacation. Think I will pass on that trip until I get rested. LOL ferg

Mike, Fine work as usual. Your hand stitching is fabulous. Glad to hear Ma Kat is up and about, give her an extra hug for me. ferg

I modify most pieces of machinery I own, that is many. BUT, there are times when modification can turn into a nightmare, why don't you just bite the bullet, call Bob, get real reduction with no loss of torque with one of his servo motors? I forgot to mention, I like to sew slow on some things, very slow. Does that equal sewing by hand? Definitely not. Also like to speed it up,SERVO, ferg

I doubt I will be visiting them, I live in Ohio. LOL ferg

Melanie web site has nothing on it right now ferg

I have an 8500watt generator we used last year when a storm took our power for 7days. It has two wheels at one end with handles/stand at the other. Takes two men and a boy to put it into the bed of my pick-up. Generators must be located a safe distance from any live animals, humans included. All that said, here in Ohio I doubt if you would get on the grounds with a generator of any size. Noisy? you bet. Smelly and other problems. I know where you are coming from but personally, I wouldn't even consider it. ferg

I see at least 4 or 5 tools that have been hand made by someone. The leather stamps look exactly like some I have which I would have bought between 1954 and 1956. ferg

Obviously this is going nowhere. We all have our opinions and there is know point in dragging this out which does nothing but create some hard feelings. Johanna, please lock this thread. ferg

You need to read all the posts, namely mine and Art's. Many of us have helped folks on this forum with material and tools. I won't send money to anyone that I do not know. That reminds me of the guy standing at an intersection wanting money instead of a job. ferg

I have to admit it is one great looking piece of hardware plus being functional for a change. I think if I can dream up something to use one for I might just bite the bullet and pay $14.95. Your shipping might be a problem. Just a note: We ship a lot to Canada, first class mail. No matter what the value is we note the value at no more than $15.00. We found out the hard way the customs in Canada was charging the customers very big fees if it was over the fifteen bucks. In three years we have had one item that didn't get shipped to the customer. ferg

This one is $14.00 http://boldleaddesigns.com/shop/add-locking-jaw-snap/ A buck is a buck! ferg

Hi Mia, I know absolutely nothing about "kick starter". When I began my foray into the art of leather my income was $72.00 per month. Admittedly, that was a long time ago. The point I am making is, I had little to nothing as far as money. I did have a lot of " Get-up and Go". I ask for nothing. My question is this, " Why do so many expect so much monetarily?"I have no problem with offering info, I do have problem with asking for handouts. BTW: I have given several folks that were down and out, materials and tools. ferg

Why can you not drill the cast iron?ferg

I haven't used much of the unfinished Butts but I have used many of the Shell Cordovan from Horween. Makes beautiful wallets that fetch very good prices. The casing of the butts is a little different. This leather is extremely close/tight grained. Requires a little longer time in the casing solution to make it work great. ferg

Overall you done pretty well. Use a hair tool to define some lines on the stem. Work on walking your beveler. You can smooth this one out with a modeling tool. Your knife cuts for the edge are uneven. Try to use the same pressure on the knife as you make your cuts. ferg

Maybe because so many folks like them, hmmmmm?ferg

Kenny, I will give you $150 for it. Believe me, that machine is not worth what you are asking. ferg

$150.00, you pay half the shipping. I know how heavy they are. I rebuilt a 5 in1, it weighed 42 pounds packaged. ferg

Some things we do unconsciously make you feel good all over don't they? ferg

One of my Grandfathers died in 1940, I preface with this to set the time in my life. As farmers, all butchering and preperation of meat for the family was done by hand.Grandpa Newt had a set of butcher knives. The night before butchering he used a piece of native stone to whet the knives. Spit for lubricant, many strokes on that old stone.He tested by shaving some hair off his arm. Those knives never seen a strop and they were not sharpened during the next long day of cutting. Forgive me, your question took me back many years ago when a small boy of six years was extremely impressed with his Grandpa's many talents. ferg quote name='sierraleather' timestamp='1341097363' post='254753'] Aside from your blade being chipped or it drags so badly it won't cut butter,what is your definition of "sharp", and how do you test or determine what is sharp,thanks

Michael, You are still wet behind the ears. LOL I am 78 years young, Mike is a few younger. ferg

Mike, From one old man to another, "you do good". ferg

I believe your holes are too large. What type of thread are you using? ferg