Ferg

I have a Consew 206 RB5 flatbed and a Seiko CW8B short cylinder arm machine. They both use the same needles and feet among other things. They will both sew 3/8" easily and on occasion 1/2" leather. If I had to do it over again I would probably buy a longer cylinder bed with a table attachment. Down side to having the latter combination is the need for changing from a cylinder to the flat bed more often than I would care to. Call Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Sewing. (Banner at top of this page. If you don't see it right away, refresh the page until you do.)Tell him what you want to do. He may have a used machine that will fit your price range but you could get a Cowboy, brand new at good price points. Bob will set you up with a machine that works right out of the box and can put together a "Kit" if you will. When you get the machine to your shop/home you can be sewing leather in less than an hour. Stay away from e-bay and definitely Craig's List. My Consew came from an E-bay dealer. Nothing wrong with the machine except it was setup for fabric, they assured me it was set up for leather but the needles and everything else he sent weren't correct. "After service" stinks, so be aware. ferg

Oh boy!!! I am picky!! The word "Stocklist" is spelled "Stockist". That must be the kind of attention they pay to the making of that wallet. I have seen youngsters in grade school do better than that. I have a problem with folks telling a person that is just beginning in leather, that their work is beautiful when it isn't. I do not think doing that helps anyone. I, as everyone else was a beginner at some time. I am still learning, every day. ferg

I had never done much with upholstery and nothing with leather upholstery until last year. I recovered a Lounge Swing for patio, a couple swivel stools and an ottoman. Bought a whole hide of light brown upholstery leathery, it is about 3-4oz. Got on You Tube and watched everything I could find on upholstery. Learned a lot plus I bought one or two books about same thing. It is a lot of fun to do. Seams, corners, allowances are a little different than with fabric. I made my own piping for one or two items then decided French seams looked better and are a lot easier to do. Practice the different aspects on scrap leather. Don't get too carried away with the "Glitz" you might like to try until you have a couple under the sewing machine. ferg

You need a very sharp leather splitter. Bruce Johnson is probably the man to contact. Just put his name in the search box. ferg

We all need some fun in our lives, this will do it!!!!! http://www.wimp.com/dancingjive/ ferg

Don't get upset with me..... You need desperately to get one of several Al Stohlman "Starter" books. You have gotten off to a disappointing start because your basics are flawed. Let's back up and start over, nothing wrong with doing this. Case your leather properly and allow it to dry to nearly the same color it was before wetting. Submerge the piece of leather in warm water until the bubbles quit rising. I wrap mine in an old "T" shirt leaving it at least over night. Now unwrap and allow to dry as above. Strop your swivel knife often. If the blades you have are angled, hold knife straight up and down. If your blade is straight across slant the knife away from you. Make your cuts to as near half the thickness of the piece you have. For your lettering and small work use a thin blade. Large pieces you may wish to use a thicker blade. You need a wider beveler. The one you are using is difficult to "walk" when striking with the mallet. Practice walking the beveler. That is one of the most important tools to use properly. When you have some roughness, use a modeling spoon to smooth the "dents". If you don't have some of the tools you need to do a proper job, improvise. You obviously have some decent carving tools for making your pipes. You can even make some preliminary tools from hard wood. Ends of small as well as larger dowels make some interesting backgrounds, they just don't last as long. Don't give up. Sit back and take a deep breath. The politicians running our great country won't be there forever. LOL ferg

Joe, You didn't ask but.......I think you are trying to tool your leather when it is too wet. That is the first thing you need to work on ferg

First things first. Let your fingers do the walking. You have the greatest information tool in front of you, your computer. Search ten miles from your home for machine shops, refine your search, "small machine shops". If the shop closest to you doesn't have a web address they may and most likely do have an E-mail address. Ninety five percent of the work is done for you. Have fun. ferg

Hi Madadh, Welcome to LW, love your oufit and the dogs. Every time we go to a festival I get "kicked around" since my name is "FERGUSON/FERGUS. Dad was Scottish, mom was German. Enjoy the site. ferg

Mike, From one old codger to another, that is great work. Your hand stitching is superlative as well as the design. ferg

Very nice and unique. Great design on the vase. Should give you very good "eye candy". ferg

Greetings Kai, There is a lot of information on this site for you to absorb along with some fine folks that like to help. ferg

Welcome Kai, The closest Tandy Leather store to Naples is in Tampa, that is site far north of Naples on the west coast. Someone else may know of another tool outlet closer. ferg

You done a great job on the strap. Definitely good job on the Basket Weave. Nice to see a piece of music history including one of the greatest guitar aficionados mentioned. Great job Jon ferg

Rita Hayworth was over 60 years old when the song “Stayin’ Alive” was released by the Bee Gees in 1977 and used for the movie “Saturday Night Fever”. So the clips in this video were dubbed to the music. Excellent job of editing! ferg

I have never made a holster from any leather. I have made a number of things from horsehide. Personally, I think it is one of the most beautiful leathers available today. Yeah, I love to "feel" it, just caress that fabulous looking product. After all, it comes from one of natures most beautiful animals. ferg So does anyone have any experience with this stuff? Is this what they call "soft-rolled" horsehide? Anyone have experience making holsters from it? tk

Everyone doing a craft or any other work for pleasure or income, has things they don't like to do. I personally am an R&D person. Once I have figured out how to do something it becomes boring to me. Ask my wife. I love Leather Crafting. We also have a full time business that has nothing to do with leather. During the Christmas season we work 14 hour days, seven days a week. I also grow, in my greenhouse, about 2500 to 3000 flowers for our yard plus another 1500 or so perennials. I have a garden over 1/2 an acre and other than mowing our yard I mow five acres of open field. Our home is log, there are things to look after every year. I am supposed to be retired. LOL We have four grown children with seven grandkids and a dog. I do some photography, dabble in computer programming, and repair all of our computers and CNC machinery. I still have time for the leather although admittedly not as much time as I would like. I began leather crafting some 50 plus years ago, I am still learning every day/ That is what keeps me interested and going to the next project. ferg

drtom, I guess you weren't looking for a critique, Sorry, I couldn't resist. ferg

Boy! the things folks find to "Yammer" about. Get a life guys! You don't have to read it! whole site. NOTICE!!!!!! I deleted your, almost entire post. Is that better? LOL ferg

That little arbor press at Harbor Freight was made for this job. It will make a perfect impression every time with little or no effort on your part. ferg

Here is agent in USA: MILFORD ENTERPRISES INC Dix Hills (New York) Tel 1631 3920742 Fax 1631 8249354 email: michellea@milfordenterprises.com The company site has an English translation for at least a portion of the site. Some real nice "stuff". ferg

I don't think the image you selected is bad, it is your rendering of it. With this type of image I think you should ease up on your tooling and modeling, it is distracting from what you are trying to do. If you want to "catch" the image as in the pic, you need to use Neatlac, or similar, as a resist. Apply it with a good quality brush to all the areas you want to stay white. Allow your first coat to dry completely then brush on another coat. Don't apply so it is too heavy. Nice light coats are better. Make sure the resist is very dry. Now, apply your paste dye. Allow it to dry just a tad more than normal before wiping. When you get the desired effect seal with at least two coats of finish of your choice. I believe you will be surprised at how great it looks in comparison to what you done with the first try. ferg

First thing I have done? I have bought two sewing machines. My old hands and fingers just won't take the strain from hand stitching. I still love the look of a great hand stitching job. The time element involved with some stitching will slow your ability to make "time". Make patterns. ferg

I have a video of manufacturing prestigious women's purses. The man cutting the parts is cutting with a knife that is similar but different. I would like to have one. They go around their pattern, which appears to be heavy but flexible by the way, as though they are cutting warm butter. ferg

I have an issue of that book that is probably just about as old. I would have bought about 1956 or so. Mine is in better shape than yours. LOL ferg