Ferg

Looks good to me and sounds like a good idea. One caveat, make sure you don't allow the leather to touch the lens. ferg

I bought several stamps from Lonnie, they are excellent tools. I suggested to him they put the name as well as the tool number at each tool photo in his little catalog. I haven't checked for awhile but I guess he hadn't the time to do that last time I checked. ferg

We used to build commercial cabinets and furniture, used many many gallons of contact cement, namely latex. I find using the latex contact for leather work edges doesn't work too well because of it's color, ours was green. Before using the latex we used 3M solvent based and many gallons of it also. Never thinned one ounce of it. I use it for leather because the color just blends in. Solvent based contact cement seems to age very quickly when you open the can repeatedly, latex does not. Aging makes the glue get stiff as you know. Place your can of glue beside a heat register, NOT ON IT !!!!! The stuff will burn. Just enough to get it warm, remembering that prolonged heating will dry it out. You just need to get it room temperature. I spread with a stiff brush or plastic "squeegee". Works for me. My thoughts on thinning? Probably weakens the holding power. ferg

Here is your spot: Bob has new and used by the truck load. ferg

Personally, I like your approach. You done a good job, make your own niche!!!. Why don't you try a belt using 8 or 10oz cowhide with no backing leather. That thickness would give you plenty of depth. Don't cut more than halfway through whatever thickness leather you use. Farm animals? ferg

Chris, I went to Bob Kovar's shop yesterday, came home with a Seiko CW-8B2. It is exactly the same machine you got from Ron with a different name plate. Bob's son set it all up for me, brought it home, carried it upstairs, am getting ready to sew something. ferg

Try Greg at Keystone Sewing Machine or Bob Kovar at Toledo sewing Machine. If with does;t have one I bet they can get one for you. ferg

Dave, I have a Consew 206RB-5. It is as near to identical to the Seiko STH-8BLD-3 as anything could be. Love my machine. Am going to Toledo Sewing Machine with WIZ Wednesday to see if I can find a narrow cylinder triple feed. ferg

I updated my Mac to "Lion" the other day. After that I noticed when I read a post on the forum the "active" icon on the left side of each post doesn't go away. Did I do something? Couldn't find in "Settings" anything pertaining to that. Thanks, ferg Name: Marion Ferguson UserName: 50 years leather IP Address: 64.56.112.254 Email Address: marion@donet.com

Cheryl, Just cool it a little bit. You are ranting and raving about next to nothing. We have moderators to handle anything that gets out of hand, it is not up to you or every one bothered by this type of thing. He wasn't telling you you had to buy. Someone may actually want to see his items, you don't make those decisions for other folks. You need to re-read what you post and if possible think things through before you react. Please do not respond to my post, I really do not need it. ferg

You are going to want a lot smaller thread than #207 for wallets I think. Your machine will go from #69, that is what I would use for the wallet and that is probably a little large for liners if you use thin material. serious readjustment of tension I am pretty sure. ferg

First off 'ART" I don't know much about Cobra machines so don't hit me with one of your classics. Cath79, You have a bobbin with adjustment don't you? Are you only adjusting top tension? This may be part of your problem. ferg

I have both. I use the hollow ground very seldom it seems. I have a multitude of width blades. Have several knives but my very most favorite is my SK-3 with a 1/4" angled blade. Cuts the worst leather with ease in most instances. ferg

You done a nice job. That said, I think you used the wrong tool in your leaves but you have to understand that some times there simply is not a wrong way to do this. I agree that it is too dark. Seems the red would maybe look better if the background wasn't so dark. ferg

Cheryl, I will admit I am a little confused with your post. It seems to begin you are agreeing with me, at the end you aren't. I think many folks do not understand the way a public library has to work. When I was a kid and growing up, we went to the library, got a card, checked books out for two weeks time, if you didn't return the book on time you were charged .02 per day the book was overdue. We don't have the luxury of that anymore. Did you vote for the last County or City Library request to the voters for operating capitol via taxes? If you didn't,you have no right to grumble about the fee you get charged. County and City Library's have become separate entities quite often now. They simply do not have the funds to provide the best service. Borrowing from the Library is not the same in any way shape or form. Again, Amazon or whoever, is in the business to make money. If they didn't, a lot of folks would have no job. The money to run the e-book system has to come from somewhere. Do you think the owners are all rich? I can probably answer that question myself. Come on, How do you think the musicians and singers survive monetarily? Every time someone downloads a song illegally, that is money out of the artist's pocket. Do you actually think you have the right to manipulate the "viewing" software so you can get a free book or song? Unfortunately you are not the only person in the world that thinks in this way. I really feel sorry for you. Somewhere along the way you did not learn "Right from Wrong". I have said my piece. BTW: Hellfire was right on!!! ferg

Sylvia, Settle down and think about what you done for just a few minutes. No matter how it is stated, you hacked Amazon's software to get a free book. Each time an e-book is sold the author gets about 30% of the price listed on a site. The remainder goes for all the overhead Amazon and others have endured. Do you think it costs nothing to put that book together so it can be read on-line? Place yourself in this scenario: You design some leathercraft pieces and put them into a book format. You decide to see if you can make a little money, perhaps do the publishing yourself, writing the program so all the e-readers can understand and render correctly. Jo Blow sees the book on Amazon, figures out how to download those carefully prepared drawings etc. without paying for them. You would have been hacked. That is exactly what you did and it is not right. Probably didn't break any laws but it wasn't the right thing to do. ferg

Let's try to get this straightened out. You got the book from the library, read it liked it and considered buying the book. If you paid a fee to "Belong" to the Library you helped pay for the workers salary's, books, and all the essential things a public building has to have. The publisher received the most of the money for publishing the book but they also had to distribute same. The author got a stipend in many cases for having actually done the work of writing. The only money the author gets is for each book actually sold no matter who buys, library or person. ferg

The holes punched by the needle is what stretches the leather, it does close some after the leather rests. I fully agree that every belt will stretch to some extent. There are a multitude of ways to slow that process, some work better than others obviously. I think the main point is, stitching a back on the face leather does help the situation. Of course it does not stop it. ferg

I think the use of the information is being a little misunderstood. The Library has books to lend for reading. They are supported, for the most part by tax payer money of which there isn't much being distributed these days. They have to make up the shortfall in ways that may aggravate some folks but fees are one way to do it. As for the e-books that you can peruse on site without buying them........ Amazon for instance, makes money from selling a subscription to folks so they can read the book/books. If they are terribly upset because Sylvia, and others, have figured out how to beat the system, they will close that hole in the software. At that time who is the winner? Don't anyone give me the "Greed" bit. Every student has a vast amount of expenses when attending college. Books are certainly a large part of that. Soon, the printed page will be for those of us that still like to read a physical book at abysmal prices, I could go on but you get the idea. BTW: Sylvia, don't become so defensive about your method, that may show you are not quite comfortable with it either. Just my .02 ferg

It is Singer for sewing sails and leather. Perfect for auto upholstery or heavy leather work. That is all I know. Wiz can probably fill you in on the particulars. ferg

You can buy two versions of the lining polyester, one with a backing, looks and smells like faux leather glued to the poly. The other is just the poly lining. It will glue to leather or whatever you wish. You need the thin lining leather with that many card slots. You can get Kangaroo that is at most 2oz in thickness. It will make a good face leather plus you would need to use it for coin pouch. Tandy stores I checked locally had fairly high prices for the poly, I bought on-line for half price. Weird thing? It came from a Tandy Store in New Mexico. From what I can find out the poly lining is all the same. You have an uphill climb if you have to sew this stuff by hand. Take a look-see at Chaylor-Finelli site, they are in Australia, for liners/inserts. They may have a liner you can use. Springfield Leather carries the line here in USA. There is a "sort-of" tutorial for "London" wallets on You Tube. It may be helpful to you. ferg

Maybe your hands are bigger than mine. ferg