Ferg

Mack, Are you pulling the thread through a piece of brown wrapping paper, paper grocery sack same thing? After you apply the wax? This creates heat on the thread and melts the wax into it. You can actually feel the heat between your fingers. I assume the thread we buy pre-waxed is run through a wax pot such as the larger sewing machines use. You could buy some of the wax and a pot from one of the sewing machine folks on here to pull the thread through. That would likely give you the heavy coating you desire. Try Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial, I bet he has a pot to sell. Buy a pound cone of the thread you like, mount it on a pedestal, run it through the wax pot and onto a hand winder on the other side or use a fractional gear motor connected to a shaft with a large spool. That just might work for you. ferg By the way I believe I bought the linen thread from the Thread Exchange at : http://www.thethreadexchange.com/

Ken, I too am amazed at what some folks regard as professional product in many fields. I have done stained glass and am simply appalled at what is on the market with soldering that is total trash. Not into sheaths so haven't ventured there. I have no doubt the problem exists everywhere. High dollar with what you can get away with seems to be more prevalent every day, sad. For the most part everyone on this forum does extremely fine work. ferg

I certainly agree that the discount is worthy of consideration as is the equipment. I would really need to sharpen a lot of knives to warrant even the $275. A side note: I believe I could build a pretty close facsimile of the equipment. That is not taking anything away from the WE, ferg

Actually I don't care for the waxed thread you buy in the small spools from Tandy and many other sources. When I hand sew I wax my own much the same way you are doing it. Never occurred to me that it was such a hassle. ferg

You must have a Tandy store near you. That would be a great start. ferg

Clever pattern, I like it. Your design? ferg

Bobby, As always your work is as near to perfection as I have ever witnessed. I sit in awe every time I study one of your pieces. ferg

Actually the cordovan shell will cost you about $150.00 direct from Horween. It is some of the most beautiful leather I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Dyed the cordovan color. ferg

Joe, If you want some more of the wood let me know. I may be able to find a chunk in the wood pile, if so it would have been air drying for two years, under cover. Just let me know ferg

Nice pipes Stewart. We have Hackberry trees on our property in Ohio. When you cut with a chain saw the chips are almost white. Other than that it is a less than pretty tree with rough bark and Elm Like leaves. ferg

Oil based are good also. You should allow them to dry for a couple days before you try any water based work with them. ferg

I hate applying dye with a dauber. Try a piece of old T-shirt material, you can get bags of the stuff at Lowe's. Make a wad of the piece about halfway between a golf ball and baseball size. Wear protective gloves unless you wish to wear the color for awhile. Diluting the dye is a good idea. ferg

I am sure this is another instance of "preference". Are you by any chance using water based dye? If so you may want to try solvent based/alcohol. ferg

Chris, She is beautiful. Each one is more precious. I know because I have three girls and a boy with seven grandchildren. ferg

I personally think variations of an Art Form is what keeps the Form interesting. I am neither for or against the beveling, I do like your design without the beveling. I have tried subtle backgrounding inside some "leafy" knife designs, they add interest also. Maybe you have gone a little beyond subtlety plus your beveling needs some work. Your last effort with additional cuts adds another dimension, I like it. Just my opinion. ferg

Nice use of the Meander Tool, ferg

Pricking Chisels are to mark the leather so you can maintain the angle and spacing with your awl. ferg

Nice work. I made several of that particular purse, one of them was for my wife. Wife's initials were the same as my mother. Neat don't you think? ferg

You would never get a better knife than the SK-3 from Leather Wranglers Inc. i have a ceramic beader I have not used as yet. You will find that most of the pros use a single blade knife and dividers to mark the second cut. ferg

Someone that knows little about the art of sewing leather with a machine probably would not see a problem. That said, you have a problem with the size needle and/or style of needle. Wetting the leather to sew is balder dash. If you wet the leather you may get marks from anything and almost everything you do while sewing. Your machine is okay, the leather is okay, you have a problem with the needle style and size, plain and simple. ferg Make sure you study the information enclosed with this post in pdf format. Sewing Machine Needles.pdf

In lieu of sewing under power, operate the machine manually. Also you might try putting a small dot of white paint on the "split" in the shoe of your machine. ferg

I agree with TwinOaks on needles regarding them being leather needles. Also: I believe your needle is too large, go with a #20. You may want to try a TW in lieu of a RTW needle style. ferg

Guess I missed this one also. Seems a lot of work for a very unusual waste of leather. LOL ferg