BIGGUNDOCTOR

I keep seeing machines rated at 3/4"-1" capacities, and they sound great, but I have personally never seen anything this thick sewn before. Most leather items that I have seen sewn may have been 3/8" max. So my question is when, or where would someone actually sew something 1" thick?

Never heard of w a weighted whip before, where does the lead go?

That is totally different than the ones I was thinking of. Tandy's old ones had a larger section in the back similar to a weight belt that was tooled. Kind of like taking a corset, and cutting the bottom off of it.

Stay put for now in order to see if this upsurge in business is going to sustain itself, or fizzle some. You don't want to get into a new building with a lease, and then have the bottom drop out. How many square feet/meters do you have at your current location? Can you rearrange items to maximize usable space? What machines can't you use now? How much area do you figure you will need to have a working space? What I did with my machine and fab shop was grow slow, and only when I could pay CASH. I never had a loan, or lease for any equipment.

Toss a post on www.iforgeiron.com there are a lot of smiths in the UK that post regularly that may be able to help you out.

One way is to buy, or make a corner 1/4 round punch to cut the entire corner in one shot.

Just a thought here, do you have any wood/cabinet/sheetmetal shops in the area? Take the hide, and stick it to a piece of plywood using something like 3M adhesive (Thinking more tacky than permanent), staples may work too if they are set below the surface. Then have them run it through a wide belt sander. May take some adjusting to get the proper speed, feed, and depth rates, but it should work. Keep the leather cool to prevent loosening the adhesive.

If you look around you may be able to find some number 12 (.050 dia) shotgun shot. Be careful if you grind up your own, wear a respirator, not a dust mask. Lead is an ingestion/breathing hazard. How much do you need? I have a friend who has reclaimed a lot of lead from shooting ranges, and he ends up with a dust that floats on the lead, so it is not quite as heavy, but it is heavy.

Hmmm, maybe a cheap blade? We used the crap out of one when I was handicrafts instructor at a BSA summer camp. We made LOTS of lace with it. Not to be snide, but 11 year old Scouts didn't have a problem using it. Again, maybe it is just due to inferior blades. I take it that you are talking about the plastic lace maker that looks like a stick with grooves in it?

Tandy used to have patterns for curved waist belts. You could always use heavier paper, muslin to make a pattern. Cut a strip, wrap it around her, and trim to fit. Clean up the edges, and you have a pattern.

I am also a member of iforgeiron.com , and they have a knife forum that has a lot of info on knife materials that can be scrounged. You may even find a smith in your area that can forge you a custom blade, or at least help you out some. I noticed that the saw blades Mic thinner than the head knives, which is understandable. When you are leaning on a knife you don't want it to bend-unless it is a fillet knife. A stiffer blade will give straighter cut, and veer off less.

I didn't see an introduce yourself column like on the iforgeiron.com site, so I figured I would post here. New to leatherworker.net, but not new to leatherworking. Just a hobbyist, not in the business. My Mom started back around 1950, and she taught me when I was responsible enough to use the tools. I taught leatherworking at Scout camp for 4 years, and I have always had an interest in it, even when I was not doing it. Over the years I have accumulated a lot of equipment, as well as a lot of duplicates. As I sort through it all I will be putting some of the stuff , like the extra discontinued 3D stamps, up for swapping. I am running into Las Vegas today to pick up an Adler 70-30 that I bought last week. Not quite sure why I bought it, but I did. Figured I will get some use out of it, and I liked how the head can rotate 360 degrees. The price was right at $685, so I can probably recoup my cash outlay if it doesn't work out for me. Other hobbies include, but not limited to, blacksmithing, welding, machining (what I do for a living), photography, ceramics, cars, drawing, and a lot more. With that quick intro, and my first post out of the way, I hope to further my skills in leather. Maybe enough to make the leather trench/great coat that I have always wanted.