Northmount

I think you will have less mess or fewer accidents if you do one join at a time. You won't be rushing and mis-position one or the other. Plus, I'm not a fan of having wet glue (if you are using contact cement) on both sides of the stiffener at the same time. Where to you lay it to set to a slight tack with cement on both sides. If you can do things in steps, without rushing, you will do a better overall job. Tom

Pull both threads through to the back. If the back is normally not visible, I put a drop of super glue on it, and cut close. Some tie the thread on the back, some melt it with a hot iron, or a lighter flame. I've started leaving the threads long at the start and finish, then using the saddle stitch to back stitch. Works a little nicer IMO. Also nice if you can hide the threads between layers. Tom

Thanks for the repost. I'm sure many people appreciate it. Now I can see the work, must say it is very good. Tom

Picture 3 loads, the others just have the busy loading icon, forever. Even on a 30 Mbps connection. Server connection must be too slow when I try it. 800 x 600 resolution is adequate resolution for LW. Helps out people on slow connections, especially out in the fringes. Tom

Dye doesn't soak right through in most cases. Most of the pigment is in the surface. Do all your cutting and trimming before you dye it, else go back and touch it up after. In most cases, the touch up will not be a perfect match. Tom

Getting off to a very good start. Beveling is choppy. Need to smooth it out. Practice will help with that until you get the rhythm you need. You can find lots of tips here on how to smooth out your beveling. Do a search, use google, restrict the search to leatherworker.net like this - "site:leatherworker.net beveling smooth" Basket weave looks precise. Need to tilt your tool a little more to avoid marking the border. Tom

All very well done. The desert scene really catches my attention! Tom

Looked nice from what I could see. Pictures wouldn't load for me. Dogs will do that. Kids have to learn to keep their wallet safe. One of my kids did the same thing around 1982. I wasn't too happy after the work I had put into it. Wallet was nicely tooled. I was able to cut the damaged corner off, make a skived join, and re-lace the damaged section. Hardly shows. He is still using it. If they don't learn to keep it safe, in their pocket, they'll loose it and what ever is in it one day. Tom

Two steps to uploading pictures, assuming you found the button "More reply options". First step is to choose the photos, then to attach the files to the post. Photos will be inserted wherever your cursor is in the text box. Tom

You can grind out the front toe so you can see the needle as it approaches the leather. Get a couple extra feet and modify to suit your sewing preferences. Tom

Jimdad, You have people interested in helping you. Let us know if you are still interested.

Hand or machine stitching? Tom

Company names and logos are trademarks and are normally registered by the owner. There are interesting cases like Apple and Apple Corp. Apple had to license the use of Apple Corp's logo that they use. Copyright is different than registered trademarks. But you can get in trouble for misappropriation of either. Tom

The first pic is the backside or more commonly called the flesh side. It's against the muscle/meat of the animal. The top side is the second pic. Commonly called the grain or hair or finished side. The show side normally, but depends on what appearance is wanted. The smooth grain or finished side needs to be roughened up to give the cement something to stick to. Coarse sandpaper works well. For glueing almost any material together, smooth surfaces need to be roughened up. Tom

The adjustment for the middle foot is the one you were pointing to in your photo. It is vertically above middle presser foot shaft. Maybe it has the wrong spring. Could cut part of it off. Seems to me there was another thread here somewhere about different lengths of springs. You could check with Gregg from Keystone. Tom

Take it back and get a refund Tom

There are separate adjustments for the inside and outside foot. Determine which one is marking the leather first. Tom

Needs to be the same size as the leather or larger. 3/4" plywood likely has enough weight by itself. You don't want to squash your tooling. Yes it takes longer to dry, you can change the towel or paper towel every couple hours to help hurry it up, and inspect how it is drying. Tom

Was the super shene frozen, or old? All water based finishes and paints are damaged when frozen. Tom

Rubbing alcohol has some other stuff in it. It may not be a problem. If you do a search for alcohol here, you will find many threads that give lots of info on the types available, including suitable types from the local liquor store if others are hard to find. Ethanol is good, Methyl Hydrate works for me. Denatured alcohol is ethanol with junk added to it to make it un-drinkable. Ethanol is what is in booze. You can always experiment on scrap pieces and see what works best for your case. You learn more by trying and seeing the first hand results. Tom

Nice job. Would be very tempted to have you make a pair for me, but we are too far away! Tom

Too thick a first coat, so it can't dry. Try a test piece. Cut the shene 50% with water before applying. Apply in light coats, allow at least 8 hours between. You may have to use a stronger solvent in order to remove the mess. Try alcohol or acetone. Test on a small area or other piece of scrap to see how it behaves. May remove some of your dye, or spread it around. Tom

I have placed the tooled leather on a flat clean surface, face down. Then covered it with a towel, or paper towel and placed a weight on top. The surface you place it on must be smooth, else it will transfer the irregularities to the leather. People have laid it on paper towel and then wondered where the funny pattern came from. You'll have to remove your backing material first as it needs to dry from the back. Tom

Try this manual http://www.keysew.com/Webpages/DemoImages/TN-422Bowners.pdf Tom

Would be helpful to know your location/country. Tom