Northmount

First off, take the bobbin and basket out and make sure there are no bits of thread, or needle tip etc. down there. If it was working well before with your bobbin tension setting, it should now too. Tom

I think this is the best one yet. I think, at least for me, the shallow embossing works better. You are really having too much fun now. Tom

Looks like Baltic Birch would be a good substitute for the plywood (laminated) parts. Likely Fir plywood would suffice, but wouldn't look as nice, also a little weaker. Tom

If your software gives you a choice, resize to 800 pixels wide or file size about 150 kB. This one is too small to see any detail. Tom

I hope you have been paid for the bag. If so, I would offer to make a new bag, preferably full cost, maybe add a discount coupon he could use for a future purchase. Don't take a loss. He can resell or dispose of the first bag himself. I like the idea above about making a matching bag as Twin Oaks suggests. If you haven't been paid for the bag, drop it and cut your losses now. Turn the bill over to a collection agency so you get at least 25 to 50% back. Tom

I would recommend you do a search here for more information for dog collars. I recall a number of posts dealing with problems including dye rub off, stretching, loosing definition, etc. Especially for dogs that go swimming! Tom

Too many "professional speakers" have a very inflated opinion of themselves. They should realize that others need a paying wage as well. Many of them are delivering the same canned speech at every appearance for a year before they come up with a new one. Seems a lot of people go for the entertainment with their funny stories. I could say more, but ... Tom

Let it dry another day and then go at it again and see if you are still getting never-ending rub off. Tom

Try Bruce Johnson Tom

Looks like maybe that one stitch was pulled up too tight, and if so will likely cut through the leather. I actually cut a short piece of paper clip and stuck under one stitch some time ago to repair it. Looks okay unless someone inspects it to closely. But won't pull through or loosen up. Tom

Have you used two colours of dye? Looks darker in the pic in a couple places. If this is not two-tone, then I would guess that you have too much NF oil in the dark areas and it is probably lifting the dye as it bleeds out. NF oil should be applied sparingly, and wait 8 hours or more to see that it levels/spreads out evenly. I see from other posts that some oil the leather lightly before applying dye, and others oil after the dye has dried to replace some of the natural oils that are lost during the dye process. Helps to make the leather more supple again. If you have too much oil, the leather also goes mushy. Bury it in cornstarch or kitty litter for a week to absorb the excess if this is what has happened. Tom

Play nice fellows. We are all here to learn and to share where we can. Thanks Tom

As long as dye is coming off onto you buffing rag, you are removing surface pigment. Buff until just before your arm falls off, then go back to it again after a rest until a white rag stays clean. Try a test sample, dilute your dye at least 50/50, let dry at least 8 hours between applications. Then buff it when you have colour built up to the level you wish. Use a solvent compatible with your dye to dilute the dye. What dye were you using? Knowing the dye you used may get some additional responses that are directly applicable to that type of dye. Also tell what your method of application was. Tom

Very nice. The amount of file space per post is limited. If you resize your pics to 800 x 600 pixels, you'll have lots of room to upload photos. Tom

Nice job! One a second note, There is a very mistaken concept about today's electronics and magnets floating around here and many other locations as well. Today's electronics don't use magnetic sensitive materials. If they did, your devices wouldn't fit your shirt pocket. They would be the size of hard drives and contain a spinning disk. Think of the size and power consumption. SDRAM cards and other micro memory are not sensitive to magnets. Even floppy disks and magnetic stripes are not as sensitive as most people think. Need alternating fields to really mess up. But I do agree with keeping your mag stripe credit cards shielded from magnets, just in case. Nice to be safe rather than sorry. Tom Edit. Many smart phones and tablets use magnetic switches. You need to know where they are and what they are for, or you could have functions activated unintentionally. Many have a switch to turn the screen on and off.

If you are using a windows based PC, right click on the file name in "windows explorer" (not in internet explorer), pick "send to", "mail recipient" and your email client will open and attach the file to the email, ready for you to send it. If you are using some other contraption, someone else will have to help. Tom

While you have the gears "out of mesh", can you turn the bobbin basket/hook? I not, there is something jamming the the basket/hook from turning. Something like a broken part of a needle, or threads jammed up tight underneath. Clear that problem up, then you can go about setting the gears in the right position and proceed with setting the timing. Any time you have a machine jam, look for something in the bobbin basket/hook area first and make sure that is clear. And put a new needle in. Tom

File size is quite limited on LW. You can setup an account with YouTube or other video hosting service and store it there, then provide the link here for people to be able to view it. Set the permissions on your hosting service to "public". Tom

Nice job. Like the molded pouches inside. Tom

Any time you dampen leather any amount that has been tooled/carved, you will lose some of the definition and crispness from your tooling. There are a number of threads about this problem. Saddle builders (and others) often tool after the leather has been molded to the shape you want it. Some saddle builders do the tooling right on the saddle. If you are making a bag or something like that, fit a block of wood or other hard object inside to give you a hard tooling surface and support. You will still need to properly case the leather before tooling. Tom

I would also taper the background matting out so you don't see a defined line, or drop the matting altogether. Tom

Good point. Many posts here over the past have suggested wax. So to be on the safe side, save punching until after the finish has been applied. Better than having to use deglazer to clean up, or try to fix messed up dye or finish. A little off topic, woodworkers use paraffin wax on machine surfaces to protect against rust and to help wood slide much more easily. They say it doesn't affect the application of finishes. But they get to sand the surface before applying stains and finishes. Can't sand that nice smooth leather surface! Tom

Most waxes will give a nice gloss on top of a finish. Don't try to build it up thick, buff it off nice. A warm surface is easier to buff. Make sure there are no abrasives in in the wax (like many auto and appliance waxes). Tom

Another method for tying off the ends of your thread is to leave them long and finish off (back stitch) as a saddle stitch after you have done the machine sewing. Looks neater in many cases. Tom

MS operating systems pay no attention to the XIF data captured with the photo. Apple and maybe others do. The XIF data indicates the camera's orientation when the picture was taken. So Apple can correct for it. The full size photo is still upside down on my MS PC. Try turning your phone up the opposite direction and see what happens. A little experimentation will get you the orientation that works the best for you. Tom