Northmount

Lots of options and information here. Do a search for "clicker" or "shop press" or "hydraulic jack". Even some plans and photos for adapting a shop press. Tom

Contact the attorney general for his last known location. If the phone or Internet was used for the transactions, it is a case of wire fraud and a more serious crime. Press charges. Tom

Outside is the show side as Electrathon said. Whether laced or stitched. Tom

Several grades of Loctite are available. And they do hold in an oil environment if the oil was cleaned off the surfaces prior to adding the Loctite. May years ago I had to do a temporary fix on a mechanical accounting machine. Didn't have the correct size nut for an eccentric adjustment. Applied some Loctite, let it set up. Came back a week later, all was still in the correct position. Replaced the nut with the correct size. I tend to use the less permanent type that allows you to unscrew the screw/bolt/nut later if necessary. In a pinch, have also used Loctite "bearing retainer" for screw threads. Works fine. And wrt bottoming taps. A bottoming tap should work in this case since you are not trying to jamb the screw tight against the shaft. Tom

No excuse necessary. Always happy to hear from new members and long timers too. And I should have said, Welcome to the forum! Tom

Do a search here for sheath and head or round knife. There are several threads with lots of photos to give you some really good ideas. Always use a welt. Only half the sheath needs to be open, so you twist the knife out of the pocket. So only one closure strap needed. Tom

PM Johanna. See top bar for PMs. She will be able to do that for you. You can also set your preferences to no notifications, so there would be no emails in the meantime. Tom

I really admire Bob's work and his willingness to help others and share his knowledge along the way. Great achievement Bob. Congratulations. Tom

The memory used in today's cell phones, tablets and PCs is not sensitive to magnets. Hard-disk drives may be sensitive to extremely strong magnetic fields, but you are nowhere close to that. Consider that the TSA X-rays your laptop and does no damage. The one thing to note about cell phones and tablets is that the some manufacturers use magnetic switches to turn the screen off when the device is holstered or cover is closed. You need to know where these switches are so you can avoid them with the closure, and use them to turn off the screen as needed. If the device can be inserted front to back or back to front, then the screen switch magnets need to be on both the front and rear of the pouch/case. If you do a search here, you will find much more discussion. Just be aware that many people believe old wives tales that are not applicable to today's memory and devices. Even floppy disks are not as sensitive as people claimed them to be. Tom

Make sure the needle is on its way back up before reversing, else the hook may miss the loop. The you will see a missed stitch and maybe even a birds nest. Tom

The leather is probably being pulled up with the needle, lifting the presser foot. Tighten down the spring on the presser foot. Tom

Something wrong in your browser setup. I use Win 7, Win XP, and the iPad. No trouble using copy and paste, or the quote function. I usually use Firefox as the Windows browser. Tom

Just used a fine tooth file. Carefully, and lightly. Rounded all edges that could contact the leather or snag a thread. Tom

Also called piping. Tom

Flickr link works fine. Must be something about permissions messing up my view in the original post. VERY nice case! Tom

Photo has disappeared, not available. Tom

Here is another thread about printing on leather. Tom

The inside layer has to get shorter when curved around your bod, so it wrinkles. One method to reduce the wrinkling is to glue up while curved, not flat. Higher quality leather may help also. Stay away from leather closer to the belly. Many belts are cut from along the backbone. Tom

A picture of how it looks now would help. Remember to allow for the different radius of the fold from the inside and the outside. The inside piece needs to be shorter. You might be able to rip it apart and depending on how the inside is built, trim it shorter and re-sew or re-lace the wallet. Tom

Not sure if you are confusing a cylinder arm machine with a post bed machine. I would go for a cylinder arm machine with an adapter table attachment. With the cylinder arm, you can reach inside a purse or other object. Depends on the size of the object and the cylinder arm. Then add the table for flat stitching. Don't have to have two separate machines then for the same thread size, etc. Make sure it is a walking foot style. If you haven't read Wiz's pinned post on leather sewing machines, I recommend you do so now. Tom

This clicker (hydraulic shop press), assuming I picked the right one, is not a fast operating clicker. It will take 2 to 5 minutes for repeated cuts using the same die. You have to position the leather and the die, close the bleed valve on the hydraulic jack, pump the handle 20 times or so (depending on how much clearance you left when positioning the die and leather, then release the bleed valve, move/reposition, and repeat. It is heavy duty, and will make very nice repeatable cuts. Still faster than you or I can cut by hand, just slower than the clickers that run $5k to $10k or more, monster swing arm types like this. I have a 20 ton shop press that is nearly ready for clicking. Need to get a couple steel plates, then I'm ready to go. I bought a replacement pneumatic bottle jack to replace the typical hydraulic bottle jack. Will help speed things up a little, I just won't have to wear out my arm pumping the jack. You are on the right track to be able to click out repeatable items saving a lot of time, just not at the speed you have estimated. Neither you or I can afford the big swing arm type, so we use what we can afford and make do. Tom

I'm curious. Which clicker are you getting? Tom

The Howard press is very similar to the Kingsley we used to have. This one came with more accessories. Has a type box about 2.5" x 3.5". Also has a self centering type box that holds 2 lines of type. It is handier for quick setups. Link I'm happy with it. Need to practice some more with various leathers. I was trying to stamp gold on black pigskin. Wasn't as clear as I wanted and was dropping foil bits near the type that had to be brushed off. Ran out of time and patience, so left it for another time. The leather is stiff and hard with lots of character. Supposedly, you hold the leather where you want to stamp it (guide, etc.) and press the hot type into it for several seconds with no foil to give a good bed for the foil. Then stick a piece of foil in and give it a fairly quick press, very little dwell time. I think my temperature may have been too low so need to try a again, see what dwell time, temperature, and pre-stamp treatment work the best. I used if on 3-4 oz veg tan with no problems. A separate point of discussion, you can have photoengravers or CNC people make plates mounted on a block so you can repeat the same setup later without having to reset all your type. Handy for stamps that you will be using over and over. Usually not too expensive. Tom

Here is a link with some valuable info if you are going to buy a hot foil press. http://www.ebay.com/gds/BUYING-A-HOT-STAMP-MACHINE-/10000000000751965/g.html I picked up a "Goldmark" press a few months ago for about $250. Had only been demonstrated. Came with several rolls of foil, several sets of type, all accessories, box full of pencils, napkins, business cards. Turns out it is a Howard press, just re-labeled. Youngest son had a Kingsley press and printed business cards and such while in jr and sr high school. Gave it away because no one was using it, then last year decided to get one again to be able to print my makers mark on chrome tanned leather. So check all your local sources of second hand goods to see what is out there. Some good deals. Note that Kingsley is no longer in this business, so be cautious, make sure it is in good working order before you pay. Tom

On the third picture, you can see both the inside and outside views of the lace. Notice how the inside view is so much neater and lays really nice. Double loop has a nice side and a rough looking side. Normally the nice side should be on the show side, so you can show it off, and hide the opposite side. But I'm not sure in this case, the rough side could be more irritating to the wrist. So maybe you have made the best choice for the user's comfort. Lacing instruction diagrams are usually shown from the good side of the leather. So if you automatically pick it up and work from the good side ... The good side of the lacing will be on the good side of the leather article. (The other option is of course round braid because it looks great from both sides. I agree with you keeping your costs under control as a reason to skip it this time. I've done double loop for years, now need to practise with round braid to become proficient with it and use it where it fits.) Your spacing and tension look quite good. That part is hard for a lot of people to get right. Keep it up, you have come a long way in the past couple years. Tom