Northmount

Remember that if you lift the presser foot too high, you release your top tension. So the bobbin thread will lie flat on the bottom. Tom

For any fuel burning appliance, lamps included, remember you need ventilation. Too many accidents in colder weather resulting in asphyxiation. Stay safe. Tom

Yes, the green one in the video is what I was thinking of. Bought one about a year ago. Works great. But these can be fire hazard if not looked after properly. A friendly neighbour is a good idea. Pay him a few bucks, or make something for him. Tom

The old Coleman lamps with a mantel that use white gas produce a lot of light. Some heat too. Need to be very careful to keep combustible materials away, and inflammable solvent fumes too. LED battery powered lamps are better than the older battery lamps. Generators are noisy and need refuelling, oil changes, etc. So battery lamps seem to be best. Tom

eransh10, that would be photo-engraving, an etching process. A resist is photographically applied to the base metal used, then acid etched to remove the background material. Makes nice clean images, but no 3D effect. Tom

Several times I have had people hold an item up to their nose that has just been finished with a lacquer type finish and say how much they love the smell of the leather. All they can smell at that point is the lacquer and solvents. I have had leather with a real bad smell, almost sickening. Had to treat it with saddle soap, work the soap in with water, rinse it off well, and leave it to dry and air out for a few days. So when someone says they love the smell of leather, I always wonder what they are really smelling. Maybe a wet dog with some lacquer spray in the air would be perfect for some. I really think for some people, it's all in their head. For others, they know the real smell of leather, not just the finish or wax. Tom

See this thread http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=59404&hl= Tom

Good to see you back here. Seat looks really great. Tom

Roses are amongst my favourites. Nice job. Tom

Yes. Start with 50/50 and test it with your leather and setup. Adjust as needed. Tom

The welt doesn't need to extend around the spine of the book. Just go as far as the edge of the inside pockets. Though I haven't used a welt on a book cover, it would look nice and keep the outside flatter. Tom

With no belt, it should turn easily. If you have it belted to a motor, depress the pedal slightly to release the motor brake. Tom

I've done just a simple slip-on cover like this and laced the edges. This album had a hard cover, so no additional rigidity required. Are you looking at covering a hard cover or soft cover book? Tom

Take a look at this, it may help you figure out how to do your bookbinding. Tom

Bar keeps friend has been mentioned in several threads as being a good source for oxalic acid. Paint stores too. Also pharmacies on special order. Blue and yellow make green, so if there is a yellow cast to your leather, you will get a green hue. Bleaching with oxalic acid does lighten the shade of the leather. So may help. You need to test it to be sure. Several layers of dye may help to hide the yellow under tone. Or you could consider using an acrylic paint, like Angeus or Cova, or other. Thin the paint and build it up in thin layers. I was once told with Cova paints to add a drop or two of white glue to help it adhere and flex. Haven't tried it myself. Tom

Pretty fancy work. Your customers should love it. Tom

A list of suppliers with poly thread would help others find it, maybe even close to home. Tom

Applying the finish first helps to reduce the risk of getting something on the leather that is going to leave a permanent stain. With machine stitching, could get a drop of oil, or using pre-lubed thread can leave a stain/discoloration that you wouldn't like. With hand stitching and keeping your hands and tools clean, you have a lower risk of leaving a stain ... except maybe that red stuff in your finger! Tom

I'm moving your post to sewing machines Tom

Really depends on the size you are trying to click out. 1 ton on a steel rule die about about 3x5" cuts nicely. I'm thinking of doing wallet backs. Need a steel plate, cutting board, leather, die, steel plate so all stays square, and cutting force is consistent across the die. If the die is too big, then as above, take a bite, move over, take another until it is cut all around. The limitation that might irritate you is arbor presses don't have a lot of throat depth. For small items, that shouldn't be a problem. An arbor press is faster than a shop press, as long as you have enough leverage. Just one stroke. Shop press needs many strokes on the hydraulic jack to get a 1/2" stroke on the ram. So trade offs between ease versus speed. Shop press takes up more space too. I have both, 1 ton arbor, and 20 ton shop press. My shop press is an hour's drive away, so doesn't get used very often. Tom

I agree, this has gone on long enough, thread is now locked Tom

When tooling, I have found that a good beveler makes a huge difference in being able to smooth out the beveled lines and avoid the choppiness. My best beveler is one I bought from Tandy back in 1961. It has the proper shape to the toe and the bottom. Many of the craftool stuff produced over the past several years do not have the correct shape. So getting a few (how do you stop at a few?) good tools can make a world of difference. A good sharp swivel knife is requisite to making smooth cuts. The knife needs to fit your hand and be comfortable. A simple rolled "U" for your finger is not comfortable. The edges need to be rounded and the "U" shaped to fit around your finger. And you need to learn how to sharpen and strop the knife to keep it cutting smoothly and neatly. The proper method of casing makes lots of difference to both the swivel knife cuts and and to stamp impressions. I learned by myself for the most part. The first efforts at tooling were pretty bad, mostly because the leather was too wet. Once I got past that, things began to improve substantially. And as mentioned before, practice, practice, practice. Buy a bag of scrap vegtan leather and use it up, then go get a couple more bags and make some small useful projects. If you wreck something, it won't be a big loss; you can toss it, or keep it for reference for a while so you can look back and see what didn't work, and the improvements in the next projects. Good luck with your endeavors. Tom

Really great job. I want to see more! Tom

Pretty nice, great job. Your customers will love them. Tom

If the crack goes right through, stick a vacuum cleaner up against one side, add good quality wood glue to the other side, and suck it through until is shows on the vacuum side. Them clamp it tight for a couple hours. Another way is to drill a small hole and inject the glue with a syringe. Tom