Northmount

All this discussion below is with respect to AC induction motors. In a 3 phase electrical circuit, each of the phases is 120 degrees offset from the others. If 220 (normally 208) VAC is the phase to phase to phase voltage, and the circuit is "Y" connected, the centre point of the "Y" (which may or may not be grounded) is 120 VAC from the centre point to any phase terminal. Take the phase to phase voltage and divide by the square root of 3 (which is 1.732) to determine phase to neutral voltage. Delta connected 3 phase equipment has no neutral; "Y" connected has a neutral centre terminal, though it might not be visible or connected externally. Wikipedia probably has diagrams showing circuits and electrical wave forms if you want to delve further into 3 phase circuits. Normal North American 220 VAC household or residential circuits are single phase. The centre tap in the transformer is grounded neutral, so you have 110 to 0 to 110 VAC, or 220 VAC across the outside terminals. For single and three phase circuits, you should try to balance the loads across the system. And by the way, if power is lost on 1 phase of a 3 phase circuit, motors may continue to run, low on output power, and overheating. This is called single phasing. Not a good circumstance to be in. 3 phase motors will not start when single phased. But if you spin the shaft, it may continue to run, whichever direction you had spun it. 3 phase motors do not have a starting winding. Single phase motors require a starting winding. Tom

Ever try Skype to do some one on one? Might be worth a try. Tom

You can get aluminum foil tape, just pull off the backing and stick it on. I don't think bending is a problem. Foil just needs to be on both sides of the card. Cover the inside with thin lining leather. Should be able to do much the same as card slots, but deeper with just a small thumb notch. Tell the owner to always slide the card into the pocket chip end first. Tom

Saddle stitching threads keep alternating sides. Only on machines or sewing awls do you have a thread that's only on top and one that is only on the bottom. (Lock-stitch) On thin leather, just barely snug up the thread else it will cause wrinkles along the stitch line. Tom

Nice! Do you build your own trees too? Tom

Makes me think of Charlie Russel paintings. Very good to see. Tom

Nice job. Unique Tom

Yup! Use stationery store type rubber cement. Barges rubber cement won't pull off! Have to cut it off. Don't ask me how I know! Tom

Any tube that is bent either has to wrinkle on the inside of the bend, or stretch on the outside of the bend since the inside radius is less than outside. Depending on how the leather is finished, and what type of tannage it is, you can dampen the leather on the outside radius where the lacing and join is, then stretch and form the outside radius to make the handle curve the amount you want it to be. Then it needs to be held in that position till it dries. Depends to on the risk you are willing to take on an expensive bag. Tom

Add some red dye, or blue dye, see which gives the colour you a trying for. Tom

Dental X-rays are too small! Unless he had a patient with a huge mouth! Tom

I chucked mine in a 4 jaw chuck on a wood lathe. Lined it up and drilled the 1/2" hole running the lathe at a slow speed and adding a little cutting oil. (It was too big for my mini metal lathe). Worked out quite well. So if you know someone with a wood lathe, he might be willing to help. I laid out a couple old towels to catch the oil drips and cutting so there's no oil on my lathe. Tom

There have been a number of posts on this subject, one a few days ago. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=48815&hl=casing Hope this helps Tom

Remember that as high pressure air is reduced to low pressure, the expanding air cools. You notice that when you release air from your tires. So you need to find a balance between volume of air, and the pressure drop across the nozzle. Start with a small nozzle and maybe 10 bar air pressure. Depends on your compressor. If it is running about 3 bar, that is probably better cost wise since energy costs are higher when compressing air to a higher pressure. If the small nozzle doesn't provide enough cooling, then drill it out to the next size up and try it again. For people using English units, 1bar = 1 atmosphere (14.6954 psia). Tom There are also vortex air coolers if you want to get fancy!

You can form Kydex and fit it into your molded design for support. It's light weight and can be glued in with barge contact cement. Rough up the smooth surface with 80 grit sandpaper. The Kydex might even do for wet molding your leather. Tom

Nice job. Have you tried it out? Tom

And take multiple shots, bracketing the first exposure setting. Use small lens opening f/11 or f/16. Adjust the exposure time for longer exposures and shorter exposures to find the one you like the best. Then in future shots, still bracket one on either side so you have some room to play with in your software. If you can include a white object and a fully black object at the edge of your photo, at about the same distance as your object, you can use them to adjust the black point, white point, and to remove any color cast introduced by your lights or fabric. Tom

White glue (PVA) is flexible when it dries. Yellow carpenters glue isn't flexible when dry, so you hear it crack every time it is bent. Eventually, the noise goes away after it has been bent enough. Tom

I have used a 1 ton press on a plate 1.5 x 2.5" with no trouble. The hole in the ram can be .5" dia. The side screw will always push the tool you are using over against the opposite side and stay aligned vertically in the ram. The place this won't work is if your bottom anvil or plate is fixed and centred. Then the top tool needs to always be centred too. Then you need a bushing like noted above. Tom

Camano's example looks great. For the conchos, they could be mounted on a slider with slots cut to allow the slide to be repositioned to centre them. Trouble is, the slider might have to be too wide. Or, punch a few extra holes so the conchos can be moved by your seller, or the purchaser, and instructions to glue the threads so they don't come loose and fall off. Difficult to make one size fits all. Something is always lost when you do that. Tom

Fantastic job. I used to stand and watch a cobbler for hours when I was a young kid. Loved the smell of the shop. When we went into town, I'd usually go watch old Joe. My parents knew where to find me when it was time to go home. Keep up the good work. Tom

Looking really good for your first items. Keep up the good work. Using goodsjapan, where are you located? Tom

Use a spoon to rub over the craftaid. Don't need the trace the lines with a stylus. They work quite well for patterns you like and use multiple times. Bought my first ones in 1961. Sometimes copy elements from them when building a new tooling design (since I'm not a great artist when it comes to drawing). If you like the patterns, keep them and use them. Tom

There are other posts on the same subject. Dampen from the back side only, and bag overnight. Keep in the fridge when not tooling so it doesn't go mouldy. If you need to continue tooling and can't wait for it to soak through from the back, then mist with a little water as you go along with your tooling, as needed. Don't soak the tooled side. And as CC says, cover the area you are not working on to hold its moisture. Tom

Great little dog. Very nice. Haven't seen you around for a long time. Good to see you back here. Tom