Northmount

Might have to let it dry for a couple more days until the glue is fully set. Tom

Why don't you add your info to the original post instead of starting a new thread? Would make a lot more sense and reduce the confusion for everybody. Tom

Good project for kids to do too. Great ideas Tom

As JustKate says, and include all your steps, what was used for antique, etc. drying times, buffing, ... Tom

Oil dye is mostly spirit dye Tom

Check this link if you haven't already seen it. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=29323&hl= Tom

A number of people are really unhappy with the quality of the stamps supplied in the kits. They are lower quality than the stamps Tandy sells individually. So you may be best off the take a second look at the stamps you are most likely to use and skip the kit. As mentioned previously, look at some patterns the style you want to carve, and get those stamps first, plus maybe some larger and smaller bevellers. So as soon as you get into the Tandy store ... go look at the patterns and pattern books, see what tools are used, and get those ones. And buy a few patterns too. Also some scrap pieces. The books and patterns by Stohlman reference some tools no longer made, so you need to cross reference to something that is close to the original stamp. Tom

You need to first off decide what thick leather is. To you, it might be 1/4" total thickness counting all layers. For someone else, it is 3/4" total thickness. There is a lot of difference between the machines you would use to handle this. So first, what is your total thickness? What thread size do you intend to use? How hard is the leather? Do you need a cylinder or a flat bed machine? You need to define these types of parameters first. Then a dealer (see the ads at the top of the page) can help you find the machine you need for your work. Most often, the first machine a new to the art person buys is not suitable for the job they are working on. Put your money into a machine that is capable. Tom

Acetone (fingernail polish remover) will dissolve many finishes. Fiebing's dye thinner removes some. Deglazer also. Toluene (contact cement thinner) is another. Look at what is recommended for thinners and try that one first. They may remove some of the dye as well. They will dry out the leather so it needs to be conditioned again. Most water-based dyes are very sensitive to being dissolved by the stronger chemical thinners used in non-water based finishes. Even alcohol dyes can be lifted too, but not quite as easily. Hence the instructions to always buff the dye off the surface before putting anything on top of it. Your dye started out in a dissolved form when you used it. Any solvent stronger than water is likely to lift it. Of course water can lift water based dyes too. Tom

Bottom side will never look as good as the top side of the stitch. Needle and thread size chart at Toledo Industrial (and other places too) http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html Tom

Hello from Calgary. You'll find a number of Canadians here too. Welcome Tom

If you press on the pedal a little, it releases the motor brake so you can hand wheel it easier. If you are sewing heavy leather, even with a servo motor, you may need either gear or pulley speed reduction to help punch through the leather at slow speeds. Tom

Hello from Calgary, and welcome. Tom

This is normal. The leather has to be displaced by the needle. Not the same as fabric. Smaller needle, smaller thread can reduce the amount. Leather needles may help. You can pound the rough side down with a smooth faced hammer. Don't go at it too hard! Moistening the leather slightly after sewing and slicking it with a bone folder or slicker will also help smooth it out. Will also help remove feeddog marks. Tom

And the machine presser foot and feeddogs will leave more marks on your leather ... just like we case leather for tooling. Tom

There is a report button on each post. Click on it and give the moderator the instructions or fixes needed. They can help you. Tom

Do a search. There have been a number of threads discussing wood stain as well as wood dye. Stain has additional chemicals that some posters suggest will ultimately cause problems. Tom

Adding to Kevin's comment, fit the added depth as a gusset. Length to go all around the case, width ... the thickness of the tablet plus seam allowance for both edges of the gusset. Tom

Texas custom dies can make cutting dies for you. http://www.texascustomdies.com/products.php. See bottom of page. There are lots of other suppliers around too. For something like "CHIEF" you could order steel, delrin, or other types of plastic stamps from companies like http://www.infinitystamps.com/leather_stamps.html. Do a search here and you will find other suppliers too. Lots of posts have been for makers stamps ... so if you search for them, you'll find them. Tom

They all look great, very bright colour! Nice barbed wire. Tom

Is it stiff turning by hand with no belt and no leather under the needle. If so, something is binding up. Take the needle out and try it. If it is not binding, then the hook or shuttle is binding against the needle and needs adjusted or bent needle replaced. Also had a case where the bobbin and hook were not locked in properly and it was stretching the top thread real tight as it was supposed to pass over bobbin, and would twang as it finally clear the bobbin. It liked to break the top thread. I'm not familiar with your machine so my description of the bobbin area may not match your machine. If it is easy to turn without the belt, then recognize that the 3:1 gear reduction in the motor is making it harder to turn manually, or your belt is way too tight. I hope your have the smallest diameter pulley on the motor, else your are defeating the purpose of getting the gear reduction motor. The smaller motor pulley gives you a slower stitching speed, and increases the torque available to help punch the needle through the leather. On a 227 style machine, I had to add a pulley reducer as well to be able to run the machine slow enough and have the torque to punch through 2 plus of 8 oz leather. Tom

I'd use the pattern from bushcraft just above your last post. It looks better and gets rid of the seam down the front. I just took a look at the corrected pattern near the end of the video. The brim is the same width all around. See the frame grabbed here Tom

Here is another link, more detailed, no front seam http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103523 Tom

Here is a video with a pattern near the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTJCi63O6Uw There is also some good hat making info in this thread http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=40162&pid=249679&st=0entry249679 Tom

You generally don't want to put a light looking straight down onto the article since the shiny spots will bounce straight back to the camera. If you place it shining across the article, from the top or the bottom, it would give deeper shadows for any depressions. On carved/tooled work, would show the textures off much more. For the holster, it may show off the molding a bit more. One thing about digital cameras is, can do lots of experimentation and see the results right away, no cost or delay for processing film. So experiment some more. Good luck. Tom