Northmount

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

On your home page, the info on the banner is repeated below it. Many websites place the menu bar below the banner. That's where I tend to look for it, so took a moment to find where I could check out your other pages. Looking pretty good, interesting. Tom

If the leather is tooled, and you get it wet, you will lose some of the crispness of the tooling. If you wash your hands frequently or at least keep wiping frequently with a clean cloth, that will help a lot. Cheap grades of leather, you may need to clean before working with it, so could use liquid saddle soap, or possibly oxalic acid to clean it. Then allow to dry somewhat, and place in a plastic bag for casing. If you do get some oil or waxy stuff on the leather while working with it, use deglazer to clean it off. Dye thinners (alcohol) will work some too if you don't have or like the deglazer. For gluing, depends a lot on the type of glue you are using. Clamping or weights help with slow setting glues. With contact cement, roll it with a roller so you get lots of pressure to squeeze it together. Doesn't need to be clamped or weighted down. Tom

Should have taken it back or refused delivery to start with. If the cushion can be unzipped, you could try gluing a layer of upholstery leather inside to help reinforced the weak spot. Use a big piece that will fit just inside the stitch lines so you don't get the edges of the patch showing through. Would be a good idea to skive the edges of the patch thin. Best idea is take it back and have the seller fix or replace it. Tom

Your photo shows the surface of the leather actually cracked, not just the finish. So cure is like mentioned above, skive the leather thinner, and dampen the leather so the surface can stretch without cracking. If your leather is really dry, maybe even old, so really dried out, you need to add some natural oils to help condition the leather, but don't get carried away with it. More is not better! Tom

Some malls will let you set up a table for a few days for a relatively minimal fee. Some malls may limit it to fit with a craft fair or some other promotional activity they are running. If they will let you do that for an average week, you should be able to test the waters and see what the customer response is like. We did this while when we were getting a computer biz up and running years ago when Compaq and HP were high priced and the little guy could build better computers and not be drastically under priced by the big guys. Once a month for 3 days at a time really helped with the exposure. Tom

Heavier thread does take a lot more top tension to pull the thread back up tight and pull the knot into the middle of the leather. I was surprised too! I'm not familiar with the adjustments for your machine, but you may be able to open up the latch clearance a little so it doesn't snag your thread. Sometimes it could nick and weaken your thread. Tom

It may help to dampen the leather slightly, so it doesn't tend to wick the dye as easily, since it is already moist. Experiment! Tom Edit: Another thing you can do is put a light finish on, then dye with an alcohol based dye. It won't wick, but also doesn't really penetrate the leather, so is not good for items subject to any amount of wear. You will get different response than normal for the colour. Also, be careful putting the finish on over the dye. It will smear easily, so air brush is best. You need to test this first before you try it on a final product.

Are you matching needle and thread size? Here is a chart http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html Is the needle in the right direction, and threaded from the correct side? Thread should enter on the side of the needle with the long groove. Tom

Paint it now in order to save your previous work. Tom

Have you tried pressing with a hot iron and wet cloth to form nice creases you can then sew overtop of? You probably need to trim material out of the corners to get the corners to lie smooth without a bunch of bulk. Tom

Machine sewing formed pouches, boxes can be fun too. Really need to watch the layout and have adequate leather for the machine foot. Cylinder machines need more space inside too. Might be easier to utilize the nail hole line as part of the sewing line when doing hand sewn articles. Tom

Iron or steel nails will leave black marks due to reacting with the tannin in the leather. Brass or stainless steel nails (or screws) shouldn't react with the tannin. So if you are going to hide the holes in a line of stitches, be careful what metals you use. Wet forming often leaves irregular edges, so generally need to be trimmed to fit nicely. I prefer to cut oversize and trim to fit and tidy up during assembly. Tom

Here are a number of links to Woodcarving Gouges http://woodcarvers.com/Flexpalm.htm, http://woodcarvers.com/drakegouges.htm, http://www.chippingaway.com/WoodCarving/TwoCherriesCarvingTools/TwoCherries-PalmSizeStraight.htm, http://www.sugarpinewoodcarving.com/index.php/cPath/1929?osCsid=3686b34d59fb606cce739b0716391800, http://www.mdiwoodcarvers.com/productslist.aspx?categoryID=15 There are lots of suppliers, you can do a google search for more. Tom

Start by cutting your pieces oversize, do your forming, cut of the oversize parts containing the nail holes, and throw them away. Tom

Thanks. Good ideas Tom

If it works with your leather interiors now with the treadle, it will work with a servo too. Just need the servo, mounting bolts (if not supplied with the servo) and a belt to fit. So first thing I would do is see if you are happy with the stitching job it does now. If it is doing a good job, then go for the servo. Or do like my mom did. When she wasn't well, I ran the treadle while she did the sewing. Find a neighbor kid willing to work for cookies. Tom