Northmount

Depending on insurance companies and agents ... I carry minimum required liability insurance on my house and cars. Then I have an "umbrella" policy that tops up liability insurance to whatever amount I want to carry, like 2 to 5 M$. This works out to be lower cost overall because you are only topping up with one policy rather than 2, 3 or more. Talk to the State Farm agent nearest your location. When I used to carry corporate liability insurance, both for professional and other liabilities, I got the best rates from State Farm as well, about 1/3 of my previous insurer. As an additional aside ... If you need to insure any of your equipment against loss, damage, or theft, State Farm has the best priced "Inland-Marine" coverage. I had some analyzers that were used by clients and transported by couriers ... so needed coverage for them. Tom

Nice job. Tom

Here is a whole treatise on sharpening and whether to use water or oil and what type http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=43081&hl=%2Bstone+%2Bsharpening+%2Boil+%2Bwater Tom

Use the link in the post directly above yours, #52. Tom

See reply #4, Texas Custom Dies. Tom

http://www.eclectic-horseman.com/mercantile/product_info.php?products_id=115 Or http://www.hitchingpostsupply.com/product.asp?specific=1910 Or http://www.outwestsaddlery.com/html/cowboy_crafts_dvd_s.html Tom

Fantastic! Tom

There was a thread a month or so ago about fixing cracks in leather. Someone made some recommendations for a fix using something shoe repair places use. Try a search with some of the relevant words. Tom

Complicated or simple? See http://www.kingsmere...om/page112.html Kingsmere Crafts Applique lacing or the attached PDF.lace butt joint.pdf Tom

It was some general information that could save people extra effort or expense having to replace a zipper, not an attempt to answer your specific questions. Sorry if it appeared that way. Tom

If the slider is damaged, but the rest of the zipper is in good shape, you can get replacement slidders. They come in different widths (measured in mm) and for different types of zippers (plastic teeth, metal teeth and metal coil). Also for zippers that unzip from both ends. A number of sliders have a number and letter on the back. The number is the width. The letter has something to do with the style, but I haven't found any reference for it. Some sewing notions stores will tell you that their slider fits all jackets. Not so! Check sewing notions stores, outdoor outfitters, textile outfitters, etc. to find a source near you. It's a good idea to take the jacket with you to ensure the new slider fits. Else you may be making another trip to get the right one. Tom

This question is asked maybe twice a week. Do a search for what tools and see what you come up with. Welcome by the way! Hope to see you back with some work soon, or some detailed questions ... Tom

You can use a spreadsheet and its graphing functions to make a paper template. See attached file. Sine Wave Double.txt Download and change the file extension to .xls so you can open it in Excel or a compatible program. You can stretch the chart to print it out however you want. You can enter a multiplier in cell C1 to change the proportions. Or you can use this as a guide for building your own file. It has been awhile since I used trig functions in Excel, so I had forgotten that the functions use radians as the input rather than degrees. Chart looked awful screwy. So finally I figured out, have to convert degrees to radians, so the conversion is buried in the cell formulas. The file is safe, however you should always scan downloaded files for viruses. I run Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free and Microsoft has to keep it slim to promote fast execution using their OSs. Tom

Looks quite nice. Combined new technology with some traditional leather work. I think there are lots of opportunities to combine new tech and traditional. Some for mass production, and some for customized designs like your word cloud. Though I would tend towards what I think are more artistic designs. Each of us has a different opinion as to what we think of as being artistic. Tom

There is another post somewhere here where the poster said he rigged up a domestic sewing machine motor to drive a bobbin winder. He kept the foot speed control and locked it at the speed he wanted. Another good reason to wind the bobbins separately is so you can observe and control how the thread is laying in the bobbin. Hard to observe this while sewing. I imagine some bobbin winders do a better job than others, so not necessarily needed for all cases. Tom

Setup a winder using a variable speed electric drill. Tom

Here is some info that may help a little http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/infoandservices/leatherguide/leatherguide.aspx Some people swear at Tandy, but I'll take their info anytime. There was another post here a couple weeks ago with a link to more leather terms and definitions. Try a search for it. Tom

When I'm talking about a bent shaft, I'm talking about the complete assembly. It functions as one rotating element. Tom

It is always better to start out with a straight rotor rather than a bent rotor. So straightening should be done as far as possible first. (It is possible to balance a bent shaft, and is usually done as a temporary repair in order to get back into production on large expensive equipment where it takes 2 years to get a new rotor.) The adapter nut should have been made on a lathe so should be straight ... but depends who and where. You might consider returning it and having it replaced to see if you can get a better one. Yes you can cut things shorter to reduce the overhang, but the offset will still be there. Shorter will reduce the unbalanced centrifugal force. Just make sure you have enough length to make a solid connection. For 5/8", I would say no shorter than 5/8" long. For 1/2", same rule of thumb. Something sticking out unsupported 10" or more that is out of balance spinning at 1750 RPM is dangerous and scares the heck out of me. I did some diagnostics on a steam turbine pump shaft one day, running 5000 RPM. The vibration on one bearing (supporting a bent shaft) was over 100 inches/second. 0.5 ips is shutdown level. I got out of there in a hurry! Tom

You only need the left hex fitting displayed in the photo at toolfetch, plus a short 1/2 x 20tpi threaded stud. This still gives you a longer extension than you would like, but probably the shortest conversion you will come up with. The bench grinder probably isn't balanced all that well. You may be able to keep the grindstone on, use the adapter to lock it on tight, to help with the balance problem. You can play with attempting to balance it by adding a couple pieces of about 18 AWG sheet metal, cut in a strip about 2" wide and about 5" long. Round both ends. Drill a 5/8" hole in one end of each. Mount directly against the stone, or if there is not enough space, drop the stone and make a circular disk 8" in diameter, what ever thickness will fit with the two layers of 18 AWG. When the two strips are opposite to each other, they balance each other out. As you swing one around, it will produce a centrifugal force vector point halfway between the two free ends. Keep a guard of some sort around these so you don't get chopped up. Think of a meat slicer. You will have to do many attempts, but you should be able to experiment positions of the adjustabel weights (the two strips) until you find a position that reduces the unbalance. (There are blancing kits you can buy for grinders. They work the same.) If the bearings are really nice and free, you can do a static balance by adjusting positions until the rotor doesn't turn heavy side down by itself. If you were a lot closer to me, I could balance it for you. That's just another of my past jobs, balancing rotating equipment. Good luck. Tom

Try Bob Kovar http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread.html Has some stock that he doesn't list and may have sources. Tom

Looks like you've done a great job. Watched part, need to go back later to watch the rest. Tom

Turn the top edges over and stitch them to help provide more rigidity. Might even put a wire inside the folded over edge, or a thin flat piece of metal. Probably worth doing a little experiment to see how it goes, and how much is needed to keep it straight. Tom

The speed reducer is always active, so even at the highest speed setting, it's going to take three times as long to wind. Tom

Simple! Good job, great idea. Tom