Northmount

Also called pear shaders. CTG

There is a post somewhere here with pictures and description building a rawhide mallet. Try searching for it. Even tells where to get rawhide ... Can use dog chews. CTG

The tongue end is too long. It absorbs a bit of moisture so is being wet formed while wearing. It looks like the shirt cuff, or the way he wears it pushes it out of alignment with the rest of the strap. Cut shorter, and maybe an additional keeper will help keep the tongue in alignment with the rest while being worn. CTG

Nice to note the difference in black and white thread. Thanks. Smaller needles of course make a smaller hole, however in his test he was sewing through exisiting holes punched by a larger needle. So it is not an accurate test. But it does point out that the top tension was really not adequate. I sure like pre-lubricated thread. Bob Kovar at Toledo has a good stock, color and size selection. CTG

I can't resist it. When I saw the topic line a couple days ago, I wanted to say "don't cut yourself". CTG

You need to substantially increase the top tension. With large hole and smaller needle, the knot should have moved higher in the hole, since it wouldn't require as much top tension to place it halfway through. For testing purposes, I like to use black on one side and white thread on the other so I can see where the knot is much more easily. So boost your top tension. CTG

50/50 CTG

Are you lifting the presser foot as you make turns or to reposition the leather. Some machines release the top tension if the presser foot is raised very far. I'm not using a Cobra, but my machine has caught me a few times until this action penetrated my thick skull. CTG

Another recent post (for oil dripped stain on a saddle while sewing) said to cover with cornstarch and let sit for 3 or 4 days. I've heard this elsewhere so think it would now be my first try rather than water and soap, especially if there is any tooling involved. Do a search for oil stain saddle for the past 2 weeks and you will find it. CTG

Also places that sell wigs. CTG

That is fairly thick leather. The stem should protrude about 3 mm above the leather. Too short, not enough to flare/bead over to hold, too long and they tend to collapse crooked instead of beading over nicely. CTG

Bob Parks aka Hidepounder has a real good reference for developing and drawing designs. Book. It's for western floral designs. It will be money well spent. I would do a quick read of it, then go back and study and take time to try out building a new design using his methodology. CTG

I know this is an old thread. I have used super glue to glue self stick Velcro to leather. You can use magnets on smart phones. Need to experiment with placement versus the phone itself. Some phones such as blackberry use a magnet in the front and backside of the pouch to turn off the screen while the BB is in the pouch, and turn it back on when the BB is removed. It's in both front and back so the BB can face either direction. The magnetic reed switch is in the back side of the model I made a holder for. If you play with the phone and magnet, you'll find where the switch is. Then keep the closure strap magnet away from the switch position if you don't want to trigger the switch. The iPad has a switch on the right side when holding it in the portrait position with the home button bottom center. Solid state memory used in these devices today is not sensitive to magnetic fields, so poses no problem around magnets. CTG

You can finish this one by hand and redesign the next one for the sewing machine. Then you will still have a nice purse with the proportions you started with. CTG

A few things you can do with your clutch motor 1. Switch to a smaller pulley 2" 2. Adjust the pedal to clutch linkage so the pedal has to move further for full stroke 3. Put a speed reducer pulley set between the motor and head 4. Practice slipping the clutch And like Ferg said, press the pedal a little to release the brake so you can hand wheel it. CTG

Here is a link for instructions on bookbinding, especially for magazines. Bookbinding It's a great way to protect your magazines. CTG

For leather thickness conversion, 1 ounce = 1/64". Some info located here might be helpful to you. Leather guide info Have fun! CTG

Love the machine shop this post links to! line shaft shop

With very soft thin leathers, they are more a reference point. Same as if you were sewing cloth. So you have to, in general, keep watching and adjusting your feed to keep the edge stitching even. The guide won't push the soft leather over. For long straight runs, a long guide can help more than a short guide. CTG

I think a video could be very useful. It could show what the various parts of a "typical" machine are, how the top thread is controlled, how the loop is formed under the feed dogs/ plate, how the hook comes around and grabs the loop to pull it over the bobbin, how the top thread is pulled back up, how to adjust the tension, how to start a stitch, how to back tack, how to turn corners, follow curves, etc. Comments could be made about timing, walking foot versus not, how to adjust presser foot pressure. For specific brand names threading, timing, and that sort of stuff, viewer should be referred to the machines manual. More could be added to following segments on using edge guides, a little about routine maintenance, oiling, etc. One of the first things in the video should be how to correctly install a new needle. Charts don't need to be in the video, but reference locations (urls) should be given. Some good and bad examples of sewing should be included. Wrong tension, wrong needle and thread size combination. We could start off with an outline, followed by a text write up with photos. That could be followed up using it as the basis for a script to do video segments. There are a number of photos in various posts that can be used for illustrative purposes, both in a text document, and later for video either as direct insertion or guide for action in the video. What do you think? Will it get support and input, enough to make it worthwhile, or a good idea that goes off the rails and never gets finished. Some of the vendors here have done nice shorts promoting their machines and showing how to thread. Would they be interested in formally supporting, or taking over the actual video production? CTG

Take a look at this post. How to mix. I would start with the suggested amount. If it is not working, then mix it stronger and go again. I did some once about 4X this ratio, makes instantaneous visible change. You may need to treat the whole braid so it all looks the same after, not lighter only where treated. Good luck with the clean up, and don't shoot the dog, just the person that left the braid where the dog could get to it. CTG

As long as you are using their product, re-purposing what they have sold, there isn't much they can do about it, even if they don't like it. The only caution I (not a lawyer) see is not to make something that defames the company. Heck, they probably want you to buy more so you can make more art! CTG

Leather and Wood vol 2 has a magazine rack that might give you some ideas. Is available as an ebook from Tandy. CTG

A really great piece of work. I'll never be that good, but I appreciate the beautiful work that you and others here do. I shouldn't have shown my wife the lizard. She loves lizards, so guess what? Now have to learn to make nice looking lizards! CTG

Nice bit of research. Now "line" makes a little more sense to me. I've always had a selection of snaps, so just grabbed the one that looked the best for the article I was fixing or making. There are some other posts in the last couple months about setting snaps and how long the post should be so it doesn't bend over and collapse, making a crooked mess. Do a search, should be easy to find if you limit the search to a couple months. CTG