Northmount

A piece of MDF (medium density fiber) board works well too. The surface is very flat, firm. Lasts longer than cardboard. Very sturdy and supports sharpening guide helping to keep it straight. Has become my preferred method instead of leather. CTG

I'm no expert on splitter blades, but ... Since the blade is relatively thick, I would do a micro bevel until such time as it is getting too wide, then reshape the edge and apply a new micro bevel. Same as with many woodworking tools like planer, jointer, plane blades, etc. It's a lot quicker to touch up the micro bevel and to strop it than having to work the whole surface each time. CTG

Depends on what the blade is. Swivel knife, maintain the full angle. Don't do a micro bevel on its edge. Regular knives, chisels, etc. work on the micro bevel. After a long period of use or damage due to improper usage, then the edge may need to be ground back and reshaped. Then a micro bevel done on the edge. There are a lot of posts on sharpening different types of knives. Do a search for the type you are sharpening. CTG

I have used oxalic acid to reduce the smell to a much more tolerable level. Then air out with good circulation around it for a couple days. By the time I was finished tooling and applied a finish, the smell was gone. Don't soak it too much or you will be waiting a long time for it to dry back to a proper cased working level. CTG

You could put a divider in the bag, attached to the gussets, and place the pockets on the divider. CTG

I'd like to see the leather inside. Did you do any pockets, or just line it? The combo looks great. CTG

The roughness inside the collar is likely due to age and sweat and oil from your skin, breaking down the leather itself. Most leather coats and jackets show degradation in the collar after a few years of wear. One fellow told me to always wear a scarf of some sort to protect the leather in the collar. CTG

0.9 mm is very thin, between 2 and 3 oz. I would go heavier IMO, maybe around 6 oz (2.4 mm). There is some info and a conversion chart here. Leather info 1 oz is 1/64 inch or 0.4 mm. For the people stuck in British units, 1 inch = 25.4 mm. Time to get familiar with metric units and conversions for the basics so you don't get ripped off and can figure out what you are dealing with. CTG

Do a search for the items credit card magnet There are 3 threads with info that might help you decide what to do. CTG

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