Northmount

I think there is some confusion about casing. Casing for carving and stamping leather is not the same as used for molding. For molding, the leather does not need to dry back to its natural color before you start molding. As you can tell, it is easier to stretch when wet. As it dries, it begins to hold / retain its molded shape better. CTG

I was thinking that all that hardware at the back of your neck could be quite uncomfortable. Would have to wear it lower to have it stay off your neck and upper back. I think I would attach the shoulder straps where the attachments for the handle are. Of course since I have arthritis in my neck, I have become much more sensitized (pun intended) to this issue. It's got my shoulders too so I'll never wear one, but would like my clients to be comfortable. CTG

I just did a simple experiment printing color graphics on leather with the Canon Pro9000 inkjet printer. There was no leather prepartion, just grabbed a low quality piece about 3 oz, already cut to about 12" square. Set the printer up to feed straight through from the front tray (the paper path is flat, no bends). Took a few trials to get the settings correct to feed. Leather needs to be flat. Edges that curl up catch and jamb. First picture is of the leather right after printing. 2nd is after applying an acrylic finish using a wool dauber very gently. So the acrylic finish pulled some of the ink up and smeared it around a bit, as I expected it would with a dauber. So it needs to be sprayed on. (Need to try out that Preval stuff I bought a couple years ago.) The paper path on this printer is limited to 57 mils (thousandths of an inch). That just happened to match this piece of leather. Not too bad for a first try. Might have to do some more. I was going to make a double photo frame for this photo and a log house for the owners. Might just print the photos directly on light leather for the inside and tool some 7/8 oz for the outside of the folder and sew it together. CTG

It looks somewhat like the finish lifted off the leather. Did it stick to the buckle? Any residue on the buckle? Not fully dry? Not left long enough to dry between applications of dye, resist, antique and finish? Lots of questions for you. CTG

No photo! Also there are a few threads about hats here, a couple fairly recent. Do a search, meet your new best friend. And welcome to LW. CTG

Canon Pro 9000 Mark II is not a $15k printer. Current US price is $500. They come on sale occasionally for as low as $300. I need to test mine to see what it can do on leather. CTG

Don't need a bandsaw, any fine toothed saw will work, even a hacksaw. The coarser the teeth, the rougher the cut. Then you'll spend more time sanding the edges. Can use a coping saw if you want any fancy curves. Low cost if you don't have one already. CTG

I missed seeing this post earlier. Welcome aboard. There are a few Albertans here. Good to see you putting your inheritance to work! Where are you located? CTG

control 0 (zero on the number pad) will take you to the browser's normal zoom, 100% I think. I'm on an iPad at the moment so can't try it. CTG

I was looking for more info as well for making dies. There is a little info in this thread, but he never followed up with the results. Dies CTG

Tandy has lesson plans that you could review to see if they are useful for what you want to do. They are free download. Lesson Plans CTG

They are still there. Have you installed Adblock software? If so, you need to allow ads from this site. CTG

For short runs, you can use shorter length of thread, just make sure you have some extra so you don't have to splice more in for the last 2 stitches. For long runs, always go with the 2 arm lengths. Longer than that is self defeating. More snarls, can't do the initial snug-up in one pull, etc. CTG

The arm on the motor usually has 2 or 3 holes in it for the foot pedal connection. Make sure it is in the hole furthest from the shaft it pivots on so it has the longest arc to travel through. CTG

The Canon Pro 9000 Mark II inkjet printer will print on up to 11" x 17" on flat board, etc. Has a special front feed for flat stock, no curves in the paper path. It doesn't cost a fortune like others, yet will also do real photo quality as well if you like to do that kind of work too. I need to try it on leather one of these days. Have been thinking about it, just always busy doing something else. CTG

Techsew servos come with one. But I see a number of requests in the past months.

There is a manual in this post servo Item 2 in the manual tells how to reset direction. To others out there, don't mess around with the buttons if you don't have the instructions for them. Just makes trouble for yourself. CTG

Do a search for John Barton. He has quite a few posts plus a website. Also has a pattern to download. CTG

Look at a tire/tube repair kit. If you don't have a lot to do, the small tube might do what you want. Otherwise a autoparts jobber will have larger sizes. The is also a yellow rubber cement that is used to glue rubber weather stripping to car bodies. Might take a little experimentation to find the right combination for your purpose. A lot depends on what type of forces will be pulling it apart. And yes, you really need to rough up the surface. Looks like your roughing is good. In the old days, we used heat to vulcanize tube patches to the innertube. There is a barges rubber cement that Tandy sells. It's not the temporary stationery type. I had to cut it apart ... Was supposed to be temporary so I could easily remove it. CTG

Look at this post and scroll down to rickybobby and to Bruce's comments. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=36751&st=0&p=227224&hl=+oblong%20+punch&fromsearch=1entry227224 Need proper board to punch against, solid support, and heavy enough mallet. CTG

As mentioned above, use rubber cement, but not Barge rubber cement. It is permanent. Ask me how I know! Use LePages or similar rubber cement from a stationery store. It removes easier, and you can also rub residue off. CTG

See this post http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=39829&st=0&p=247582&hl=+sewpro%20+servo&fromsearch=1entry247582 This servo has a potentiometer instead of digital control. Just bought one from Toledo for $165 plus shipping. 300 W, 900 RPM, 3:1 gear reduction. I could still use a little more speed reduction so will be making another modification to get there. CTG

Try Toledo http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread.html sometimes has other thread colors. CTG

Many of these questions have been covered in posts over the past couple months, so use search to help find them. I'm no expert (x is an unknown quantity, spurt is a drip under pressure) but can help a little. - when starting to stitch a project, do I start ahead a bit, backstitch first, then forward over and then continue around? Start 2 or 3 stitches in from where you want to start, backstitch back to your starting point then forward and keep going. At the end, back stitch 2 or 3 stitches. I find it easier to keep needle and hole aligned by stopping with the needle down, then pulling the reverse lever down. Tie off the threads after. There are lots of posts about how to tie off, use super glue, burn the ends, etc. When starting out, always make sure you hold the threads tight until you have gone a couple stitches. - when I get back to the start do I stop at the "peak" of my initial back stitch and then back stitch a bit to finish off? Lots of choice here. Can start with no backstitch, make sure stitch is tight when you come back around to it, stitch over top, then a backstitch. Or no back stitches, but tighten and tie off the threads, especially if you can hide the tails between layers. Should be able to do it so you can't see the begin/end. I'm sure there are other options too, but I like to see no doubled up stitching. No beginning, no end! - the 2700 has a relatively small bobbin(imo), especially with 207 below. Are you limited to stitching the distance the bobbin will get you or is there a tidy way to stop and start with a full bobbin? My 2700 won't even feed 207 thread through the bobbin. Use a smaller diameter thread on the bottom. I did manage to replace the bobbin without losing the top once. Not easy to do. I took the article out from under the presser foot and didn't cut the top thread. I pulled stitches back to give me a couple inch tail on the bottom, pulled the top thread back through the needle and past the top tension disks, basically to the spool, then placed the needle in the next hole, picked up the bottom thread, and carried on. Then tied the bottom thread after. Was able to hide the note and tails. Not nice running out the bobbin part way through a long stitch line. You may have to hand wheel the machine to be able to stay in the original holes. - is it cheating to hand walk around corners or is that considered common practice? To me, there is no other way to start and stop exactly where you want to, and to be able to navigate tighter curves and corners. You do what is necessary to get the appearance and quality that you want in your finished product. A number of older machines had a hand crank pulley and later someone added a motor. The best of both worlds! Just don't whack yourself! - With my machine I got regular needles, is there a huge difference in the leatherpoint/tri needles? Do they have a noticeably easier time "cutting" through leather than the regular needles? (135x17) You may get a nicer bottom side stitch. A #24 needle through 1/4" of leather takes effort, regardless of the type of point. But dull needle is worse. On my little Singer flatbed 20-33, a leather point needle improves both stitch quality and bottom side appearance. Lubricated thread makes a big difference. - Is there a resource where these newbie questions are all laid out? The search function at the top of the page is your best friend. You'll soon get to know which posters have the best answers and most helpful information for a wide variety of topics. For sewing and machines, Sewmun, Art, 50 years leather, Wizcrafts, Cobra Steve and several others. Make a few small useful items, like protective knife sheaths for your leather knives, simple drawstring purse, and other things you can use around home. Helps to see your own progress, and to have made a few items you are going to use. At the same time you can experiment with fabrication techniques, carving and tooling, finishes, antiques, etc. Good luck, keep at it. CTG

And be aware that Apple's iStuff doesn't support Flash. To work around that, need to have your page detect the browser type (Safari) and use an alternate scheme. CTG