Aven

Nicely done. Those look seriously comfortable. Mind if I ask where you are sourcing the bison from?

I'm not familiar with Tanner's Bond. Are the small marks where you expected the chisels to come through on the back? I'm assuming you are showing the back piece.

Did you glue the seam together first? It doesn't have to be uber strong, just keep the leather from shifting around while you punch your holes. How large are your chisels? What were you using as a backer while punching? Pictures help.

This video is a good tutorial on how to do it. It isn't quite what I was taught, but it looks like it will work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzDFbvdIP7E

The soling has held up decently for me. How it will hold up for you is a matter of several things, such as how you walk, what you walk on, how often you wear them, and of course how you applied the soling. Applying it can be a bit tricky. You have to mix up the amount of rubber you think you will need and stir that into just enough Barge to hold it together. But while you are stirring to coat all the granules well, the glue is flashing off. You have to get the granules completely coated, but with just enough glue to hold it all together and then smeared onto the sole before it hardens on you. It can't have too much glue, be too wet or it will just make a mess of things. If you underestimated what you needed, just do a second layer. The soling treatment is more comfortable than walking on a sidewalk barefooted, but it doesn't offer the same cushioning as a pair of runners. And it isn't overly durable. If you wore them daily on concrete or asphalt, you will probably have to redo the soling a couple of times a year. But its easy enough to do, just messy. Not really. It's the same concept. The person who taught me how to make the turn shoes would take a five gallon bucket to a place nearby that retreaded tires and ask if he could scoop up some of the grindings. It was the mess they made from grinding the old tread off, so it was waste, but they weren't always keen to have him in the building. The grindings were different sizes and there were always bits of steel in the mix. From that 5 gallon bucket, after the sifting was done, there might be a gallon bucket or two of finely ground rubber.

Nicely done! Planning on making a few o them?

Scott, when I made my turn shoes I used 8 -9 oz bullhide. The temper was very soft and supple. It worked a treat, but the soles were covered with a mixture of ground rubber and barge cement. This should give you more information. Bison Leather Info

Scott, if you were to use the 8oz veg tan, you would have to pre-mould the bottom piece to get the tucks. You can't sew them while it's wet, you'll cut through the leather. If you really want to use veg tan, you might be able to get 3 - 4 oz to work. Stiff leather boots will eventually get broken in if they are worn enough, but that doesn't always mean they will be comfortable. I was issued two pairs of boots in basic. We rotated the pairs, one day wearing one, the next the other. The first day we wore them our drill sergeant made us get our boots wet and walk them dry. First pair was like putting on slippers. The other pair broke in so that the right one was pushing into my achilles tendon every time I flexed my foot. I hated wearing those boots. I couldn't wait until I could toss them and buy another pair. Elk, deer and even bison are all native to Europe. Have a look around, you might be surprised on what you find. Water buffalo might be a good substitute for bison

I am planning on putting a roof over the two and walling in the ends. Cooling here will be the biggest issue. It will be several months before I can do anything. We're still working our way through the paperwork to sell/buy. I'm just going over build options. Shipping containers, earthbags, rammed earth, rammed tires, pole barn, conventional build. The usual suspects.

Thanks Fred. Dampness won't be much of a problem for me, well not like it is for you. But your point is taken. It'll cost a bit more, but in the long run it will be worth it.

We are in the midst of moving. We'll be down-sizing a bit, so nothing can go in the house long term. I'm mulling over my options for building a shop. One of my options is to use shipping containers, possible two 40 footers placed about 20 feet apart. I know that creates a lot of space, almost more than the house LOL! But it wouldn't just be for my leather work, and yeah I could go with 20 footers, but the 40's are only about $125 more, so for $250 I double the container space. The distance between them is just a guess at the moment. I'm waiting for the survey to arrive so I can figure out how much space I have between the fence and the utility Does anyone have any experience using shipping containers for sheds? Should I pour a pad for the area under the containers and well as for the space in between?

You could make something like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvLEFFP8qLA Shape the horizontal piece the blade clamps to a hair narrower that the blade itself and round the jutting end a hair bit smaller than the blade, and mark the center of the blade. Drill it out for a threaded insert so you can screw the blade down. You'll need to fiddle with it to figure out the correct angle for the paddle, but pretty much straight forward. The key to this is being able to screw the blade in the same place each time. Or you can try one of the professional sharpening services in the Seattle area.

Wykoni, check out MicroMark.com Search Optivisor Professional Series Set Item #84431

That makes sense. Stores have a hard time holding on to them here. You see carts dumped all the time. We went into a grocery store a while back and could not find a hand basket. We said something to the cashier as we were checking out. The manager happened to be near by and said that they were having more of an issue than usual. She said they usually lose about 50 a week. People just walk off with them. I was stunned.

What? Wait, you have to "rent" your shopping carts? Wow, now there's a scam. Do your pensioners get tokens?

From now on we will be doing PayPal or cash only. No checks, cashier's checks, money orders or the like.

Some people are just scum. I'm sorry she got taken. Thanks for listening. Stuck in an empty house is rough for a verbal processor. The cat couldn't care less about what I'm talking about.

Fred, a cashier's check is supposed to be like instant payment. The bank issues it and guarantees that it won't bounce. And I'm pretty sure that it won't cost anything near $2650 to crate it and move it. The moving company quoted us about $6,000 to move our household goods (three bedrooms and a shop) about the same distance. I'm sure it was a scam, I just can't figure out how they were going to get their money, unless the moving company was in on it. If I'm correct, the check is a fake, a good fake, but a fake none the less. If I cash it, since it's a cashier's check, it shows up immediately in my account, even though it hasn't cleared the issuing bank. That could take weeks before they decide it's a bad check. At which time they take the check amount back out of my account plus and fees for a bounced check. So I'm out the amount of the check and they have a sewing machine. This is a whole lot of trouble for something that isn't going to net them much. Something expensive I can see, like a car, but not a machine that's not worth more than maybe a few hundred dollars. The moving company has to be in on it. My wife had the buyer call me because she's at work. As soon as it rang I knew it was a scam. The check in a different name came from Chicago. The call came from the Twin Cities in Minnesota. They are about 650 miles apart. The fact the guy told me he had to talk for his wife Leah, who was deaf and dumb, cinched it for me. Told him I was tearing up the check, he didn't hesitate, he just hung up.

I have a situation that I would like to get the collective's take on, because I trust y'all. We put an older Singer 66 up on OfferUp for $125.00. We were contacted by someone who said they'd buy it, send us an cashier's check and have some one come get it. Okay, we're good with that. This drags on for a few days and rolls into she will pay us and have movers come get it. Um, okay, more hassle than the sewing machine is worth in my opinion, but what do I know about the worth of the machine really? Today a cashier's check via FedEx from Chicago, we live outside of Seattle. The check was for $2,855.00 and there were no instructions for the movers included in the envelope. Supposedly we are to cash the check and pay the movers with the remainder of $2650. We are supposed to get an extra $80 for our troubles. Oh, the name of the check isn't the name of the person my wife has been dealing with. I got to say I am uncomfortable with all this. I feel like this is a scam, but I'm not sure how it works. Anyone have an insight to this? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Spyros for taking the time to write that all out. I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind when we get around to building the shop. I think I will end up using shipping containers, well that's the plan at the moment. Not sure if it will be two side by side or two spaced apart with a space built in the middle. For those who work in the desert, do I need to be concerned about relative humidity? I'm moving from the Pacific North Wet to high desert where RH can get down into the single digits. I plan on insulating it of course. No one likes working in an oven. One of the reasons I'm going with a conex is it should be totally rodent proof.

Life has thrown us a curve ball. We are moving to NM here shortly. I will be setting up a new shop, but I was wondering if there is anything in particular that I need to keep in mind when I go to build it. How should I transport the sewing machines? Thanks in advance.

It looks like they turned the library into a bookshop. The books, craftaids and whatnot are all available for purchase.

I just measured the blade in my 5-in-1. It's 1 3/4" wide, 2 1/2" long and 1/8" thick. Lee Valley has a small bevel-up smooth plane replacement blade that is 1 3/4" wide and 1/8" thick. It will need to be trimmed of course. It'll save you about $15 in price. Don't know what shipping will run you. https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/planes/blades/101598-1-3-4-inch-blades-for-veritas-small-bevel-up-smooth-plane.

If you have a local shoe repair person, check with them. They might be able to either help you out or point you in the direction of some place a bit cheaper.

Weaver Leather has non-slip tape that works well. I have cork on the back of a couple of ruler and I don't like it as much.