lazybum

Hi Ive been doing leatherwork for a couple of weeks now and all ive been using is contact cement as my only adhesive. Is there any place where I can find information about the different types of adhensives used in leatherworking and their specific uses? Ive been thinking what kind of glue is suitable for gluing fabrics to leather?

Thanks again Art! Can call me JT yeap! After some searching i think this is a good pic to illustrate my need You reckon an eyelet with a washer can achieve a similar look?

Hi May I know if eyelets set with a washer will have that neat look for both sides like grommets? I find a lot of grommets too big for my taste. Many of them have a very wide ring. If eyelets and washers are going to look the same as grommets then ill chucking my grommets and getting some washers.

Thanks for the replies! Ill try W&C on my next leather purchase. By the way is it possible to get the overstock special pricing if I order online? I don't live in the US you see. @50yearsofleather Ive seen your posts about the tandy single bends. Can I check are those vein marks or something at the bottom right part? Maybe I might get them the next time im ordering something from tandy. Anyway are there other choices out there sold in thinner weights? im looking for 2-3oz and 4-5oz in particular. I understand that I can ask W&C to skive but I ask because sometimes those that are listed in thinner weights are cheaper.

Anybody knows where to look for the cleanest veg tanned leather? i.e. minimal scars, spots, stretch marks, fat marks etc. I won't be tooling much, if at all, so whether they tool well or not will not matter very much. Thanks!

thanks for the reply John! A kitchen board should actually do as a punching surface right? Im a bit short of cash which is why im trying to use whatever I can and put off buying new stuff. For (2), what grit do you think I should use? The hardware shop that ive been to only stocks emery cloth up to around 400 if i remember correctly. On the other hand, they have sandpaper up to 1500. Actually I kinda found the answer in this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuSuFZz9b40. Looks like a tapered file can be used too. But im still a bit confused when it comes to sharpening, and I hope somebody might be able to enlighten me a little. When you sharpen a tool, it seems like you can either draw the blade away from the stone or push the blade into the stone as if you were going to slice it. My question is how do you known when to adopt which action?

I see. Thanks!

Thanks Hilly! Will look forward to getting an awl from Douglas in the near future! Just checking whats the price range of his awls? There doesn't seem to be any info of the price online. Came across a Japanese website that sells "douglas" brand tools but the awl blade alone is 4500yen which is impossibly expensive? Anyway I think id ask another question about stitching here. When stitching the same thickness throughout, I seldom encounter any major problem. However, when stitching from thin to thick, my stitches end up looking full to less full. You can refer to the last picture in this thread of mine to get a better idea. What do you think can help solve the problem? At the moment I can only think of being more careful and stabbing smaller holes at the thinner portions.

I see! Thanks for all the help!

Thanks for the reply! Is your awl sharp enough for you to control it as you push your awl through the pieces? I find that for veg tanned leather, anything equivalent to 7oz or more of leather needs to be placed flat on a surface and stabbed hard with an awl for it to go through, so controlling it and "fishing" for the groove on the other side is a bit out of the question. Does that mean that my awl isn't sharp enough?

Oh you're supposed to allow the contact cement to dry up a bit first? I always thought the pieces should be stuck together asap haha Should allowing the movement between pieces matter? I actually prefer it as it allows me to adjust the pieces to properly align before they are completely glued together.

Nice vid! Ive always been confused over the term "Shell Cordovan" By the way the smooth surface of the shell is actually a split and not the top grain right?

Has anybody encountered the edge becoming particularly soft after wetting/gumming a sanded edge to prepare for burnishing? Makes it a bit problematic to burnish. Is it normal and should i just wait for the leather to become drier before burnishing?

yup im handstitching. Reason I asked was because I was trying to stitch 6 pieces of 3-4oz leather together (don't ask why, screwed up planning ), and I was having trouble making the holes appear on both grooves, which resulted in the stitching looking rather haphazard at a particular portion where the holes did not lie on the groove. So in hindsight should I have just ignored making the stitching groove? I was thinking even if I didn't the stitching will not look nice cause its not at a fixed distant from the edge. Maybe I should just work on stabbing perpendicularly. But then I was thinking again sometimes its inevitable as the edges of the pieces may not line up perfectly when you glue them together, so the holes may not appear on both grooves anyway. Unless I sand the edges first? Is that a recommended thing to do before stitching? By the way i'm a bit curious as to why its impossible for machine stitching? I don't know much about machine stitching but I always had the impression that the machine will ensure that the stitching is perfectly straight and aligned.

Thanks educating us! This will help me remember the diameters of the snaps better By the way if set properly line 24 snaps can used to thinner leather (3-4oz) right? Ive set the female part on a 3-4oz piece (first time setting), even though the post stuck out quite a lot. It doesn't look screwed though (i hope >.<). The male piece will be used with a screw on concho so no setting needed. The snap works but it seems to come off more easily than I expected, as i had previously heard that new snaps are incredibly difficult to pull apart. That shouldn't be because I screwed up the snap somehow right?

Thanks for the prompt reply! I think it might be that im not clamping the pieces hard enough. I usually just hold it together for a few seconds and be done with it By the way what kind of gum eraser might you be talking about? A regular poly eraser won't do right?

If you are sewing 2 pieces of leather together and both sides of the stitching will be exposed in the final product, do you make a stitching groove on both sides?

Ive just started leatherwork and a problem ive encountered is excess glue peeking out of edges hindering the burnishing process. This happens when I put too much glue when gluing 2 pieces of leather together for stitching, resulting in some glue showing between the leathers when they're put together. So when I burnish the layers do not fuse together. Ive tried sanding the edges but that doesn't seem to work. Is there a way to remove the glue or do I just have to be more careful when using the glue next time? Or should I use a different glue? Im currently using generic contact cement available at my local hardware store.

Thanks for the suggestion. The dried cement method took away some of it. I think some stains were set in too deep to salvage. Guess ill just have to be more careful next time.

Accidentally spilled a bit of contact cement on the suede of my project. Any way to salvage it?

Hi I have a few questions about tools 1. Can a self healing cutting mat be used as a surface when punching holes with a drive punch? 2. I understand that to sharpen an edge beveller, you place a piece of sandpaper over a metal rod and run the beveller over the rod am i right? Is it necessary to do some smoothing for the other side of the blade also? Won't a burr form or something? 3. How sharp is a diamond awl supposed to be? Im having difficulties piercing through 6oz veg tanned leather and thicker without placing the leather on a rubber surface and stabbing it with much force. Ive seen how people use their awls as they saddle stitch. Is that only possible for thinner leathers?

Alright ill check Right Tools out. May also ask if a poly or wooden mallet is more suitable? Right now i won't be doing a lot of tooling, mostly punching holes and setting stuff. Also, does the diameter of the head matter a lot?

Unfortunately there aint any of those suppliers here in my country. I think ill look harder a wooden one.

Hi I'm new to leatherworking and i'm currently in the process of gathering the tools needed. The only mallets ive found so far that arn't metal are rubber mallets. May i know if this kind of mallet is suitable for leatherwork?

Hi If I were to use polyester thread in sewing, is there any kind of thread that i should avoid? I read somewhere that I should use staple polyester thread and not spun polyester thread. Is there a difference? Also, what size thread is recommended for sewing long wallets and purses? How do you read the thread sizes anyway? Thanks!