Art

Try Sailrite, they are never the least expensive, but often have what you need. Their snaps are usually DOT. http://www.sailrite.com/Snap-Fastener-Clot...Stainless-Steel Between .59 and .67 each. Art

Makes me want to fire up the Van Norman and the Hardinge right now. Art

Hi Roo, I take another view of economic stimulus. I don't believe handouts really work, on the last round more people saved then spent dollarwise. Instead, target the industries needing help with indirect tax incentives. For instance, lets take the auto and home industries as an example. If you purchase a new car (American of course, parts and car) you get a $2,000 tax credit. If you buy a house, $10,000 (the numbers might be different, but still have to be significant nonetheless). But we will still have to do more to stimulate this economy. Just GIVE money to the individual States and tell them it has to be spent on finished physical projects (not burning it in the school systems) that will be complete start to finish in 6 months. Then make sure (with jail time if they don't) that they do it. This package we have going through congress is just a bunch of ideological projects like health care and other stuff that won't do anything to help the economy, but instead just furthers a political agenda. Some of the spending is years from NOW when we need it. They can do all they want (that they can get through) in a separate bill that can be haggled over. They want to slip all this stuff through because they see this as a perfect opportunity to get it through without decent vetting because "we need this stimulus package right now". My, My, maybe you shouldn't have asked me a question like that. Art

Hi Joe, Sounds like a bent shaft or a bad drilling (in the case). I don't understand the main shaft being "turned slightly". In any case, I'm surprised it was sold to him that way, and even further surprised that he put up with it for eight years. For High tech lubricants, I use Mil-Comm products which work on sewing machines, but I have seldom needed much more than a good mineral based machine oil like light industrial machine oil, Lily Stitching Oil, any Stainless machine oil you can get at Jo-Ann's, Hydraulic Oil, or any mix of the above if you want to be creative. High Tech oils should not be used to solve mechanical problems as eventually the problem will endure and exceed the technology of the oil, and then may cost a lot more to fix. Leather sewing machines enjoy the luxury of running slower than Industrial fabric type machines although the bearings and bushings experience considerably heavier loads but are usually sized for that. This just means that if not properly manufactured or improperly oiled, the machine will experience a problem, albeit a little further down the road (like eight years in the above example). If used three shifts a day, 5 days a week, the problems get there a lot faster. Art

TLF is, in my opinion, about the same as A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnn's, and others who cater to beginning crafters and hobbyists and also to a more limited extent to professional crafters. TLF does provide pricing levels to serve the beginner, crafter, and pro; I wish they had quality levels to match, but that hasn't happened yet. I think all of these companies expect pros to go to Siegel, Rio Grande, Weaver, and others for a lot of their needs, and they are happy to serve the beginner and the next level up for most of their needs. The support they provide with classes and meeting spaces are a need they fill that can't be provided by Internet suppliers. To support store structures and the employee base to back it up, you need to have higher margins than wholesalers, considerably higher. To keep prices down and margins up, they seek out better prices because that is what the customer wants. It is very important that the store be there for the leatherworking community. When you, as a serious leatherworker, visit a TLF store, get to know the manager and deal only with them. Managers have to hire staff that might or might not have any leather OR retail experience. In other instances they have to hire family who frankly my dear, don't give a damn. Usually the manager is knowledgeable and dedicated and really wants you to get what you need. Support your local leather shop as best you can. Art

Could be a Brown Trouser Event, but things would be happening too fast to worry about it. Art

On the other hand, you get those folks who get the impression that if a little oil is good then a lot is better. Oil after every use will destroy faster than no oil at all. Oil sparingly only when needed, six month in dry climate and a year in others, that's when you check to see if it needs oil. Art

For $8 more you can get the Gingher shears, which ARE better. They just cut better, I have both the Craftool are good, the Gingher are sharper and just feel easier to cut with, even hard leather. Art

The Montana Pitchblend paste has beeswax, the oil does not. They both have Mink Oil. I also use Pecard's which works well. Both of these products also "breathe" which is good. Any of the acrylic finishes will also seal something up pretty good. Do both sides. Art

Hi Kathy, The ones on the stirrup are .44 Remington Mag and the others are .38 Special. I am not sure the ones on the stirrup are conchos, they may be attached to the steel plate that mimics the cylinder. Note that the primers on the .44 are not fired. If making your own, and you want them unfired, they should be deactivated (I soak them in WD-40 for a day or two). The other pic, the primers are fired. Some folks want particular manufacturers too. Art

Hi Denise, In the last 40 years of Superbowls, I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 times they have held it anywhere North of Georgia, gone are the days of Packers vs. Cowboys in -13 degree weather (that was in 1967); G-d help anyone who has a "wardrobe malfunction" in that kind of weather. Art

The Dormont/Mt.Lebenon/Glenwood/Hazelwood Steelers will win the Superbowl. I don't know if those neighborhoods even exist anymore, so GOOOOOOO Pittsburgh. Art

Hi Steve, Right machine, wrong price. In drop dead gorgeous condition, table, stand, motor, not used heavily $800, head only $400-$500-$600 in good condition. Needle feed, walking foot, big bobbin, I've seen a bunch of them in trim shops and canvas shops. Sew it off, check for wear, if you see wear on the outside, there's going to be wear on the inside, that doesn't rule the machine out, it just cuts the price some, they have a bottom end like a Toyota. I've seen ones with darned near half the paint worn off that still stroke along, and they'll go 1000spm without breathing hard. Art

Henry Veenhoven Creative Leatherworks 416-231-1870 I think he wants $650. Art

Hi DJ, If you are doing a lockstitch, the bobbin would have to be enormous as it has to run the thread around the more or less stationary bobbin thread. I have seen machines that feed thread like you suggest, but they weren't doing a lockstitch. Art

Go easy girl, that ain't Meehanite. Chinese castings have improved a lot over the years, but are still a little granular, just go slow. Art

Hi Randy, Here we are all inaugurated out. For the last two months, this town has been the ultimate wack job. It happens every four or eight years. New regime, everyone's either happy, elated or depressed. Now we will get back to the same old way this town's been running since the 1800s. The Federal Government is sooooooo big now that it would take a bulldozer the size of Texas to make it change course just a little bit. TO ALL, This is an Off Topic Forum in a thread labeled Political Content. If you keep it clean, and civil, and stay within the bounds of the Patriot Act, pretty much anything goes. All the moderators pretty much read every post in this forum thoroughly. Flaming and fighting are not things that are high on the list of things we like to see. Furthermore, if any hand slapping needs to be done, leave it to a mod, or if you think we are neglecting something, report the offending item. Art

Hi Tony, Have not heard of a horse connection. Maybe the First Lady rides. I will ask around, but everyone will have their hands full for the next year, this president has a ton of stuff awaiting him. Wish him luck. Art

The speech was great oratory, the poet was dead awful, and the benediction was hilarious. That benediction will be playing long after the presidential words fade. "The black man don't have to step back, man; the brown man can hang around, man; the yellow man can be mellow, man; and the red man can get ahead, man." I wish the new president well. Art

Hi Andy, The only thing the weight/thickness is good for is selling or ordering leather. That's why Wickett and Craig will send you a sample string and HO has a swatch card. Lets see, I'm in the shop and see that I need a piece of 3.5oz calf. I suddenly realize I am OUT of 3.5 oz calf (irrespective of the fact that I might never have been IN of 3.5oz calf) and well heck, I guess I can't work on this till I get some (the question is just what am I going to get some of, but that's another story). Now what really happens. I need a piece of calf, so I go over to my calf stash and find something that will work, might be goat, might be the good Italian stuff, as long as it will work, 2oz, 3oz, 4oz, so really it is my hand that determines what I'm going to use, not what is marked on the flesh. Art

Hi Tex, I think you have it all wrong about eBay. They don't look at the subject line and send you back a form standard answer. No No No No No No...they don't look at the subject line. Art

I like the oz/ft² thing better. Of course some yoho is going to want to go metric with 6oz should be 1.83 kg/meter². At least it is easier to convert to kg/hectare and kg/kilometer².....you just move the decimal point (that's what they always say). It is just a bunch of hoooy measuring or specifying the actual thickness of the leather. Art

Hi Holly, Lemon juice (Acetic Acid) is probably the mildest and greenest thing you can use. Rubbing Alcohol (Isopropanol), Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol), or in some cases Methyl Alcohol (Methanol), are also fairly mild but nevertheless good cleaning agents for leather (not necessarily non-toxic though). All of the above are miscible in water and don't pose much of a disposal problem. Deglazer on the other hand, is usually Ethyl Acetate (an esterfication of Acetic Acid and Ethanol) and maybe something else that will mix with it like Acetone, Diethyl Ether, or Ethanol. A mix of any of these would and does make a very effective cleaner. I would read the MSDS for that before using. Art

If you are not happy with the tool without the tits on the corners, return it to Bob and have him put them back on. Mine have them. You measure across them with a pair of dividers and scribe a railroad track across your area, then keep the tits in those tracks to lay down your first line. I can't imagine the tool coming without those unless you asked for it that way. Nonetheless, Bob is an exceptional artist, toolmaker, and person and will make it right. Art

Hello Scott, Barge is a lot different than in the past, they changes the formula or something. The three cements I have used and still use are Master, Duall 88, and Renia Colle de Cologne. I know Colle de Cologne sounds like toilet water, but Renia is probably the best high tech glue available for the shoe repair industry as are the American standards Master and Dual 88. With most contact cements (called general purpose cements nowadays) you need to wait about 10 to 15 minutes after applying the cement to both pieces. Apply enough cement so that the cement reflects light after the 10 or 15 minutes, if it doesn't, a second, and on really dry flesh side a third coat may be necessary. If the cement gets hard on you, it can be reactivated with heat or another coat. When you stick the two pieces together, set them with a hammer. If it moves after that, shoot it. Renia also makes other technical glues for sticking different things together. Read the directions with Renia products. When I buy Master, I buy a quart of cement and a quart of thinner. I put the brush in the thinner and leave it there. Then when I want to apply some glue I take the brush from the thinner and dip it in the cement, this will carry a little thinner into the cement, which it always seems to need, then I store the brush back in the thinner can when I am finished. Once you find a cement you like, stick with it. Art