Art

Alright, I don't believe it. I have NEVER been able to watch a George Hurst video ALL the way through without falling asleep. If insomnia ever plagues you (when you get older I hope) just plug in George doing the airbrushing video. George (I have talked with him many times and even been to dinner with him at many shows when we were both a lot younger) is of the school that the audience will be able to more clearly understand if you speak s l o w e r. That or he gets paid by video runtime. Art

Which TLF? Was it one in the LA area? Art

Well, antique paste is acrylic, about the same as Resolene or Tan-Kote. Now you are putting Resolene on top of that, being the same, acrylic dissolves acrylic so you have to let the first coat dry completely. Also in an acrylic on acrylic application, thin coats are an absolute necessity. After the antique does it's job, a little judicious brushing might be in order before spraying a light coat of Resolene, or apply a thin coat with a rag. Thin coats. Test before you invest. Art

I would be leery of using harness for a belt, it might have a little oil leach out. Bridle is a lot better. Bridle or Harness should last for many years without conditioning if used for a belt. Outside in arid conditions, leather should be inspected once a year and conditioned if appropriate. I am not a proponent of Lexol (the cleaner maybe). I use paste conditioners like Pecard's or Montana Pitchblend. I do not seal leather in plastics, acrylics, or other things that prevent the leather breathing, or drying if wet. My finishes of choice are Leather Balm with Atom Wax, Carnauba Cream, and Bag-Kote. Art

You shouldn't need ANY conditioner with either of those leathers. I have more experience with Wickett & Craig leathers, and harness is always more oily. Art

Stain does not cover, it may have a tendency to "mix". You are better off using Stain for the overall, and acrylic paint for the colors. Rule is generally "hot" on the bottom and "cold" (or less hot) on the top. IOW don't put something underneath something that will dissolve it. So stain it, paint it, and finish it with a water based finish. Art

So, the only way to really know is to do a practice piece. That being said when mixing coats, the "hotter" one has to be on the bottom and dry before applying the "less hotter" one. Read hotter as more volatile. If you put acrylic on the bottom, the lacquer will dissolve it somewhat. If you put lacquer on the bottom and let it dry, the acrylic should not dissolve it. THIS IS IN THEORY, because there are so many formulations and green formulations that you can't know without testing it. Art

http://www.rojeleather.com/ Art

Is RELIABLE the brand name, or do you actually expect it to be reliable. I have a 14" and it came with a sharp blade, but even then, I have the tools and experience to sharpen planer, shaper,and splitter blades. The band splitters, once you get them set up are really the ticket, but are not inexpensive. Art

I have been using Master cements for a long while. I have also used Barge and a few other formulations. I now use Renia Cements, both the Ethyl Acetate base and the water based. The solvents used in these products have small molecules (relative to other hydrocarbons) and high vapor pressures, which means simply that they evaporate quickly, which is what you want. These solvents will escape from almost any container, even the ones they are shipped in. It's their job and they are good at it. This is why a solvent or "thinner" is sold separately for most commercial glue products. This solvent is usually particular to a particular glue. Master All-Purpose thinner ONLY works on Master All-Purpose Cement. Renia "Green Can" Cements and Master Max-Bond (same thing as Renia Colle de Cologne) only work with Renia thinner. There is a separate thinner for rubber cement in most instances too, you just have to learn your cement. Water based cements (Renia Aquilim) use distilled water for a solvent, which is $1 a gallon at the Food Store, that's handy, boy howdy. The water based cement is a little harder to use on wet leather, because the leather keeps supplying the solvent. The leather has to dry before the cement will dry. I have the Teflon glue pots, T-S Boy containers, the glass bottle jars that Springfield doesn't sell, and the HDPE bottles that Springfield sells. I also have small narrow art spatulas (I think they call them pallet knives, but even a modeling spoon will do) that I get from Art suppliers. These are almost invaluable in some constructions where any brush is just too big. The T-S Boy containers are the best for Water based cements where you have to use special silicone brushes, just take my word for it. The teflon glue pots (Atco containers) are great for production work, but not the ticket for occasional use. The glass bottles are the best for long term storage of solvent based cement like Master, but they will break if you try hard enough The HDPE bottles have the same cap and brush as the glass ones and are a lot harder to break. They don't have silicone brushes go forget using water based in them. ​WHATEVER you use, unless you are tuning up for the IRON MAN competition, put petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) on the threads of bottles and the top of the T-S Boy containers even if you are using water based cement. I have destroyed a HDPE container trying to remove a glued-on cap. The metal cap didn't fare well either. Use the Vaseline or don't say I didn't tell you so. So at the end of the week or sooner or later depending on how thick or stringy you want it, put some thinner (can be water for the Renia Aquilim) in the bottle and shake it up. You can't get the glue too thin, well, you can but it doesn't matter as you can always apply a second or third coat till it dries shiny or add some of the full strength cement. ​P.S. Don't buy the Chinese T-S Boy knockoff containers. They leak around the seams. The T-S- Boy containers are made in Germany and work. Art

Son, down here in the civilized world, we call that safety wire, they even make pliers for twirling it. We do however know what hog rings are, and you would be surprised what manner of "repairs" can be affected that way. Art

Make sure Ron has a spare bar before you take to drilling. And people ask me why I have two 441s? Art

If you piss off the ole lady, a screw may be out of the question. Art

Look very carefully, sometimes (actually a lot of times) the nut is recessed into the bar so it is captured and acts like a threaded shaft. Art

Now he tells me? http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-magnetic-parts-tray-90566.html http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-magnetic-parts-holder-97825.html Art

On some of the clones, the bar is threaded, ghod knows what that will be, but I would call Bob first thing in the morning...I just went down and checked Both of my 441s (Highlead), 9/64-40 screws with nuts. Art

High TT, SS-7091410-SP Screw 9/64-40 L 13.5 NS-6090310-SP Nut 9/64-40 TSC-441 Parts List.pdf HTH Art

I have one I bought it new hammer, oops, two. One is a cross pein I use for delicate work. and the other is a big (well, 2lb) Chinese brass mover that I bought for $4, must have been Harbor Freight or something. The rest are 40, 50, 60+ year olds that have come down the line as far back as grandpa that I know of. A lot are just heads that don't have handles, but I won't throw them away, and they are easier to store without handles. In my hammer drawer (the ones I use) and a couple of closing hammers, a dead blow hammer, and a bunch of shoemaker's hammers. Maybe one of the French style, but none as nice looking as a Jeremiah Watt. I've polished the heads on about half of them and the rest get the hard duty. These are real useable hammers for leatherwork and are very reasonable prices on eBay. For under $25 including shipping you can pick up a decent hammer. Get one with a punched face (for hitting nails etc) and polish up one for hitting leather. If you do much banging leather to harden it, get a bigger hammer for that. You'll get to love them and end-up with a drawer full. Art

I am declaring the highjacking over, lets get back to thread burners. I use a Bovie, I think it is High Temp. I also have a fishing line burner and it also gets red or more hot and works well. Can't say I get very good battery life on any of them. I have tried a Burny (blowtorch style butane lighter) which works but you have practice with it; the Berkley/Bovie just is kind of intuitive. Art

Even the true artists tend to pick a media and stick with it, you will occasionally see them branch out, but they always seem to come back. Some realize that they are not particularly good in some media and stay away from it. I am not an artist, I am a mechanic. I can draw things, but it always ends-up looking like a flowchart or a schematic. I can draw if I have to, but it looks like early cave man. However, If I see it, I can make it, and if you see enough stuff you can develop your own style of things. Start by making some pretty simple things, like some of Ian Atkinson's pattern kits from his Etsy site. These will give you the feel for making things and an idea if you want to continue it. When you get a little experience, and can determine good and bad ways of doing things, go to a high end store and look at the leather goods. The store personnel will probably try to help you but they kind of expect manly men to look carefully at construction as opposed to style. Get some style ideas, but check out the construction. Don't be surprised if they break every rule in the book, and also don't be surprised if you get the feeling that you can make a better bag than they do, because you usually can. DO NOT QUIT. Anyone can become a good leatherworker, it is just a matter of how long you work at it, and having a good mentor. In today's world, leatherworker.net is a pretty good mentor. There is more diversified experience here (in many other disciplines too) than in any school (if one existed) or shop. A question not asked is the only stupid question. Art

In car and boat upholstery, it is used as the padding under rolled and pleated upholstery. The only reason it has the scrim or tricot backing is to keep the stitches from pulling through. If you sew foam to leather without the scrim, the stitches will pull through the foam. We used to just make the pleats in the foam by sewing them down. Now-a-days I'm pretty sure you can buy the foam with the pleats in it. To answer the original question, if you don't sew the foam in, you would have to glue it, which will prevent it from moving a little to help in fitting; and you just can't glue it in when you are pleating. Art

English Bridle is not spongy or squishy, not at all in the 5 pieces I have, it is very firm strap leather. English Bridle is not oily, Show Harness and the Oiled Latigo can be oily, and the Harness tends to be shiny. Dk Brown would kind of confirm it is English Bridle (the non squishy variety). Art

Those colors are only available (except special order) in English Bridle and Oiled Latigo, and just from the look, it isn't Oiled Latigo. Those swatches are old, they now put the type of leather on them between the color and Wickett & Craig imprints. Art

Never had a problem working on a problem with SLC the few times I have had to. Art

I do so little repair anymore, mostly my own machines and some of the sail and canvas crowd I have paled with for ages. I order my parts through a dealer I have bought from since my wife's first Elna in '73. When the home machines break (excepting the 221s and 222s, and 201s, I understand old singers), I just take them to the dealer, I don't ask questions and I pay whatever. I did take apart a cheap ($100 new) Bernina one time, and the build quality was so bad I just took the parts to my dealer and told him to use it for a parts machine. Develop a relationship with a dealer. Don't buy crap (even Pfaff) from a factory closeout if you don't know what you are doing, and please don't expect the dealer to fix or adjust something you bought off of eBay or Craig's List. This is just common business courtesy and common sense. And another thing, if you don't know what you are doing, buy a new machine from a dealer, would you rather be sewing, or turning screwdrivers? Art