Art

OK, Is there a brass plate that is part of the assembly or is it a screw or rivet attachment? Even with the pic, it is hard to get an estimation of size. Would you say the ball is 3/8 inch in diameter or 1/2 inch? If you look around page 27 of the OTB catalog there is something similar. Art

Hi Ron, In the luggage world it is called a handle loop, in the BDSM world, a collar ring (hence the small pic I suspect). They are never strong enough to take real weight, but fashionable looking. There is show and there is go, these are really show as there is only a 8-32 screw holding them on, a steel backer might help a little, but for go, a D-ring will be more serviceable. The handle loops are good enough for small luggage and for leash-collar attachment for toy dogs. The collar rings like you picture might be a little harder to find, if you PM me the full picture I can source them for you, or put it in the adult section. Art

Oil it with Montana Pitchblend. Also you could leave it in Ozone for 12 hours or so. Art

Well, some of the prices are on the wacko side (like some of the books) and others are reasonable. The draw gauge is pretty rare but only a collector would bite. You could easily fill in some of the blank spaces in the tool crib and not hurt yourself too bad. Condition can be important and anything less than VG, VGC, or EC might be less than expected. I have found that Good is usually less than that. I always wonder of their shopping cart and inventory system is up to the task. Art

I use a Barry King 96oz maul on a Infinity Stamp with the work on a surface plate that sits on a circa '40s or '50s GI metal desk sitting on a concrete floor. Deep impression and no bounce no how. Art

Hi Tim, In Wichita Falls, we all went out to dinner after setting up. The place was packed so we decided it would be ok to go outside to the porch or whatever. We ordered but before the food came we were kind of bothered by the flies. So we asked the manager if we could go inside, the flies were bothering us. The first thing he said was, "Oh, you all are not from Texas are you?". Art

Hi Mike, Copper water pipe makes great very rich looking ferrules, if you sand them they take a great polish. You can also get copper tubing, but not so easy to source, however one length will make ferrules for the rest of your life. Art

Hi Billy, Not too sure about "vintage", but after dyeing, use a fine sandpaper and a light touch to distress areas that would normally get wear, light overall use can give the "oxidised" look. You can then use Bag-Kote as a finish or even Pecard's. If you have access to a line finisher or buffer, a loose wheel or even a sewn wheel used gingerly can help the process along. Art

Hi Al, I'm of the overnight persuasion, I think this gives the excess dyestuff time to dry thoroughly so it will come off easily with a cloth, brush or loose wheel buff (be careful with a loose wheel buff). I am on the East Coast so our drying times are longer, even in the boiler room. Arizona or Palm Springs might be a different story on dry time. Art

Some of the butts get jacked pretty hard and do not take dye well. I use pro oil dye (Fiebing's) and cut it down about 50% with DEA. You can do the same with the regular Spirit Dyes from Fiebing's. I kind of dunk and flood the work, get a sponge and wrap it in an old (clean) t-shirt and just keep flooding the work until it is an even color. It will take longer because the dye is 50%, but it is much more controllable. Rubbing with the sponge/t-shirt (not vigorously, just applying the dye) seems to help even out the process somewhat. I also (and this is important) deglaze the work with Ethyl Acetate or some other strong deglazer to get any oil off and open the pores before dyeing. You can try isopropyl alcohol instead of Ethyl Acetate, but it is not quite as strong. Just scrub the surface with it. As far as your current project, you may be able to use isopropyl alcohol and then dye again, but you might also end up with a darker project than you want. I think you might give it a shot and chalk it up to a learning experience if it doesn't work, ditto if it does. Part of doing anything is learning how to fix mistakes or "problems", that's experience. Good luck with it. Art

Hi JT, Seven or Eight cord is real rope, probably a LOT larger than you want. That being said, you need to figure out what size and type you want and then get the needle and awl to match. Dan at Campbell can tell you that. Both nylon and poly work well as, of course does linen. Use Barbour's if you want linen, better quality AND quality control. I use the water based wax on linen (Campbell's), but don't need it for well bonded Nylon or Poly (Linhanyl Nylon or Eddington or Coats Poly depending on the look you want). I'm pretty sure you want Z (left twist) on your machine but you can check with Dan (either email or phone), almost everything is left twist except the sole stitchers (curved needle). Art

Hi TJ and Barra, Another way is to put a corded welt in the seam which is used to hide the stitches (or cover-up a multitude of sins). Art

Hi Chuck, As always, you work is outstanding, the beadwork is just remarkable. Also, your photography and the arrangement are also first class. Let us know here first if you do a video on beading, or hell, a video on anything, your vids are always top notch, they never disappoint. A video on traditional dyes and techniques would also be good. Art

I know it goes without saying.....but...sheath must be as wide as the widest part of the blade from that point on the blade to the throat of the sheath, if it tapers from there to the tip it is ok. Art who has only made that mistake ONCE.

Hi Todd, As far as I can tell, it has about the half life of Plutonium (24,000 years). I have a jug somewhere that is pretty old (5 or 6 years) and still works, it doesn't smell like vinegar anymore and I keep it capped and out of the light. Last I used it was a year ago, so lets say 5 years. Art

Hi Marko, Weaver sells a product called Brahma Webb which is Textured PVC over polyester webbing. It comes in Black and Brown in 1/2" to 2" widths and makes a decent looking headstall. I do not know how it wears. It almost looks like leather and is quite strong. It sews ok, but I don't know if it requires any special glues. Call Weaver. Art

Hi Ray, I use 1" and 1.25" spacers on arbors for the milling machine. The things are standard in stock items from MSC or McMaster-Carr in widths from 1/16" up to 6". If you have a lathe, you can get a length of schedule 80 pipe and make quick work of it. Art

Hi Kris, There are certain models of machines that are made by darned near every sewing machine factories in China, in addition to some toy manufacturers and general manufacturing factories. You can find these at whatever price point and quality level you may want. The volume of machines used for leatherwork in really quite small, mostly less than 1% of the market. Most machines are made for sewing fabric or some form of textile and are not made for leatherwork. Machines are generally modified to do leatherwork by the distributor. By the time you modify the HF machine to sew leather controllably you may have been able to add a few dollars and get something new that will do the job better and longer. Support is more important than the machine for a person new to sewing. Art

Hi Mooshi, When sewing, never back-up the machine (turn the wheel back) or fail to complete a stitch, that means the take-up lever goes all the way to the top. For any good quality thread like Linhanyl, nylon shouldn't make any difference. Thread is pulled from the spool (top thread) on the down stroke of the needle, and it depends on the prior stitch anchoring the thread so it can pull from the spool. Your job as the machine operator is to nail down this thread for the first two stitches so that the remaining stitches are held by a properly made first couple of stitches. Now the trick here is to "anchor" or "hold" the thread, not to pull it. If you pull on the thread, there is a chance that you will collapse the loop made for the hook, which will cause a missed stitch. The top tension on a stitcher is quite high and it will take the top thread right through your fingers on the first stitch, that is why I have seen folks pull on it like it is a rip-cord. Art

You got that right, now they're locking-up chickens, what did they ever do to anyone, maybe lay some bad eggs? Hmmmm, how long a sentence do you give a chicken for killing (and eating) worms, grubs, corn? In PETA's mind it would be, I guess 6 years, that's a life sentence isn't it? This line of thinking could go anywhere. Someone make Coq au Vin. Art

I use Pecard's or Montana Pitchblend paste. Let it dry 24 in the boiler room (dry place); check in 12 hours and if it took it all and is dry, do another coat and wait 24. Two coats is the limit, one is usually sufficient. You can do both sides if necessary, but in that instance only one coat each side. If you want some shine, Leather Balm with Atom wax after the Pecard's drys, buff or brush and you're done. Art

Be careful when wacking on pins that you don't bend the shaft the pin is in. If they are really tight, you have to back them up with something. Sometimes crud can be your friend, or at least not such a bad thing. Oftentimes that "crud" takes-up some of the slack in an older machine. In a lathe or mill, you have to clean them up and get those tolerances back, but in a sewing machine, you may wish you hadn't cleaned them. Don't get me wrong, if you are going to use it all day every day, clean it up and replace the parts; but if you will be using it occasionally and it currently works, clean-up the cosmetics and remove the stuff on top, but resist the urge to take it apart and clean every last bearing and bushing surface, so you don't end-up with something that rattles when a dump truck rolls by. Art

Hi Jana, Try Siegel of California, call, they have more than is on the website. Art

Hi Meg, You have to get all the leftover dye off by rubbing/buffing before sealing. Rub with a dry soft cloth or I do mine with a 10 inch loose wheel at 3600 rpm, you have to be gentle if you do it that way and don't stay in any one place, it is just faster, not anything you can't accomplish by hand. Bag-Kote will give you a subdued finish that I prefer, and Tan-Kote will give a little more gloss, you probably have enough neatsfoot on board after 2 applications, just finish with the top coat. Art

Hi RMB, I played with these machines at Sheraton. I was uncomfortable with the crank style of action. I don't have a big problem with the "slot-machine" style of the Boss or the front crank style of the Luberto, Pearson, or No.9. It was a little uncomfortable or unnatural, but in time, you could get used to it. It tired me out quicker than even the Boss. A No.9 I can run for at least 20 minutes. I was using two about 8-9oz pieces and it sewed ok. I think you usually get what you pay for stitch quality wise, the Campbell lays down a fantastic stitch, the 441s and clones are pretty darned good, ditto the Adlers, and No.9 types, then the GA types, then the Boss, then the Luberto things. My criteria are neatness, uniformity, and tightness of stitch. My opinion only and not nearly scientific. For shows, I would recommend the Boss or a No.9, although your back will appreciate the Boss. If you are getting a Boss, contact Tippmann and see if you can work something out with them, maybe take orders or distribute their Literature. Just a thought. Art