reddevil76

Saw this long time ago. This guy has alot of interesting tools. But I don't speak Japanese, so didn't enquire. http://www.danguman.com/ His youtube video http://www.youtube.com/user/DANGUMAN#p/u/25/UmWZEt3EyXk http://www.youtube.com/user/DANGUMAN#p/u/33/tg5RK_TXm1k

http://rowensworld.com/store/cut-to-order.html Here you go. Haven't tried them myself though.

When I saw Tandy has release a new line of stitching chisels, my first thought was "Boy, are they gonna give those chisels at goodsjapan a run for their money!" I already have 6 Seiwa chisels in different sizes and prongs set up. But still, I bought another 5 of Tandy's just for having the variety of prong spacing. Today is the 2nd time i am using the 3mm 6 prong, and after a few times of going through 2 layers of 3-4 oz leather, the prongs bent! And since I bought it through an ebay seller, I'm sure Tandy definitely would not honour an exchange. My elite membership expired on Nov 11 and I didn't bother to renew it because I've sort of made up my mind never to buy leather from them again. And if I'm gonna just buy some liquids and tools from time to time, I don't think I'll ever "make back" the $150 membership fee. But it looks like I'll never buy their tools ever again either. Tandy just seems to suck for every other thing.

The funny thing with this IKEA tops is that they say its solid oak, yet I can see the whole thing is formed by joining multiple pieces together. I can imagine the first time i pound on it, the whole thing would go into smitterens...

This is a nice topic. I currently have a table with metal frame and legs. Its ok, except that the table surface is laminated plywood. I am thinking of removing it and replacing it with something else. There are counter tops which I readily buy from IKEA here in Singapore. Read here that particle board is solid with no bounce. How about solid oak or solid birch? Hope to hear opinions from those who knows their wood. http://www.ikea.com/sg/en/catalog/categories/departments/kitchen/10472/

That sucks and I hope Ebay stops this guy. On a lighter note, if all else doesn't work, I have a traditional chinese taoist remedy. You search for this guy's picture, attach it to a paper stick man cut out, and slap on it with your bathroom slippers while "wishing all the best" for him!

So, you're not using satin or some textile material glued to the inside of the leather dividers, like on factory manufactured wallets? No. If the leather I am using is stiff tempered, I'd just split it to 3 oz and use it as it is. If it is rather soft, I would use it at 4 oz. But hand skive the overlapping areas (areas which factory wallets use cloth instead) You have 4 pieces of 3-4 oz leather, each successively smaller than the previous, all edge stitched to the main backing piece(on the non zippered side)? 3 pieces, not 4. What are the dimensions of the wallet, do you mind? The main piece, then the zipper pouch and main cc backing? They look like their basically the same size, with an inch or so of free space between them? Main piece is 8 X 8. Zipper is 7 X 8 folded to 3.5 X 8. Main CC backing is 3.5 X 8. Sorry for the million questions. I'd seen a similar wallet and have been trying to get the dimensions correct before I cut any leather. I was wanting to do an 8" wallet, but am not sure on the internals. If you've cleared 50% of your doubts, I'd encourage you to just go ahead and try. I started without any ideas of sizings, and created templates as I tried the best sizes and configurations. I stil constantly refine these to either provide a better function for user, or a easier production process, or reduce unnecessary complications that increase the need for finishing work. It's a nice feeling to work with something you designed yourself. Thank you for your great post and humoring all my questions! My pleasure. Good luck, cheers!

Hi, the top slot, which is the most inner slot, is glued to the main backing piece, and the bottom edge stitched. Then the second slot is glued, overlapping the slot above, and the bottom edge stitched. Then the outermost slot is glued, and the whole piece stitched all around the edges.

Hi Bob, before we complicate things further and talk about sharpening blades and such, I think its better for you to ascertain that you are using the tool correctly. I say this because I had the exact same experience when i received this tool. That burr you are talking about is not part of the operations. The one that cuts a groove is that tiny hole in the black bar. I suggest you take a look at the free videos on tandy's site to see how to use it, a video is worth 10 thousand words http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com.au/en-aud/home/infoandservices/Leathercraft-Videos/Leathercraft-Videos.aspx

Just an additional pointer from me, after pinching the lace in the lacing needle, give it a light tap or two with a mallet so the teeth on the needle can sink itself into the tapered end.

I've an oily burgundy side which I've kept for a year. It already has mould starting on it. Reason why I haven't used it is because I found that it stained the roll of suede it was stored next to. When i saw that, I took a serviette, and rub on both grain and flesh side vigorously. Both sides have colour bleeding onto the serviette. That's why till now I can't think of doing anything with it. Wouldn't want to make a bag and have the customer saying I ruined his/her $100 shirt.

www.goodsjapan.jp also has some small stamps

Interesting! I didn't know bell skivers has different feed types.. Now I gonna dig around abit.

Hey, what a coincidence. I am left handed too. Sure is a tough time finding tools made for lefties. The safety beveler, I had to push it rather than pull. I also had to sell off my stitching groover when I found it was difficult for me as a lefty to use it. The Pro Stitching groover was better as I can switch sides to adapt to my use.

$200 USD for postage is too much.. I can't understand why is it so much for you. Singapore and Australia is almost the same distance from US. I think it'd probably be better off for you to buy Morgan Oak if postage is so much. There is an ebay seller, I forgot the id, who sells leather by the sq foot on ebay, It's alot more expensive to just buy a sq foot, but it allows you to try a variety.

Hi Clair, being in Singapore, my interest was piqued when I read about this Morgan Oak as shipping from Oz to Singapore should be cheaper. But when I saw the prices, it seems quite high. You and me share the same burden of postage. But with A grade HO at US$9+ and A grade W&C at US$7+, even with postage, it still works out cheaper than if I buy Morgan Oak from Oz. The postage itself looks daunting (about $60-$70USD for a 24sq ft side for me), but when I even it out as a total cost per sq ft, it provides a better comparison.

I use a safety beveler for hand skiving, but sometimes I just need that really even skive (say 1 inch from the edge throughout), so that I can fold it over nicely. If I could find something that would work with veg tan or thicker leather, it would be really nice. My friend's shop has a bell skiver, and when feeding in veg tan, most often that not, I find I have to tug at the piece really hard to get it moving through the skiver, and this often distorts the piece. I think I was the one who posted the video of the Japan plane type skiver. someone posted a pic, another chime in saying its a scam of wood plane being passed off as a leather skiver. Then i posted the video to show this type of tool does exist. It is available on www.goodsjapan.jp and it is not expensive. However, like the safety beveler, it is hand controlled and would not give those precise edge skiving I desire.

Looking good.

I thought this skiver is kinda cool, but I've never seen it for sale anywhere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPvDZOf-O98&feature=related

We'd have to wait for Chris to chime in on the A grade he has in comparison to this. I have only seen Craftsman grade HO which I bought from Springfield. Way worse than this. Those lines looks more like wrinkles which have been "ironed" out at the tannery. After Chris's recent post, I was kind of gearing up to order A grade HO despite my last bad experience. But looking at your pics, I am kind of wary of HO leather now. Or is it that most of their leather destined for export are usually those that is worse of the pile?

Hi Kaff, you are right. You do need thinner thread. I can't point you in the right direction as I buy mine from a local cobbler, and he calls it 0.8mm waxed thread. But in US based online stores, they all use different references for sizing, so I have no idea what size (in US terms) to advise you. Since you are making a wallet, there is no "strength" issues as opposed to say, a saddle. So you might consider skipping the traditional awl method and use a stitching chisel to speed things up. Tandy has a new line of Pro-line stitching chisels. If you wish to go for better ones from Japan, try www.goodsjapan.jp 5 oz is abit thick. I use 3-4oz for wallets, and still have a good 0.5 inch thick wallet end of the day. Luckily I only make biker wallets and not ladies wallets. I am still trying to see how to make ladies wallets without modern machinery. For factories, they have machines to fold very thin leather over cloth linings, so they can keep the wallets thin. If I try doing that with hands, I'm sure I will end up with very skewed pieces that are difficult to assemble. One more thing is the card slots. On areas where the pieces of leather overlaps, you need them very thin. When I first started, I used a safety beveler from Tandy to get them down to about 2 oz. But it is very hard work. I have since bought a splitter. If you don't thin it down, it will be a mammoth. Try taking 4 pieces of 5 oz leather, stack them up with 4 cards and see how thick the whole thing is and you get the idea. In commercial wallets, overlap areas are actually made from cloth.

Hi, I got them from Ohio Travel Bag, I forgot which page of the catalog, but they call them handle loops.

Would tape show up on the edges once you get to sanding and burnishing?