simontuntelder

I've heard *very* good things about Amy Roke. But I have an almost complete set of Blanchards, so it's a bit late for me to change lanes... There are other makers in China, who are apparently making good angled pricking irons, however I've only seen them only and I can't refer you to anyone. I have a lot of awls including numerous awls from Blanchard. My preferred round awl is probably one of the very first ones I bought (I bought it from Laederiet in Denmark). It's German if I remember correctly and the handle is from Tandy. I think the problem with the Blanchard round awls is that they aren't very smooth (I had to carefully sand them quite a bit) and they're quite sharp, pointy or what ever you may call it, so they have a tendency the catch and snag the thread when you back stitching and opening up the seam a bit.

Zero need for a 1 tooth pricking iron - you have an awl for that and you can tilt the 2 teeth pricking iron, if you need it for something tight. You have the correct size awls. However let me say that I've been far from impressed by the round awls from Blanchard. But if you don't have one already, might as well get the blanchard. I don't care too much for Fil au Chinois thread, so I can't give you advice. I've only used the thickest. Too many people think they make high end "European-style" #hermes leather goods because they use Fil au Chinois and Blanchard tools...

At Alexitbe, it's widely available in the EU and the UK - Abbey has it for instance and probably any other leather wholesaler. Look for Barbour, Somac and Fil au Chinois or even Campbell for that matter. It's often referred to as satinated or simply satin.

The angle on you backside looks a bit too steep. But your main problem is sewing with a thread that's way too thick for that SPI That being said I think people are too fuzzy with the look of the stitches on the backside. I mean I've looked at so many antique bags that were handsewn and I'm pretty sure that the saddler who made it didn't cry himself to sleep because there was a couple of stitches that weren't visibly perfect. It's about the strength and longevity of the saddle stitch and the saddle stitch can't be straight all the time.

Great! Thanks for sharing.

Ever heard of the philosophy of Lean? Analyze you work process. See if there's something that could be done quicker or more efficiently. Lean is sometime associated with stress, but actually it was implemented to reduce stress among workers. For me it's been streamlining as much as of the offerings as possible by sticking to fixed designs or letting the customer pay for being picky (unless it's something simple like thread colourk) and buying fewer types of leather from fewer tanneries. And lastly, invest your money in tools. Good tools. The best tools. I've found that using good tools makes your life a lot easier. Less maintenance, fewer corrections and it's simply quicker with a good knife - and more pleasurable. But your easiest option would be to hike your prices...

I hope you didn't pay a lot for it. I think you bought yourself a piece of split (not top grain or full grain) and its most likely from a cow. Could be vegtable tanned or chrome tanned. And it looks very poorly finished.

There are two makers of scissors left in the UK (Sheffield) and I can't remember the name of the companies right now, but a quick google search should do the trick. But I'm fairly certain that one the companies make left handed leather shears. Good luck

The maker is German. I think it was called Rossler or Rössler. I have plenty of tools from the same maker and they're good. Has it sold?

I have zero experience with both makers, but they're both obviously excellent, so you won't go wrong with either. However that draw blade on the LW knife looks like a trip to the hospital waiting to happen. So I would go for the Knipschield and I probably will at some time, though I have plenty knives already.

A chinchilla coat would also require some investment. It's probably not that durable though.

No tanneries come to mind. I think there are some finishing companies in France and Italy doing some exotics. Italhide S.p.a might be worth checking out. For some reason alligator is really hard to come by in Europe (could be legislation) and I rarely see shark. Stingray is easy to find and so is crocodile.

Sometimes first try, sometimes it takes twenty protos with numerous little tweaks. Another thing is testing the product, which I usually do for a couple of months, if it's something that I'm going to make again and again. Time testing is often a very important factor. The vinyl idea is good. It's a good way of saving money on precious leather.

Thanks, Tor. I spent hours browsing through Abbey the other day, as I'm placing a big order with them soon, but I didn't see them, but their website is a bit weird, so I'm sure it's there and I'll go in and add the steel and wooden clam to the cart.

Does anybody where these can be found nowadays? I remember Bowstock offering them some time ago, but I can't find them now, when I actually want it of course.

My steel (stainless) and my aluminum ruler doesn't darken the leather, so you can definitely use either of those two, and maybe you can also use brass. Lasers can cut metals, although some have difficulties or so I've been told, but they can also be cut using water (water jet cutting?)

Really great to see you here! Were have you been for so long? First of all I have to say that I'm very satisfied with the tools and machinery I have from Weaver. Being European buying from you is not really an option at the moment mostly because of the exchange rate. And shipping prices are always a bummer. So I was wondering if you have any European stockists or retail partners?

Why not just some natural vegetable tanned leather? That causes allergic reactions with very few people - if any. The dyes in fabric may just as well cause an allergic reaction.

No, I think the entire strap and "crease" is cut using a laser cutter, which is a machine than can cut numerous materials using laser - google it.

My guess is, that it is laser cut. Everything on that strap has that burnt look.

I was talking to the master tanner at a tannery I often go to and I asked about the possibility of them making horsehide and shell cordovan and he said that not all horse breeds can be used for producing shell cordovan. So I doubt you'll be able to use donkey, BUT I of course really don't know.

Or he's simply cutting straps from the belly area or maybe it's just a poor hide.

If you're familiar with Instagram there's a guy there by the name of @markcoxon. He sells both types of skin if I remember correctly. I think he represents thoroughbred leather. And there's the tannery Pergamena that does vegetable tanned deerskin and goatskin if I remember correctly

I've been buying old tool lots for a long time and as a result I have some extra wad punches that I don't have a use for. So I was looking at them the other day thinking if I could turn them into something else, and it struck me that they could be turned into odd size strap end punches by cutting them in half more or less. Have any of you had any succes doing so? And how did you go about doing it?

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. I tried searching for threads here dedicated to pictures of old work shops but I didn't find much. - Should we make one?