electrathon

Oil the leather after dying. To try to duplicate the effect I would seal the leather well with a non water soluble finish (clear laq). I would then use a water soluble paint over that and immediately wipe it back off with a damp sponge, leaving residue behind like an antique.

For a one-off I think the easiest solution would be to buy an old pair at Goodwill and cut the toe cap out of them.

I agree, form it, then dye it.

If it is black you will not be able to dye it a different color. Do you mean that you are going to paint an image on it? If so you will be better off to do the image after you form it. You will loose and distort the tooling during the stretching and forming process.

It will turn. Do it over a dowel or hammer handle to force it.

The worst work that leaves your shop is the quality standard you will be judged by.

The outside is the nice side.

Here is what I have. It is a champion. The original base has gone away and it is mounted to a counter top. The clutch motor that was on it when I got it has been upgraded with a servo. I bought it thinking I would use it all the time but it turns out I rarely do. I have had it for a couple years and it is more in my way than it is helping me. I have about $525 in it and would like that back of it goes away. The counter/bench go with it. If you are interested I can take more pics from different angles.

Where are you at? I have a Champion I could be convinced to sell. It is incredibly heavy, not going to get shipped. I am in Portland Oregon.

I was there and saw it happen. I have only met Bob a couple times, but can not honestly think of anyone more deserving of the award. Aaron

Being in Canada things are a little different, but I would suggest you talk to Bill Shannor at Bonnie and Wills in Ashland Oregon for guidance on the shoemaking side. It is almost a dead art anymore, but is experiencing a growing interest.

Craig's list.

Moving your stitching a little farther from the edge will help. To clean it up, I would use a belt sander to straighten out the edge.

Just a thought, if you have pulleys that do not have bearings in them you could use a piece of thread-all and jamb both pulls together. Then you could use a pillow bearing on both sides of the pulleys. Not the best set up, but likely the easiest. No matter how you set it up you do need to have the pullys locked together. Forgot this earlier too, there are two angles that pulleys are machined to, you have to make sure your factory pulleys and belt are the same as the ones you bought. If not you will have slippage and poor belt life.

The bearings are part of the pully. Of it is not you will need yo make sure you have cast pullys with enough metal to machine away for the bearings to fit into. You need roller bearings, not brass bushings. The pullys need to be affixed together, they must be a single unit. I agree with you, I like to do things myself. If I had to buy the parts I used on mine it would have been cheaper, and better, to have bought a servo motor. I actually did buy one, after I found out the reduction I achieved was not nearly enough.

Not directly what you asked but I made mine by turning two size pulleys on a piece of aluminum round stock. Embedded two bearings in it and mounted on a bracket. The belts came from an auto parts store. I slowed it by 60-70%. You more direct answer is there will be a store someplace near you that specializes in bearings, they will have what you need. A better answer is to loose the clutch motor and buy a servo, they are just over $100. You will have way more than that in a reducer very fast and it will not work as well.

I would use 3M90 spray adhesive. Most sprays will fail after a time, 90 is pretty strong. Brush on adhesive may very well soak through.

I like this idea.

Just over a week for me.

Make two lines. The economy version with cow leather. Then a premium version, made from kangaroo. Charge more for the kangaroo.

I use Renia all the time, best glue ever. I use contact in the green can. Do not rate their glue by their website. Glue awsome, website poor. Also should add, I think you want a post machine. And Art is spot on, there is a large learning curve when it comes to sewing. It looks easy, when a skilled sewer is demonstrating.

Yes, if you are going to sew you can get away with just rubber cement. You may have some separation along the lamination line over time. On items like wallet insides I will often use leather weld. It allows repositioning and does not gum up the sewing needles like rubber or contact. If I need it to really hold I use contact.

In general, rubber cement is for temporary bonding, contact cement is for permanent bonding. Properly glued, contact cement is permanent. Good top quality contact cement is strong enough to glue and hold the sole on a shoe, you can't get much more permanent and in need of strength than that.

Skive on a piece of glass. It is too hard for the knife to cut into and dull it. Your stone can dull your knife.

Dampen the edge of the leather. Rub the bar of soap on the edge. Then take a piece of denim or canvas and briskly rub the edge of the leather.