electrathon

Having no idea what Gimp software is all I could envision was Pulp Fiction.

http://www.michaels.com/bead-landing-mini-flat-nose-pliers/10443467.html#q=pliers&start=8 You might try these. if my holes are tight I use them to pull, or push, the needle.

https://www.siegelleather.com/

Hmmm, that is a lot of thread, more than most of us would use in 10 lifetimes. How about a variety pack of different colors. Say I gave you $25, what variety of how many would I get.

If the laser is set properly, it will not affect anything other than the part you are burning away.

Where do you live? I can teach you to carve. Or elsewhere in the world there are others who can help. Some Tandy instructors are great (I teach there sometimes) some have no idea.

The laser must affect the leather, it burns it. If you mean the other parts of the leather that the laser is not aimed at, it is not a problem. The ash from the laser burned area can smudge, like any other burned charcoal will.

Try Baltor and Sons in California. They don't have much of a web site, very old school. Inventory is enormous.

Your work is amazing. I do have a question for you. Six weeks, do you get paid accordingly or is this what you do for enjoyment?

Renia does not have toluene, the main very bad stuff. There are water based contact cements too. Some are very good, some are poor.

You need to ask the laser person you are using what format they will accept. Some of the cad programs are cheap to free, some are expensive. Yu will not need a lot of frills in the program to do this. you will need to be computer literate and play in the program to get the hang of it. You will be slow at first, faster as you learn. As a beginner, you could pay the laser person to draw it up (get copies of the files) and then have them cut.

Lasers are very common now. Ask around and you will find someone doing it. You can buy a basic one off eBay for about $300 or so. Once you have a drawing (you can do it yourself) you can have then cut for a few dollars. I had a bunch of wallet inserts cut (about 10 wallets, used up a goat hide and a pig hide) for about $75. If you are going to mass produce, a clicker and a set of dies would be best. Figure about $75 per die and you will need one for each shape on your wallet. You would have a few hundred in your start up, and a couple hundred for each change in style. This is a cheap direction if you are going into mass production. Expensive for small production. With a laser you will have similar up front costs, zero cost to make new designs. It will cut slower than a clicker set up. Depending 0n your laser could take 15-30 seconds on each wallet, a clicker is faster when you are really moving.

Draw them up in cad and cut the pieces on a laser.

The main and biggest issue is the steel quality in the blade. It is huge and the most non-visible issue. How well a knife cuts and holds an edge is big. Feel in your hand and smoothness of rotation is a second issue. It is important too, and is something that is easier to see and feel.

I did a hide a while back. I was recovering some stools. I used a suction feed Develbis paint gun. I diluted the Waterstain (or Fenice Dye as it is called before Tandy relabels it) about half with water. I was able to get very even coverage with the paint gun. I used most of the bottle on the veg tanned hide. An interesting point with the Dye /Stain definition, the ONLY reason this is a stain and not a dye is because Tandy decided to call it that. Dye is a synonym for stain.

You don't need a burr to set rivets. They make it so that you do not have to flair out the peening as far, but not needed if you set them proper. I think the tacks you are seeing are likely plated steel and not solid copper/bronze. Steel will have a short lifespan around leather. Clinch nails are used a lot in the custom shoe industry. I have never seen one that was not steel (but that does not imply that are not made). They are not pretty on the back side but work well in places like the inside of a shoe that you cant get inside of easily. They are driven into the steel plate on the stand as the shoe is being assembled.

Call Bob if you want a tool. He does not use the website, it is old and obsolete. His tools are the best. They are also a little spendy. You get what you pay for, worth every penny if you want top notch impressions.

From what I am seeing in the picture they look just look copper rivets. The only real difference in a rivet and a nail is a nail is usually longer and has a point on it. You put the rivet in the hole and round/flair over the end with a hammer or a rivet set. The green growth indicates copper, nails would not be copper, rivets often are. I do see in one picture a hole in the center of the rivet, this would indicate a tube rivet. Possibly all of them have the hole, they might just be full of crud. If they are tube rivets they likely have a cap on the backside that has fell off over the years.

Look here for inspiration: https://au.kakaduaustralia.com/collections/leather/bomber-hat

Yes they are. Your post was the first in this thread referring to veg or chrome tan. Chrome will also harden if overheated, but I think to lesser degree than veg tan.

Upholstery guys use steam all the time as they are adjusting interiors.

I may not have the answer to your question, but I would start by not calling your girlfriend a "vintage woman".

It I was looking for the absolute premium, I would get Kangaroo. It is very strong and pretty thin. Goat is a close second. I think chrome will handle the lasting easier. As long as it is thin, I suspect either will work though.

As people are considering write offs, many forget that they basically amount to spending a dollar to save twenty cents. There are times that borrowing money can lead to better profits, but all cases of bankruptcy can be linked to borrowing money. China, usually.

As to breath-ability, there is going to be contact cement between the two layers, that should be a pretty effective seal in itself. I think you would be better off with the thinner combination. I also think you are heading down a bad road. It should be up to the maker to select and source the materials. When the boots don't turn out he will be saying you got the wrong materials, and the blame game will begin.