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Chavez

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Everything posted by Chavez

  1. Just read it - I'll send the details to you.
  2. Hi All, I am selling my Tippmann Boss stitcher (plus the LED light, thread and some extra feet and needles) as I do not have a lot of time for leatherwork these days and the machine has not seen any use in the last 12 months. The Boss is is great condition and stitches very well. Happy to part with it for £900 plus shipping.
  3. I remeber doing some reading about it, but don't take my word for it: 1) Chemicals: glues, dyes, finishes. Get gloves that are fit for purpose (e.g. some gloves do not stop isopropyl from getting on your hands). Make sure you open your windows after you dyed. Don't let isopropyl or dye get on your skin and in your eyes. I remember reading that you should avoid drinking alcohol when breathing alcohol fumes but don't know if its true or not. 2) Fine leather dust is supposedly cancerogenic in addition to being harmful to your lungs. From what I've read this comes from statistics collected from the shoe making industry and refers to large concentration of dust in the air from long periods of sanding the leather. I presume it is safe enough if you're using hand tools as particles are much bigger. I now only use a sander when I absolutely have to. Just make sure you hoover after you sand. 3) Cuts. Make sure you follow some basic safety rules. I almost chopped my finger off once. And I'm pretty sure if I drop my saddler's knife on my leg I can slice a good piece of myself off. I made covers for all my charp tools from leather scraps and I always make sure that my tools are in the cases unless I am using them.
  4. I dye without cleaning anything first. 1) Dye (I cut fiebing's pro with isopropyl alcohol at least 50/50). Let dry for a day or two. 2) Oil. (Evoo in my case as there's always some in the kitchen). Leave for a couple days for the oil to absorb. 3) Finish. Usually, a few coats of 50/50 mix of resolene & water. If I want a natural finish, I'd use an extra coat of mink oil and then a heavy coat of carnauba/aussies. 4) Top coat. Carnauba creme for resolene. Kiwi neutral shoe polish for "natural" finishes. For a starter, I'd say use 50/50 mix of resolene applied by dampening a sponge and rubbing it in circular motion - do 3-4 coats. If you overapply resolene you end up with a horrible plastic look & feel =( PS On unfinished leather I found atom wax and carnauba often bring out a lot of dye particles to the top of the grain, leading to crazy crocking. Carnauba is fine when it goes on resolene though. PPS If you ask 10 leatherworkers about their conditioning/finishing process, you'll get 12 different answers.
  5. Sorry, my bad! 0.8mm, not 1.8mm !!!
  6. Neatsfoot is a conditioner. Apply it after you carve/dye leather. Can be replaced with EVOO. Resolene is an acryllic finish. Gives better weatherproofing but leaves a less natural looking finish. Can be replaced by leather sheen. Atom wax, aussie, sno seal, beeswax/oil blend, carnauba, dri-boot are all wax-based finishes. They give a more natural feel & look but less splash protection and they have to be re-applied on a regular basis. Acrylic finishes do not give an aged look like wax-based finishes. Living in Scotland, I am pretty much forced to use resolene to protect leather from the rain. Also, I never use wax-based finishes on carved pieces. Long way to find the best finish is to buy & try them all. Quick way is to learn how to use resolene =) Gloss/matt look can be controlled by the top coat: carnauba or kiwi shoe polish will give you a wide range of matt to gloss depending on how well you buff them.
  7. You'd use leather for padding - perhaps good quality 2-3mm chrome tan? You'd have to try a few pieces to see which one gives you the best padding.
  8. I make my wallets the same way (bottom not stitched). The outer is slightly longer than the inner. I can try & find out some measurements for you, but extra 20mm should do for a 6-card bifold.
  9. Hmm. I don't really understand what you're doing with these over cast stitches, but when I finish a thread, I just go back 2 stitches and tie a knot through the third hole (pull first needle through the hole (say, left), put second needle in (right), but instead of casting the left thread over the right needle once, do an extra turn, so you'll effectively wrap your right needle with your left thread 1.5 times. Pull the threads tight and you'll form a knot inside the stitch hole).
  10. Its a good machine for what it is: a compact, portable mechanical stitcher. It's not in the same league as powered machines and they can't really be compared imho. 1) It's tiny. if your workshop space is limited it's a good call. Just keep it under your desk and take it out when you need it. 2) If you're going to stitch a lot, go for a powered one. I used my boss to tailor my heavy canvas shooting jacket and I must have stitched an equivalent of 4 belts. I was in agony after that, though I'm not the fittest person here. 3) It's very fiddly, It took me 2 long weeks to set it up and I even considered sending it back for a refund. Once I set up and got used to it, it worked like magic ever since. 4) It's a stitching machine. It will never give you as good a result as hand stitching.
  11. Hi, I've used a 1.8mm kid side from leprevo to line my wallets. It works really well for a 6-card bifold, but might get too heavy for bigger wallets. I've only tried 6-card (or 3card+coin purse) bifold designs so far. It still feels like "real" leather and sturdy enough to withstand some use but it is quite thick for this purpose.
  12. A slightly more techy way (my laptop died recently but I'll try to recall how it's done anyway) 1) get a vector graphic editor (I use Inkscape -it's free!). Read an easy start guide - there are plenty online. 2) if possible, scan your pattern into a jpeg file 3)if scanning was possible, load the jpeg into Inkscape and run "convert bitmap into path". Now you have a scalable pattern. 3b) if scanning is not possible, you need to take measurements from your patern and then use the pen tool to draw the pattern to the original scale. Once drawn in svg format, you can scale it as you wish. I used Inkscape a lot for resizing and redesigning carving patterns and it is a superb piece of software that IMHO every leather worker should learn how to use. Chavez.
  13. Hi All, I've taken up skeet and I am looking to make myself an ammo bag for the shells. I am thinking of making one of the ww2 bags, either a historically accurate one (if such pattern are available) or a slightly modified design. Does anyone have any relevant patterns? Thank you!
  14. Hi Matt, Since it's already a closed case, IMHO it should hold the ammo without the need for loops. Cutting, dyeing (potentially), installing, moulding loops will call for extra space in the case and by the look of it might easily amount to extra 30-60 minutes of work depending on loops design (I might be wrong here). Too fiddly if it can be replaced by something simple but just as effective. Thanks for all your advice. I'll try which approach works best for me.
  15. Thanks! I'd expect styro to be way too loud & not robust enough. I was thinking more along the lines of icynene foam but with less expansion. Loops: I'll probably have to go with them but having never done any loops before, I'm not sure how good their hold is. I was thinking of producing some pouches commercially and the extra labour costs of putting loops in might push the price up too much =/
  16. Hi All, I am looking to design an ammo pouch for 5 or 8 .308 rounds for stalking and I can't think of a good way to hold the rounds still. I'd be grateful for your help. Looking at the design in Stohlman's "making leather cases" (Where the rounds are place vertically [lllll] ), if you mould a pocket around a shaped wooden block then is great for holding the rounds until you remove 1 or 2 rounds from it. Then, the rest are likely to start rolling around and making noise. I therefore need a solution to stop the rounds from moving around a half-empty case. I thought perhaps if I fill the pocket with some sort of foam and then put the rounds dummies into the pocket while the foam dries up, they should form nice tight partitions that will hold the rounds still. Any suggestions on what filler to use? The filler should be strong enough to hold the rounds but not too stiff so it can't push the bullet into the case (see below). At the same time the filler should be flexible so it doesn't crack from the leather movement. PS I've also tried moulding a pocket for each separate round but that didn't work as the pockets become tighter if they are not used regularly and you have to force the rounds into them, increasing the risk that the bullet will push into the case and ruin the round's accuracy. Of course, I can also put loops from 2mm leather into the pocket but that significantly increases the amount of work that needs to be done and makes the pouch bigger. Thank you for your help!
  17. Hi and welcome to leatherwork! It's an extremely addictive hobby =)
  18. Thanks Jack. I tried one of these sprays on a pair of shoes and I am very impressed with results. If these sprays don't seal the leather then they should be ok long term...
  19. Hi All, What's the story with the hydrophobic sprays? Are they ok to use on leather? If they are, then that's the answer to a lot of leather problems as they offer great water resistance and should prevent dye crocking from wet leather items! Has anyone used these without any long-term negative effects? Thank you!
  20. Hi! Can someone please recommend a good book that will walk me through making a pair of mens dress shoes? I just killed another pair of formal shoes (they lasted a month & a half!) and I think it's time I tried to make shoes myself. Thank you, Chavez.
  21. Hi & welcome to the forum! You can also subscribe to shop talk and it will cost you around £4 per month including postage from states. Chavez.
  22. Hi Rooster, What was the set-up process by the way? =) Just wondering =)
  23. Hi! I am hoping to put some of my leather belts on consignment with a few local independent retailers and I am wondering what % commission to accept. In my understanding, the higher the commission they charge, the lower I need to set my return if I want the goods to sell, i.e. higher commission => higher price => lower sales unless I reduce my price to the retailers. My brief research shows that retailers in mens accessories sector would generally be looking at a 30% margin or re-selling wholesalers' goods. As I am selling individually crafted items, would the % be different? What commission do you usually accept? Thanks! Chavez.
  24. Hi. I've spent quite a while fiddling with the Boss when I got it 6 months ago. Haven't been using it much as had to put leatherwork on hold for quite a few months but I had a similar problem and what helped me was calling Ben at Tippman who suggested adjusting the thread intake (?) arm's position on the shaft that it's attached to. It's supposed to be a certain distance from the side of the Boss (7/8" or 5/8" - Ben will sort you out ) and mine was not set correctly before the boss was shipped to me. Even a 1mm difference seems to result in screwed up tensions. The Boss seems to be a decent machine, however, the look of the stitches is nowhere near the perfection of a hand-stitched item, so I've been sticking to the old awl and needles until I get higher volumes of goods to stitch.
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