Chavez

Black River Laser have some nice templates for the straps by the way =)

Sorry this happened to you =( You can keep the splits and if they are thick enough, use them for carving practice later- they will make very cheap practice material. You can also use them for sheath welts or belt lining, etc. Just a few ideas.

Welcome! I was in a similar position to you about a year ago =) Leatherwork is very addictive by the way so I suggest you sing up with Norwegian "Leatherworkers anonymous" I think you can buy leather in Norway, but tool wise I had to buy a lot of mine from US. Some cheap hobby-level Asian stuff is surprisingly good (can't say anything bad about "Ivan" edge bevellers for example) but generally you would be better off buying high quality professional tools (e.g. Osborne). I'd stay away from new Dixon tools if I were you, even though buying from the UK would be easier for you than from the US. The company has very good reputation but they have recently been producing absolute trash. Unless you can have a good look at a Dixon tool before you're buying it, don't buy it - you'll just waste time and money. I've had some excellent tools from them and I had some total crap (about 50-50 split). And their customer service, I must say, is atrocious. Good luck with your new hobby!

Thank you very much!

Thanks! These two belts are actually for very old friends of mine, so I wouldn't mind making new belts in a few years if these become bad, but I'd rather make them right first time=) Cyberthrasher, would you be so kind to share the care sheet with me or perhaps tell me a few helpful tips? What do you apply to the flesh side? I guess case it, slick it, then wax or resolene? Thank you!

Hi all! I'm about to start making a couple guitar straps and I would be very grateful if somebody could advise me on dealing with the sweat issue. Guitar players tend to sweat a lot... At least I did when I used to play =) Especially when the stage gets boiling hot from the lights, etc. I am going to carve the belts, so I would ideally go for single layer of heavy leather. This will, however result in the flesh side soaking up sweat like a sponge - I won't be surprised if the belt starts stinking very quickly=)) How do you guys deal with problem? Line & resolene? What if the belt is not lined? Thank you for your help!

Thank you! Would anyone else share their tension settings?

Thanks! Any advice on tension readings?

Hi all! I'm now getting better with my Boss, however, I still have a few problems and I hope someone will help me with some advice. 1) Can somebody please post their tension readings on top thread (coming out of the tube) and bottom thread (being pulled straight out from the bobbin). I now have a pull gauge so I can actually measure my tension and I want to compare my readings (~1lb out of bobbin and ~6lb out of tube!) with others. 2) I get really bad marks & blowout on the backside of the stitches. Are there any easy solutions to this problem? How does everyone deal with it? Does anyone groove the stitch lines for the Boss by the way? Thank you very much for your help!

Hi guys! I hope you don't mind if I resurrect this thread: I've tried almost every wax-based finish for water resistance and I still cannot get the right results! I've tried: -Aussie's -Dri-boot -Sno-seal -Oil-beeswax 50-50 -Fiebing's mink oil gold. I can get some very decent splash protection (In fact, with some of these finishes I could hold the leather under a running tap and get no water penetrtion!) but I cannot get any protection from prolonged contact. Leave a drop of water sitting for 2 minutes on a wallet dyed into saddle-tan and there's going to be a permanent spot there. How do you guys solve this problem? I've read a lot of people saying that 50-50 and sno-seal offer great protection, but for some reason it doesn't work for me. Surely if its so easy to damage the leathergoods, customers would go mental so there must be a way of repelling water? This water weakness is pretty much the only big reason why I'm not selling my stuff yet. And there's a lot of rain in the UK so I need at least some reasonable protection, but I don't want to seal with acrylics unless there are no other options. PS How do you apply wax based sealers? Do you use tan-kote first or just melt&rub into veg-tanned leather without any prep? Thank you!

Hi! I'm sure that there's been a topic about copyright issues already but I can't find anything specific about patterns. I would be grateful if someone could answer the following question: Suppose I take Chan Geer's belt patterns book. The book has a footnote that says: Owners of this book may make copies of patterns for their own use, but not for sale or dissemination to others. Otherwise, no part of this book might be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form ... without written permission of the author. I understand that I cannot print out copies of this book on my home printer & sell them on ebay, however, if I was to take a pattern from the book, carve it and then sell the carved belt, would that be breach of Chan's copyright? Effectively, I am making a copy for my own use with a view of selling the carved belt. But it is the belt I'm selling, not the pattern, right? Thank you, Chavez.

I use mine on 5k rpm on my proxxon. I bevel, sand, wet the leather, lightly burnish by hand with a piece of old jeans and saddle soap, Run the burnisher over the edge. Sometimes the profile of the edge will not match the profile of your burnisher. This might result in a rough center on the edges. To sort this out just use the "flat" drum burnisher over the centre. That should leave you with a perfect edge

a guillotine? http://www.staples.co.uk/office-supplies/craft-art-supplies/scissors-knives-and-trimmers/trimmers/a4-guillotine-1?r=se&gclid=CPSkr9bEkLMCFYXLtAodSWUAIw

Thanks guys! I'm getting there now=)

Hi Cheryl, I'm actually thinking of carving bridle butts that have been finished & dyed already. My idea was to strip the finish off, carve, put new finish on and end up with a carved strap. This way I think there will be hardly any colour change. Alternative would be to try and dye a blank strip to match the colour of the rest of the bridle - imho, an almost impossible job. But anyhow, any way to emphasize tooling would be great. Would highlighter work?

Hi! Does anyone have any tips on carving dark leather (very dark brown; black, etc)? Are there any ways to make the carving stand out a bit more, eg a light antique perhaps? I've tried the search but couldn't find anything =( Thank you for your help!

Thanks. Just a bit afraid to break something, though looking at the Boss it seems highly unlikely that anything can break in such a monster=)

Right, adjusted the thread takeup arm and now the Boss is working! What is the max tension you would set on primary& secondary tensioners? do 4 half-turns (primary) and 5 half-turns (secondary) sound reasonable (& safe for the Boss) or do you usually stay at 3 & 4 as per the manual? Thanks again!

Hi. Resolene is the way to go imho. At least on the inside. This stuff seals leather completely, so no sweat will be absorbed. It makes leather look a bit like plastic, but it doesn't matter on the inside! F

Really nice work! Would you post a pic of your background stamp as well please?

Thanks!

I guess Andy Bates might be your best call for general leatherwork & perhaps tooling, however, he's near Newcastle, so a bit far away from you. Try to find a saddlery near you - they might be offering some training courses...

Thank you for the replies guys. One last question: when setting tension on the bobbin using a 1lb weight, do I hold the shuttle with the thread hole pointing down (i.e. least resistance from shuttle) or with the thread angled (resulting in higher shuttle tension, hence, lower bobbin tension setting)? Should have asked this question earlier =(( Was working away from home this week so had no change to call Tippmann yet =( Thank you!

Thanks guys! Nice to know that I'm doing the right thing =)

Hi! I would be very grateful if somebody could help me with some advice about burnishing edges near buckles, d-rinds, belt loops, etc. Suppose I am making a two-layer belt. While burnishing the edges on the whole belt is not a problem, the buckle & the belt loop areas are a pain: I either have to burnish the layers separately before stitching them together or not burnish them at all =( In the first case I am looking at extra labour & the resulting look is not ideal. On the other hand, not burnishing them properly doesn't give a good look either =/ Any advice is greatly appreciated!