KandB

Hoping someone here can help. I'm a Canuck and regularly cross the border and ship to my USA customers from within the US - it's way cheaper and faster. The last border run I did, the customs guy didn't like me and decided to deny me entry saying I needed a "Certificate of Origin" for all the materials in my product. I've been doing some research and to be honest, there is no clear guide that tells me whether or not this is true. Anyone have experience with this? I find it hard to believe that I need to document the origin of every rivet, thread, buckle, etc - especially if they were purchased locally (so already imported and paid import fees before they even got to me through the middleman, like Tandy). Hope someone can help!

The gum trag is amazing - thank you for the recommendation. Night and day compared to what I saw doing before!

I did get the samples from Rome and was disappointed. It's like he didn't understand or listen to what I asked for at all. I asked for brass rivets - he sent me nickle plated. I asked for 10mm snaps like Tandy's Glove snaps (and sent a picture) - he sent me what I believe are segma snaps. His catalogue is printed in black and white and looks heavily photo copied, so it's hard to guess from the image whether he even has what I am after - and he doesn't reply to his emails. I'm looking elsewhere now. Seems some people refer to these as 'wire snaps' as well. I know they are not the same as segma, or 'universal' and I can't find anywhere that carries them - which is odd since they're so common!

I have some horween, I'll try it, but I have crazyhorse which is similar with pullup and it still doesn't clean up as nicely. It's not even stricken through. The Tandy stone oiled and kodiak are both not great when it comes to finishing the edges, though I suspect its more what I'm doing than the leather. Never tried gum trag though.

I normally leave it as a cut edge - but I don't like seeing a project that has several layers, with the layers folding/splitting because they haven't been finished together.

Slightly contradictory with the crossing out of the text - not sure if that's a yes or a no...

Thanks everyone - I tried burning a dauber and it was definitely better - I'll try out all the other tools you all suggested and see what gives me the best one. I had used a paintbrush (a fine one) for edgepaint before, but I still got dye on the flesh side and I don't want to ruin an entire bag at the finishing stage! Has anyone tried finishing edges on oil tanned leather, rather than vegtan and latigo? I tried the technique Bob Parks mentions on my oil tanned work, and it didn't really make a noticeable difference -whereas on my latigo projects it was amazing.

Still available?

FYI, you can now get the tips on ebay of all places - I'm buying the whole set: http://www.ebay.com/...ip&LH_PrefLoc=2 With any luck I'll have beautiful edges too.

FIHobbyist thanks for sharing - I'm buying a set now!

We start off with paper templates, then when it's time for something more permanent, we take those paper templates to a local acrylic supplier and have them cut them out for us in acrylic. They usually can do squared shapes but not curves (they use a table saw to cut) so we then get the curves done with a laser cutter. We used to use hardboard from a hardware store - but every now and then we'd take slices out of it when not being careful enough with the knife blade cutting around it - so we switched to acrylic. I can't tell you how much more I love it - because it's transparent I can get a better sense of placement in terms of the grain and any other markings on the hide.

Hi everyone, I've been poring over the forum threads learning all I can about finishing edges - burnishing and all - I want to do Bob Park's method, but in all my experiences I've run into a problem when it comes to using edge paints: how do you paint JUST the edge and not have any of the paint spill on to the front or back of the leather? I've tried a paint brush, dauber, q-tip, sponge - they almost always result in some paint on the front and back instead of only on the edge - and I see Bob (and everyone else who knows how to do this) has amazing contrasting edges with not a drop of colour on the front or back. So - what's the secret? I was looking at one of those electric edging tools - will that help? I work mainly in oil tanned 4-6oz and I'd like to have my edges neatly finished so they don't fray and fold. Thanks!

I suppose that depends on the leather work you're doing - I work mainly with 4-6oz leather, and I use it on everything from oil tanned to vegtan. It comes in 3 different consistencies so you can get a more liquid one, but I like the thicker stuff because it doens't spill everywhere, it just goes where my popscicle stick sends it, and in a thin layer it keeps everything in place.

Here we go - hopefully these are useful to someone - excuse the random order, it's as they come. Use scraps of veg tan and paint a small piece with each of your dyes, then stamp a hole in the scrap and tie it to the neck of the corresponding dye bottle - just in case you can't remember the difference between saddle tan, canyon tan, and all the zillion other types of tan. Same goes for finishes (tan kote, saddle lac, etc - they all come out differently, this makes it easier to check before you start dying Get all your templates cut out of acrylic. We used to have them in hardboard but found we'd be taking chunks of the board off (thus changing the template shape) whenever we weren't careful enough with the knife - so we took the templates to an acrylic manufacturer and they cut all our templates in clear acrylic - making it easier to see the leather underneath for placement, as well as a lot harder to slice pieces off. Use the black knife exacto knife blades - not the silver ones. Home Depot has them, as does all hardware stores, and once you try them you'll notice the incredible difference - they slide through leather like butter. attach rubber or cork to the bottom of your rules to keep them from sliding. After hammering letters into leather (specifically oil tanned), fill the letters in with an inky pen (roller ball gel ink style), then go back and lightly hammer the letter in the same place again. It makes a huge difference and adds dimension without the risk of painting with leather dye and having it spill out of the edges Don't have a walking foot sewing machine and having trouble getting your leather to slide through easily? place a strip of masking tape where you are sewing and sew over that - then peel it off (carefully, or you'll have to spend some more time removing the little pieces that broke). Stick labels with colour coding on your rivet press dies so you know which set goes together easily - my line 24 male pair are highlighted in orange, with the words "LINE 24" and the female are in purple - quick to find them. Burning threads and cleaning up edges is a lot faster with a little blowtorch (the kind for making creme brulee) than a lighter, plus you don't have to hold the ignition down with your thumb the whole time - which leads to no cramping. Hold it just beside the thread, not directly on it, to melt the edges. Then, instead of rubbing it down with your fingers (ouch!) use your bone creaser or wooden burnisher. The best glue I've found for leather onto leather (specifically suede-side to suede-side, since gluing the flesh side of oil tanned leather is pretty darn hard) is the E6000. Buy the larger cannisters that load into caulking guns and use the gun to place your glue where you want it - then smooth down with a popscicle stick. Much less mess. The dollar store sells hardware clips that have rubber tips on them - they are invaluable for holding leather together when sewing, gluing, patterning, what have you. I wouldn't function without those things. The adjustable C clamps you can get at a hardware store are amazing for holding glued things in place - you squeeze them to as tight as they'll go and they stay in place. But the absolute best way I've found to glue things and make sure it's even is to apply the glue, then sandwich the two pieces of leather with two pieces of wood or hardboard, and then clamp that down - it means evenly distributed pressure, not just on the spaces where the C clamps are in contact with the leather.

I use E6000 - it's good enough for gluing metal anvils, and I've found it to be the best at permanantly gluing leather. I tried barge, I tried contact, I tried a bunch of others, but short of the glue used for shoe making that requires heat, I haven't found anything that is as strong as the E6000. I put it in a calking gun and make sure the hole is tiny to avoid overflowing - then I just use the gun to paint the glue whereever needed - followed by a Popsicle stick to smooth it out and make sure it reaches all the edges of the leather. Hope that helps!

I backstitch, but then I'll leave long tails, and when I finish sewing I'll pull the tails through to the inside (the space between the two pieces of leather I've just sewn together) using an awl or a very small screw driver, and tie the knots in there - then cut and lightly melt - you can't see them so the 'burn' isn't visible, and it keeps the thread from fraying and causing the knot to undo.

Hi everyone I make bags and accessories using mainly 4-6oz leather, every now and again up to 10oz. I have a PFAFF 1245 flat bed, and while I love her dearly, from what I'm seeing on the forums, she's just not the right machine for the job. From what I gather, people recommend a cylinder machine for bags - which makes perfect sense to me. But not knowing anything about these machines, I feel a little bit out-of-my-depth when it comes to making an informed consumer purchase. There is someone selling a DDN-738 YAKUMO on craigslist for $1550 (http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/hsh/4032840158.html) and I was wondering if anyone had: a) heard of this brand/machine had any experiences with this machine/brand c) knows whether this is a good price d) has an opinion on whether or not it'll be suitable for my purposes (my website is www.divina-denuevo.com if you'd like to take a look). I've tried googling reviews of the machine, but all I have found is a youtube video of someone using it. I hope someone can help! Thanks Victoria

Definitely won't complain about more links @Seattleleather - Post away! Romefast is sending me samples so I'm excited to see what arrives. And with Macphersons, if you tell them that you own a business they give you wholesale pricing - which usually means I am buying 5oz oil tan for $3.25/sq ft - and since I'm from Canada they don't even charge me tax!

neither of those pages worked - Chris, I'll email you.

Thanks so much both of you! I don't want tubular rivets - I use a Little Wonder rivet press, so I tend to go with double capped (sometimes single capped) rapid rivets. I have been using tandy's thus far but they don't have antiqued brass double capped. I've contacted Romefast and he's sending me a catalogue - so hopefully he's got what I need as I agree, I'd definitely prefer an american manufacturer. I tried indexfastner but to be honest I had trouble finding the type of rivets I want - I think they are more for fabrication in metal. and @seattleleather - yup, I regularly ship to WA (point roberts) and go pick up there, since it's way cheaper than paying for the shipping in to Canada. When I'm in Seattle I always stop by MacPhersons but I don't have the patience to count out 1,000 snaps at a time! Thanks again! Victoria

Are you still around? Your website doesnt load

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a supplier for solid brass rivets - double capped, in a variety of sizes (both in brass finish and nickle-over-brass) I'm also looking for the 10mm glove snaps Tandy sells - they got rid of a lot of their bulk packages, and the price for 10 snaps is ridiculous. I've already checked Weaver (who surprisingly only seem to sell copper rivets and rhinestone ones), Brettuns Village, Zack White, Ohio Travel Bag, and a few others - but I'm having a hard time finding what I'm looking for. Any suggestions? I've found the glove snaps on alibaba.com, but my faith in them is pretty low since they are made of iron - which will likely rust. If it helps - I have a business number and am eligible for wholesale pricing. If anyone would be willing to share where they buy their rivets from (I have a rivet press, if that helps) I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks Victoria

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a supplier for solid brass rivets - double capped, in a variety of sizes (both in brass finish and nickle-over-brass) I'm also looking for the 10mm glove snaps Tandy sells - they got rid of a lot of their bulk packages, and the price for 10 snaps is ridiculous. I've already checked Weaver (who surprisingly only seem to sell copper rivets and rhinestone ones), Brettuns Village, Zack White, Ohio Travel Bag, and a few others - but I'm having a hard time finding what I'm looking for. Any suggestions? I've found the glove snaps on alibaba.com, but my faith in them is pretty low since they are made of iron - which will likely rust. If it helps - I have a business number and am eligible for wholesale pricing. If anyone would be willing to share where they buy their rivets from (I have a rivet press, if that helps) I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks Victoria

Full Spectrum sells lasers for around $2k. I'm contemplating buying one - since I've been renting use on them for the last little while.

Hi there, I use outerwear - essentially what you use for making a raincoat. Your local fabric store should have some- just bring some water with you to test it. It's not the plastic-feeling stuff, it feels like fabric, but it's waterproof.