Jump to content

Sylvia

Members
  • Posts

    1,881
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Sylvia

  1. Nick: I search google books a lot for "how to info." I tend to look for free books, from the 1800s to early 1900s. Popular mechanics is a fun one to delve into as is "The Craftsman." The book located at this link ( https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=1FMrAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA49 ) .... has a very interesting article on "THE CALIFORNIAN ART OF STAMPING AND EMBOSSING LEATHER. BY ARTHUR INKERS- LEY" It's on page 48.
  2. No matter what... you'll need to sharpen your punches if you go with some from more frugal sources. I think I got my set from Ebay or Harbor Freight and yes, I had to sharpen all of them. But since then they've worked very nicely.
  3. Hi Nick: Tooling leather is rather stiff and dry. It needs to be wet down, then allowed to return to it's natural color (This is called casing leather) Before you attempt to tool the leather. The flesh side is sometimes rough on poor quality leathers but you can use some sand paper to sand the "fuzz" away. The other pieces of leather look like they are chrome tanned stuff. That material is ok for projects that you do not want to tool or emboss. You definitely got a bag of random scrap leather which is ok if you aren't committed to tooling yet. They aren't the best pieces in the world but should allow you to practice without too much expense. If the brown leather was dyed... yes some rub off is normal if the "manufacturer" didn't do the necessary buffing to remove excess dye stuff. Your "stitching punch" is interesting. It is hard to determine from the picture, but I would think that your punch is more likely to be a rivet punch. I personally would not use that but rather get a good awl. The stitching wheel is rather toothy but I think it could still be used if You choose to punch every other hole. That should work for you until you can come up with a better solution. Being that you are located where things are difficult to get, you are likely to find that you'll be making a lot of your own tools or improvising with things you find along the way. That is OK! Early leather craftsmen did the same thing... and their efforts became tools we use today. Gather up some large nails, Screw drivers, bolts,... and some good metal files etc. You'll have a set of tools in no time with a little effort.
  4. you might have better luck if you put this in Leather sewing machines. Wiz and others might know.
  5. Winter is not the time to have a furnace go kaput. Remember to do your maintanence!!

    Read more  
    1. Show previous comments  2 more
    2. Sylvia

      Sylvia

      It was the thermostat, the contacts were tarnished (forget the real word) Cleaned those off and it worked properly again. In the mean time we did the maintenance it needed. Whew!

      Yep, have my bibs... thank goodness. :)

    3. Bob Blea

      Bob Blea

      I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't get parts till the next day. Thankfully the house holds its heat pretty well!

    4. Sylvia

      Sylvia

      Hubby just used an eraser to clean off the tarnish and it started working properly. We would have been in a world of hurt if it had been the furnace itself. I'm pretty sure it's the original one to the house and it was built in 1992. I'm not sure I could even get parts to fix it.

  6. LOL I liked it too. Glad to be of service.
  7. I've been told these are all sold.
  8. I am interested in a couple of the items: I'll PM.... for prices etc.
  9. Thanks! I might just use this for my own guitar strap!
  10. I sure wish people would remember the mantra. Loops on bottom, top tension.... loops on top, bottom tension. (though a lot of the time it just needs the top tension loosened) A backwards bobbin will hose you up. I've had industrial machine people tell me it doesn't matter.... but I have news for those folks.... It does matter. While most manuals won't say "thread must unspool from the bobbin to the left." if you look carefully at the pictures.... it will be clear which way it should unspool. It sounds to me as if you don't have the top threaded properly.
  11. Never heard of spider wire. Got a link to some info?
  12. I was waiting for some pictures... I did find the first and the last one... then.... well "F" it's not worth it. Enjoy.
  13. Dang it Winterbear..... you got two of the ones I wanted. and you never would have noticed these If I hadn't revived the thread. <grumble> I thought that pictures were required in these postings.
  14. Hi Katie: you'll need to put some resist on the places you don't want any color... let that dry and give it another coat.... let it dry AT LEAST 24 hours before you use a highlighter or antique. For what it's worth, I would recommend a bit more work on those oak leaves before you start the finishing processes. They look good but seem to be missing some decorative cuts. Good luck.
  15. Hi Bee. I thought along about the same lines as you as far as budget and quickly found that my frugality was costly in the long run. $200 of your budget will likely go to shipping costs. Double your budget at least (probably more like $1500-$1800) and contact Cobra Steve. Have him look for a good used machine that will do what you need. He examines and adjusts used machines so you can feel confident that they are in good shape. He will not pawn some worn out hunk of junk on you. BTW... don't forget that you'll want reverse.
  16. Exactly what I was thinking.... book press, printing press... the kind that uses human power. As long as the antiques aren't too expensive I think it would work great.
  17. Not that I have (m)any but I was sent this and I thought I would share. http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xv1tMioGgXI?rel=0
  18. This may be way off..... but if I were you I would try to find an old printing press. The ones where you set the type, place the paper face down and tighten the hand screw. Like this. http://privatelibrary.typepad.com/.a/6a01156f7ea6f7970b013487c159cc970c-800wi
  19. Are you working in your kitchen? If so I would strongly urge you to move into another area of your home. Saddle soap may lift some of the oil.
  20. Nice list of numbers. Wish I knew what they were. I did search a few but the first one and the last one were the only ones I found.... I might be interested in a quite a few but I'll need to see them. Can you lay out several with the color carve page up and they photographs for me please?
  21. Have you looked at Black River Laser's template sets? I'm pretty sure they have a ranger belt template set. http://www.blackriverlaser.com/leather-craft-templates-gauges/
  22. Are you sure your laptop doesn't already have a card reader? The last 3 laptops I've had, have had them on board. BTW, I never install the softwares provided by the camera companies. They almost always take over the picture extensions and when you've got other graphics software... it's a pain. If you find you have a card reader on board... just put the card in... and when the autoplay pop up happens, choose "open folder to view files" Then I just click and drag the file to my graphic software.
  23. LOL I think I would be too. I've known some Latinos that were tools but never have seen one that had been tooled. ha ha ha.
  24. I'll give you $15 for that partial spool of red thread, shipped.
  25. Sylvia

    Rit Dye

    I would probably address that question to Rit on their website. I know my dry fiber reactive dyes last forever, but they recommend using mixed up ones within 6 months.
×
×
  • Create New...