Sylvia

That's awesome! Steel Blue is much more manly. Congrats!

<---------------------- See that guitar? I bought it used from a 6' tall, Mountain Man looking guy who used it in a punk band. LOL He also had a sparkly hot pink "rock candy" LP he tried to sell me. Anyway. Regarding leather preparer and deglazers. Found some here at Dharma. They are the least expensive I've found for dyes and leather finishes and such. Shipping can be spendy though so if you need dye get yours there too. http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/10816310-AA.shtml

Looks like a resist technique to me. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/Resisting-Techniques/Resisting-Techniques.aspx

Yeah a grave stone will be heavy. But They say that nothing can beat a big hold hunk of granite like that. (No bounce at all) My husband went to a granite counter top place and got me a sink cut for free. I'd guess it's about 2 inches thick, and a bathroom sink size cut out. It probably weights about 20lbs. Your mileage may vary on price but either way you will notice a considerable difference in sound and bounce no matter where you put the granite. (Mine's on a tiny metal bistro table until spring)

I found this video on Youtube a while back . It eventually shows how to sharpen these oblong punches. Good info, if you've never sharpened these kinds of tools. Looks like the oblong punch is sharpened at about 2:59 in the video.

I don't think so. It's pretty intuitive. If you have ever used PhotoShop you'll jump right in and get to work. I lost the CDs to my old copy of PhotoShop Pro 5. in a move. I download this and there only a few things I miss from the PS Pro program. It's a free open soruce download too btw. http://www.getpaint.net/

I'm way more lazy than that. I find line art or stock images online and use Paint.net program to turn them into line art.

Some of these 1940s singers did have the reverse. Does yours look similar to this one? http://www.sewconsult.com/singer/singer_instruction_manual_66.html

Hi Chris: It's shocking how expensive even scraps are isn't it? I got lucky and found this link in another forum and got 2 pieces of nice sized leather for a pretty good price. (couldn't afford that either but I got it anyway) http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/48516/Lots-of-Leather-For-Sale I had to convincel her into taking paypal payments but it worked out ok... I paid a small fee to offset the costs. Anyway, maybe there is something you can use on there.

I don't know if this would help any but back in the 70s we often saw a purse clasped with a simple leather loop and a toggle on a string. I know there are custom guitar knob makers in the USA. I bet you could do some sweet talking and get them to forge you some clasps and buckles. This guy is who I was thinking of... but there may be more http://www.creepypewter.com/guitarstuff.html

Wow. Admirable job Silver. I really like how the basket weave came out.

LOL "Cake" You did a great job on the brown mocs you posted btw.

I saw some lasts on http://www.webstore.com Search for "shoe form" "Shoe sales man sample" and Shoe last. They were listed strangely but people who don't do leather. Here's one for $5, $6 to ship, size 11.5 D http://www.webstore.com/SHOE-LAST-1930S-COBBLERS-FORM-FOR-LEATHER-TO-MAKE-SHOES-,name,13634475,auction_id,auction_details PS Webstore is a lot like Ebay... but sellers don't have to pay fees. )

oops! I double posted. Sorry.

Wow, very nice. Did you hand stitch those?

I worked in a production factory, but I don't recall this sort of thing happening when the sewers attached leather collars to vests we made. I know we didn't use any stabilizer on the leather, but I can't recall what the machine look like or how the feed dogs were set up. Maybe if you call your supplyer you can get some ideas for maybe some less aggressive dogs or adjustments. After all I've read on here I think I'll save my money and just do hand stitching until I can buy one of those super duper leather machines. I hope you find the solution, nothing worse than having things go wrong while in the middle of a project.

Trade you a 60th anniversary made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster HSS Candy Apple Red with white pick guard, rosewood fretboard with case for them. I'll even toss in 7 day membership at Jamplay.

The first one looks like a pattern knotcher. This makes tiny nibbles from the pattern material (or leather) so you know which pieces meet up. The second one is a Kajiggling Pin remover. For those painful times when your kajiggling pin gets out of joint. :D

LOL I'm gonna go molest the pine tree in the back yard... it seem to produce quite a bit of pitch. Bees wax is another story... no way I'm paying $10 a pound.

I'll revive this old thread with a couple of questions. I notice that some of you oil before you color or stain. What exactly are the benefits of doing this? Have any of you gone back and put acrylic paint over a piece that you've used a paste or some other sealer over?

Oh man! What a deal!! Wish I could find something like that. Do send Wiz the pictures he requested, he'll get you sorted.

Guapo: Do you buy the pine pitch or do you go pick it off a tree somewhere? I'm curious.

I don't know actually, I don't have that book and have never seen it. I agree with the other poster that uses beeswax though.. I would be wary of using paraffin if only because it's made from petroleum. Bees wax would be more soft and more "natural" I think. It seems to me that if you wind the thread around the cardboard box like the tutorial does, and apply heat, the wax would be more likely to absorb into the thread's fibers. I've used the drag through wax method the other poster noted but instead of wax I used soap as it was what I had handy. I found the soap to just lay on the surface and it was a bit dusty to work with... but it did stop my bad habit of using my mouth as a third hand. Blech!

Very good question! I would like to know how the pros here do this too. Here is a tutorial for waxing thread from a quilter. http://www.ehow.com/how_2274907_wax-sewing-thread-quilting-projects.html It involves unwinding the thread around a prepared piece of cardboard, rubbing it with paraffin, then covering the thread with waxed paper and ironing with a warm iron. Since some spools of thread are huge, I would wax several yards at a time, then wind it on a dowel or old wooden spool, for use.