Ed in Tx

I have had a similar issue in the past and it ended up being burrs on the needle. They weren't obvious just looking at the needle but I put it under magnification and could see them. I changed the needle and the problem went away. As mentioned previously needle size can have an impact. May not be your issue but you can always hope its something that simple.

A few years ago I decided to try selling at one of the local craft show that was supposed to be "handmade goods only". Well I paid my fee for table space and set up a couple of table to display the items I had made. The show was in early November and I had made a bunch of leather Christmas stockings alone with a few other things. After I set up I decided to take a stroll around to see what other vendors had on their tables. The more I looked the more disgusted I got, there were a few folks with truly "handmade" items but the vast majority of items being sold were the same junk you can buy at Hobby Lobby. There were a lot of people that attended the show but they weren't buying anything except the imported junk. To top it off they are bringing their kids along and letting run wild grabbing everything. They were serving food at concessions stands and kids with greasy fingers were picking up the stockings staining the leather, you think their parents said anything??? Take a guess. I thought maybe it was just me so I stopped by a couple of other table that had real hand made items and asked how they were doing. They were experiencing the same issues. It was supposed to be a two day show but after the first day I decided my time was worth more than sitting there all day just to barely cover the cost of the space. You would think I learned my lesson but no I was dumb and tried one for "craft Show" the second wasn't much different so I never bothered to try it again.

You can sum it all up with just one word.... AMAZON

I purchased a thread lube pot a few years ago thinking I needed it. I paid around $50 for it and it bolted to one of the mounting holes on my Cobra 4. It now sits in a drawer and doesn't get used. I don't know what type of items you are making but I make a variety of things, holsters, belts etc. I tried using the lube pot and found that it isn't as easy as you might think. Getting the tread tensions set properly was a real chore. Ultimately I found that simply buying good quality pre-lubricated thread is all I really needed. In addition storing the thread properly when not in use also helps. I have never used a Ferdco Pro 2000 machine but I found that my Cobra 4 works perfectly well without a pot. Unless you are sewing something that is at the very edge of the machines capability thickness wise or you sew at the highest speed setting the machine is capable of, good quality thread is all you should need. I should probably lit my thread pot on here for sale since I have no need for it but.... that is just one more thing I haven't quite gotten around too.

Looks like one of the items Weaver Leather carry. They source them from the Amish community in Ohio I believe.

Perhaps the issue has nothing to do with the quality of the tanneries. Depending on what type of hides you are wanting they may not even be available in some countries for various reasons. Obviously the United States has an abundance of cattle hides available for tanning are a byproduct of the meat industry. Along those same line the US also has several tanneries that produce excellent quality alligator hides. Those hides are obtained either through farm raised gators or obtained from gator hunters who are governed by state and federal laws. On the other hand some countries are more lax in regulations regarding not only the procurement of exotic hides but also less concerned about how a tannery processes those hides ie: environmental concerns. Just a thought.

Old age sucks.. just wait until you hit the 60's!!! Don't hesitate in visiting the eye doctor to get things checked out and by all means get the glasses if you need them. Eye issues can be a sign of serious health issues so don't ignore it. That said I would recommend just using reading glasses for doing the tooling work. I spent a bunch of money getting the transition lenses and hated them for doing things that were close up such as tooling and other leather work in general, even using my sewing machine. I decided to buy a cheap pair of reading glasses at wally world and was much happier with how they worked. I eventually bought a pair of good quality readers and that is all I have used since for all of my leather work. Just my 2 cents..

A couple of things I noticed that weren't mentioned or I missed them... Just "casing" the leather isn't all you need to do before attempting to stamp a piece. Using a glass burnisher to compress the fibers in the leather before starting to stamp is an important step. Also you should use something on the back side of the piece such as blue painters tape to keep the leather from spreading when you stamp. I am no expert by any stretch but the two items I mentioned are what I was taught when I first tried my hand at tooling.

I decided to try out the Renia 315 recently for some of the same reasons. My major concern was using a latex based glue when making items that I wet mold such as holsters. So far I am very pleased with the results, the Renia 315 has worked well. One thing to keep in mind when using it is that it takes very little adhesive to go a long way. Make sure you follow the directions for use and allow the adhesive to set before joining pieces. You get plenty of work time and can make adjustments as necessary. There are a few vendors in the US that carry the Renia products, I bought mine from Lisa Sorrell when I was in Wichita Falls for the Boot and Saddle Makers Show in October. Her web site is as follows https://sorrellnotionsandfindings.com/ Renia has several products so make sure you get the proper one for your needs.

Sorry, I can't tell you about any of the other tools they sell. Your intended use and volume of use should dictate which one you choose. I only use snaps occasionally so investing the $500 wouldn't make sense for me. If you are using snaps on everything you make and have the room the larger foot press might be a better choice.

I haven't had any issues using my Goldstar press and dies with the LN24 snaps from Springfield. I have occasionally had to start the LN20 snaps with the hand setter and finish them with the press. I no longer purchase anything from Tandy simply based on their ridiculous prices, everything Tandy sells is overpriced when compared to competitors.

Check out Springfield Leather, they have a variety of colors and sizes available. There is usually a link at the top of the page for their website.

I finally gave up and purchased a press and die sets for attaching snaps. I had the same issues you are describing and it is frustrating. Take a look at the Goldstar Tool web site, they have a package deal for $70 that gets you a press and a set of dies of one size of your choosing. When I bought mine a few years ago I got the press, LN 24 and LN 20 dies along with some snaps for under $100. The amount of frustration and time it has saved me are worth a lot more than that.

I'm sure Filson products are great but looking at their web site they are definitely not in my price range. $75 for the cheapest pair of shorts and long pants starting in the low $100 range up to $245 sorry but that is a lot more than I will pay.

I will admit it, I was very doubting about the ability of a sewing machine having the capability of sewing through kydex. Always wanting to see it before I believe it I tried it. Much to my surprise I was able to punch through the kydex with no issues whatsoever. I used a size 24 diamond point needle and 277 thread sewed together a 5 - 6oz piece of veg tan tooling leather and .06 kydex with no visible thread fraying. I sewed it with a Cobra 4 machine.

Not trying to be critical however BikerMutt made a couple of good observations. Looking at some of the edges it appears as though the issue might be the "presser foot" pressure that is creating the unsightly marks next to your stitching. Also the finished edges are very important, they give the product a more finished look. One other Item that I noticed looking through your site was that your men's belts are not lined same hold try for the dog collars. When someone is paying a premium price for an item they expect some durability. With the men's belts being unlined and no stitching I wouldn't expect them to last long. The edges are going to start to roll especially at the belts loops. I may be wrong on the aesthetic issues being that I am older and possibly that makes a difference but to me quality and product finish are important. The site itself looks great.

Grihm, If that is what you are wanting a rein rounder for you may be very disappointed. I don't know how small you are wanting to make the diameter of the item but you might be better off having something made specific to your needs. If you had a piece of steel plate and drilled a couple of holes the diameter you needed and then have the holes beveled it might work better and cost less. A rein rounder opens up to allow for larger size material you may not need that if your doing something smaller. Just a thought.. I'm basically cheap and always look for an alternative if I can save a buck.

One thing you can try is household wax paper, the kind used around the kitchen. Print your image on the wax paper using an inkjet printer. After you have printed the image you lay the printed side on the surface of the leather and use a roller to transfer the image. Of course the image is going to be reversed but that is easily fixed if you have some computer savvy.

Try Bruce Johnson, he sells all sorts of old leather working tools. https://brucejohnsonleather.com/ One thing I can tell you for sure is they are an expensive tool no matter where you buy one.

I purchased a Dremel type from www.proedgeburnishers.com They make all variety of burnishers from Dremel size up to large sizes.

Buying your leather from Tandy is the worst possible choice. Springfield Leather has a few different choice in veg tan at different price points. I recently purchased a belt bend that was on a flash sale for $99 and they split it to the weight I wanted free of charge. The leather was from a tannery in Europe (don't remember exactly where) but the hide is great. Tools extremely well and takes dye easily with very even results. When you are buying from Tandy your paying a lot more money for lower quality hides. Some of their prices just make me laugh, recently they had some European veg tan that priced out at around $17 a sq. ft.

I see by some of the responses I am not the only one that sees the importance of UPS devices. I would rather invest the $100 for a UPS than risk having hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of electrical devices ruined by a surge. The devices might be covered by your homeowners insurance if you meet your deductible and don't mind the hassle of dealing with the insurance company but I prefer the peace of mind. In my prior life before retirement I dealt with highly sensitive electronics such as fiber optics and networks. The UPS devices we used came in all sizes but one thing for sure the cost of the UPS was minimal when considering the alternative of network outages.

Just a thought.. If you are having continual issues with your AC power you should invest in some good quality surge protection. I'm not talking about a power strip with a breaker I mean a UPS with battery backup. It doesn't have to be anything gigantic, like an APC® Back-UPS® ES 650VA Battery Backup. That specific one runs around $100 but you could get by with a smaller one. You might not care about the battery backup part but they provide excellent protection against surges, brown outs etc. I use them to protect my entertainment systems and computers but they would work for just about anything. Definitely saves you from aggravation down the road.

Brian, Great idea and very well done. Since your doing it with a 3-D printer you could add a hinge and cover for it. I know if it was me I would end up knocking it over and have thread trails across the floor.