mdawson

Just wondering if anyone had tried a dead blow hammer in place of a mallet or maule. Opinions. I generally don't stamp but I quite like it for setting a few rivets or whatever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_blow_hammer

As the OP mentioned the motor is binding and therefore would be drawing excess current, substituting a slow blow for a fast blow fuse could allow this excessive current to continue flowing, potentially burning out wiring in the motor instead of a cheap fuse.

Hi JC Weaver Leather just did a video on Enhancing Letter Stamps, not with colour as you're looking to do but by adding more stamps to make a sort of panel. Just another option. Mark

Hey Tequila I've had my target rifle in a sheepskin lined case for over 20 years with no problem, I imagine even after tanning the wool still retains some lanolin which would be helping to protect the rifle. On the subject of canvas, I have various types in my stash that I've accumulated over the years, some are quite hard and would not be good for the finish on a firearm, however, the softest is actually the cheapest and may be worth considering if you go down that path, from painters drop sheets. Mark

Looks like it's a 3mm spacing.

Boat chandlers have PVC sheet off the roll for bimini 'windows', our local, Whitworths (no connection) have 1.4m wide rolls, 0.75mm thick for $A24/m.

Not quite sure what you're asking for, the tension adjustment is the square knob shown in the 3rd picture, the cam lever is only used to release and retension when moving the leather, here's a view through the 'arms' so you can see the alignment. Added a view of it folded, I designed it on the fly, if I build another I'd make the base longer than the jaws to protect them.

Here's how I 'got around' the question of what size jaws, I simply made rotating / removable jaws. By backing off the screw they can be angled or rotated 90 to use the longer side or turned 180 to use a different jaw configuration. The basic jaw is 90mm wide, it's what I had in my shop. At the moment I haven't 'configured' the bottom jaw as I haven't yet had a need for a different configuration jaw but the last photo shows a jaw from the prototype which has a notch cut in it to fit around a previously fitted snap etc or to set down very soft material within the notch for support while it is being stitched. In the unlikely event I need something else I can always make up a new pair of jaws.

Sounds like a M16 thread, 2mm pitch. Mark

An aircraft rivet squeezer is the first thing that popped into my head too, but aircraft rivets are aluminium and are possibly(?) softer than the copper rivets used in leatherwork. If you intend to follow this up, perhaps contact the local chapter of the 'Experimental Aircraft Assoc' and see if someone has a squeezer and could test set a copper rivet for you. Another alternative, if you have a compressor, would be a pneumatic rivet gun, basically just a hand held pneumatic hammer. Likewise an EAA member may test a copper rivet with a gun for you. You can get hand squeezers and rivet guns from Aircraft Tool Supply or Aircraftspruce. I've purchased from both companies, both are help full and easy to deal with. Mark

Hi, Barnes Molding have 99% isoprop, King st, Newtown, about 200m from Sydney Uni, but it's about 10x the price of metho ($44ltr vs $4), Bunnings also list 500ml for $27 on their website (not available to buy online) but they don't say what strength, I know Barnes is 99% as I bought some a couple of years ago. Mark

That looks to me that it might be a lacing pattern rather than a stitching pattern, perhaps try searching for lacing rather than stitching. Mark

Australia covers A LOT of ground, where abouts ? Birdsall Leather in Sydney is my goto for supplies and advice, when things get back to somewhat normal they also have workshops where you can go in and work on your project with knowledgeable people around to answer questions. Also try searching online for leather work guilds, the one in Sydney is the Leatherworkers Guild of NSW, again when things get more 'normal' they run workshops in Epping.

I bought a sharpening system based on this principle about 40 years ago for sharpening sheath and pen knives, they work well being very consistent in angle and by using a marker on the blade, such as the fingernail slot on a pen knife as a reference to mount it each time that angle was maintained so went straight to the fine stones, no need to reset the angle. I think the finest stone in my set is 1000 so if used that for leather knives they would still need a bit more work to put a polish on them. I still use it occasionally if I need to reset the edge on a pen knife but maintain them with a ceramic sharpener. If I didn't already have it, would I buy it today ? possibly not. Mark

This discussion may help. https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/88220-dyeing-technic-tahama/ Mark