shtoink

I'm a little confused on what exactly it is that you are looking for. You say you have a punch for making round holes and have been cutting straight lines to make an oblong hole, correct? Are you looking for something that will make an oblong hole in one shot that needs to be 3/8ths to 3/4ths of an inch in length? I mean no insult by this, I was just try to clarify what it was you meant. Though, if it is a round hole punch you are looking for and not an oblong one, I just might be able to help.

I know that Harbor Freight has a cheap double action airbrush kit that works reasonably well for the price. The one that I am thinking of comes in a kit with or without a compressor and has a sizable suction feed jar. I was able to pick one up without the pump for around $15 on sale. Oddly, I have not seen extra jars available separately, so a cleanup is required between liquids being sprayed. I can't speak for availability in your local area, but they do have an online store. They regularly have sales and coupons for bigger discounts. I know there are far better air brushes available, but if you are just getting started an are on a budget, it's hard to beat. The only concern that comes to mind is the issue of solvents. There are four o-rings on the this airbrush, but only one that will come into contact with the fluids being sprayed. I doubt that it's solvent resistant and will need to be replaced with one that is. Fortunately, it's small, not too critical in size, and *should* be easy to find. Of course, this is all dependent on the ability to even be able to get any of this in your area.

Like Boot-Bondo... You're talking about something that will apply as a paste, fill in the gaps and bond to surface, and still has the look and feel of leather. I'm not sure that such a product has been invented yet. It certainly sounds like an awesome product, but the closest thing that comes to mind is leather putty (a mixture of rubber cement and powdered leather), but it isn't something that would work for what you need. When I was enlisted, I had a pair of boots repaired and all they did was cut out the damage and replace it with a sewn in patch. I ultimately ended up getting a new pair as they were never capable of passing inspection after that. Unfortunately, those kinds of repairs are undesirable for your situation. Of course, I am nowhere near an expert in the subject, so it is possible that someone else may have information that is actually helpful for you.

I would think that a flat workbench would be more versatile and durable, and if you really felt the need to have a slight incline while cutting, there is nothing stopping you from raising the back edge of a removable platform. You can easily build a workbench with your desired features in mind. A designated cutting area, special tools holders for your current project, built like a bomb shelter, you name it. Drafting tables were not built with the intention of withstanding the type of repeated abuse that comes with beating leather into submission. Any drafting table would most likely have a short and miserable existence being treated like a workbench, anyway. Drafting tables tend to on the big side and most likely not available in the dimensions you want/need. It might be easier to make a list of the features you want and then figure out if you have space for them in your design. It might even help visualize it all with a few sketches or a cardboard mock up. It may seem silly building a pretend work area from cut up cardboard boxes, but a full scale model can really give you a sense of how it will all go together. Not to mention the flexibility of making changes without having to spend a bunch of money on lumber. Can tell that my opinion is in favor of the workbench...

If you do, please share the details! Ahhh... The scientific method. There's nothing quite like the collection of empirical data through lots and lots of testing. It has been said that we learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes.

This is right from the Kick Starter page. I too have mixed feelings about this. The manager at my local Tandy store put it this way: "If you were a pool hustler, you'd have no issues beating me at pool with a broomstick even if I had a $10,000 cue." It translates into many other areas, as it's the skills that make the outcome good not necessarily the equipment. That isn't to say that better tools can't help. In other words, if the super powers were built into the suit, then anyone could be a super hero. I think that you really risk insulting forum members by asking them for monetary help, especially when they are here giving advice and tips away for free. It does like good intentions, just misjudgement on where to advertise. I can see the need to raise funds for domain names, hosting, website building, shopping cart, and the like, but I highly recommend using the tools and resources you currently have until it is absolutely necessary to upgrade. It comes down to optimization of the resources you have. Don't mistake words of caution as any form of discouragement. I'd hate to see enthusiasm squelched on account of it. Anyway, that's just my two cents. For what it's worth...

I have seen a number of opinions in this thread and that is to be expected when a question like "What is the best ..." is asked. What I also saw were speculations about sharpening, and the need to sharpen, ceramic blades. Contrary to a popular opinion, they do need to be cleaned up first before they will cut effectively and this led me to purchasing one and do some testing of my own. What I found was that it's relatively easy to polish up the bevels on them and no special, expensive equipment is needed. I'm sure there are as many preferred methods to sharpen swivel knives as there are knives to be sharpened, but this is the most effective method I found through testing to address ceramic blades specifically. I'm not sure if anyone is interested in seeing just how I got it done, but I can do a write up on it if you guys do.

That would certainly explain the initial mottled color and the response to being rubbed with the brush. I had suspected some sort of wax finish being applied during the brushing, but during the tanning process makes more sense.

I have been thinking about this one for a while and the idea of a fence is good, but leaves part of your work obstructed and it might accidentally get bumped out of alignment. What I came up with was using a string... Let me elaborate on that. If you have a piece of plywood under your granite slab, a pair of nails with a string teid between them would give you your straight line. Maybe a pair of parallel strings could give you a track to work down and the slab or your work piece can be repositioned as needed to start a new row. This way you have your guide, it's unobtrusive, adjustable, and it doesn't block any work area. The real question is, how well will this idea work. I came up with the idea while laying in bed rereading the thread, so if it doesn't work, please don't hold it against me.

The hide initially has a typical raw look before brushing, but is darker after. My guess is an application of some sort of wax or finish. It may not be have been applied with the brush, just touched up to even up the surface texture. That is only a guess, since the video is very short clips of the many steps involved. They may have edited out any trade secrets, too.

Has anyone considered using bow string material? The question might initially sound odd, that is until you look at their characteristics. There is a multitude of colors and types, and there are some that have excellent fray resistance and negligible stretch. Unless you are applying more than 500 lbs of force. They tend to come prewaxed and in large spools. Dacron is cheap and available in some 20+ colors. Fast flight types are even stronger, fray less, same colors, but cost more. I don't know if this is an appropriate material to use for stitching, but on paper it looks like it might work. I have no personal experience with it yet, but I did want to give it a try on one of my projects for testing purposes, soon.

Not to detract from the excellent job on the cover, but did anyone else notice the incredible setup for those tools? I was so impressed by the simple and clean organization involved, I intend to do something similar as soon as I can.

I love simple and elegant solutions to a problem. The soft plastic lids found on coffee creamer, cocoa, or anything else you can find in the kitchen or pantry would work well for a template. Just make sure it isn't still being used first.

After some first hand experience with sharpening the ceramic blades I feel as though I can add some meaningful content. I have thought about writing up a How-to, but will wait to see if there is much desire for one. I want to say that these are just my findings and there is always room for improvement. I bought my first ceramic blade and can easily see why the complaints about dragging and sharpening have come up. The machining on the cutting edge is rough at best and fixing it takes some work. Fortunately, it can be done with a few easily, and cheaply, obtainable items. A sharpening jig, 1000 and 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper, sheet of glass, water, dish soap, and patience. A magnifying glass of some sort might help. The sharpening jig is a must, since this whole thing hinges on repeatability. It is highly recommended that the sheet of glass be tempered, as it will be stronger than simple window glass and less likely to break. An old or broken scanner can be purchased cheaply or found free from almost anywhere, which yields you a very nice sheet of tempered glass. You can gut it to remove the glass or use it as is. A drop of soap is added to the water used on the sand paper to alter the surface tension. Primarily, this keeps the water from just beading up and rolling off. The other thing that I felt was important was the technique used to actually drag the blade on the paper. The initial instinct for most is to apply pressure while moving the blade back and forth. The issue with that is on the forward stroke, the paper will yield under the pressure and curl up ever so slightly. This will still happen when moving the blade from side to side, too. To overcome the curling, I found that light pressure, with a slight side-to-side motion, on the pulling stroke works very well. The machining marks were removed reasonably quick and a highly polished blade that shaves was the result. I should add that the buffing compound on card stock over a hard surface was also used to strop the blade. I must say that little tip was amazing. Now all I need to do is just be careful not to chip the dang thing.