Rawhide

TrooperChuck, That's a pretty nice clamp you made. The only thing I would change would be where the ends of the clam shells come together. It looks like it would be tough to get you hands really close to the work. Anyhow, I assume that you're a state trooper (or were)....if so, thanks for your service!

I don't think I can contribute much, but I bought one from craigslist about a year ago. It was fairly rickety, but I replaced the legs to sturdy it up. Nothing fancy. The jaws were in terrible shape, so I purchased some hard maple and had a guy cut the basic profile out for me on a band saw, and I finished them up at home. (Hardest damn wood I ever cut...I thought it was concrete inside). Anyway here are the results and I can't tell you how valuable this thing is.

You know, I read that twice and missed the part where he stated one piece of leather... all you do when a single piece is used is after you go through the last hole the second time, you run the needle under the last few stitches on the back of the leather, and trim off. Sorry about that Max.

You're right Harry, I just got a chance to look in my lacing book and it says when you are not lacing completely around a project...when ending, go through the last slit, then under the bight, and then go through the last slit again, but through the front only, coming out between the leathers and back a few stitches, trim off excess. (I knew I was pretty close though)

I think that when you lace through the last hole available, you just come out between the leathers and up through the lacing on the edge, cut it off and tuck that tab under the lacing.

Ray, May I suggest calling bob Douglas. He specializes in vintage leather tools. He's not in the uk but I'm sure he can ship to you. His info is on the suppliers link from the home page.

What a scumbag!!! Sorry you had to go through that...but thanks for the warning. People like that should be taken out and....(use your imagination).

I've resisted long enough... No one seems to want to say it so I will. Let me preface this by saying that I'm just as nervous and worried about my kid and his kid(s) having to pay for mistakes that we and our parents made. However, no one is saying that this mess we're in is our own fault. No one accepts that we accepted the mortgages that we KNEW we couldn't pay for, we spent money like it was growing in the back yard. We didn't save one damn dime toward a hardship. I'm sorry for everyone that has lost a job. I feel remorse for those who can't pay the next house note, when they didn't bite more than they could handle, yet through the cutbacks at the local plant, they can no longer afford to pay. However, no one is more to blame than us. I don't care who's in charge, it's still our fault. Stop blaming everyone else for things you can't control...Do what you can to survive, for you and your family. A wise man once told me "you can be on the same track, but you have to be pulling in the same direction". No matter that we got here by being careless...we are here now and we have to be responsible to ourselves and do what we can to fix this mess. I'm not a big fan of politics or government either, but to blame anyone but ourselves is lying to each other. Everyone that blames GW Bush for this is insane, everyone that blames B Obama is insane. Each person that takes that job does what he thinks is best to help right the country. I'd like to see anyone of you take that job and do any better...you can't. The arms of these problems reach much farther than you can imagine. Bottom line...stop bitching and do what you can to help...we're all in this together. To the talking heads: "If you don't like it, leave it...We'd love to have you, but we don't need you...."

To prevent them from sticking in the first place, I use Vaseline or petroleum jelly on the threads and I never have a problem. I doesn't evaporate and doesn't allow the glue to harden. To remove a frozen cap. I use channel-locks. They adjust to a size that I don't have to put a lot of squeezing pressure on the cap to loosen it.

does your b/w tool have a rounded striking surface? That may need to be squared off. Using a maul or a mallet with the rounded head tools tend to slip and give a double impression or one that's not located properly.

...here are three belts just completed. I designed these for some young girls back in the eighties (made then in plain tan leather).... seems they have come back into fashion in some parts of this world. I had sterling silver rings made...stainless steel didn't seem right with the black alligator.. Peter

Here's the word from Peter ...I should have mentioned that these are inlays for boot tops. They will be quite striking, as the tops are to be black kangaroo. They are colored with orange spirit dye...a very tedious operation. Peter

He didn't say, but I'll ask...he may not want to say until it's finished.

...these carvings required the making of several very small backgrounders....based upon the A99's. Peter www.petermain.com

Sounds like you need an awl haft with a chuck. These hafts come with a wrench that allows you to tighten the chuck jaws on the blade. I've attached a picture of one

A point of clarification. A scratch awl is not the same as a diamond awl. The scratch all is completely round and tapers to a point. The diamond awl is specifically for stitching. The awl pushes the material to the side and it will close some, not completely, but it will close....which is one reason the 'proper' technique is to pierce & stitch one hole at a time. the strength of the different holes has been debated to death, however my argument would not be the hole itself, but where it ends up on the back of the project. I can't control a drill like I can an awl. I tried the drill, but found that my holes were all over the place on the back side and my stitches looked like connect the dots. In this case, for me at least, the old fashioned method works best, hands down. I don't even use a four prong punch anymore on thin leather.

What happened is that all the outflux of people went to neighboring citites and towns and supply and demand dictated a localized inflation. Most people couldn't afford to maintain multiple residences and had to forgo their properties in New Orleans. Those who bought these inflated the prices, along with the insurance rates skyrocketing, the real estate has gone through the roof. Plus, not every area has been refurbished, so that leave the refurbed area 'desireable' and inflates the prices even more.

There have been a slow influx of folks moving back to N.O., but the problem is that the cost of living has skyrocketed since the hurricane, that most can't afford to return. I'm originally from the state of Louisiana, and know serveral families that have returned, and several that vow to never set foot back.

see this thread

For thicker leather, it's almost imperitive that you groove the folds. I even take a french edger after that and put one leg in the groove and hold it at about a 45 deg angle and take off some of the side on both sides of the groove.

I'm a big supporter of hand stitching and I use an awl with two needles to do it. The 'proper' way is described in Al Stohlman's book, the Art of Handsewing Leather. However, decent instruction can be found on the interweb. Using a dremel is a fast way to do it, but the results of the holes on the back side of the project will be unpredictable. Yes a hole can be too big or too small. I have two diamond shaped awls that I use regularly, along with a set of overstitch wheels. The overstitch wheels layout the locations for the holes. there are several sizes. for a heavy weight leather, 8 oz and up, I use 5, 6, or 7 stitches per inch (spi), for medium leather, 4 to 6 oz, I use 8 or 9 spi, and for light weight leather, I use 10, 11, 12 etc, spi. For holsters, you're probably looking at 6 spi, and a four prong stitching chisel is not going to go through that thickness of leather stack (plus it makes the holes too big). you'll need a sharp awl, and the overstitch wheel. Good luck!

I have 8 ft lights in my workshop. the bulbs I use are 5000K bulbs from Home Depot. 5000 and 5500 K are the closest to simulate daylight.

Your yellow concentration may be too strong. I find that I have to 'cut' the yellow waaaay down to get a light color and build up from there. (I cut with dye solvent)

I think he's got one of those 'easy buttons'