jwt

You're hand burnishing? 1. Charge the next 25 people $25 above your current rate 2. After you hit order #25 tell people that you're not taking new work for two weeks 3. Call Weaver and order 65-6025 and whatever accessories they have for it 4. Relax until your new burnishing tool shows up 5. Charge everyone else you deal with an extra $12.50 to help offset the cost of your new hobbies

As long as we're making jokes... Be careful when you're asking a prospective wife about her interest in leather. That could go in a really awkward direction.

It sounds like it's time to start charging more for your work. Either that or hire some help.

I use lasers to cut a lot of leather. The edges do char but a quick wipe with a damp cloth takes off most of it. To further cut down on charring, just soak the leather in water for a couple minutes before cutting. Wetting the leather is not a great idea for engraving. It works, but poorly (at least for our needs). Do not cut or engrave on dried out leather that's been sitting around your shop for months or years as it will burn and I've never been able to get rid of the char short of sanding all the burned areas off. Laser-cut leather will smell terrible for at least a few days. We let all our laser-cut leather air out for at least a week before handing it over to the customer. For suede we wait two weeks. You need to properly vent any laser cutter to avoid smoke build up in the cutting chamber as it reduces laser efficiency and with some materials (waxier leather) there is a real risk of damaging the laser optics. And yes, you really need to vent that out of the room you're working in -- preferably outside. I've never tried a fume hood.

If you mean "Pull the dot", you can find them right here http://www.dotfasteners.com/pull_the_dot.html

The quality went down as they became more popular. Their early stuff was amazing. All the recent stuff I've seen from them looks rushed. It looks to me as though they either outsourced the production or just grew beyond the ability of their quality control to keep up. On the plus side, the early bag my wife got from them inspired her to start working with leather and their drop in quality is creating opportunities for lots of other people.

The last time I was in Springfield leather I looked at the Horween they had. Every hide we unrolled had serious defects. I'm not sure if they only carry the third grade stuff or if we just went in on a bad day.

Now that you mention it, I'm surprised he didn't have better pictures and spare parts for it lying around.

A short article about some recently discovered ~40,000 year old leatherworking tools. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/13/neanderthals_leather_tools/

If this is still available would you mind listing the presser feet, throat plates, etc you have for this?

If this is still available can you list out the presser feet and needle plates you have for it?

Quantity plays a role in the price (the post office offers similar volume discounts) but the biggest advantage, until recently, has been the integration of the shipping software with other business software. Beyond that, proof of delivery happens pretty much by default and the tracking offered by UPS and FedEx is amazing compared to the postal service. That said, I rarley use anything other than USPS since I don't typically need those features.

Me too please.

I don't think I've seen a scabard for a mares leg before. Cool idea.

Thanks again for the feedback. I'm going to prototype it out of steel this weekend. It's easier for me to work with metal than wood so I'll stick with what I know -- plus I've got a bunch of bar stock lying around.