DavidL

JLS - Great service, prices are well under other companies. They have a deal with UPS to not ding Canadians with brokerage fee. I have noticed they have sold C grade leather as A grade leather. They do ship out a new hide without question everything paid. Springfield is playing the numbers game. Sending out c grade hides as B grade. B grade as A grade.

From that manager there will always be a trust issue, guaranteed. If they were having a bad day and was acting uncharacteristic then it was unlucky situation. For what it is worth I personally would of paid the 21 dollars out right without them asking, even if they insist you keeping it. Just my opinion.

8 SPI (532) I find is a good general length for anything. 7 (432) would be good for large bags. 9 -11 (532-632) for watches or wallets. I think saddles are stitched with 10+ SPI on thick leather.

Watched the video you are referring to. A stainless iron was shown, the black tandy iron was what I was talking about. For a functional tool the tandy iron looks like it would work, the iron in nigels review had a tooth knocked off that doesnt inspire confidence. Dont see the tandy version being better than the cheaper Japanese stitching chisel. It does look more like a dixon or vb than not.

They qualify as beginner tool. I would assume professional leather workers tune their vb pricking irons like their awl to their desired size. You would easily ruin the iron if you dont know what your doing.

Judgebc my dad was the same way, keep an item as long as you can. Tinkertailor I get what you are saying. You dont have to spend a lot for otherwise common tools like hammers and dividers, they do the job well. Theres is also nothing wrong with having a functional tool or precise tool like a japanese leather knife, it depends on what you want personally. Stores are after your cash and dont some mind selling you low quality tools. Leathercrafttools.com, Springfieldleather.com I find are fair companies for functional tools, tandy is not. They even took the website name leathercrafttool.com to reroute to tandy. The way they conduct business is predatorial in a market that has few to none brick and mortar competitors. After I was into the craft I decided to buy good tools (functional, precise, beautiful or a combination) to last my lifetime because that is how long I plan to be working with leather. There is something about buying nicer tools that make you want to create better quality goods, thats my opinion. Something about pure functional heavy duty tools that inspire confidence. Buy tools made for a professional so that you have something to aim for. Beginner tools in my opinion after you are intermediate inspire mediocrity.

First thing I purchased was from Tandy. It has nothing to do with where I am in the craft or where I am not. As a store to sell overpriced tools that is useless the moment they are bought is the issue. They are robbing unwitting customers. Even if they sell average price leather from time to time, dont support this behaviour. Maybe im wrong, the ultimate tool set is not bad.. $900 dollars for made in china tools http://www.tandyleather.ca/en/product/ultimate-leathercraft-set

I like a good looking tool, nothing wrong about that.

I wouldnt get anything from tandy. I bought a tandy handstitching kit for 100 dollars by a recommendation from the tandy storeowner, if Id known what I known now I would of walked out the door. Still annoys me a little. There is two sides to learning the skill, knowledge and hand - eye cordination.

Rubbing alcohol needs to be replaced by acetone. The finish needs to be skimmed off with finger nail or carefully with a tool. Sanding should not be done with sandpaper probably not a good idea for steel wool. With acrylics you paint light color then the darker over, dyeing may need something similar.

For cutting out templates out of metal which is prefered? Anyone familiar with the cost of CNC or laser, which is more economical? Recommendations to any companies that offer decent value?

The glue does both. The stitching is placed close (to the edge) to prevent separation.

I've also wondered this. I would try stitching one end flush. Stitch all the way around both bottom corners until you are nearly all the way done, 2 or 3 cm left, mark the end with a 90 degree ruler. It is common for bags to be made with alignment notches or alignment marks (on the leather or leather edge). 3 marks per corner, 1 center mark at the middle of bottom piece, 1 centering mark for each side . The alignment marks make sure that the leather will lay evenly allowing a perfect match.

Nice. Did you redo the pull string?

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