DavidL

In theory the distance away from the edge should be close if not exactly to the thickness of leather. Using the wood jig nigel uses it should give the same distance as the thickness regardless of the leather. 45 deg.pdf

ok, looks like I need more practice. A while back I was making a shoe and the eyelet holes where slightly off, enough where it was noticeable and I was curious if there was any thing that I haven't thought of.

How do you mark the holes on a belt and get them aligned in the centre. The most common way i see this done is people have a paper layout and put a dot in the middle. To me that would be inaccurate and difficult to get the punch centred and be an issue on things like watch straps. Do you use a template and draw the outline of the circle? Use a template and press an indentation with a hole punch and align in the groove? Something else?

do a back stitch, cast the thread twice to form a knot, trim the excess thread and finally tuck it back into the hole with a bit of glue using an awl. I would do the back stitch at the most stressed point and also wherever you end the stitch, in this case at the bottom of the box on each corner. When all 4 sides are stitched add the bottom and do a backstitch either on the end only or at the start of the stitch and the end. As long as the stitch is strong, secure and looks fine it is correct, although I'm sure there are people that if its not done the "traditional way" they would consider it wrong.

Macca whats your take on the best leather species to work with (calf, cow, bull, kangaroo) that gives the nicest stitch and best leather to use as padding to thicken leather bag bottoms (they all seem similar and it might be a waste to use calf). I find the denseness of kangaroo veg cuts great and stitches up nicely.

I personally haven't had an olfa blade bend out of shape - I have the 8mm 30 degree angle blade, roughly the same angle as above pic. The blade will flex slightly left or right (only in curves or if you push down hard) because of how thin the metal is and I find I prefer it to flex during tight curves instead of have it rigid although it will work either way. I think they also sell a 18mm carbon steel knife thats sharper, more rigid and more suitable for heavier leathers. I believe olfa knives in 8mm are as thin as scalpel knives and will outcut a thicker knife. I always compare to what hermes uses because they always have the best tools and i seen a worker use a yellow snap off knife that looks like its most likely an olfa as yellow is a common colour they use. With the 8mm you can't put down heavy pressure like a round knife, japanese utility knife, or a thicker olfa knife. It can comfortably cut thin leathers like upholstery or 3-6 ounce veg in one pass. One knife I been looking at is the tina shoe makers knife or kiridashi japanese wood knife they both have a single bevel and flat back and is very popular style of tool for pattern clickers.

This is great info thanks for sharing. Is there any products he recommend for acrylic coat, both pigments and polyurethane?

thats interesting about the water based polyurethane. I wanted to try to find the industry standard and I didn't think that tanneries used resolene (just to test the options) I'm using fiebings pro. buff and finish with atom wax. The finish is somewhat tacky and smells odd.

thanks for the suggestions.

yes the stitch goes downwards to the left stitching towards you. In the corners the stitches will be slanted with the Portmanteau. With the reg. iron the stitch is straight or its angled upwards and separated instead of slanted and close together like the Portmanteau.

Hermes uses a few different size irons and use portmanteau/ inverse irons instead of regular irons on the front side. Just a guess but they probably use 9 to 11 for watch straps and horse saddle and I would think around 8-9 for the larger goods. If I had to guess I would say 8 vergez (dixon 7 equivalent) I have the 9 vergez and the stitch looks a bit smaller. I wouldn't be surprised if they use 9 for the handle and 8 for the dee shield part (part that connects the handle to the bag) . They are very close in size so its hard to say. Keep in mind that a majority of their goods are machine stitched or mostly I recently have had success with cast the thread - left needle first, right needle second, take the loop on the backside and throw it over the needle (away from yourself). The few times I have used it before was using thin leather and it didn't work so well. On thicker leather the stitch looks nice and with thin thread .6mm thread it looks better IMO than thicker .8mm. This technique if you are able to get the holes somewhat straight the back stitch will look neat. Even hermes items if you look through google images has imperfections in the stitches and isn't suppose to be 100 percent perfect. In my opinion casting the thread is a better option than not casting the thread with stretchy leathers like chrome or pull up and thick leathers. You could also use the same iron on both sides, wont give you the angled stitch though. Same could be done with a inverse on the opposite side especially on very thick leathers . On a single piece of leather or multiple pieces of leather that is glued together usually the iron is hit on one side and stitched up. Another thing you could try is to hammer the edges in gently after its glued or use one of those clamp pliers and compress the edges to get a better stitch. Okay, enough ranting from me..

Thats good news. If you are selling on consignment do right up a contract so you have a solid guarantee.

Which way do you prefer, trimming excess or to cut the piece to exact size and glue? What I'm talking about is when you are making a handle or anything that has to match up and be glued flesh to flesh seamlessly which way do you do it and why do you prefer that way? There are 3 ways of achieving a flush edge as far as I know For a handle. 1. cut to the pattern and fold over if its a one piece handle and glue where the pieces lay flush. sand pieces flush. 2. make the part that needs to be flush larger on both pieces and scribe a line to mark where the edge needs to be. Cut the scribed line. sand pieces flush. 3. Same as number two but cut one half of the pattern to size and the other leave excess. Glue the larger piece to the one cut to size and trim around the edge of the smaller piece. sand pieces flush. 4. most consistent way I seen is to get two pieces glue them flesh to flesh and use a clicker die. Please share the way you do these type of things so I can get a few different perspectives.

adobe illustrator?

dull scratch compass - 2:45 On stiffer chrome it should be ok. sewing machine magnetic guide - from the video description looks to be a strong enough magnet for leather. http://www.sailrite.com/Magnetic-Sewing-Guide

thanks for the input to everyone that posted. Kevin - I tested out the stitching with casting the thread away from me and I got the same results as the one in the picture, thanks for the help.

Practice piece Front side Back side before stitching close and before trimming the excess. There is no rubber core in the piping. My question to those that have done this with rubber piping would trimming it flush when its fed through to the backside be a problem in the future? Should it be a little longer or does it not even go into the backside?

The picture is saddle stitching, looks a LOT like machine stitching. I am more curious than anything. I don't think I had the threads both go in the same upward direction.

thanks kevin, the youtube page has a lot of new info. I think I figured out most of the ways you can cast the thread. One cast on one side iwraps the thread around each other once. Two cast (one on each side) creates a knot - doesnt work well on thin leathers. No cast at all the threads are separated the most, on a single cast it is compressed a bit and two casts the threads are compressed the most. When you cast the back thread forward the back stitch is angled up and the front stitch is angled down. Cast the thread towards you back stitch is down and front stitch is up. I still can't get the thread to go upwards on both backstitch and front stitch. Anyone has done this before?

I would advise against using 99designs.ca. Mostly high school graphic designers trying to make a few dollars and they tend to copy other peoples designs in the contest and other existing companies (The reviews on google some even have been sued). In the graphic design forums that was one thing they all were in agreement on, that no real designer would work for that contest because they keep getting copied by the other designers in the contest. So only the inexperienced graphic designers are building your logo. You also lose that designer to business communication.

On some examples on his fb it is angled the upwards to the right on the front and down to the left in others. The picture below the stitch is the upwards on both sides. How would you cast the thread to get it like this?

I would work from building the foundation first and then start from there. Its a combination of things that creates a strong brand. Check if you can get a business grant. Few things to think about (may be things missing) Manufacture: First are you able to produce the item 100 times and make it the same way nearly every time 1 or 2 redos is okay. Are you able to manufacture different styles of wallets or zippers ect. You don't have to master them but at least be able to manufacture enough if you get a few sales. Also if you need to sell different styles of leather goods you may not be able to because you need time to learn Business plan: Set up the frame work of your business. Using the business plan your company will have a path to takes and also a foundation. Find a template online and add as much detail as you think is necessary and don't worry if its not professionally written, just need the important info. Is your products profitable - did you find the cost of a single wallet and the cost to run your business. Marketing: Contact whoever is willing to listen. Write up a short who you are, what your selling and send it to as many people as you can. Local news, newspaper, online sites.. Id imagine on a website people will come up from 2 main sources - from google/google images or from seeing you in the paper, on a website, youtube, a blog ect. Do keep in mind the easier it is to get into the market the more competitors you will have. Compare your product to the brands that are selling and see what they have that you don't, what can you do that they don't have. VERY important - Why will they buy from me vs my competitors. What is your brand identity - Are you selling mass market goods, premium goods, luxury goods, what does your brand mean to people - does your brand fit into a certain culture of people or groups? Take a look at brands like roots, hollister, american apparel and they are selling you a lifestyle first, clothing second. Basically put in the work in your business before expecting steady sales. Sounds boring but do the homework and if you don't know how look to free online courses or free locally funded mentorship.

Im stumped in why drum tanning penetrates even more than surface dyeing like we do. I was thinking that in drum dyeing the liquid is hot and it penetrates deeper because the pores open when hot water touches it. So, what causes the drum dyeing to have such a permanent and deep dyeing. Is the leather untanned at this stage and the dye and vegetable tanning solution is mixed together?

Is there a vast difference when dying leather in 0 degree weather vs 100 degree weather. Do the pore of the hide open or close even after its been tanned do you think?

Im curious if people out there with t shirt heat press use it before dyeing and after dyeing the leather to heat the leather so that the color of the dye stays permanent and deep. Trying to replicate similar results of drum dyed leather, seems like a huge stretch. Only want so that the dye doesnt bleed off (having trouble even after hard buffing and finishing) What sort of machinery, jigs or electric power tools do you use to get better results or save time? Some in my mind are: T shirt heat press soldering iron w/ temp control for hot glazing edges heating up a metal flat iron to burnish "antique" marks electric buffer to rub off excess dye airbrush drill press w/ edge burnish attachment, hole punch or awl blade put in the chuck.