DavidL

awesome. I saved the link. Do you know how it will react to factory dyed chrome calf or is it more suitable for veg do you think?

most chinese branded irons are hit and miss. Vergez is the one you want but is a big investment. The Dixon iron (slimline - you have to request from dixon) is probably the best bang for the buck, unless you can get a good chinese iron.

One of the coolest projects i seen in a while.

you could cut with a dull pair of scissors and throw the hides into a small backpack to get them wrinkled. Suppliers sell distressed leather, probably distressed by hand or through a machine like the one that stone washes jeans.

how wide of an awl does 7 SPI need? Im thinking 3.5mm or maybe 4.

meant to write honed and stropped.

I do 9 spi and 7 spi with the 38mm vergez awl which is actually 38mm long but 3mm wide. After a month and experimenting with stropping the awl is now 2mm and I only sharpen the tip now. You could just shave off a fraction of a mm using a stone which you will need anyways to touch up the blades. A blade could possibly be 1mm for anything as small as 14 spi, but you won't be able to find it online most likely.

Tie the ends onto the back of your car and drag it across a parking lot with gravel. Do it slowly so that it doesnt become overworked. Alternatively a box filled with gravel will give a more subtle look.

All the distributor of snake, crocodile, alligator skins aren't available in Canada and the places in USA don't ship to Canada. Has anyone dealt with importing snakeskin into Canada by car (self importing) and what to expect from the fees, duties. Getting the exotic stuff is the hard part but theres also the issue with selling items made from exotic materials (do you have to declare items as "alligator shoes" or just "leather shoes"). Are there any hassles sending items made of exotic skins international or from canada to USA (vice versa) like extra fees from shipping, extra duties on the customers end or documentation forms. Canada's cbsa website says that all exotic hides need to be declared but there aren't any info about documentation needed as far as I know for importing or exporting items made from exotics.

vergez blanchard has a great blade. Fineleatherworking.com stock vergez and has great service and reasonable prices on tools. Needs a quick touch up on a stone and green compound and works perfectly.

Il keep that in mind thanks.

Great info. The lip is that little bit of leather when you cut past the edge that pulls a little instead of cutting. It only happens with chrome tan leathers or soft temper vegtan.

Also add that hand cutting as exact as a clicker requires 2 years to master where you can cut a pattern in 20 seconds and not mess up once. One thing to look out for if the company doesnt have a manufacturer warranty, return policy or the website looks outdate you may want to skip on the company. The website doesnt say anything about the steel used or the manufacturing process that is also a red flag. For something this exact and important you want to research as many companies as possible. Tippmann and dixon are the ones that look to have the best dies but I can't say first hand. Whats your technique? For larger things like bags I want to cut them by hand but I'm having difficulty with curved corners and with the corners creating a lip because it sticks to the knife.

If you aren't looking for the best tool a Hakko 601 or 888 (both under 100) w/ the leather soldering tips from ebay welded onto a spare soldering tip is a close second in theory. Cost will be under 150.

Vergez is french made as far as I know. Once I find something that works perfect I won't try anything else unless quality starts to dip. I will be using vergez for pricking irons and awls as the only brand. Fil au chinois as my thread, john james for my needles, and horween, WC for my leathers. Its hard to find good reliable tools, so once you find them I keep using them. I tried other brands and they work so/so. Companies I avoid are dixon/ japanese irons and japanese made awls. Im unsure about dixon's die cutters they are definitely economically priced. Makers I go for are mostly european or custom tool makers. With the pricking iron you can penetrate fully on leathers up to 4mm and rub your fingers on the marks to close up a bit.

The three japanese awls are made of low quality steel, when put on a stone the metal gets rough. This is my experience with I believe a siewa awl or craft Sha awl that isn't the one in billy's picture but should be similar quality. Vergez blanchard awl works great and can be bought for 6 dollars for each blade and installed into an adjustable osborne awl handle and swapped out with a different size. japanese awls come sharp out the box but has a short shelf life, compared to the vergez I have now for over a year and hardly needs retouching once it was honed.

3:50 - without pleating If the leather is super thin you don't have to cut it like ferg shows and you can pleat the edge and hammer. Same can be done on a 90 degree corner or a slight curve, not just the circle curve in this video. 1:20 If you are hiding the rolled edge with another piece of leather you can do small cuts and make sure they can't be seen on the edge. You can learn how to do professional work just from youtube and practicing the technique.

You have to bunch up the corner. youtube bookbinding rolled edge or some type of shoemaking vid.

Thanks il give it a look.

If I haven't seen it done before I would say the same thing, it seems impossible. But heres a video of a worker making a bag w/ a expensive heat tool. at the 3:40 mark. 2:09 Im not too sure if the edge paint is acrylic or dye or some other thing entirely and how it will hold up w/ the iron and how to produce that smooth edge. Also the problem may lie in the fact that I wasn't as aggressive with the sanding because I believe the rough bits from sanding will not help get a smooth finish. My steps for the next piece. glue pieces together compress tightly sand with high grit paper use regular dye on edges use a soldering iron on the edges in a stroke movement touch up dye add paraffin or beeswax and go over with the iron. Anyone had success or see anything missing or wrong about the steps?

Recently I have tried to do some heat edge burnishing w/ a soldering iron that gets really hot. I first sand and then apply the soldering iron. Is the edge paint (acrylic?) the missing piece to give the edge a smooth plastic feel. Im asking because without the edge paint Id think it would be completely smooth (but not plastic feeling) but is a bit uneven and the two pieces aren't merged seamlessly . Is this what is expected without edge paint and will the edge paint fix the unevenness and blend in smoothly?

I have a custom clicker knife that cuts nicely when stropped properly, somewhat hard to make sure the blade doesnt wobble. Japanese utility knifes also are cheaper than head knives and can pull, pull and be used as a chisel.

Is there any pros to a tech sew 2700 pro vs a cowboy 3200 as the cowboy has a thicker capacity and is a few hundred cheaper?

a machine skiver can split vegtan slowly 2inch at a time. Never done it and don't know if its easy to get it consistent but its possible.

sewing machines are exempt from duties from USA to Canada. Avoid shipping with UPS ground - fee is 50% (Express is 2.7% as quoted but you may be hit with other fees). Cowboy 3200 is the machine I was looking at since its nearly 1k cheaper than anything similar. Why not just raise your prices by a dollar , then 6 months from now raise by a few more. You may loose very few potential customer but gain the money back with the 2 dollar raise, especially since yours is price in CAD? and americans will see it as 9 percent cheaper than others in the market. Mark up of 9 percent is also an option for the larger American audience if that wasn't accounted for when pricing with the competition.