DavidL

Is this confirmed? I just look at the iron prongs and they look exactly the same, like it was made by machine. To do all that work by hand and sell it to a wholesaler at 40-45 dollars for an hour of work or however long it takes wouldn't make sense business wise. Vergez had some marks that I can see were made by hand and prongs were slightly different, that the dixon don't have. If dixon was made the same way as vergez then they charge way too little at 67 dollars for a 7 SPI w/ 8 prongs, where a vergez w/ 8 prong is 180 dollars. The one I gotten may have been the "b" selection since the handle has a hump in it, the dixon wasn't bought from dixon directly. Vergez is worth the extra money since I'm looking to sell my dixon and my 4 prong vergez for a larger vergez since the dixon quality was not how it was in their prime. At first the dixon was usable, now it creates more issues as I am perfecting my skill that are more aparent

I made a case for my laptop and it fits well, I guessed to add 6mm to each side and it worked. Id like to find out how to actually measure and account the thickness of the laptop and put that into a pattern so that its not too tight or too loose.

If you dont make mistakes you are not improving. I may have the same leather, top grade from SLC which is far too soft.

That could work, thanks.

The way I do it I prefer to hit it all the way through on single pieces. If I do multi layered I mark one piece all the way through (3/4 ounce leather), then glue the other pieces on and stab through or use another iron and hit the backside, the middle piece is unmarked and I stab from one side to another where there are grooves on back and front so that every stitch is even. No way is the proper way. I can get good results doing it this way and the stitches come out how I want it to so I keep it like this. Only problem is the base in my setup and the hammer I'm using doesnt distribute the force evenly, so one side of the iron comes down deeper than the other. Some hermes workers hit the iron all the way through, a dunhill worker in a video i've seen hits it all the way through and other good craftsman I've seen do the same. In my opinion, and its only my opinion, If you hand stitch without using another iron in the back it will never turn out as well as if you haven't. The difference in is like drawing a straight line with a ruler vs trying to free hand a straight line by hand. No matter how straight I place my awl through the leather or vertically through w/ a foam board underneath taking extra time to make sure it is 100 percent straight, in a row of stitches of 50-200 at least 1-10 will be off in any direction by a mm or 2 and make the line of stitching look bad. Even w/ the iron on both sides the stitches don't come out perfect since it is hand stitching, but effects the margin of error.

I'll go with a 1.5 - 2 pound brass. from bottom to top: Thick log metal plate 1 inch pound board Scrap leather piece Is this a proper set up? I want there to be no bounce from the hammer to the pricking iron and no bounce from the base. I can't see why it won't work, to be on the safe side I thought id ask.

Are brass hammers safe for use on metal pricking irons - not deforming the top or teeth? They are cheap from harbour freight if I'm ever in the USA (2lb hammer) and can make a good impression in one hit I'm imagining. My 1 lb soft rubber mallet sometimes needs two hits, making it hard to make the holes the same size - If I hammer too softly it needs a second hit, in some cases I overcompensate and the hole is too large. So I'm looking at 2 lb hammers, a medium strength hit will get the proper sized hole or are 1 lb hard plastic mauls the way to go? ...... Is it also safe to use a solid metal block under a pricking iron?

anyone one know where to get a 3mm creaser tip that can fit onto a weller soldering iron?

The difference of dixon to vergez is the vergez prongs are hand shaped (which is why the price is more). I have dixon and vergez, vergez is better. With dixon you can shape the prongs with a sharpening stone and needle file to get the proper size. From dixon factory they can sharpen by machine to get a smaller size prong.

Is this product tested before its send out? Post a video of how it works? Add a leather cover onto the handle? Does it meet regulations? Hermes tool is made under strict conditions and tested by trained workers, can you offer that type of reliability or a money back guarantee. Somethings made in China are great, most, not so good. You have to prove somehow that this item is good whether through a video of you using it or reviews from buyers. I think its a good tool, only thing putting me off is that the handle is green which reminds me of dollar store products. The other issue is that if it stops working suddenly then I'm out 300 dollars.

Than you Ken. Watched the video and found out that my clippers aren't cutting the rivet post flush. Il keep that in mind. Thanks.

thanks for the responses il pick up a small anvil and tap lighter.

I been peeing some copper rivets and had some success. My issue is that the backside has a bump when I peen it. The issue may be because I hit the front too hard or I am not using a metal anvil (flat or curved?) The back also gets scratched easily on a poundo board (maybe a piece of leather in-between the board and rivet)

okay, must of read it wrong. Anyone has a good supplier of tex 270 thread in many colours thats good quality.

The company was a chinese brand and was bought out by a french man. I read it from an article some time ago.

Fil au chinois was actually made by the chinese as they also made fine silk and things of that nature at that time, and still today.Oregonleatherco doesnt stock any barbours, is it only available in store?

I bought a groover, the blade of it was bent so I may need to buy another one or see if I can get it replaced. It will be like a pouch and I don't want the groove to be seen when its opened. If it can be tapered to a smooth transition w/ a dremel sanding disk that could work. 3 for the main portion and 2 oz thinned at the fold. I have never used a gouge before so I have no idea how it will look. The best option is if can be folded and pressed flat. Anyone has herman oak 3/4 that can do this? The 2/3 ounce of veg I have can be folded easily, it is softer and feels and reacts more like chrome tanned though.

thank you for the info, good to know that its doable. When it folds over does it fold without a bulge almost the same way as folding a piece of paper not totally flat but the closes to it? The end use is for a slim wallet so any large bulges will not work.

I made a random business name and they went through with it. They put down my business tax id as 9999999. For small orders go with campbell randall.

Can the 3/4 hermann oak be folded in half and not bulge up so much. Im making a wallet that has a piece of leather folded onto itself. This type of 3/4 veg is this as stiff as 6/7 or 8/9 leather. I had small samples of those two sizes and is stiff as wood. If you can provide pictures of some scraps that would be appreciated.

As far as I know Barbours only sells thread for hand sewing, they are owned by coats which I believe sells machine thread. Im unsure if they have another brand which utilizes the same plant as Barbours and uses the same threads but finishes them for machine thread - not likely. Somac I know has machine thread as well as linen thread for hand sewing. Abbeyengland.com has the somac machine thread and hand sewing thread. I have Fil au chinois and its good thread, but extremely overpriced 3-4 times the cost of Somac or Barbours for black and ecru colours. It is 2-3 times more expensive than coloured irish linen thread. Thicker machine threads in .58 - .7mm come in a lot of colours and are 90 percent of the quality as Fil au chinois at far less of a cost. I will do more searching around but there is a thread out there thats the best quality and will be 1/3 the cost of Fil au chinois.

The two I know that are popular for linen are Barours and Somac. W/ bonded nylon I have never bought any, but have seen on videos some leather workers who use bonded nylon, cotton, or some blend of cotton and linen which look identical to fil au chinois. I hear good things about thread exchange.com

I would try some bonded nylon for sewing machines they are $10 bucks for thousands of feet tex 270 is .58mm = 532 fil au chinois or Barbours 18/3 = .58 mm.

I agree with the other posters contact cement is important. It may not make such a big deal, but punch out all the holes after it is glued down put each rivet in and do each rivet at the same time - compared to one rivet all the way in and then another all the way in. Like the same way you would tighten a car wheel bolt.

I would suggest you insist on them shipping the leather inside a thick cardboard cylinder that is longer than the leather and the inside diameter is larger then the roll of leather. Then get them to put a soft material around the plastic strip that will hold the leather to the roll of cardboard. It could of been a rare case in this situation. But for them to not provide this type of protection on several thousand dollar shipment is irresponsible for a company with decades of experience to spend the few dollars to make sure this will never happen. In my opinion if it has happened to you once it will likely happen to you again, unless they made a change in how they pack there shipment, which is why I recommended you to post the name of the supplier so people won't get damaged shipments seeing as it happened twice in both orders you made.