EricIsaiah

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Gahh, I want these. If only I needed 26 of 'em.

I got some really really dirty natural Essex from them last year. It was unusable and there was nothing on the site to indicate the inferior quality of the leather. Never again. Definitely lost my business. edit: by "them," I mean Springfield

What grade is the hide? That's right around what the tannery charges, right?

I hear you, Matt. That's one of the reasons I don't make gadget cases anymore. I want the stuff I make to last for YEARS not just however long it takes for the newest tablet to be released. That being said, you cover looks very well made, Tuan. Great work!

No luck. I assume it's all gone as this stuff is hotter than hot right now.

Second from the bottom is the English Bridle, right? Thanks, Eric

Just snatched one of these up on eBay for $40 (new!). I'm pretty excited to see how well it works out. I've heard some good and bad things, but for $40, I thought it was worth a try. Sounds like I'll have to get the blade sharpened before I do too much work.

That Champion is beautiful. I want it!

This is exactly the information I needed! Thanks everyone. I'm thinking of going for the 6 ton. The only thing that concerns me is the 10.5" space. My wallet backs are 8-7/8" wide, so I the press will be able to accommodate that. Now to find a metalwork shop. In Chicago that shouldn't be too hard.

You know, I have the same "problem." Though I don't really mind it too much, since the way the back looks isn't bad, just different. It can be a bit annoying when doing things like wallets, when the back of the stitch is meant to be exposded as well. Any info/opinions on this would be appreciated. Personally, I prefer the staggered look to the stitches, like you've acheived on the front, which is why i don't use a groover. The groove makes the stitches align more and eliminate that cool staggered look.

That first wallet is just gorgeous. Great job!

Yeah, this is breaking my heart. 12+ for Chromexcel. But I have this incredible urge to get my hands on some natural chromexcel (which never shows up at Maverick).

Kind of related question: is there a difference between a pricking iron and a stitching chisel? Or are those just two names for the same thing?

I use a diamond awl to punch through each side separately because I find if I do them at the same time, I have a difficult time keeping the holes aligned. They tend to be either angled down or up, which makes the stitching on the second piece of leather appear really uneven. Know what I mean? So I thought it'd be easier to just mark each side and punch them independently, but I'm finding that I spend a lot of time aligning the dots with my scratch awl.

Here's another question about this pesky tool: How do you get the marks from the wheel to be even across two pieces of leather? For instance, when I'm making a wallet, I'll mark both the outside and inside pieces, starting in the same place, but often the distance between the dots varies on each side. Even though I always start in the same place, I usually end up with dots that aren't even at all when I come to the end of the groove. I suspect this has something to do with the speed with which I mark the leather and the pressure I apply while doing so, but I can't be certain because I've been unable to fix it. It usually ends up something like this: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nigel, These tutorials (and some others I scoped out on your YouTube acct) were really great. I helps to have someone show you the basics, so, even if you don't follow it exactly, you know where to start. After watching these videos my stitching looks way better. I had been pulling one thread all the way through and then the other. Just by pulling them at the same time, the aesthetics of my stitching improved a lot. Thanks again. What a great thing you've done for the community. Eric

Just bought my first couple rolls. I use the .35. I have a roll or two of the .20 but I find that it is way to thin for exposed stitching. I've been using it on some hidden seems, though, and it seems to work well.

I just made the leap from my old Osborne diamond awl and purchased a Douglas blade. Here's hoping it was worth it, considering, with (Barry King) handle, this thing costs almost ten times what I paid for my Osborne. My Osborne leaves a pretty long hole, so I'm hoping this Douglas blade will leave a more diamond shaped hole, which I've noticed produces cleaner stitches.

I just made my first leather purchase at Maverick. So far the service was great, the prices excellent and Matt said he'd get my leather shipped today. I'll update when I have more info, but so far this supplier is a winner.