Boriqua

I like to come back and answer my own questions cause I figure I cant be the only one with the question. So the awl was a Number 1 Seiwa. My cheapo caliper says it is 2mm at its widest, is a straight blade and it is absolutely perfect for when I use my .030 maine thread. The handle is a really cheap unfinished pine that is rough to the touch and the blade felt like it was flexing when I used it so I wanted to pull the blade out and use it in a sturdy awl haft I have. The blade itself wasnt flexing, it was that the wood is so soft it allowed a little movement of the blade which can make a person insane. I taped up the jaws on my lineman plier with electric tape and had my wife pull on the handle while I held the pliers and to no avail. The teeth of the pliers cut through the tape and slightly marred the blade but I was able to polish it out. I tried putting leather between the jaws but couldnt get a good enough grip. I tried heating the base of the blade as was suggested in case it was glued but nothin'. The ferrule had already fallen off of its own a little while back so I took a wood chisel and put it to the handle with the grain and 2 whacks and I was able to split the handle. When you get the awl only about 3/4 inch stick out of the top but its a long blade and its deeply embedded in the handle. I took a shot of it so you can see how deep down the blade goes. The blade has a significant notch near the bottom so I dont think pulling up and out is an option. You are only going to get the blade out if you split the handle. Did my project with the blade in my awl haft and it was a dream! I like having an extra of things I really like so I may order another Seiwa #1 just to have the back up blade.

I have been spraying resolene for over a year but it is always a bear so I thought I would finally come and ask what others are doing. I use a standard syphon harbor freight air brush. I cut the resolene with tap water at 50/50. I usually cut about 1/2 cup to make a cup of cut resolene and put it in a jar so I am not mixing it fresh every time I use it. When I use it I add the mix to my syphon cup using an eyedropper. The pressure on my tank is set at around 30. I get all sorts of hiccups and spits and it stops spraying and I have to mess with it to get it spraying again. then it will spray for a few minutes so long as I am mashing down on the trigger but if I stop to move the piece around it wont spray anymore and I have to mess with it I finally get coverage but its not anything I look forward to doing but I love the finish much better than rubbing it on. Are you using something else to cut with besides tap water, is my pressure to low, should I be mixing a fresh batch every time I go to spray? I just pulled my brush apart and cleaned it and its better but still a pain. If I run the cut resolene through a coffee filter I get a week or so use out of it problem free but I cant see how particulates can be getting in a sealed container. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated. Alex

This should tell you what I think of maine thread There are a couple of other rolls in another room. I really like it. Just the right amount of wax, lays nice and flat when pulled taut and a minimum of stretch. Color stays nice and true. I am actually working on another order. Get the free sample card and enjoy!

I hadnt thought of that byggyns. I have a gun in pieces that I am about to blue. I could just include the carriage bolt with the lot when I finally set to doing it. Lumpendoodle ... Yours comes with something I couldnt build in ... awesome karma!! Your hubby went and took time out of his life to make it for you .. doesnt get a whole lot better than that.

That may be the answer there Michelle. I saw a pony on ebay from China that use a similar system and I thought they were just using a quick release from a bicycle wheel. I looked into that but the shaft is pretty thin on those so I abandoned it. I went to the rockler link you posted and they have that cam for a 5/16 18 bolt which is what I am using so I can just cut down my screw and use one of those. Thanks for the link! For others making there own ... I really love the flexibility the narrow clamp and wide space give me. The pic below is of a wallet I just finished. When you glue the interior to the exterior it is bent since the interior is shorter than the exterior. It was nice to be able to firmly clamp it at the stitching area but still leave plenty room for the bend to be bent. Plenty of clams like this so I didnt invent anything new .. just pointing it out for those gathering lumber and plans Alex

How fregin cool is that!! I pull two images off of the web through a google search that I thought were done really well as reference to what I want to shoot for and the dude who made them is on here and responds !! Im diggin this site. Anyway I cut two patterns. One has the strap pointing down and is integral to the pattern and one that will get the straps added with a T nut but I think will also point down but it will be removable and can be switched by the user. Nice work brother!

Given the opportunity I would not buy the tandy again. I would take the refund and look online and buy weaver or osborne. I dont have experience with the osborne but I know it cant be worse and most say they are far better. The tandy you have is Sooooo far away from being sharp that you will take a few hours to make it usable. You may still want to touch up the osborne or weaver but its nicer to learn to sharpen from a place that is not completely fubar. I had to take a dremel with a 60 grit drum to my tandy to shave down a bunch of material before I could even start with a file and THEN start to sharpen and polish. imho ... look elsewhere. Alex

So am I the only one doing it this way and if so am I nuts. I am always worried about good adhesion so I make a mask that is slightly smaller than the overlay piece with frisket this way I have a nice clean surface to mount my inlay material. I still give it a little scuff with sand paper but I have seen people dye the whole piece then come in and scuff up where they have dyed. I just think this gives me a better surface ... but it is an extra step and kind of a pain. I just worry about delaminating.How do you do yours? Here is one I did similarly many years ago. I still like it but man when you look at your old work you can see how much you have improved! But ... it illustrates the idea. I masked this one off first too.

Man oh man .. You are pushing yours through leather .... ugh ... guess mine isnt done yet. Be sharpening some more this weekend.

Very nicely done. Be watchful when you put that bad boy through the scanner and make sure you are there to retrieve it at the other end!

There are always the leather bracelets as well. I remember loving to do those as a kid and if you can incorporate braiding into them even better. The 5 yr old would be a perfect age for the flat braids and different edge braids ... I dont remember what 3 is like anymore now that my daughter is grown. Not much in the way of construction but lots of opportunity for decoration.

I dye, dampen and burnish first then apply finish at the end.

Those look great! be careful though ... I bought a starter kit in 1990 ... I Kinda got hooked!

That is pretty sweet! Any time someone is willing to part with more than the asking price you know you done good. Nice work. I would love to see a pic of someone wearing it if you ever get a chance.

I bought my 1.5" punch from tandy and it was extremely dull. You could run your finger over it with impunity. Cost about the same as you paid but took me an hour or more to get it sharpened and polished. Having said that .. if your table top bounces it will be difficult to make a clean punch. Before I got my tree cookie I used to punch my holster belt slots on the cement floor out back on a piece of 2x4 with a 2lb mallet. I have a metal and mdf table inside which is pretty sturdy but not sturdy enough not to have the surface bounce some and make for a miserable time. Now that i have my tree cookie life is grand. Best tool I got and it cost me nothing!

Its an old post but ... is this still available?

I had never seen a floor standing one until I started floating around here! I have already used mine a couple of times and am Soooooo very happy with it. I can pull it in close turn it sideways ... I am happy ... now I have to work on that comfy sewing chair Karina mentioned and I am golden! In my previous life I designed and produced large scale displays and exhibits for events, trade shows and museums ... if I could change one stupid thing about my new treasure it would be that damned silver colored carriage bolt. It makes me nuts. Will have to put my thinking cap on for the next one. Hmmm fabric cover over the whole spring assembly

Now that is a pretty sweet idea. I am pretty sure even if I used 4oz for the exterior I could leave it say 3/8 long at the top and skive that down to roll it over the top of the fabric and glue and sew. Hmmm ... I guess if I am going to glue in a fabric liner I could go even thinner on my exterior piece. 1mm ish on the leather glued fast to the fabric should make more than sturdy enough a wallet. Thank you so much! At least now I have some place to start. Alex

I would like to do a fabric liner in the billfold compartment of a wallet I am constructing. Just to add a little interest. I could just dye it and leave the inside compartment rough leather but I want to try fabric. There is some neat stuff out there.So I could certainly glue the fabric to the rough side of the leather and trim to the leather but now how do I handle the edge. particularly the top edge. It wont really burnish because there is a layer of fabric. I could use edge paint but I must admit I HATE edge paint. I thought maybe I could end the fabric1/8 inch short of the top ... then I thought .... someone has done this!! Let me go ask Thanks for any advice! Alex

I just got mine a couple of weeks ago so I know he is still doing them. They are listed on their page as well. I think I am going to order another one for my thinner blade. http://www.leatherburnishers.com/BearMauls.html

Hmmm damn fine point!

Going to be making my first snapcake style holster. I notice that some designs have the snap strap pointing down so you lift the snap upwards to remove and some have the snap strap end pointing up so you flip down to remove. I will be using Pull dot type fasteners. My initial thought was I would have the snap strap fish under the belt and face down when snapped like in the top image but is there a reason to consider the other way around. Is one way more secure than the other. Its a simple matter to make it either way in the pattern but I am curious which might be more secure. Thanks fellas Alex

The molding around the bottom of the knife came out awesome. Nice and clean and that is a tight radius. I use mostly pocket knives with clips now but I have a warm spot for those bucks in a nice leather sheath. Great job!

and you have the solid brass jiffy rivets I love so much but had trouble finding!! I landed up buying some tandy stuff and now I dont know what to do with em!

I have been pining for one of those stitching horses with the bench that you straddle for YEARS! They aint cheap though so it hasnt happened even though weaver does seem to have one for around $200 I think. I was going to build one from the instructions in the "art of sewing" but ... alas ... the wife and I moved into a smallish mobile home in a retirement community last year and I really dont have the space for a piece of furniture. I may still build one but leave it out on the porch where I do all my sewing except for summer anyway. In the mean time I needed something better than what I was using. I used this for the last few years It was fine but sometime during the last few years ... ahemm .. my belly has grown! Didnt see it coming ... dont know how it happened but there you have it, and the pieces I was sewing were getting closer and closer!! So I wanted to make a floor model that would allow me to shift it around more based on what I am working on. I wanted a fair sized opening so when I am working on bags I had some room in between the uprights and I wanted the clamping part of the jaws to be fairly narrow so I could say pinch at a gusset and still have the bag contained between the uprights. So I made one. Its made of 4" x 3/4" birch and then stained with Polyseal "mombay mahogany". Now having used polyseal I will never use it again but it came out alright I guess. It is 33 inches to the top of the jaws, the space between the legs is 3 inches and the clamping part of the jaws is 1.5 inches. The 5/16" carriage bolt is 16" down from the top giving plenty of room. I had an old recoil spring that was kind of shot out from a full size 1911 I have and put that in and it fits over the carriage bolt perfectly and gives just the right amount of tension. I don’t have any power tools except for a drill so you can certainly do it with patience and a hand saw. It looks like furniture, well furniture to leatherworkers, so the wife doesnt mind it being in the living room which is nice but she isnt much of a complainer anyway. Lucky me. I may make a couple and see if they move on ebay but if I do I am buying a chop saw. Anyway .. good luck making your own and I hope it inspires you to do so!!