MonicaJacobson

Thank you! Sure, just PM me or ask here, whichever you like. However, you may find I don't know any more than you do.

Sorry, one more question. What is the brand of Japanese chisel you have? I actually prefer to punch the holes all the way through the leather as well. It seems if you're going to buy a pricking iron/chisel, you might as well go all the way through, otherwise you might as well use a marking wheel, right? It works fine, even up to 9 oz leather, and I very much doubt I'd go thicker than that for anything. Ha, yeah, I saw the thread where you were offering to sell your Osborne... seriously considered PMing you to see if you still had it. But I think I need the #9, not #8. Thanks for the heads-up on the Dixon. I had run across people saying that, but had forgotten about it. That means, I suppose that if I buy Dixon I have to buy straight from them, not through Abbey. @David - I'll contact them at fineleatherworking and see what they say; from the website it looks like a lot of their tools are sold out, and I don't see a custom order option. But that would definitely be cool. Hey, I'd be happy with only 5-6 teeth. I'm not super picky.

They're diamond shaped, rather than slits, right? I guess I'm going to go with Dixon... I'm having a hard time justifying Blanchard at this time. When I tried 6 spi on a wallet, it was just too big. I probably won't do ultra thin leathers, but I was having trouble getting close enough to the edge with 6 spi. I'm thinking 8spi. I found a really good conversation thread searching for dixon irons on this forum (just now), and Nigel Armitage said he would go 7-8 (preferably 7, so I guess you're right on) for 3-4 oz. But since I also want to use it for very thin lining, I'm leaning towards 8. Also, this thread was informative: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=50133 Macca gave a good example of 6mm thread in 10spi holes. Anyway, thanks again - you actually helped me decide about several things, not just the needles. Oh, and on the fineleatherworking link you gave: "I recently asked the folks at John James about the difference between sizes 1-3. Turns out they're the same! Size 1, 2 and 3 are identical in length and diameter. Our needles are offered worldwide and different countries call this needle by either size 1 , 2 or 3 depending on the destination of the country. John James Rep.

Maybe they actually include all three sizes. They certainly don't allow you to choose only one of those options, nor does it explain. That's fine, it's not like it's terribly expensive. Anyway, I appreciate the help! The wallet looks great, and the spi looks great, which helps, as I'm about to buy a higher spi chisel or pricking iron, I haven't decided which.

Yeah, I tried looking at Ludlow, but there's just no.... correlation as far as I can see. Ha. I think it's Abbey England's language that I cannot understand. What does it even mean to say 3, 2, 1 Medium. What?! I think I'll just buy the needles from somewhere else. Do you mind if I ask what size thread and needles to you use for wallets? As far as I can tell, your spi, needle size, and thread size all look great.

I'm about to order some tiger thread from Abbey England. I'm getting .6mm as well as .8mm in hopes that the .6mm will be small enough for wallets. I was going to get some smaller John James needles, but everywhere I've searched, they seem to be labeled differently. I honestly don't even know what size I am using. Does anybody know what size I should get for sewing .8mm thread and .6mm thread? Abbey England calls them: Number 1/0 Large Number 2/0 Extra Large Number 3, 2, 1, Medium Number 3,XX extra large Number 4, small

Beautiful job, Bob. I love that stamp.

I haven't done it myself, you'd have to do some research on the forum, but that's the impression I've gotten from people who make holsters and belts. They resist, antique, wipe off the excess, and let the antique gel dry in the cracks, and then seal. If you search for projects with sheridan carving on this forum, you'll probably learn more about it. Maybe you would need to dye, resist, antique, then seal? I would experiment on some small pieces and see how it works out. The gel might overwhelm your dye job if you don't resist. Of course, I've never tried cutting the antiquing gel with water. That could be my problem when using it.

Sad that you have to sell, but congrats to your wife! Now someone needs to hurry up and buy Ludlow so we can get our thread in the states again. I guess I'll have to order from Abbey England.

I just finished an antiqued backpack. I didn't have any problems staining a small project with antique, but a large project is a bit of a nightmare. I couldn't get it to spread evenly. Fortunately, the customer was fine with it, but I don't think I'll ever do that again at that scale. I also have a harder time controlling it, and always end up getting a little on the backside, not something I usually have too much trouble with when I use normal dyes. I think I've read of a lot of people who use antiquing on a regular basis. They might dye it first, antique, wipe the antique off and let it dry in the cracks. I'm not sure. I think it comes down to what you like. You'll most likely find other people who like the look too.

Ah yes, I was about to ask if it was pig skin. Very nice, a very solid bag.

Davy, that looks really cool. Not easy to keep it all in the right order, I bet. It looks like the pattern hides an owl with its wings up-raised.

LOL, I like your "this is what happens" titles. Very nice belt! It looks even better than the last.

Nice job! I was thinking of making something similar for a compass.. Christmas presents for kids, maybe.

Nice! I love ostrich leg.

Nice bag! I looked through your facebook pictures, and you do really good work. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with! (I like the watch on the dog... he he..)

That will be awesome!

Nice! I really like the spine with the other tooling pattern.

Thank you!

Looks pretty impressive!

Wow, that's a cool bag. What kind of leather is that?

Thanks, OTsniper. That's good to know. I think people are pretty resigned to things not looking perfectly new after 3 years. 3 months might be annoying, though. So that's definitely reassuring.

Nice tooling job!!

I figured he was joking, but I've been thinking that about machine sewing this week, so I thought why not.