BobW

Very nice Snubby! The edges are impressive, as always!

Very nice work, Samar! I absolutely love the wolf!

Nice work, Shakey. I too am curious about the thread and needle sizes. Is that the biggest thread you can use with the 29-4? I've been looking at them on ebay for a couple weeks. I'm still not 100% sure this is the right machine for me. It looks like it does a good job on the thicker stuff for you.

Decided to make a phone sleeve out of something besides veg tan. I dug around in a remnant box and found some chrome tanned leather in a dark brown that is VERY supple. I was able to get the edges burnished despite everything I've read said that it can't be done. It was an interesting experiment! I think I will carry it for a while and see how the edges hold up.

Very nice work! Would love to hear more about how they were made and what materials you used. My wife asked me to make her a pair of leather flip-flops last year but I couldn't find enough information. Yours are exactly what she described! Thanks for sharing.

How much are you asking for this stamp? What about a 1" x 1/2" maker mark? Can you make stamps in brass?

Nice work! Are the straps stitched into the underside? If you don't mind me asking, how much are you getting for them?

Monica, Nicely done! I especially like the contrast in texture and color between the exotic and the smooth leathers. I'm a little reluctant to offer advice on stitching. But what I will do is share with you the process that works for me. My first pieces done with a stitching chisel were awful! I've slowly got to the point I can keep the lines straight (nearly) all the time. The process that works for me is as follows: 1. I mark my stitch line with an scratch awl, making a fairly deep impression. 2. I mark stitch position in the grooves left by the awl with the chisel. I press the chisel down firmly by hand to leave a highly visible and tactile mark. 3. I align the stitch line away from me, not side to side, to better control the angle of the chisel. 4. I position the chisel by letting it fall into the the divots I left earlier. 5. From this point on, my focus is solely on keeping the chisel perfectly vertical. I don't look at the mallet, only at the chisel. I don't try to hammer it through with one blow. I use multiple light and then medium blows. I take my time to re-position the chisel after each rap of the mallet. 6. I don't use a stitch groove on the front but I do apply a light groove to the back after it is punched. An example of my stitching can be seen in my album that I just posted in the Gallery section. Thanks, Bob

Very nice, Snubby!

A true work of art! Absolutely stunning!

I love the way the design, tooling and coloring turned out, it looks great! I can't wait to see it finished. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful piece, Bob. Excellent basket weave!

You should be proud when you can take an idea from just a mental image to a reality ! I'm sure that is the way Van Gogh felt. Although, some of my leather pieces look more like they were made by Salvador Dali! When I first tried using a diamond stitch punch my stitch lines looked good on top and downright awful on the bottom. I found that making sure the punch is perfectly vertical made all the difference in the end. I think if you take your time while punching you won't have to use a stitch groove unless you want to countersink the thread.

I woke up at 4am Christmas Eve morning with the horrible feeling I had forgotten someone's Christmas gift. After going through the pile of presents, I realized I hadn't made my daughters watchband as I had planned. By lunch time it was done and I could relax. It is made with two layers 3-4oz veg tanned leather dyed black on the top and left natural on the bottom. The edges were left unfinished. I used red 1.0 Ritza thread. This band is a replacement for the band on her Ed Hardy watch that she absolutely loves. I re-used the buckle from the old band as it was still in perfect condition. In order to get the stitching to "point" in opposite directions, I punched one side from the top and the other side from the bottom. I am fairly pleased with the way the stitching turned out. I am not so pleased with the stamped crosses. Oh well, she loves it and that's all that matters...I guess.

Very nice! Simplicity at its' best. Thanks for giving me something work toward.

Good job, Shenster! I really like the dye job. I gives the case an aged appearance. I'm going to try that method, I hope it's repeatable!

No secret, Michelle. I did hand stitch it and it is machine thread. The only problem I had with it was I had to re-tread the needle several times. I just applied more beeswax and went on. It was trying to unravel close to the needles but I had 8 or 10" extra on each end so it didn't effect the strap. I'm glad I didn't know ahead of time it wouldn't work, because I wouldn't have tried it! I guess ignorance is bliss! Bob

No method, just madness! I still had to skive slightly for the watch pins but there was a LOT of skiving to get the clasp to fit. I have some Panarai style buckles coming which will work a lot better with the thick leather. I will probably finish it out to match my phone case with Havana Cigar stitching and the leather dyed black. Yes, I think having a watch first is a good idea! Bob "Well...it seemed like a good idea at the time!"

Thanks Halitech. Given the thickness of the divers watch, I wanted a thick strap. The three layers of leather gave me that thickness. Keen eye, the thickness of the center layer is nearly identical to the diameter of the pin! Bob

Thanks Bob. You're probably right about the "practice makes perfect". It is getting easier and if you look at my last phone case, my stitch quality is improving. Bob

Thanks Monica. I am not completely happy with the way it turned out but considering that twice during the build I thought about scrapping it, it's ok. Bob

Thanks Rohn!

Thanks Horn. It's 3-4 oz veg tan. I got 25 feet of it last year at an incredible price. I've been looking for things to make with it. Thanks again, Bob

Here's some pics of a 6" Biker Trucker wallet I made a while back. The edges were left unfinished. I lined the inside of the zippered pouch with pig skin. That is a LOT of stitching my hand. This changed my mind about wanting to make a briefcase!

My watch is about 13 years old and the stainless strap was looking a little rough. I liked the looks of some of the the thick watch straps I've seen on the Internet so I decided to make one. It is made of three layers of 3-4 oz veg tan leather. I used a German made clasp. The orange thread is 277 poly.