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I'll throw this in cos I'm bored. I think it was Cechaflo that showed how you can create a snazzy looking stitch by using a contrasting thread in the bobbin and deliberately slacking off on the tension to get alternate colours on top. Has anyone tried this?

OMG. OK. A man says to the doctor one minute I feel like a wigwam and the next I feel like a teepee. The doctor said you're two tents.

Chinese dustman knocks on the door of a house. A bronzed hunk of a man answers and the dustman says Where you bin? The man says, I've been in Hawaii, do you like my tan? Dustman says Naw naw naw, where you wheelie bin? The man says ok I lied, I've been on the sunbed.

Oh we're really regressing are we! Two cows in a field. One says to other "What do you think about this mad cow disease?" Other cow said "Doesn't apply to me, I'm a duck ".

I had a shopfitting company and the Northern Ireland rep tried to do a job with local labour that should have come to me. They ran into a big problem and I got a call to fly out to Portadown the next day. Was a bit scary. Everything had cages on the windows But I got the job done. The shop was called "Super Crazy Prices" and two weeks later it was blown up.

Fantastically fine work, well done. Hate to think how much time is in that.

Don't know how to select parts of a thread but the machine I have is in this thread from last year. I just glued some felt to a belt but the felt just stretched out of shape but the potential is really good.

I don't think wood is the way to go. I think it's just easier to do. Something like canvas or denim will get you there quicker. I tried felt glued on one of my sanding belts. Wasn't bad but needs work. Considering a good burnish needs heat I certainly wouldn't go with anything smooth.

Makes sense now. Thought it was too good to be just a crease.

Halfway between the edge and the stitching, where the bump stops is a line but no stitches. The actual stitch line is quite far away and if it's just glue holding it down I would worry about it lifting over time.

Nicely done. I've always admired the Caduceus as a symbol. Nice contrasts.

Firstly it's on the top shelf because it's not sellable. I wouldn't risk $50 on something that Might work. If you jump through all the hoops necessary to get it home and find it doesn't work you'll not get your money back. If he can get it down and it turns freely you might have a chance but it still might not be in sync. If it looks like there's a chance you could make an offer but I wouldn't be offering anything near $500. Welding cast steel can be difficult so you can use the cost of repair in your favour.

Although this doesn't include a comb riser it might give you some inspiration. I did the shotgun for a friend because he didn't want to drill the stock. The last pic is mine and just shows an alternative elasticated wrap instead of leather if you can find one.

Welcome to the forum from a neighbour. There are many ways to do this. Assuming you don't want to damage the stock I think the safest way is to glue up several layers of leather (or anything else) and trying and shaping as you go. when you're happy with the result, wrap the whole thing with leather and stitch along the bottom.

Can't stop watching this girl. She builds shelters, catches and traps fish takes em to market and lots more. She makes me feel inadequate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWpYPfRTQ9I

This has been bouncing around in my head for a long time and without access to intelligent people who might be interested you guys are it. Sorry. A PATTERN OF ISLANDS By Arthur Grimble This book has intrigued and fascinated me for years. I’ll be brief here but if there’s any serious interest I’ll gladly get into the detail. An upper middle class white collar worker gets sent to some Pacific Islands as a young man to assist the Governor of a group of islands. Some years later he gets promoted to Governor. The big chief of a group of islands, on hearing the news, feels his biceps and declares that he’s not fat enough to be a chief and needs to out on some weight. A date is agreed about a month ahead when the chief will arrange for the Porpoise Caller to come and start the fattening up process. On the arranged day the chief collects him in the big canoe and takes him to one of the islands where all of the islanders were gathered on the beach. The Porpoise Caller had a makeshift shack at the end of the semi circular beach. He goes into the shack and according to the chief he’ll have an out-of-body experience and flies over the ocean to call the Porpoise’. He comes out of the shack and at a signal from the chief all the islanders gathered at the waters edge and joined hands. The new Governor was in the middle holding hands with the chief. They all start to walk out until they’re chest deep in the water where they stop. The Governor looks at the chief with a look that said “What now?”. The chief nods his head toward the water and, looking down he sees a Porpoise just under the water about 3 feet in front and there was another next to that one on both sides and another and another and another. At a signal from the chief everyone turned around, re-joined hands and slowly walked back to the shore closely followed by the Porpoise’. When the Porpoise’ got to the shallow water and started thrashing about the islanders set about them with clubs and stuff. This is how the islanders put their weight on. OK, This is a serious story/book written by someone who’s as straight as a die. The rest of the book is “normal”. You tell me what’s going on? Some years ago I recounted this story to a friend who was well travelled in that area and he didn’t bat an eyelid and said he’d seen weirder things than that. The reason this has surfaced in my head at this time is watching something on TV recently that has given me a possible answer. Over to you guys. Paul.

Some class work right there. Has me puzzled though. Can't work out what you've got under the flap rim to give that precise bump and the line where the top of the bump meets the flap is very neat but too far for the stitch line to hold it so what is holding it, glue? However you've done it, it's a great job. Is there a reason for the flare out on the gussets? Can we see the inside? Bin the strap. Detracts from the rest. Since you said you made it to sell I'm surprised you've put so much time into it because if Leeds is anything like Kent you're never gonna get back half of what that bag's worth. Maybe you've got a good outlet. I hope so. Again, excellent job, well done.

Can't remember the exact dye. Almost certainly Fiebings but I do remember how I did it. Starting with a bright veg tan I used a sponge that I picked lots of holes out of. I then dabbed three coats lightly (letting each coat dry of course). I remember being bimpressed at the time at how bright it was.

Every part of the process has to be right and in tune with all the other parts. The machine needs all parts working together. Needle size right? Bobbin wound properly and evenly? Is the thread installed correctly? Is the check spring releasing the thread at the right time so the thread can form a loop at the eye? You can't judge tension by pulling on it. Tension is about right when you can's see the knot on the top or the bottom. Use a different colour on one to see this easily. Is the timing right? That includes when the presser foot holds and releases the work. Is the hook meeting the needle at the right time and is it meeting the needle on the rise? If you don't get on top of this lot you'll likely get in the same trouble with whatever machine you buy.

Bugger, I had this mostly done, got distracted and now it's gone. Oh well. Not a business for me either. Don't think I've sold half a dozen bags in 4 years. It's the challenge of trying to achieve something different. I think I might have a latent inferiority complex. My brain is constantly looking for better/easier ways to do stuff and then I try to pass it on. I guess I should learn to mind my own business. The leather was part of a job lot I bought some time ago. Most of it I'll never use but always looking for something. This next pic is typical. I wanted to make a bigger bag that would take a laptop, books etc. I had some leather that would do but it was a horrible colour. A kind of dirty yellow but nothing like a tan. I decided to see what it would turn out like. Because it was bigger I had measure for each panel and cut out by hand. Still didn't like the colour so sprayed a light coat of Fiebings red over it. Turned out OK so I carried on. Original thought was a magnetic closer but by the time I got to the end I realised that if I wanted to put rolled up waterproofs under the flap the magnet wouldn't hold it so added a buckle. Do the pic in a min.

I suppose I have the knowledge to "fix" stuff after years of different jobs around engineering so when it comes to making things easier, I'm equipped. Let me walk you through a way to make things easy. Don't know how you're fixed budgetwise but for me this procedure more than makes up for the cost in terms of speed and ease of use. I'll give you the basics and if it appeals I can go into more detail including where to get stuff. When I find a design I like and am likely to make more than one this is what I do. 1st I download a pattern or draw my own design on paper. I then transfer on to the right thickness of wood, usually plywood. I then cut out the shape in wood so I end up with the pieces, usually just the main panels that would have been leather. I then take a piece of rule steel and bend it to the shape of the wood pieces and screw it to the sides of the wood shapes. Now I have a clicker die that I can use over and over again. Once you have the means to do this, over time, as well as having the main parts of all the different designs, you've made dies for those little pieces that you can use for many designs like the small straps for "D" rings or buckle straps maybe. You get the idea. Some people think you need a clicker press to use your new toys but not so. Lay it flat on the table, lay your leather on top and tap around the outside with a small resin or plastic hammer. I progressed to using a cheap arbor press for a while before I eventually upgraded to my Lucris Mk3 which I love. So now I can make something like this for which I have cheap die for every single part.

I'm not very artsy so I look at sites like these for inspiration. I've looked at design software but it's not for me. I mainly use a machine so putting dots on a pattern is a bit pointless. I do envy proper designers though when it comes to curves which the machines can't handle.

I seem to remember Instructables from a long time back. I'll have another look. You might want to look at "Pinterest" I seem to remember lots of patterns on there and for someone like yourself I think you could get a lot from it. Let us know if it's of any use. Pinterest Click on "Explore" & "Leather patterns" in the search.

Thanks Keith. I've just discovered swing away binders. Will probably still have to do some fettling but they seem to be a good idea. You could mount one far enough back so that when not using it you can just swing it away and leave it there instead of demounting it. Still some more learning to do, the binders that I have are not mounted on anything and are meant to be mounted to any system according to what width you want to use. know nothing about these swing away binders but it looks like the whole thing (system & binder are fixed so you'd need a different set up if you want to change the tape width, I might be wrong on this, more learning to do.

I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this question but this binding business seems to be more complex that it needs to be so I must ask this most knowledgeable hive how to do it. I can get a needle plate and feed dog from China for a very reasonable price and I can fashion a presser foot out of an existing one.but I'm still waiting for an answer as to how to attach a tape folder to the sliding bobbin cover which has no holes in it. I've come up with an idea but I have to ask you guys if you think it will work. Instead of mounting a folder on the bobbin cover, I'm thinking of mounting it on a steel plate and then fixing the steel plateto the flatbed attachment which is rigid enough to work. Here's an idea of how it would look with a piece of white card where the steel plate would go. What's the verdict?