toxo

Not really germane to this problem but my cup is cone shaped which brought up a whole nother set of shapes which I hadn't thought of. I think everyone who calls themselves a leather crafter should make a conical leather cup/mug/jug. I do think that provided you get both sets of holes lined up, it's easier to run an awl through both punched holes on the 45. Wouldn't be watertight of course but not needed in my case.

OK here is what I was trying to do in the first place. As I've said, I don't think skipping stitches is the proper way to go even if this guy get's away with it. Another consideration is whether you're going with hole punches, chisels or awls. I got into trouble because I used punches which can be problematical unless you happen to have the corresponding set of punches with the wider spacing for the bigger circumference so unlikely to be the way to go especially if you want the 45 degree holes. I did see something a long while back where someone (might have been Leodis?) where he made a wooden 45 degree gadget so you could chamfer the edges and use punches but I digress, anyway, I'm loving this conversation and I'm trying to keep up even though my hair stands on end when I see a scientific calculator but I love that every day is a school day. TWO New Stitches to Elevate your Leathercraft! (youtube.com)

I didn't give any thought to it initially. just punched the body and the bottom with the same punch and started thinking about it near the end when I had this bubble that I knew wasn't gonna go away. Chucks drawing is an easy way to see it. I still don't know if it would be better to lose a stitch or use a wider spacing for the bigger circumference.

Well done Frodo. That's similar to how I do some bags.

Well done Chuck. That'll do it.

Works fine on 3mm firm veg tan. Not so much on 2mm soft chrome. This is just a holder. Doesn't have to be watertight. I could just put a cross on the bottom. It's the principle I'm after.

Still working on my tea cup koosie/kuzie and I've run into a problem. If you use the same punch/chisel for the main body and the bottom piece you are going to run into trouble because the main body has a bigger diameter/circumference than the bottom piece so if you don't allow for it by the time you run out of stitch holes in the bottom piece you still have some left on the main piece and a big bulge as well. Now being a bit mathematically challenged I turned to YouTube. I could only find one vid that advocates sort of dropping stitches when the holes are no longer opposite each other and I think I remember Armitage saying the same thing years ago. This doesn't work because when you start out the holes ARE opposite each other and the problem doesn't arise until it's too late to do anything about it. I know the answer is somewhere in the PCD math (Pitch Circle Diameter) but I don't have the noodles to be able to work it out. BUT there are not many problems that Paulie can't work out eventually and I've come up with a cunning plan. I know the answer is to have the same amount of holes in both pieces which means the holes in the bigger piece have to be farther apart so todays plan is to use the sewing machine. I'm gonna draw the bigger circle and because I already know how many holes there are in the bottom piece I'm gonna change the stitch length on the machine until I have the same amount of holes. If there's someone out there who knows how to work this out using to math please let me know.

For those that like messing with the unusual. There's one on uk Facebook.

This is about brass letters for hot foiling but the premise could also apply top many things. I wanted to do hot foiling so bought an alphabet set that included multiples of the most used letters. OK except that many names have multiple of the same letter and the set I bought didn't have enough. This set is what's known as "T"slot meaning they can be slotted together in a brass holder to form a name for example I wanted to put my phone number on the dog collars that I'm currently making but it has three "9"s in it and my set only has two. I saw some letters on Ebay and bought them but they turned out to be non T slot so didn't gel with the set I already had. Next I got back to the people on Ali Express where I bought my foil machine and bought another set of 8mm letters believing that they were measured from the shoulders so now have a set of 8mm letters that also don't gel with my 6mm set. Finally went back to the same people and bit the bullet and bought another set of 6mm letters. After waiting for ages this set, although they are 6mm, they don't match with the set that I already have. They don't even fit in the holder. So unless I do some shaping on this latest set I still can't do all the names I wanted to do. The moral of this story is, if you want to get into hot foiling, be sure to buy at least two sets of letters from the same seller at the same time.

Never felt the need to do one of these before and the only reason for this one is because I broke my favourite cup. Normally I'd chuck it and buy another but my mouth is dry all the time and so I take a couple mouthfuls often. The tea gets cold and I re heat it in the microwave all the time. A normal cup is too wide and the tea gets cold quickly whereas a narrow mouthed cup stays hot for longer. I found a narrow and tall cup which is perfect. I broke it and can't find another so after looking at it I decided, before I bin it to grind down what was left of the handle and make a koozie so I can hold it. I'm amazed at how simple it ain't. Because it's not straight all the cuts are not what you'd expect. I eventually worked it out and as usual I'm enjoying the learning. I've got most of it done and tomorrow I'll need to learn the basketball stitch. I think that's the one I need.

Well done dikman, you gotta love a speriment doncha.

Welcome from the UK.

Bag Fastenings/Fixtures - London Trimmings

No idea on the tooling Sup but was it you looking for the old fashioned purse closers? Is that what you're calling a kiss lock? Cos I found some.

Don't know if they'll post to Oz but I'd be surprised if this place doesn't have them. I was blown away when I went there at the range of stuff they do. Bag Fastenings/Fixtures - London Trimmings

I think the key might be in the casing. You mention that you wet the leather. Wet leather won't give as crisp an image as damp leather. Depending on the leather try dry stamping first. If not sharp enough just dampen just enough to soften the crust. When applying dye try using something flat like a sponge. A paintbrush will get in everywhere which might not be what you want if you want contrast.

I made one similar to this and I broke it but I do remember the thread used to catch on the wing nut. Looking at yours Dwight it occurred to me that it wouldn't be much trouble to solder a washer across those two wings and invert it.

How about cutting up a tin of beans?

Good heads up Fred. Yet another example of Royal Mail forever increasing prices for less and less service.

The Japanese can be a formidable tool in the right hands but they do need to be scary sharp. I keep telling myself that I'm ok with sharpening but in truth I can get most tools to a state where they work but it's not often that's scary. Thank god I have a bell skiver. Re; the French skiver I forgot to say it's the only hand tool that will skive a whole piece rather than just the edges.

Forgive me for saying but you seem to be coming at this from the wrong angle. Before even thinking about skiving you need to think about what you want to make. That in turn will dictate to some extent what sort of leather you will be working with. The most expensive leather is usually veg tan because you can do everything with it. I comes from hard and thick to soft and thin and everything in between but that's not the be all and end all. When you see people skiving on YouTube it's usually veg tan because it's relatively easy compared to chrome tan leather. To begin with, before you even think about stuff like tooling and carving you should think about chrome tan. It comes in all colours so you don't have to mess with dying. It comes in all thicknesses so you don't need to skive which is just as well because skiving thin chrome tan is something you don't want to get anywhere near. what you want to make will also give you some idea about needle/thread size/colour, not all thread brands come in all the colours. Make haste slowly my friend.

The purists would say the Japanese. As you say The French is easier to use by far as long as you're on the flat. The two wings stop you from digging in making it fairly easy to thin down a piece of leather. Different story when tilted on an edge, just needs more care. Some use the Japanese for cutting as well especially alongside a template. I would advise you buy both but the best advice is to buy the best you can afford. With cutting tools that means better steel will hold an edge for longer but if budget is involved I would say if starting out and many tools are on the horizon, buying cheapER will give you a chance to work out what works for you. Buying best and vintage will surely come along later.

A quick vid. It's fabric but apart from the first bit about bias it's exactly the same for leather. Upholstery Basics: How to Make Single Welt Cording/Piping (youtube.com)

She'll like that dikman, especially if you put it on a bag. I've been looking for a dragon also because I have family in Wales. I'd like to find a slightly more ferocious one. Re the Lightburn thing, I had a similar experience. No idea how I did it but ended up (with a little help from a member) with a nice image of my dog. Don't you just love experimenting.

You could just buy piping feet in different sizes Doc but lots of people do it with ordinary feet, usually a zipper foot for the second stitch because that needs to be real close to the cord else the stitches will show on the finished job. The piping cord you can buy ready made but most of it is fabric or faux leather. You get more satisfaction if you make your own. Try this.. Cut a piece of thin leather or skive it say a foot long and about 1 1/2 inch wide. Take a length of weedwacker nylon (or anything else that resembles a cord hard or soft the same length. Put a line of glue down the center or use double sided tape. put some on the WW as well. Place the WW down the center and fold the leather over. You now have some piping cord. Take a piece of scrap same length. On the good side glue or d/sided tape or even just clips and get em edge to edge as in @RockyAussies vid and run a stitch to keep everything together. This stitch doesn't have to be close. Take another piece of scrap and clip it on top right side to right side edge to edge. Now run another stitch but thjis one needs to be as close as you can get it to the cord with that zipper foot. You'll be surprised and impressed when you open it up.