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Have you been watching Don Gonzales?

And @PastorBob Thanks guys. It's appreciated. I'm just happy that all my ducks albeit kicking and screaming appear to be getting themselves in a row.

I'm made up me. After the mistakes i made on the first one which didn't have enough pockets and was a tad on the tight side I was determined to do better. I spent £30 on the dies for the butterfly panels (well that's what I call em) which are finicky and was money well spent. I didn't have a pattern, just wanted it bigger than the 1st one. Ended up with 11 pockets and it's not as fat as the 1st one. The outer cover was something that's been around for awhile and with a single coat of medium brown dye and a single coat of 50/50 Resolene I love it.

Sorry dikman. here's another pic. As you can see, I did a quick test. Those straps are soft and you would struggle with a regular strap cutter. Of course I had to walk it through the press, same as I would've done on the arbor press and if you're careful with sliding it along you can cut any length because it's open ended. Took no time at all.

We all know that strap cutters are great on veg tan but on soft Chrome tan - not so much. Whilst I was making some bag dies today I had an idea for an open ended strap die that can be used for any length strap. You just use your strap end punches for the length you want. I made this one at 20mm. Good for over the shoulder type bags and also D ring tabs etc. It's gonna be a lot easier now I've got the swing arm press but I would've walked it along the arbor press.

No liner Frodo. This was an experiment trying to use a skin that had some mould marks on it but it was too soft. I made some mistakes and the front pocket gusset ended up being too narrow so when I got to the sharpish corners I had to pull it about too much which stretched it. After that I fell out of love with the thing and finished it just to get it done and I'll probably give it away. Many lessons learned. I can see the masking tape working on straight runs but I think I'll try Brians method method of mating marks all the way round but on this occasion I think veg tan gussets would've made a difference.

Of course you're right. My bad. I guess I'd seen the name Lucris too often.

That's ok. I'm in the UK. Lucris is in Scotland. The shipping would've killed the deal. I paid £1520 inc taxes and shipping. I candle the poor customer service, although it wasn't poor really, just their right hand doesn't know what their left hand is doing. The quality seems fine. I've played with it briefly and I love it. Gonna make things a lot better.

Here here! Pointed leaves and European style. Who'd a thought it?

Very very nice, well done. I can see where the work went.

Excellent advice Don! For some reason I thought if the needle was down the thread take up would be at the top. I actually looked today and realised that it's not. I'll have a go at your suggestion. Thanks.

I heard there was a question of build quality and customer relations. The build quality seems fine but as for the public relations, not so much. After taking my money I heard nothing until I emailed them. was told I would be updated with the info when she had it. Couple of days later I got a call from the driver telling me he was outside my house with a pallet. Later that day I got an email from a different party telling me my press would be delivered tomorrow lol.

Press arrived yesterday Fred. Love it. Did this miniature bootee kit in less than a minute.

This is essentially what I do Brian. I bury the needle and hold both treads but as I do the first stitch the amount of thread in my hand gets longer and then hopefully it settles down and I can carry on. If, God forbid, I try to backstitch at the start it bunches up and snags. Could I have something 180 degrees out of tune?

Thanks Brian. I'll certainly make some changes. I just wanted to be sure that It wasn't just me.

My Adler 69 and I have a love/hate relationship. Been going on for a while. I always bury the needle when starting and hold onto both threads but when I start, the thread in my hand grows longer before it settles down and behaves itself and God forbid I do a couple of back stitches at the start when it usually bunches up and ends proceedings. Any ideas guys? I'm almost at the stage where I can rely on all my equipment but this is stopping me from going ahead with confidence.

I used a pattern that included holes for hand stitching. When I cut the pattern out I left out the holes because I wanted to machine it. The leather was fairly soft and when I was doing the gusset I found that when I got all the way round the gusset I found the gusset carried on after I wanted it to stop! This is not the first time this has happened and I'm guessing it's the result of having to manhandle the top leather around the corners and so stretching it. Is this a fair assumption or am I missing something? I don't remember reading about this, I guess that all the video posters are playing it safe and only use veg tan which is a lot easier than supple chrome tan. I've learned yet another valuable lesson - Henceforth I will sew from both ends and use more anchors in between. I know a lot of you only use chunky stiff veg tan so probably doesn't apply, but for everyone else, how do you do it?

My Durkopp 239 is similar to the 111 and by putting a large handwheel and a servo motor on it I can do a stitch at a time. If you do a search on here I did a thing a while back, maybe a video as well for the cost of around £40 all in.

You're more than welcome. Anything else, you know where I am. I forgot to mention that I replaced the arm on the arbor press for a longer one and make sure it's bolted down. The arbor press is much nicer to use if you put a spring on the end of the arm so it's self releasing, even a bunch of rubber bands will do the job. Be sure to keep us up to date with your progress and of course, all the leather craft that comes from it.

I remember the H Rogers vid. I envy the guy his money, he seems to just buy whatever he needs for his next video. He is a likeable guy though and he tries to inform. That second bender was really expensive IIRC. Here's mine, not the best but it works with some effort. I sometimes (carefully) put a tube over the arm for more leverage even with 2pt r/steel and they are limited. This bit will need to go in a vice if you haven't got it bolted down. This next bit needs some thinking about. If you have the means to hold it together accurately whilst you weld it that's one way to go. I don't A cnc router type set up that cuts the channel in wood/resin for the r/steel to sit in is even better. I don't have that either. I've found the best way for a poor boy to accurately do this stuff is to use wooden formers. You can trace the pattern onto the wood and accurately cut it out (slightly undersize). Bend your r/steel exactly to the pattern and fix it around the outside using screws. The thickness of the wood (decent ply is best) will depend on the size of your r/steel and of course the thickness of the leather you need to cut. R/steel is hard and although you can drill your screw holes, it's not easy and it's time consuming. I use one of these (not cheap but worth it). Even with 2pt steel you need strong hands. At the end of the day you can end up with something that makes it all worthwhile. These are some of my dies. And they make things like these. Good luck.

That's similar to the one I use. Paid a lot more for mine. I started out using two steel rods in a strong vice. That stuff he's bending in that video is very thin. Rule steel is hard, 3 point will be hard to DIY so make sure you get 2 point. Forgive me if I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs but if you like I can dig out some pics.

Here in the UK there's a company called Partwell I think. They sell in boxes of 1 meter lengths. Don't know if they have anything over there. Can I ask how you process the rule steel?

I think I've mentioned this before but it won't hurt to reiterate. Silicone caulking will dilute to the nth degree. Make it so you can paint it on, jobs a good un. Ideal for older tarps etc.