toxo

On the blue one the front wraps around the gusset. The brown one marries alongside the gusset.

Great job! I love a project with a practical purpose. Well done.

Thanks again guys. @PastorBob It's about 7x6x3 inches. Here's another I finished this week. And the front can go both ways. Some like this look.

Thanks guys. @RockyAussie She asked for an extra long strap cos she's tall and big chested, (I've never seen her) so she can shorten it to suit. Also the full buckles that I have stick out more underneath so I went with the flat one with a keeper. One of my pet hates also, flappy straps.

Thanks @Tequila and @AdamDavis The dye job was an experiment. The trick is to use one of those sponges with lots of big odd shaped holes. In my local shop they call em art or craft sponges. Start out leaving lots of gaps, once it's covered you can't uncover it and you can always do more later. Remember that dye usually dries lighter and on each subsequent series of dabs any colour that's gone over twice or three times is gonna be darker than the first coat. I use a hair dryer between each colour and stand back to decide what colour to do next. Two coats of Resolene or similar will protect it and have it shining like a mirror. Good luck and don't forget to show us the results.

And there's Frodo!

You don't say how experienced you are but the answer to your question is tricky. The "grade" of leather can be more than just quality. You can get some excellent leather that's been downgraded because of holes/scratches/scars etc which for someone making small projects needn't be a major concern. Paying more for an unblemished skin may not get you any better quality leather. You could look at ready coloured skins, either veg or chrome that might give a better finish. Coloured veg will be dearer, coloured chrome will be much cheaper.Exotics might be something to look into. Also you need to be sure that your market will sustain the higher prices.

Frodo I've no doubt you're capable of good work but imo you rarely put in the yards to show us. For me, it's a balance between who I'm doing it for (maybe mates rates), the practical purpose, (a tool bag or a lady's handbag), the time I've got in it and the cost of materials but whatever the project is there's no reason why I can't make the effort within those parameters to do a good looking job. I could have done a very different job on this bag. I could have burnished everything to death, put swivel clips on wider, doubled up and stitched straps etc etc but this bag is for a friend of my daughters and so is mates rates and then some. She's paying what some folk charge for the hot foiled initials alone and I guarantee she's gonna love it and cherish it. I'll also add that bags like this can be tricky because there's no straight line to work with. Just lining up the initials took an hour. Remember you only get one go at it. Get it wrong and the whole thing is ruined.

She wanted "Warm". Was a lot of sponge dabbing.

Where's the links Fred?

Just looking for a reasonable job for a reasonable price here in the UK. Any recommends apart from Sergey. He's the benchmark.

You're over thinking it. Use a silicone chopping board and hit it hard enough and the plugs will work their way out.

I find these shapes very useful. I just put a strong magnet under the ram on my arbor press (similar to your press) and any of the shapes will stick to it and just pull down on the handle. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuhtech-52Pcs-Leather-Hollow-Cutter/dp/B07YBZVQQ4/ref=pd_sbs_sccl_3_2/259-3317810-1066024?pd_rd_w=MigSu&content-id=amzn1.sym.0b2f9572-34c5-41a4-9aef-ddde079c4608&pf_rd_p=0b2f9572-34c5-41a4-9aef-ddde079c4608&pf_rd_r=CHB5VDMKRSCT23GFX5HV&pd_rd_wg=0TT3P&pd_rd_r=148c932e-7ba2-4eff-aead-aa3588658e17&pd_rd_i=B07YBZVQQ4&psc=1

Those presser feet with the blades are meant to be used on an edge. This is the enlarged pulley on my Durkopp Adler 69 (Similar on the 239). It's 270mm diameter with a 40mm pulley on the servo motor. Total cost about £50 iirc. Note the needle positioner doing it's job.

Welcome to the forum Alex. I have the same machine and can do a stitch at a time simply by changing the handwheel for a bigger pulley. Very cheap to do. The needle positioner is very useful once you get used to it. I also have those presser feet with the spring guides, again useful in their place but they don't dictate the stitch size. Thats adjusted by the reverse lever.

Ordinarily Fred I would agree 100% but in my book "As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap". Show me and others some respect and I'll show you the same. This forum should be a place for folk to come and have a good time with mutual interaction of techniques, information and ideas not ideals or philosophy. There are plenty of places elsewhere for that.

Lets face it Frodo, you are an absolute rebel. As has been said your work is crap and you know it's crap. You make no attempt to improve and I believe that's intentional. To provoke a response. You're not interested in anyone's point of view or opinion (except other rebels) except your own. Leatherwork is low down on your priority list and I really don't know why you're here except to troll at every opportunity.

I find that as much as I'd like to get closer, I have to stay back in order to keep my foot flat on the treadle to toe down/heel down. @lambchop ???

I Know it's not the same thing but I've always liked the idea of refillable spray cans. You can have one for each dye colour. This one uses araldite, some solder and some just drill a hole the right size, that's what they do in your car wheel right?

There's a simple answer to this. I use a swivel stool on castors that allow me to raise up for my cylinder arm and lower for my flatbed. This type has no castors so will slide under the base. Simps. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125248155123?hash=item1d295f2df3:g:rLUAAOSwL0piT7ML&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4GwJQk6FGOmIyaCJZTSSwzn6DPcgicTfxlr2vLvoGyWBGeGZEmQeB%2BD7QTRJC3CcM0Gg%2BoQOy9j9DojZLkT2sNqRjArlNMlcLXU4rrEthu24vHYCvQhU4CHyQbhcVCtgIcBu%2B0zv7eAsBqVhgXaQKZkwDhCzDaFqyIWouGYQ6n1r3nW4nQQkBwZQheFuCRuLnhb%2Bu7%2F4%2FxO%2BHPkbD%2BrQOzlpJ0Y3%2BIxwyLpM8%2BuMo2iQwj4S%2BCSuNqAgAXN84KkrBm4ApBUpvXUUCbPGyea05u9mXfRHgQFvbOD8wyrlhHAK|tkp%3ABFBMmuWb-7Ng

Hi Brian. Just looked at the Hightex site and there's no mention of the 246 or any model with that kind of reverse lever. Is it a US thing? Where can one buy a 246 in the UK?

Before you try a dark dye, why not try dappling it all over with a very light dye applied with an art sponge or similar. You have absolutely nothing to lose. I hesitate to mention that I recently had to wash some veg tan with very hot water and dish detergent (4 times) to get the neetsfoot oil out of it. You'll have to re- wet mould but maybe better than re-doing the piece.

I suspect you're unwittingly favouring one side slightly when tightening. Apart from that I always work from each end toward the middle when punching so any discrepancy is hidden in the middle.

Looks good to me even though flowers don't do it for me. well done.

I was only saying yesterday that I thought Ivan was pretty good. After trying a cheap wooden strap cutter that bit me a few times because of the exposed blade I bought an Ivan and it was like chalk and cheese and the blade is enclosed. I bought a very nice Ivan crew punch on Monday and as well as looking good it was sharp from the get go.