toxo

First of all it doesn't matter what tool you use to cut leather but it must be proper sharp. very rarely will you buy anything from China and not have to sharpen it. That includes the slanted prongs on your stitching chisels (That's what they're called. the ones that make round holes are called punches) or the hole punches. you'll find that you'll be amazed at the difference once you've sharpened and stropped your tools. When using your stitching tool you must hold it upright and concentrate on holding it the same way for EVERY hole. Of course that still won'tget you a good job if the layers of leather are moving around so you either glue them or clip them or use basting tape (double sided tape)to hold the layers together whist making your holes. Spyros is making a case for his own opinion and there's nothing wrong with that but I had to smile when he listed all the good bits about hole punches and then said "But you don't wanna do that do you". Personally, I don't care what you use. as long as it's neat and tidy and does the job, well done. For me, give me a hole punch or a sewing machine rather than struggle with trying to get two needle and an awl through a slit that wants to close up on you as soon as your backs turned. Your holes look to be about 1.5mm which IMO is too big for a card holder. the hole and the thread should fit the size of the project. Look at this stitching that was posted by a new member (Men) on Saturday. That's neat enough for me.

Update: I couldn't get the Nikon DSLR to do what I wanted. (It's been awhile and it gets tricky shooting through glass) so I broke out the never let's me down little Lumix compact. The pics aren't great I'm afraid but I've tried to show the difference in shape and size between some of them whilst trying to keep within 140kb. Sadly, a lot of the small ones have gone to the fishtank in the sky because the bigger ones ate em. I have to say the big ones are my favourites. They're not like normal goldfish, they'll grow up to be a darkish golden brown and shaped like proper carp but without the barbules. I'll see if I can take a pic of one in the pond to show you. This one is clearly deformed and I can't understand why he hasn't been gobbled up.

Nothing wrong with using a round punch. Yours look little large for a card holder. As for spacing, start at each corner and work out the difference in the center where it won't be noticed so much. If using a multi prong make sure you have at least one (two is better) prong in the last hole you punched. can't go wrong that way. Make your pieces oversize an cut to size after stitching. Will give a nice sharp edge for finishing.

I'll make things simpler. Any thread sold for leatherwork is strong and will slice through yor hand before you can ever break it. That gets strength out of the way unless you're thinking about stuff that is going to take some serious punishment over a long period like a saddle. Polyester is more resistant to UV rays than nylon and so is used more often in outdoor products like sailing etc. For handbag weight projects almost anything will do, even non waxed threads can be waxed as mentioned above and almost all projects will have at least one coat of protection on it before it's finished anyway. I've found the biggest problem to be getting the colour I want in the size I want and that's more important than you might think. What you're aiming for is a stitch and colour that not only suits the project but more importantly fits the holes that you made for it. you don't want to see the sides of the holes either side of the thread. Of course that is more of a factor if using a hole punch rather than a stitching chisel. As you can see there are no hard and fast rules. What's the project? The size of your punch/ chisels will give an idea of thread size. What colour thread? What size needles? A 1mm thread will go through a John James #3 and maybe a #4 Good luck!

Phone camera can't handle it. Have to break out the DSLR. It hasn't seen the light of day in months. Have to re-learn how to use it

You entrepreneur you! ;)

Did it smell like shoe polish?

I found my "Leather Food" , a white cream in a glass jar that smells like shoe polish.Won't hurt to try a patch when I do get my hands on the pouffe. JCUK: You said Tesco but showed B&Q? Do they sell it in both? For you guys who mix your own, Has anyone tried mixing in a few drops of essential oils to make it smell nice?

Update: Tank is now sorted. Can't show pics yet because the two daylight tubes of the four in the lighting unit have blown and \i'm waiting for replacements. All blue at the moment. The initial success with the shop given brine shrimp has been followed by a week of frustration with some ebay bought brine shrimp eggs although some of it has been my fault. I finally got a hatch last night but of course they're not really needed now. The disparity in size of some of the fish is interesting. Whether different species or subsequent spawnings I don't know. They could just be runts I guess. I do know they go crazy for brine shrimp. It's a bit like a shark frenzy at feeding time and I saw one of the big ones chomp onto one of the tiny guys. Whether it let go because it realised it made a mistake or in response to my frantic tapping on the glass I don't know but it was too late for the little guy who spiralled off into the void :(

Won't know how bad it is until I see it Fred. I know nfo tends to darken, never used mink. Years ago I had some jars of a white cream that was labeled "Leather food". It was for leather clothing. I have no clue what was in it but as far as I can recall it left no residue or colour. I still have a jar somewhere. I'll try to find it.

My cousin has asked me to refurb her late fathers camel leather pouffe which originated in Zambia many years ago. I haven't seen it yet but apparently it's the worse for wear and the stitching has gone in places. I'm thinking I can unpick and glue in some reinforcing around the stitch line and treat the outside to a good feed. What the best treatment/product for the outside, preferably something that won't darken it too much?

Being fairly new myself I can only generalise. I don't think any of it is difficult per se, the problem is once you put a hole in the wrong place it's there forever. The trick is getting all your ducks in a row as regards thread size/needle size/upper tension/lower tension/speed/guides etc. I found getting the machine slow enough gave me the chance to learn and I loved it, and still do especially when it goes right. Good luck Phil.

If you're looking for perfection you have a long way to go but if it does the job and you love it, you have the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself so well done.

At the risk of sounding stupid - Has anyone tried paste? As in wallpaper paste! It is a glue right? and as far as I know doesn't rub off on anything.

Update. Can't say for certain whether the forty year old eggs were a success. When first hatched they are truly tiny and the fry were eating something, could have been softened eggs or baby brines. Anyway started a new batch yesterday using the freebie shop eggs. Started at 3pm yesterday and I've just checked them and they are starting to hatch (Innit exciting). Now I really have to get the fry out of the tank so I can clean it and get a filter in there. I'll start the second shrimp hatchery in a couple of hours to maintain an overlap. All this is making me want to set up a bigger tank and get some of my beloved Discus again. The breeding process of the Discus has to be experienced. Later.

As I said, It depends on the application. It can be done with a 12v battery. I was cutting stacks so invested a bit more including a proper power supply so the length of the wire could be balanced with the power for best speed. I also made a jig so I could just run the arms of the wire rig along it for a perfect cut every time.

Don't know the answer to your question but, depending on the application I use a piano wire and a low voltage current. Lots of info here. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cutting+foam+with+wire

They'll stay in a 2ft wide x 2ft high x 1ft 8inch tank until they shape and colour up. (Where the others are now.)Then I'll decide which ones to keep in the tank and which ones go back in the pond.

This is what came from a couple of dips in the (small) pond. About 25 I reckon and the tiny tiny ones in the tank are huge compared to some of these.

They're Goldfish Sheila. Some regular types with nice long flowing tails. I don't go in for odd types where the poor things have to shudder to get around. There are some that I like a lot. They're a nice bronze colour and darker on top so you don't see em in a pond but they look good in a tank. I did have some videos but can't find em. I'll try to get some pics. The shop owner was a star today. he not only gave me some eggs for hatching , he gave me some live ones that he hatched yesterday. I did spend some money in there though including some hi-protein fry food that he feeds after two days old. The bigger fry are looking like regular fish now, especially when their bellies are full of food but I can see even the tiny ones are feeding. Soon I'm gonna have to siphon off the fry so I can clean up the tank and put some filters in there. I might even make a fry trap to rescue some more out of the pond before the big ones eat em.

Quick update. Can't see any movement in the hatchery but the stick on thermometer must be dodgy. I've just taken the temp @ 32.7C which might be too much for those little monkeys. The new batch won't be here for a few days but I'm just about to go to a shop where he's kindly gonna let me have some of his stock to help me out. The fry are growing. The bigger ones more quickly of course. Watch this space.

I don't have the answer to your problem but I will say "blotchy" is trendy these days. People are paying good money for blotchy. Good luck.

Here you go! This was my very first leather project. A few mistakes but it would take wild horses to get it out of her hands. If anyones interested in the pattern it's here. you can buy on it's own or even cheaper for the set of three. https://www.leather-patterns.com/product/leather-bag-pattern-pattern-set-leather-diy-pdf-download-leather-bag-video-tutorial/161?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=2

I remember those Sea Monkeys also but I've never seen anyone attempt to explain how eggs laid forty years ago can burst into life when immersed in salt water??? Anyway, I was looking in the tank today and was amazed at how many fry there are in there. The size range is enormous, some are around 15/16mm and some are a tiny 4mm with others in between. I've been puzzling over what to feed them. I've tried a pinch of ground up biscuit. I bought some pond flake today and tried a pinch of that after grinding it up. I've got some lactol powder I might try. it's very fine and meant for new born puppy milk and it's full of protein. The problem is except for the bigger ones you can't make out if they're eating or not. Gonna have to rig up a foam filter. Don't want to poison the water. B/S eggs still merrily bubbling away.

Most of the hand stitched patterns I've used so far have been from Dieselpunk.ro (Tony See). He uses a 1.5mm hole punch together with a 1mm or a 1.2mm thread. I think this combo gives enough movement for what you need. All of his patterns are cut out and punched on the flat. Here's an example. The bottom panel is damped down and fold over.