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Macca

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Posts posted by Macca

  3. Posted · Report reply

    With a Chinese worker, you can discuss the steel they use. You can use any kind of steel as you want as long as they can get it. For professional iron, they machine shape first to be very precise and then hand polished or what you called tweak. I tried to polish my formal iron but it took so so so much effort and I can't do it very good. Chinese now make low end and high end pricking iron from different workers and the quality and price are very different. You can get a pair of $10 or $100 or $300. At least ten Chinese workers are making very good irons and they are very well known among Chinese leather workers. I know there are also very good Japanese and Korean workers out there. I didn't see anyone in USA make these tools and I just want to share this info to more people to let them know there are choice other than Blanchard.

    Thanks for sharing the info.

    Do you have any links to the irons you posted in the picture & the other higher quality Chinese makers ? Very interested in these ones, not so much the shiny, polished one (that looks like it needs sharpened)

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Newer ones are like that, cheaper to make I guess.

    I have to ask though, how the heck is it flying out of your hand ?

    How hard are you hitting it ????

    I have the old & new versions & I can't say I've noticed much difference in use, but then, I don't try & use them as punches, only to put enough of a mark to guide my awl, not punch through all the way.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    want to show me somewhere else in the world you get taught Euro leather working techniques by an ex Hermes artisan for less ?

    look at what the students produce, looks like good value to me if thats the quality you can potentially produce afterwards

    Courses are always sold out, might not be cheap, but seems there are enough people who consider it good value

    Valerie Michael also offers a shorter course, cost per day is pretty much the same & you have today for materials on top

    https://www.leathercourses.co.uk/product/bags-design-construction-of-leather-bags/

    anyway, back on topic. I doubt those books are going to cover what you need, its really so much easier being taught in person, especially for making bags, reading is one thing, someone teaching you as you do it is so much better.

    I'd try & hunt out a class or two local to you.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    There's a place in California you can go to "school" and learn from a lady who worked for hermes but the classes are outrageous in cost. No wonder this trade has been vanishing.

    The classes are aways full, the students produce some fantastic work, Its one of the few places in the world that you can learn this type of leather working, wouldn't say the cost was outrageous at all

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Hiya,

    The ebay site you gave is prob http://elfitakorea.blogspot.ae/2013/10/pony.html

    I don't know why the prices are so inflated on ebay compared to the site.

    I'm probably going to go for the blanchard one for simplicity.

    I have an ikea table at the moment that splits in half down the middle http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90116261/

    I do find myself leaning my head left and right with the vertical clamp kind.

    I'm guessing when the clamp is at an angle, the right side of the hole is visible already and I would only lean my head left to see the left side of the hole (or do it by feel?).

    You don't really need to see it on the left, with enough practice you will use the same angle every time when pushing the awl through.

    I use it vertically, I move the (stiff) leather slightly to the left so I can see the hole looking straight ahead and once I have the awl in the hole I let go of the piece and it goes back to its original position. On softer flexible leathers I place the leather's stitching line an inch above the jaws of the clamp. The leather will want to naturally lean to the left or right on bigger pieces. I temporarily hold the leather vertical when I stitch with my thumb and pointer finger, when I finish the stitch the leather goes back slumped to the left where I can see the holes and position my awl without moving my head. There are many ways to do it but it works fine for what I'm after.

    that just sounds bizarre

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Difficult to accurately date the blanchards, they run the same patterns for many years.

    But this one is quite new (relatively !), could be 25 years old, could be 50. Its the last version of the old pattern, before they switched to the newer lever style.

    Not sure if the blade is the original, looks very new, but that doesn't really matter.

    its the 15cm version, which is good news.

    Value, 150 Euro + in Europe.

    to sharpen it, only do the inside of the blade (side with the blanchard mark), you want a very small angle so should expect to see a taper from about 10 - 15mm out from the edge.

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