Sona

So I got a problem I´d really like to fix. As I made several sword sheath (Larp) and similar for customers so far (and will do more in the future), I usually wet mold them around a wooden form before stitching, sometimes I add some tooling and sometimes I treat them with hot water to get the a little stiffer. My usually sequence for doing this was more or less this one: - tooling (wet) - molding (wet) - stitching - dyeing - heat treatment/boiling (wet) - applying finish and stuff. So the main problems I got are: 1) When I dye the piece, the colour becomes uneven as some ares are compressed more than others through the process of molding. Maybe it´s usefull to add that I use a sponge for the dye-job, when the colours should be lighter, I wrap some cloth around it so there´ll be less colour per layer) -> My solution would be to dye it before molding, as it´s easier to apply evenly and the fibres are mor even, too. The reason of doing it afterwards was, that the dye stiffens the leather a little bit, but I think an even colour has a higher priority. 2) The main issue is, that the tooling really looses definition. After tooling I case it two more times (molding and "boiling") so it evens out a bit once and again. Besides for the heat treatment I use water hot at about 75 to max. 90 °C (~167 - 194 Fahrenheit) (I use a boiler and a thermometer, so I never get the same temperature). For the process I boil the water and pour it over the stitched sheath on the form, so even if I use 90°C, the leather wouldn´t reach that temperature completeley and won´t get that brittle. But with this molding process, the top grain starts to shrink and every cut from the swivelknife opens up a lot while the stamping starts to fade away... For that problem I got no solution right now and I can´t figure out how to do it right. I think there are some liquids out there used for stiffening leather instead of boiling it, but I don´t know how that will affect the dyejob or the finishing process.... I think it might be an idea to mold the sheath right after tooling to get one casing step out of the line, but then I´d have to case, tool and mold in one step.... Any ideas, tips or solutions to this one?

So well, I just made some pictures for comparison, so you could see some differences. Actually it is old, and it looks like it´s old ^^. Here you can see what Macca says about the length, about the marks (exspecially on the scale and the blade!) and the sliding guide rail... (even though, the one you got is much more on the "bling-bling" side of life than mine *laugh*) The funny thing about mine is, that I bought, but never used it, because I don´t have enough room to lay out the hides completely.....;(

That might be some stitching groovers... with a guide for the edge and without a guide for the flowers. At least it´s even easier than you thougt.... not beveling at all, just grooving a little here and there an smash some flowers in it

Looks good to me. For the edges: if you haven´t got a fitting edge beveler you could oversize it first - like mentioned before - cut it afterwards and use some sandpaper to round the edge in some strokes. But sand it just in one direction, otherwise you´d lift up the fibres and polishing might become e little bit harder. Even a 240 sandpaper might be just right to round them as you don´t rough it up that much this way. After that -> aplly some water, slick it and keep on doing the rest of the edge work.

Well I ´ve made some belts, too and not a single one bled yet. Not even the ones that didn´t get a coat with resolene.... First thing: I simply only use Fiebings Prof. Oil dyes as I got a nicer colour with it and as they are not waterbased there should be less bleeding, rub off or anything else. Second one: I let the dye set for at least one day/~24 hours and buff it like hell after that. If you won´t let it dry properly the resolene might catch some pigments laying on the surface which might put some colour on your clothes. When you apply resolene I´d apply it in one very thin coat first cut 50/50 with water. Just enough to make it look wet and applied with as less strokes as possible (I use a cloth wrapped around a sponge) let it sit for about half an hour and then apply a second coat, which maybe a little thicker. So if there are any pigments left, they should be kept in the first coat, covered by the second. You may do that to the back as well, as you like. Than let it sit for another day. When I make some brown or natural belts, I also like to use some sort of leather balm, made by one of my leather-supply-shops. It´s made from bees- and canaubawax and some sort of oils. Aplied quite thick and let it sit for some time like 15 minutes. It soaks in like hell. After that I rub the rest in with an old cloth, creating some heat to really work it in and let it sit for some hours. After that I just apply a second light coat, rubbing it in/polishing it the same way I did before. I wear a belt made like this for over two years right now and there was no bleeding at all... never... The nice thing about that belt is, that it gets some patina over time which is nice to look at and the surface. It creates a really polished look over time which increases the resistance against water plus it feels more like leather than resolene (actually I don´t like the touch of resolene... feels more like plastic than leather) For the backside I normally use one coat of this product. Besides that... I never (!) dye the back of a belt. The look won´t be as even and nice as the natural one, it soaks in a lot of dye and the chance of rubbing of is much higher... The only reason I´d do it would be when I dip dye the belt

It just depends on its condition. If you just need to strop it, some rouge/polishing paste or sth different would do it. But it is dull, you might take it to a water-/oilstone and sharpen it, before sitting a few hours stropping it to death. And just a tip: polish the shaft of the tool. It really makes a difference! It will slide better into and out of the leather, because there is much less friction! Well with the shaft I actually don´t mean the handle, more the cone-shaped end of it ;)Just to be sure!

Haha thanks a lot! So actually I got a little less than I thought ^^. But I am always interested in sources in europe, even if there are outstanding toolmakers in the usa I´d like to order from, shipment is an argument for me. And if there are some in europe it would be much easier for me to order But I thought about ordering from him one day, too. So well... thax for the translation again

Well, even if I am from germany this are those time I´d love to at least understand swedish Even if I think I got some parts, I am not that sure about it ^^.

Well, it´s not sweden but denmark, but maybe you´d liekt o have a look at this page http://www.laederiet.dk/produkter/vistyper_engelsk.asp?id=24&Uid=30 you find a multisized edgeslicker for about 5.14 € there (used by hand without any motorization. The edger is slightly cheaper, too as they got different brands and stuff. I never ordered there yet, but I am planning to do it later on. So I can´t say anything about the shop itself yet, but their prices don´t look that wrong. Hope that helps.

Well the bleeding thing is one reason I prefere the prof. line of Fiebings right now. But I also use and used the antique gels from time to time. I had this problem just once. The gel didn´t want to stick to the leather, because the sponge I used to "case" the leather (was´t real casing that days, but I made it wet ^^) was the sponge I used to apply some wax on another project before. So the problem was that I sort of sealed the piece before applying the gel. For the cuts that´s no problem, but I wanted to dye the hole piece with the gel which was... sort of not possible anymore ^^. I really don´t know whether this might be your problem, maybe not.... but it´s worth a look as I didn´t understand it that day at all.....

"And remember kids: it´s not across the street, it´s along the road" ^^ That´s the reason I tell people to get their hands of my tools, before starting to do anything in front of them. Happily they´re normally friends who did some little leatherwork themself or who at least know (!) that my tools "could" be quite sharp, so they just don´t touch anything ^^. But it´s similar to sharpen the tools of a friend (in my case an awl) who hasn´t the full control of it and stacks it right into his indexfinger until it stops right at the bone -.-..... since that I try to keep an eye on how the people work before doing anything to their tools

Yeah, I forgot that one, joe just mentioned. I push the awl through while stitching like nigel does. But when I used to punch the holes like Joe, I used some piece of thick felt underneath. I think it dulls the blade not as fast as kork and it´s easier to pull the awl out again. Just find your way - that a topic with a lot of different methods and a lot of different opinions like you have mentioned already

There are some different possibilities. If you use some pricking iron (which you just tap to mark the leather) instead of pricking chisels (which you punch through it all the way) the is the way, Nigel shows in this video: This is a good way for smaller things, as you´d have to punch a lot if you´d like to stitch bigger things like messanger bags and stuff. Which pricking chisels (like the japanese ones) you could glue them first (most use contact cement) and punch through it. Be sure you hold the iron in a 90° angle to get nice, clean holes, lined up perfectly. The fastest way using one of these tools is to glue the layers together, mark the holes on the top layer and to push the awl through all layers. But this needs a very sharp and polished awl (maybe with some wax)and some experience as you need a feeling for the angle. The first attemps on this normally don´t line up nicely on the back side, but the better you get the better becomes your stitching

@armndrsyhr: Looks much better than before. And as you can see, it´s not a thing of the thread size, even if a thinner one would fit the SPI better. Nice job for a first (/second) attempt! Just one thing to add. If I see that correctly, the stitched is slanted in the wrong direction on the back side. Even though most wouldn´t recognize that... but it still looks good. Did you use some sort of the overhand knot? It looks like you didn´t, but I think you might get problems by making one with that thread in those holes.... At least you still wanna give it a try @David: 1. I don´t see Joe creating/enjoying any drama, neither on this topic nor on others 2. He doesn´t create problems. Like me he is just trying to negate this "opinion" of yours. Exspecially, because you seem to think that it is a fact. 3. The reason for point two is, that he wants to help the TO. 4. Could you give some examples? 5. Just tell me where he "uses" anybody? Sure, there are folks who start to use irony, maybe sarcasm. But he "uses" nobody or do you think, he used me, too? 6. You neither need to pull until your fingers start to bleed when doing heavier work nor do you need some kind of bullstrenth... and if it hurts (which should be more a problem of thinner thread - if anything at all) than there is this quite long known possibility to use some tape or some leather rings for your fingers.... And I get tired of repeating myself again and again... but no..... it is NOT harder for people with bigger hands to do finer work. NOT....n..o...t.... right? And yes, I know (!) that as I have those kind of hands...... Besides that: +1 for Macca!

Yeah, right.... and maybe I should stop beeing a cabinet maker and go for sth more rough.... sth like roadmaking or whatever. Should fit my body better...o.O For real David? Sry, but I am just with Joe. Your measurements don´t say anything about your fine motor skills. Otherwise you´d say, that it might be just impossible for me to make sth like a watchstrap, or maybe just one with 4 SPI and sry, but that´s just bullshit. @TO: Yes, the thread might be a little bit too thick, but that´s not the main point here. Just have a look on your front side. Stitching with those pricking irons/chisels to create the slanted look follows some pretty basic rules. The main thing for the slanted look is, that you got your holes, pointing in one direction (like this / / / / / / /) and your thread pointing in the other direction (like this \ \ \ \ \ \ \) so it creates a connection between the top of the first hole and the bottom of the second one ( /\/ ) on your front side you stitched in the wrong direction, so the thread connects the bottom of the first with the top of the second one ( /// ). So if you pull it it will slide up in the left hole and slide down on the right one, creating a nearly straight line, So just have a look whether you have to push the second needle over or under the first one! In addition to that there is the common "overhand-knot" you may create to create it on both sides. Just look up nigel armitage on youtube (Saddlestitch in detail) to see how that works. But remember that he is a leftie . Hope that´s sort of understandable I am still unsure why such a lot of people got problems with this.... often even after watching nigel great video..... (No offense to the TO, not at all!)

All that sounds really interesting. And as coins result in a quite thick wallet, which might bend the pockets of your pants I might think about some additional pocket just for coins. Thanks to all of you for your answers!

Thanks a lot. Actually I know that video, And I´d be able to make my own pattern I think. I just wondered why the change pocket is always "missing". Actually I like the idea, because it makes the wallet quite slim, but over here we get a lot of change in coins and I use my pockets for other stuff (besides I don´t like fishing in it for coins everytime I need some ) But if it is just common for you to keep in anywhere else, it makes sense. I think it might be that you really have less coins to keep because you got bills down to one dollar, right? (Overe here they start at 5 Euro, 1 and 2 euros are still coins)

Well you all present such a lot damn beautifull wallets, bifolds, cardholders, etc... and I really would like to make a wallet, too someday. But there is one question running through my head everytime I see a new wallet in the show off section: "What about the coins?" There are really only a few wallets that got a pouch or sth else for coins. As I see most of you seem to have nothing but bills and cards, where do you put your coins? I am just not sure whether you put them somewhere else or maybe just avoid to get some, but it looks kind of weird to me.... and I´d really be interested in an answer (or some more ) Greetings from germany Sona

Haha, yeah that´s right. Actually that´s the reason I started doing leatherwork. And I got into making stuff for everyday-use, so it is totally worth it ^^. Thank you!

Haha, yap,Of course that´s right, but I try to use inch here (or at least both) in this forum, because I had the situation of a big missunderstanding by just using cm already;)

Haha, yeah I know this kind of insight moments Actually that "blade" fits really good, but it still got some space left to be moved in and out. It is mainly kept by the fitting form and the loden lining. That textile is thicker than cotton or linen and has some kind of a puffer that way. Besides that the "blade" (well... it´s still some foam covered with latex) slides gently through that loden. This way it doesn´t fall out if I turned it around, but it slides out smoothly if I wanna draw it. So all in all, there is no really "snug fitting" or friction at all, but I keep the sheaths as thin as possible and work as close to the seax as possible without creating friction. For some kind of gallery of my stuff you might wanna visit Deviantart.com and look for sonadorexis There´s still quite old stuff around... but I still like them Knifemaking is a nice hobby, too. Like it a lot and I wanna try it out one day. But right now I am stuck with leather ^^.

right, I thought about that direction thing in case of things like pants and shirts (buttons), but it is an argument if you start to tool it in any way. If I get you correctly it is just for belts wih anything of decoration, that has a direction. Because for measuring it still doesn´t matter, even if it is worn the other direction, right? The other measurements fit to those I use.... well, will use. 5 holes, 3/4" - check. 6" past the last hole to the tip is the way I decided to go after (yes.... as always... after ^^) I finished it, but it fits wonderful and in most cases it reaches the first belt loop easily. So again: +1 for that

Thx a lot for your kind words. Much appreciated! Arley: The sheath is carried on your left side rather than on your back. It´s mounted on a belt (that for are the loops). The different sizes are to fit the angle the customer wants to wear it (should be about 30°), so it´s not horizontal! I actually don´t really like the look of the longer loop and I am thinking about how to do this in a more beautiful way... but right now, I am happy with it

JLSLeather: Just a question about the picture you posted: Why do you have 2 pictures of a belt in the measurement-section, one for men, one for women? I mean, both need to be measured the same way, and the two pictures don´t have any differences.... so what is this "men - women" thing for?! Besides that: The idea of a measuring belt/strap is great. I will keep that in mind!

So I got another order for a custom sheath for a larp-seax with some decent tooling: I know there might be just a few of you who are interested in the larp-scene, but as it is still some leatherwork, I´ll just post it here It´s lined with loden and made of 3,5mm cowhide. Colored, tooled and stitched by hand.