garypl

Thanks Y - I am going to mull it over before I buy another one. Bit lighter has been working pretty good

Well, maybe I will buy another one

About how often do you have to replace the lithium batteries?

I had a thread zapper and it worked pretty good when batteries were new, but it went through batteries so quickly, I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. Something else broke and then it wouldn’t work even with new batteries. Went back to using a match or Bic lighter. Gary

Nice work! Looks like pretty firm temper. The only deerskin I have ever seen is very soft. Gary

Alex, those are beautiful pouches. What type leather are you using? Gary

I have a Consew 206RB-4 that sews soft leather up to @5-6 oz fine, but whenever I try to sew harder leather that is @8 oz or thicker, using the same needle and thread combination, the thread shreds as the needle exits the leather on the way up. Looking forward to hearing comments on this post that might help me to correct my issue. Gary

Interesting looking machine, but I suspect it would only work for very lightweight leather since it is only 1 ton. Ask the seller for max weight of leather it is capable of punching. Size is somewhat limited as well. Gary

Paint generally does not penetrate as far into the leather as dye. Think of paint as more of a surface coating while dye will penetrate deeper into the leather.

Dye will never crack or chip, but acrylic paints are also very durable. Really depends on the project and what you want to color. If you are trying to add color accents, either should work well. If you want to color an entire object, paint may work on a small object that won’t be flexed much, but if you try to paint a large item like a bag that will see a lot of use, I would expect you would eventually see cracking and chipping. Paint should be applied in thin coats to minimize chipping. Hope this helps. Gary

That’s a nice looking holster Jeff! Is elephant hide much more difficult to work with than thick veg tan, when used for stiffener? Gary

I buy Ritza Tiger thread from Egyptian Leather on Etsy. Nice selection at reasonable prices. Gary

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I had fun working with him and it is so nice that a youngster is interested in more than tv or video games. He is moving to Florida soon, so I gues I won’t be doing too many more projects with him. Will have to figure out where I can find more youngsters to help. Gary

When I apply Tan Kote I dilute it 50/50 with distilled water and apply with sheepskin scrap. Sheepskin allows you to quickly cover a large area and smooth it out before it dries. When I apply Resolene I always spray with an airbrush and dilute it 50/50 with distilled water. Several light coats better than a thick coat. Gary

We watched my nephew’s two children over the weekend and the 10 year old wanted to make something out of leather. So we made a belt out of two layers of 5 oz Russet W&C, with some black pebble grain upholstery leather for accents. I cut the strips and let him do most of the other work under my supervision (I also sewed it since we had limited time). I think it turned out pretty well and he was so proud of it! Gary