garypl

Hey Deemer, thanks for posting your first project! I like the concept and as others have already commented, with practice your stitching will become more uniform. The key is consistency - holding your chisels straight, sewing sequence, etc. If you have a very sharp chisel or knife you can try cutting a 45 degree bevel by holding the leather on the edge of a table and carefully cut the bevel with the chisel or knife. Welcome to the forum! Gary

Congratulations Alpha! I bought. CB4500 from Bob about 8 months ago and after a learning cycle I feel very comfortable using it. It does a great job on most of my projects, but I am thinking of getting a lighter weight machine for very thin leather. I am sure you will enjoy sewing with your new machine. What used to take me hours to sew I can now sew in minutes! Gary

Very nice!

Welcome - looking forward to seeing your first projects! Gary

Really nice job Ross! I remember that basket weave on the knife sheath you posted - looks clearer in this project, but I still don’t think I will attempt it! Gary

Nice looking growler cases! Do you use one strap at the bottom to hold the bottle? I really like your painting and carving. Gary

I like it! Looks like stitching the tapered gussets would be a challenge though. Gary

That’s a nice design! Only thing I can think of to make small piercing cuts like that is a sharp Exacto knife with a pointy blade. Gary

Thanks Chris! I have been using a Delrin stamp that works pretty good, but it doesn’t stamp as deep as I would like. I will try one of these soon. Gary

Hey Chris - where did you get the brass stamps? Gary

I agree - there is clearance for all of my stamps, but some with the thinner shafts I have to put into a sleeve that is 3/8" OD, while some of the larger ones have shafts that are larger than 3/8", so I whack them with my mallet. I mostly use the press to apply makers stamp and stamp letters. Also works well for border stamps. I think there is not much clearance on the smaller arbor presses to keep flexing to a minimum. My friend has an old 10 ton press that has about 12" under the ram, but the press is massive! Gary

I like the chuck with the magnet, but it costs twice as much as the arbor press! I just drilled a 3/8" hole in the ram of my press and I slip the different setters and punches in the ram - held with a setscrew on the side of the ram. I will agree that the chuck is more convenient. Gary

Those are beautiful - nice job! Gary

Turned out real nice - I like the color combination! Gary

I also buy leather from Tandy when it is on sale - would not buy it without personally picking it myself so I can see what I am getting. Seems like the veg tan I buy often has more soft spots than I would like to see. One hide I bought was stamped Brazil. Local staff very friendly and store is conveniently located when I need dyes and other hardware. I try to buy hardware in bulk from Ohio Travel Bag - good prices but you need to put together an order of at least $50 to offset shipping cost expense.

Thanks - I really like the color of that H-O!

Those both look real nice! Please let us know typeof leather, thread, finish. I always like to learn what members are using to create nice projects. Gary

Here are pics of the bottom and inside.

Well, I didn’t have time to play with the dye today, but I took some green acrylic paint an$ started diluting it with Tan Kote. In the photo, the patch on the far right is straigh5 paint. Moving left, I added Tan Kote to the paint, starting with about 20% TK to 80% paint, then added another 20% TK, etc until the far left patch which was @60% TK plus I added a small amount of water. The conclusion I reached is that Tan Kote does not play well with paint - too streaky.

Greg, that is a really nice, clean looking case! Your stitching is excellent. I too struggle with getting good edges on thinner leather, especially when the leather is a bit stretchy. In those cases I often switch to acrylic edge paint for a nice contrast. Gary

Thank you! I plan on making more - some friends have already asked about them! Gary

My guess is it’s a box stitching jig

Tim - that is a beautiful case - you have some real artistic talent! I don’t know that I would want to use that for my tools - it’s too nice! Gary

You have me thinking now about mixing media. I was checking a dye color tonight by using a wool dauber to apply some light brown dye to some scrap. I then used the same dauber to apply some Tan Kote to see if it would darken it further and I was surprised to see pleasant brown streaks in the finish. I will try to find time tomorrow to mix a little dye with some Tan Kote and see how the concoction turns out. I’ll post results when I finish. Gary I will also try mixing some acrylic paint with Tan Kote.

Thanks Seagrove! I mix it up by eye - should weigh the ingredients, but I dont. I start with a chunk of beeswax (about 2x2x2”) that I cut off a slab. Put it in a jar and add @1/3 cup of carnuba wax granules, @1/4 cup of lanolin, and 1/2 cup NFO. I melt everything in a pot of water (put the jar in the water like a double boiler) using a hot plate. Once it is completely melted, I stir it up with a stick and then put some of the melted mixture on a piece of scrap leather and let it harden. If it feels too hard, I add more NFO to the mixture and check it again - repeat until I am happy with the softness of the hardened mixture. Then just let it cool and it’s ready to apply. I usually rub it into the leather and then heat with a heat gun so it soaks right in. Repeat and then buff. Makes a nice dull finish. If I want a glossier finish I follow it up with one or two coats of Atom Wax. Gary