Halitech

BadDad, I would but it's a little cool on the Bay of Fundy right now lol

I second Boriqua on Maine thread, I started buying from them and even though it costs me a lot more with shipping and exchange to Canadian from US, the quality of their thread in my mind, makes it all worth it. In fact I just ordered 3 rolls (2 black and 1 scarlet 0.030") 3 weeks ago and received them in 9 days

thread is typically round so it's going to rotate somewhat when you are stitching, unlike lace which will lay flat. As long as you pull both sides with the same amount of tension, your threads should look the same and then when you tap them down, everything will level out.

I normally make my pockets 4" with 1/2" between the 2 sides for a total of 8 1/2"x 3 1/2" and the outsides I make 9"x 3 3/4". My outsides I usually use 4-5oz, the inner piece I usually split down to 3oz and my slots I split down to 2ish This gives me a nice 6 slot wallet

In most cases, you will be using a leather keeper so you can actually sew through the keeper. With the metal ones like you are using, makes it a little more challenging but you still want to avoid going across at 90degrees. you don't need to groove the front and back, just do the front. Once you are done stitching, tap them down with your maul. And honestly, you really want to dye before you stitch, especially if you end up using white thread or you are going for a contrasting color look.

are you thinning the tan kote to 10:1 water:tan kote? regular tan kote is way too thick in my experience to act as a resist. You'd be better off using something like supersheen and letting it dry for 24 hours before applying the antique or top coat

From what I've seen, you will need the leather down to about 1.5oz in order to get between the watch face and the strap pin, at least with the ones I've done.

right here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showforum=9

I've worked with the double milled vegtan and it does not take the stitch grove very well but it is soft enough that you can almost pull the thread tight enough to get it below the surface. Only downside is you end up really curving the belt and not in the direction you want. If it was reversed with the lining being 5/6 and the front being 3/4, you might be able to do it and get away but I don't think you or your friend with the weights you have right now

Pretty sure I saw some in the templates section done by tboyne they make a 2/3oz tooling leather so that would probably be my guess on the thinnest you are going to get unless you split your own

Billy, that makes more sense. The way you worded it was your glue line was in 1/4" from the edge, not that you were gluing in from the edge to 1/4" BeUnico, that looks good and I would really recommend getting the multi-tool slicker. It makes it much easier to various thicknesses of leather

I agree, if we keep the info in private then eventually the info will be gone. It's not like providing info on what weight leather to use is a national secret. For a cell phone case, depends on the style but for molded, I use 4-5 and the ones like tandy sells kits for, I use 3-4 and then line it, mainly to protect the phone from the snaps (seriously, would anyone really use self stick velcro to close a cell phone case?) For bags, depends on the type. I did a travel/lunch bag out of 6-7 with the bag stiffner and then lined with pigskin. For the motorcycle tool bag I did, 4-5 lined with pigskin with bag stiffner in between. Tandy actually has a nice chart on their leather buying guide that gives suggestions on what weight to use for different items

that's why I glue right to the edge, burnish, sew, burnish again. And my stitch line is usually 1/8" from the edge and I don't get any separation

I have to ask, why stop in 1/4" from the edge? The edges should be close enough that you could almost "trim" using sand paper and unless you are using 2 pieces of 14oz, your stitch line is going to be 1/8" - 3/16" from the edge and from what I've seen, burnishing doesn't keep the edges completely together.

the first I think you are talking about an electric edge creaser. It may look like a soldering iron but it's not Haven't seen any for doing basket weave but you are referring to an embossing roll

I use them because they are faster and I'm able to get a straighter line then using a stitch groover and over stitch wheel. There are different sizes and different number of prongs depending on what you want. I use the 3mm 2 and 4 prong the most often but you may find you want the smaller or larger depending on the look you are going for.The size is basically the distance between the prongs.

For being new, you did a really good job on the freehand work. I'm going ot take a guess that you used a kit from Tandy to make both knife sheaths. I haven't looked close at the kits but do they include a welt so you don't end up cutting the thread when you are taking the knife out and putting it in?

leather is measured by the weight of a 1" x 1" square so the more it weighs, the thicker it is. (when discussing oz) http://www.tandyleather.ca/en/leather-buying-guide.html There is a good chart at the bottom converting from oz to " to mm Chrome tanned leather is tanned using chromium salts and is already dyed and finished so it can't be tooled. Veg tan is tanned using things like bark and take longer but, will absorb water and allow us to tool it and dye it the colors we want. The holes that are punched in Tandy kits are close to 1/8" and in my opinion, are more suited for lacing then sewing. the holes should be just big enough for the needle to go through and "disappear" once you tap the thread down. When you are lining, you would only groove the top side if that is the style of stitching you are going for. I usually mark my stitch line with a line divider then use diamond stitching chisels to punch my holes

short of encasing the leather in some kind of plastic coating, you will never make leather truly waterproof due to it's nature of being a fibrous material. With the things I make that require making them as water resistant as possible, I do everything the same until the final step then I do both sides with sno-proof and the edges with beeswax. Once I apply the sno-proof, I heat it lightly with a hair dryer until it soaks in and the buff with a clean cloth.

As Dwight said, they aren't tooled. In fact, they are nothing but raw leather cut out and punched with the sewing holes. Some kits are "better" then others but you'll have to decide what is better in your opinion of the styles. Most of us use 3-4oz veg tanned for the outers if we are tooling, 1.5-2oz if you are using chrome tanned. Insides, no more then 2oz regardless of type. Far as a lined belt, you can make a lined dog collar the same way but be prepared to do a lot of hand sewing unless you already invested in a sewing machine. You make your top layer, glue on the lining, sew them together.

Chicago screws would be good but price just went up on materials compared to rivets

Hate to say it but you might be looking at doing some by hand

latigo is hot stuffed with oils so chances are a resist won't soak in the way it does on veg tanned. Probably would have gotten faster help by saying what you were trying to do instead of being vague about it

nice design but if the leather doesnt take casing, it's probably not veg tanned leather and if that is the case, doesn't matter how long you soak it, it won't tool