Colt W Knight

I use an airbrush to do what you are talking about. I never had much luck dying evenly with a sponge or rag.

For leather craft work, I don't see much use in a pliers type rotary punch. However, When I was in the horse business. Punching holes in bridles and saddles while they were on the horse would have been impossible with a hand held punch and hammer.

I got my free hole punch today and punched a bunch of holes in some scrap veg tan. Works better than my cs osborne rotary punch. The punches came sharper and the articulated handles apply more force with less pressure, and it doesn't have that spring steel to pinch the shit out of your hand. I don't know how it will hold up, but I think it's worth their ~20$ asking price.

I don't get it

I have to use a 23 on 138 to keep the stitches from fraying

I use a # 23 for 138 on my consew 206 When I get the top thread shredding up badly, it's because the needle is slightly canted. Once I reposition the needle correctly, the problem goes away. Yes, I have to touch my foot pedal slightly to work the wheel.

Thank you Thank you Thank you, I have a cocobolo wood burnisher. I cut the leather, use an edge beveler then burnish with water and saddle soap on the drill press cocobolo burnisher. I don't get too crazy on edges with suede or chrome tan lining. On thicker stuff, I will edge, sand, burnish with soap, then do a beeswax layer. Thanks I appreciate it.

I hope this punch works well. In the past, you get two kinds of rotary hole punches at tack stores. The cheap ones which the punch and the brass backing pad never lined up, or the more expensive ones that you needed a crow bar to work the rotary dial and pair of welding gloves because doing it bare handed would pinch the shit out of your hands.

Those impressions look great My Tandy stuff isn't cutting it any longer, and I am trying to invest in quality tools now.

Pm sent, Colt

5 ounce vegtan on top of some nice soft seude turquoise leather. This straps new owner has an Ed Sheeran model Martin, that's why the letters are bright green.

I just line everything. I don't like the flesh side hanging out.

A lot of folks use it as thread.

I too use the if it won't shave it's not sharp enough metric.

I can tell you my experience with that sort of thing. 1. Color the black squares first using a brush and dye. The black dye will naturally wick its way to the cut marks if you put enough dye on the brush. That way, you can stay far enough away from the line that you don't accidentally color the other squares. 2. Then dye the whole thing brown. Once the black is down, it doesn't matter if you get brown over the black. I would recommend using an antique gel, as that will get in the crevices and make the lines and edges darker. That will give your checkers a much cleaner and neater look. Less paint by numbers, more checkerboard. 3. Paint on a good resist. let it dry for 24 hours. 4. Use a red acrylic paint as a antiquing paste. You'll have to work paint in the crevices over small areas, and immediately wipe off the excess so it just fills the crevices. I could never paint those lines in to make it look nice. I would just rub in some red acrylic, then quickly wipe it off the high spots using a clean damp rag. Thats how I would do it. Resist is a leather workers term for a clear coat that will "resist" changing colors when you add color or antique paste over top of it.

Mine went in the dumpster

Had this happen with a computer once. Had it on a power strip labeled "surge protector", but when you actually looked at the rating, it doesn't provide any real protectioname at all, especially lightning.

Most power strips are not rated for large surges like lightning. I learned that the hard way.

Do you thin the resolene, and do you apply heavy coats? Even car paint will peel off if applied heavily. I like to cut my leather clear coats by at least 50 percent and I spray on a couple things coats with my airbrush. 1. I cleaned with saddle soap 2. Dye 3. Buff off extra pigment 4. Apply several layers of clear thinly with an airbrush

I sent that guitar and strap to my niece and fedex lost the package!

I have used one a few times. It's really a last resort deal. They were used a lot more in the past, but spilling rumen contents into the peritoneal cavity isn't all great from a infection standpoint

No, I don't add a stiffener. I've made a lot of these, and if I use an 8oz vegtan and a lambskin lining they are plenty stiff enough. They are tad floppy at 4/5, but not enough to require a stiffner imho. I made the first one for myself because I got tired of my clip board blowing away working cattle. Made it from 8 oz. When I am collecting data in the field, I sit on it, it gets wet, bird poop from the outdoor tables and even cow manure flung on it. It's still just as stiff as the day I made it.I have learned to round the corners on the edges, square edges get mashed and mushroom out and it makes it harder to put in a brief case or back pack.

That's beautiful. I have never gotten good result putting black dye on that lightly. I have hand tremors, so anything that requires finesse like that is out of my league.

Buying used isn't always an option, because in some areas, used machines simply aren't available. The machines weigh so much, you would have a very hard time finding someone willing to ship a used machine. Too much hassle and expense. So buying used can save you a lot of money, if the machine you need is actually available for sale. A rare machine like the Cowboy 5500 or any long arm 441 clone won't come up for sale used often, and may never come up for sale within driving distance in a reasonable time frame. I am not saying not to look for used machines, but I think if time is an issue, buying new will save you a lot of time scouring classifieds daily. Because if you don't scour frequently enough, good deals are bought up super quick on leather sewing machines.

Basically, make what you like, and other folks who like them will order from you. Or you can try to offer a variety or take custom orders. The problem with most custom orders with guitarists is that they either don't know what they want or they go ballz to wallz and think they know what they want but in reality they are just trying to pack in as much crap as possible into one build. I have now learned, when someone approaches me to build a guitar and they started acting the latter, I turn down the build. The best are folks who come to you and say, I dig what you are doing, and I would like to have one too - I want these features and the rest is up to you.