Colt W Knight

I got a shearling hide from Tandy when it was on sale, still expensive though. You cam stamp latigo, but you have to get it soaking wet. I wouldn't try carving it.

I have a spool of black thread that doesn't feed in my machine worth a damn. Its basically worthless

Thanks Wiz. I really want a bigger machine so I can use bigger thread, but I think I will keep this one to do thinner projects and felt.

I got a request to make a shearling lined guitar strap today. I have only ever used shearling once, when I hand stitched a range bag for my M4. That was a total bitch. I figured I was going to have hand sew this guitar strap as well, but I figured I would give it a go on my sewing machine first, using 138 thread. I though this was going to be a total nightmare, I didn't think it was going to work. To my surprise, it sewed the test piece, but I could see the thread starting to fray at the end of the test piece. I loaded up my guitar strap, 2 (5/6 ounce vegtan) with the shearling lining. I rotated the hand wheel by hand on the first side, then pushed the pedal down for the rest. It actually went by without a hitch. Probably my straightest stitch lines and lock stitches I have done with my machine so far. Now that I know I can sew shearling on my machine, I can see myself using it a lot more.

A gentleman from France stopped by today, and asked me to make him a vintage style guitar strap. No big deal, EXCEPT, he is going back to France next week, and I am traveling for Thanksgiving. That gave me 1 1/2 days to get it done. After he walked out the door, I got busy, and 4 hours later, I had this strap. The main strap is 13 ounce latigo, dyed black The shoulder pad is Two 6 ounce vegtan pieces with a genuine shearling lining.

You can buy that stuff at Michaels and most craft stores as well.

I have used white glue and water before, but I only ever put a few drops of white glue in a bowl of warm water. Then I placed the decal in the solution for 20 seconds of so, then moved it onto the substrate.

Yeah, brushing will probably never work. You will want to spray it on, and with the specific caveat: 1. GIve the acrylic paint plenty of time to dry 2. Mist on the first few coats (ample dry time) but the best thing to do is find some finishes that are more compatible, but I doubt you will ever find any brush on products that will produce acceptable results.

Nope. I was just curious if you were going to stick with the Boss. When I started researching leather sewing machines, I ruled out the Boss because there seams to be a plethora of stories just like yours out there about how finicky the machines can be.

Keeping the Boss after the Juki gets back?

Ive made about 3 rolled collars, and I measured them just like I would a flat collar.

I recently got into using a sewing machine. There are some tricks and nuances, but it was pretty easy. Practice on lots of scrap of various thicknesses and you will get it figured out quickly.

What happened?

No problem. I spent a lot of time researching paint/finishes when I started building guitars. Finishes are complicated, and modern finishes even more so because they are mixtures of finish types. 60-70 Years ago, lacquer was Nitrocellulose based, and around the 60s, lacquer became Acrylic based. Then the automotive industry came out with Urethanes and polyesters. Then of course there are shellacs, enamels, water based products, and oil based products.

Here is product specifically designed to restore old decals that have set in the open air or sunlight. You brush it on, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-12&Category_Code=FINPROD&Product_Count=6 Literature from Microscale - Everyone should have Micro Liquid Decal Film who models and uses decals. Especially if you have been at it for some time. The typical decal scrap box is not the best place to store decals. Exposed to air, sunlight, and moisture, great swings of temperature or general abuse, and decals will go bad. Or maybe you just always had trouble putting on thin stripes. Micro Liquid Decal Film solves all of those problems and makes a decal which for whatever reason is bad, work again just like new almost immediately. Of course if you have already put it in water it is too late. So if you have some old decals you really have to use, coat them with Micro Liquid Decal Film to be sure. Or if there is any indication that you might have a problem, don't take a chance, you can solve the problem on the spot. Simply take a small brush and coat the image on the decal you want to use. Allow to dry for 20 minutes. Apply the decal as usual. It's that simple. *I do not know this for a fact, but the vintage guitar folks all swear that microscale decal setting solution is just watered down white vinegar. I have applied a lot of waterslide decals, and I use vinegar on them all after application and it really feathers the edges in well. If you have enough decals or some edges you can cut off, you can always test it out. Here is a link for the pair of solutions http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221200208781?lpid=82

Just to clarify, Yes, you do remove the clear scales off the skin. A spoon does the trick nicely. If you leave them on, they will flake off over time and look pretty gnarly and get everywhere. I have never heard of anyone leaving those on.

I've spent a lot of time in a saddle, and I love to try that baby out.

I mostly use the acrylic drafting squares, but I also use metal scales and wood working squares.

Collared Peccary, known as Javelina in the USA, actually aren't pigs. They just look like pigs. Since they are a wild game species that are not harvested on a large scale or farmed like deer, I doubt their hides are readily available to tan. Plus they smell awful. In the 19th and early 20th century, they were harvested and hides were traded world wide. These guys might have some http://www.yostfurdressing.com/

Constabulary - Those old decals are generally cellulose based film, and get very brittle with age. Vintage model folks use some solutions to restore the old decals to apply them to new old stock models.

Belt looks great.

You can also make your own decals utilizing Waterslide Decal paper Here is tutorial I did for a guitar forum If you paint the machine black, when you apply a decal like this, only the metalic color will show because the outline will disappear.

That tooling is awesome, wish I could do floral.

Now I am really getting off topic, but I love talking about firearms. ( I think the newest Model 70s built by FN in South Carolina would give those old pre 64s a run for their money, and shoot more accurately. In 1940, the avg US income was 1,368$/year, and a new Model 70 was 106$ - that represents 7.75% of the purchasers income. in 2014, the ave US income was 53,891$/year, and a new Model 70 is 899$ - that represents 1.67% of the purchasers income. Inflation calculator says 106$ in 1940 = 1802.23$ in 2014 If anyone has similar info on sewing machines, I would love to see the comparison.

Solvent based lacquer is a porous finish. Lacquer is an evaporative finish, meaning it does not cure chemically, the solvents merely evaporate over time. Because of this, lacquer takes a long time to dry, and the evaporating solvents leave micro pores in the finish. This is why old furniture would get moisture rings when you set drinks on the table top without a coaster. The moisture seeped/absorbs into the pores. Evaporative finishes like lacquer typically do not have recoat windows because the solvents from the fresh lacquer allow the fresh coat to melt/meld into the previous coats. Modern polyurethane finishes(like on cars) actually cure chemically after a short amount of time. If you don't recoat within that drying period, you have to scuff the surface to increase the surface area and provide tooth for the next coat to hold onto. This is what happens when you mix two types of finishes. The two finishes do not bond chemically, they simply stick to the previous substrate like glue-mechanical bond. If there isn't enough surface area for the previous coat to adhere to, they will wear off. The clear lac is most likely a solvent based lacquer, and the paint is most likely a water based acrylic. Can WB acrylic adhere to leather coated with a leather lacquer finish? Maybe, test it and see. Too many variables to say yes or no 100% of the time. In my experience, the leather is porous enough to allow the acrylic to stick without out much problem.