Colt W Knight

Liner is wool felt. Polyester felt fuzzes up and isnt real durable. The wool felt is a lot more expensive, but its cheaper than seude. I like felt on long projects because leather long enough for straps is super expensive. Right now I can sew two pieces of 7 ounce veg tan leather together. The new motor arrives today, and im curious how thick ill be able to go.

I use to get all of our horse tack out of yhr barn and give it a good oiling every year. One time I thought I'd get off cheap and use vegatable oil, and that stuff did go bad. It took me forever to scrub all the mold and crud growing on the bridles and halters off. Never had that problem with extra virgin olive oil. Another reason I would soak new reins in olive oil is because it would soften them up. They came very stiff like veg tan leather.

I think you need a #18 needle for 69 thread and a #20 needle for 92 thread, but I am not a sewing machine expert by any means. Here is a PDF of the manual for that machine http://parts.singerco.com/IPinstManuals/95-10.pdf

Not too long ago, I finished refurbishing my old sporterized mauser http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4930427/1 I have also been getting more into my leather craft hobby. Just bought an old Singer sewing machine to start machine stitching some guitar straps and rifle slings. It was made in 1954. Still working on setting up and using the machine, but it has some serious potential for these lighter projects. Right now the motor is underpowered but I have a lot bigger one ordered. Decided to make a sling for my nice upgraded rifle Wool lined Hoping to take this gun Elk hunting in Arizona later this year, so it has an Arizona flag and my initials. I am happy with it

Should work just fine. Those old Singers don't have a lot of features, but they sure were tough.

I have a Singer 66 that I use to sew light weight leather. Wizcrafts is pretty spot on. Right now I am sewing with #18 and #16 leather needles, a controlled feed foot( walking foot attachment) and a some nylon upholstery thread. The motor is not strong enough to sew by itself. I have to start my thread by hand, and help the treadle along. This really isn't that big on an inconvenience though. It is till better than hand stitching. In fact, I could run my machine strictly by hand, and it would be quicker and easier than hand sewing. Needles last a long time if you sew straight lines. Sewing curved lines, or trying to turn the work piece while the motor is going almost always breaks the needle. It will sew a 6-7 oz piece of leather to a light liner or heavy felt with no problem. Sewing two pieces of 6 oz leather together is a struggle. I have ordered a more powerful motor for this machine. I'll give a report when I have it fixed up like I like it.

With the help of my new sewing machine, I finished sewing the felt on my strap Learning to use the sewing machine is going to be a trick. Its super quick, and really easy to get the stitching crooked.

Straps # 1 & 2 made it to their new homes

Thanks guys. I am learning a lot on this forum.

I agree about all the sharpening mojo/mysticism out there. I think it is becoming a lost art for most folks. When I was a kid, my dad gave me a dull pocket knife so I would learn how to take care of one without cutting myself. What did I do? I went down to the creek and found a flat stone and sharpened my little pocket knife. When I showed my dad, he took it away, and I didn't get another one till I was about 11-12. He showed me how to use his norton stone once, and I spent a lot of time sharpening every knife I could get my hands on. I even sharpened friends and family knives. Once I got the hang of it, I was able to sharpen a knife fairly quickly and effectively with just a simple two sided worn out norton stone. When I was 16, a gentleman at my family's horse stable gave me a brand new long double sided norton stone for always sharpening his knife. I really thought I was something using an actual flat stone to sharpen a knife. I was so obsessed with sharp knives for while, I carried a HPS bulb filament in my pocket to constantly dress my pocket knives.I still keep my knives sharp, but I got burned out sharpening things. I just do it know when I have to, and I don't volunteer to sharpen stuff for other anymore. I understand the principle of the convex/concave edge thing, but once the knife is dull, I would think sharpening a convex edge would be a royal PITA. I would probably end up working it into a normal flat edge.

There will be a sewing machine in my future. I can't take this hand stitching 100" +. The skin is wearing off my index fingers. Strap # 1 Strap # 2 Really liking my new makers mark Here is one for myself My tooling still isn't up to snuff, but I am getting better every time I try.

I use a small scrap of leather instead of blue jeans/canvas and gives a nice finish as well. I am going to have to try the blue jean/canvas and see how it compares to my leather scrap. I recently ordered a cocobolo burnisher, and I can't wait to try that out.

I use the Fibiengs saddle soap in a can. Dip a rag in water, then rub it over the can soap, and wipe it on my edges. I use to buy saddle soap in the bar to clean saddles, but never used it for burnishing.

Been using extra virgin olive oil on horse tack and my leather projects for at least 15 years. Never even heard of it going rancid until someone brought it up on an internet forum not to long ago. We use to by tan horse bridles and saddles, dunk them in olive oil, and hang them in the sun. Depending on how long you let the olive oil soak, we could turn it from light carmel color to almost black. ( A lot of time we could find tan tack cheaper, or they didn't have what we wanted in black - a local tack salesman told us about the olive oil. He was in the tack business for 40 years) The U.S. Cavalry use to use a olive oil mixed with castor oil on their saddles.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I broke down and bough a set of for DiaSharp stones, Ex coarse, coarse, fine and extra fine. I really bought these to level and dress frets on a guitar. before that I used a double sided norton stone. I can sharpen a knife just as sharp on a norton stone as I can my DMT diasharps. My dad had his Norton stone for 20-30 years before I bought him a new one to replace it. If those nortons gets wavy, you dress them back sharp again. Diamond stones are great, but I don't see the need for the expense unless you are sharpening a lot stuff. Good things. 1. Fast and precise 2. They don't groove like a stone 3. Heavy - so they don't move around bad things. 1. They are heavy, so it hurts my wrist when I try to hold the stone in my hand and shapen 2. expensive 3. I had a carrying case made for my stones, and they stayed in my truck for a long time. I wore off some of the diamonds in a few spots were they rubbed in the case. If you use them enough to sharpen, the diamonds will wear off. DMT makes that super clear on their website. * I also finish my edges with a ceramic steel after honing the edge on my stones. For a long time, I use a burned out High Pressure Sodium bulb filament from some very expensive lights used on strip mining equipment.

Nice. Makes me want to build a briefcase.

Brenda was great to deal with, and her stamps are AFFORDABLE. I contacted her Sunday, and I had my stamp Wednesday. Amazing turn around time. Plus they are made Texas. This is my first Official leather project

Well... hanging out on this forum made me realize I needed to step my game up from making simple guitar straps like this to something more respectable. I am still learning, but I think my straps are progressing well. My tooling still needs work, but I learn something every time I make something new.

Got my Makers stamp today Makes a nice impression

Got my confirmation email, and Ed says it should ship in 2 weeks. Also confirmation email that my makers stamp should arrive next week. My makers mark is a throw off my guitar logo that I use for the custom guitars I build. Some of yall may recognize this name, especially if you are from KY.

I like hearing these good things! I never knew what good burnished edges looked like til I joined this forum. I think it may become an obsession.

Just got this update - Gave the build book to Christian Saturday. Man, was he excited. He couldn't wait to get home. He had the surgery and what was supposed to be done laproscopically ended up requiring a 6" incision. They had to remove part of his abdominal wall since the tumor had gown into it and caused some scar tissue. When I saw him Saturday he was a totally new young man. He was in a lot of pain but was smiling and was a real joy to be around. He got discharged today and will be getting 2 more rounds of chemo. There is a benefit for him in May in Wichita Falls so hopefully I'll get to drive up and we can shoot the day before. Thanks again to everyone. Christian loved the rifle and really appreciated it!

Just placed an order for a general purpose cocobolo burnisher from leatherburnishers.com http://www.leatherburnishers.com/Burnishers_for_Drills.html Anyone using these? or purchased one recently?