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The Weaver one I was referring to is the Heritage hydraulic bench press ( code: 65-6300), clicker plates with cutting pad (code: 65-6305). My catalogue is a couple of years old now so I'm not 100% sure if they still have it but the price of the already set up press and the plates is under what that machine costs so it might be worth contacting Weaver to find out if they do. Clair

Cheryl please keep in mind not everyone agrees with this, I know a few early members who stopped posting here because their designs were being copied. I think it shows good manners if you ask first. Clair

I've seen a video of this it can do leather in the video though it looked like it was chrome tanned, also it only works on dies that fit completely under the the ram. If you look at the dies they sell they aren't that big. If you want a cheaper clicker press you would be better off modifying a shop press or looking into the ones Texas Custom Dies or Weaver sell. Clair

Thank you for the video Trox, I've had my Weaver splitter for a couple of years now and had never seen that video before explains things a lot better than the lacking manual (piece of paper) they give you. Cheers, Clair

Hi Calvin, Total height of the stamp is 1.5 cm x 1.6 cm width at the rectangle part sorry I don't know how to convert it to inches, I didn't want to try anything too big in case it didn't work. Cheers, Clair

I had a couple of models I needed printed at Shapeways so I thought I would try a stamp as well so here are the results in stainless. Keep in mind this is a small stamp the cem part is 14mm Length x 4mm width. I haven't had to make a part with tolerances for awhile so the hole isn't big enough for the Tandy letter handle but I found a pin punch that works with it. The stainless is heavy and feels like metal, there is some stepping on the sides which is expected with the 3D printing process but it doesn't interfere with how the stamp works. There was some powder residue in the small crevices most I was able to get out with a scalpel blade but what is left doesn't show in the impression. Bottom of the cem has been polished slightly as well as the rectangular backing. The leather I punched into is 3mm and the cem part is 4mm plenty of depth so as not to get marking from the rectangular backing. I'm pretty happy with it and I will be using it for some things I make, I also had a plastic version made as well but haven't used that as yet as I want to make a mold of it first and cast it into a stronger plastic. I don't think this process will take over from cnc milled stamps but it is another process that can be used and I had fun experimenting with it. The cost of the stainless stamp was $12.45 and the plastic $4.20, I wouldn't of purchased if I only had these to do as Shapeways now has a $20.00 shipping fee to Australia so I waited until I could bundle them with something else. Please excuse the quality of the photos I had to use my phone as someone forgot to charge the battery again on our family camera, the stamp is smoother than what it appears in the photos. This also could be a possibility for one off buckle inlays for belt makers. Cheers, Clair

That's some nice work there Claire, I especially like the first one. Cheers, Clair

Thank you for the info, I still haven't decided whether I'm going to upgrade my Weaver yet so it's nice to know someone here has the Cobra and is putting it though it's paces. Cheers, Clair

I'd definitely say it's a one off as well as it's not cast, looks like a well made little splitter. Clair

I was getting that as well and as I sent an email for a quote for some punches a couple of weeks ago and haven't heard anything back. So I thought it might of been a possibility as well that they had closed. Will have to try emailing them again just in case the first one didn't go through with the website acting funny. Clair

I don't think you would find something like that in Australia, After doing some searching around it seems some people are using old book presses to click. Might be an option if you are doing small things there are a few on Ebay Australia at the moment do a search for cast iron book press and they should come up. Cheers, Clair

No there isn't anything else in Australia, the only other manual clicker actually designed for leather is from Weaver in America you will need an ABN to deal with them. The only other option for manually clicking leather is to modify a shop press, if you want one already made Weaver also used to do one I don't have a current catalogue so are not sure if they still do. Texas Custom Dies also had one but it seems their website is down at the moment. If you don't have an ABN maybe see about contacting Birdsall Leather and see if they could help you deal with Weaver. Just one thing what size pieces are you trying to click as the manual clickers aren't really designed for large stuff for that you will need an electrical model. Clair

So your a copyright attorney then.

I use Illustrator as well I also have that program you have it's actually called Signlab and is made by Cadlink they third party license it to different manufacturers of CNC and vinyl cutting machines. I got it with my Klic N Kut Maxx which is a vinyl cutting machine, I import my illustrator files into it as I learnt illustrator first and prefer it to drawing out stuff in the Signlab / KNK Maxx software just find it a bit clunky compared to Illustrator. Clair

Not sure about Qcad never used it I use Illustrator for making my patterns up I have used Blender it's got a bit of a learning curve though if you are only doing simple wet forming shapes a solid modeller might be better that way you could get it 3D printed if you wanted fairly easily. The surface modellers (Blender, Maya, 3DMax etc) can be used for 3D printing but you need to go through a few extra steps to get the models to export for 3D printing. I use a program called 123D it's free and is a scaled down version of Autodesks Inventor you can get it here http://www.123dapp.com/design. Clair

How thick is the leather, if it's a rugby ball it will have thicker leather than an American football and will be an absolute nightmare to try and turn wet. You will need to do it like an Australian football search for Syd Sherrin on You tube he has a couple of videos of sewing the old hand style way. Even though it will take longer it's easier to re sew old balls by hand I've done quite a few Australian ones also for the old balls depending on the seam that needs to be fixed it's possible to re sew without turning. If you have a photo of it I can help further and give instructions on what needles etc to use. You can pm me if you prefer if you don't want to put up a photo on the forum. Cheers, Clair

For white, brown, black and yellow I buy from here it's called Zircon http://www.mrechtonline.com.au for others colours I buy from Abbey Saddlery different manufacturer and is called Ritza 25/Tiger but looks the same as the Zircon, you will need a business tax number to buy from them though. Another place that sells the the bigger rolls of Zircon is is http://www.caudwell.co.nz/braid.htm I haven't bought from them but may do so as they look to have a few more colours than Abbey. If you want to try it before investing with larger rolls Tandy sell braided thread on small rolls it looks the same as the other two and they have it in red.

Yep you can use Extra Virgin Olive Oil as well a lot of the holster makers use it, I've used it a couple of times when I've run out of Neatsfoot tends to give a lighter hue compared to Neatsfoot.

I've used the poly 415 from The Thread Exchange I looked for quite awhile to find these sizes in other colours and didn't come up with anything other than the usual black & white. It's not heavily waxed though so it's possible to dye it and wax it yourself which I've done in the past,normal spirit leather dye works fine either Angleus or Fiebings if your are hand sewing. If you are just after thicker thread linen and braided poly comes in a few more colours, I use braided poly 1mm thick exclusively now which is in between 415 & 554.

Sorry silverback I missed this until today, I'm not too sure about price yet as I won't seriously be looking at selling it if I do until next year. Cheers, Clair

Yep I've seen both artists before both do great work, I mentioned Alex (Electric Solos) a bit further back in this thread. The ink he is using is called Stable I only know of it cause they have a distinctive bottle and I had a subscription to the Gnomon Workshop (art video tutorials) for day job stuff at one time and one of the tattoo artists there used it before he made his own brand. Never used it or seen it in person but I've read it's thicker than the other well known tattoo inks which might be a factor in using it for leather. There is a couple of videos floating around for Scott Campbell and it looks like his stuff is laser etched, for colour stuff laser etched then the coloured ink is rubbed in. I reckon with your family history you'll definitely figure it as I can see it being a lucrative side business for you guys.

Cool, the Ferrari has me stumped as well as it's the best example out there. There was another thread here that I posted on with a lot of links showing examples but as it was fairly old I checked them just now and most have gone and some of these were done by established tattoo artists used to the vibration of a tattoo machine and the Ferrari is still the best. The Ferrari guy has some brilliant artwork but there are no other examples of tattooed work that I saw, either on leather or people and he doesn't seem have any tattoos himself so I'm just not sure about it without seeing the car in person or at least some better close up photos. I've seen some other examples of artwork on leather that's being called tattooed just because it's in that style not because it's actually been tattooed by a tattoo machine not saying it is definitely the case here but it could be a possibility. I'd be surprised if any info ever came out on it as fine artists can be even worse that tattoo artists when it comes to trade secrets. Hope you can find a way to do it, I know once I latch on to something I'm going to get it too work and bug the hell out of everyone until I do family members usually try to make themselves scarce when this happens ha ha ha.

Yep like TwinOaks said, in summer in our harsh West Australian sun I can get a really nice tanned hue in a couple of hours. I put a light coat of neatsfoot oil then put it out in the midday sun for couple of hours then put another light coat of neatsfoot on and finish the next day with a light coat of Montana pitch blend. There are some types of leather it works better on I've found Hermann Oak to give the nicest hue some of the cheap stuff goes a muddy light brown if you want to try it try scraps first. The piece of leather in my avatar picture was done this way.

An airbrush is likely to clog, not sure why somebody would want hassle of applying it that way when it's easy to apply with sheep skin or cloth. As long as you are putting on light coats it evens itself out anyway after a few hours.

Thank you for the info Art, my Weaver splitter isn't quite wide enough for a couple of things I do so I may sell it and get one of these in the future. Definitely nice to know someone here has one, may have to look into the hand crank version though as I don't think I'll fit the motorized in my workroom. Cheers, Clair