BDAZ

Nice stuff! Here's an idea for you: I made this for my local sushi bar to hold their pencils. I assume they are as numerous as they are here. They wanted more but it's not really what I do for $$. It says Sushi in Japanese. BTW I transfer the design which is printed in reverse on a laser printer. I then tape it to the leather, toner side down, saturate the paper with acetone and then run over it with a creaser. And Bob's your uncle!

Unfortunately this is the US legal system and just wouldn't be practical. I used to live in the UK and it's a completely different kettle of fish here. Even if you win, it's unlikely you will collect unless you have a lawyer and that costs more than the jobs worth. Been watching "Can't pay, we'll take it away" and it would never work like that here. BTW I was an avid Sporting Clay shooter and occasionally won the club trophy at the Christmas Common club near Oxford. I was out every Saturday and Sunday and have a custom Winchester of which only 500 were made for the UK market. I took lessons at H&H. Cheers! Bob

Super bags, elegant, bullet proof and very salable. Great idea and a very nice meld of the waxed cotton and harness leather. Bob

The actual percentages are a "trade secret" in all MSDS and SDS documents. I believe that the reporting requirements may have changed in the past few years. and that could be the reason it seems to have disappeared. I'd check but it's probably not worth it. I discovered the Ethyl Acetate component on a RECENT document listing products containing EA, but with no percentages given. I formulated a biobased solvent which had just 3% of a specific chemical which made a dramatic difference to the performance of the solvent in removing layers of lead paint. So it's hard to tell the impact of adding a small amount of a chemical on the final efficacy without being familiar with the chemistry, which I am not. I think at this point, let's see what develops or dissolves.. Bob

The wet dry diamond blade as in the photograph was $12 but a dry only was $6. I bought the wet/dry and splashed on water so there was little dust. I used a squeeze bottle. Still pretty messy but I suspect I can throw in a 4" angle grinder metal blade and use it for cutting bar steel I use in the press. Bob

I was using an older MSDS. A more modern one is Ethyl Acetate 70 - 90% Ethyl Alcohol 10 - 30% My guess is it's the 70/30 ratio since ethyl is cheaper. However Methyl Alcohol in Kleen Strip is a more active solvent than Ethyl and also contains Ethyl Acetate. In the solvent industry (I hold patents in biodegradable solvents) we say, like dissolves like, so a lot of the efficacy of either solvent is going to be based on the formula of the offending paint. In addition, Tandy doesn't sell deglazer in quarts so not sure where you buy yours? I don't use it so I don't source it in production quantities. There are also a number of less expensive solvents available at the local hardware store including xylene, tuelene and MEK, all nasty stuff to be handled with care, but may prevail when the alcohols dont. One problem is that we don't know if this is a paint, pigment or dye that needs to be removed. Your suggestion of trying the deglazer if the denatured alcohol fails is a good one as would be to purchase small quantities of the other solvents mentioned for testing. Bob

I do the same with my local granite counter top guys. They let me pick through their scrap box. I made a belt for the manager to replace the one which was almost won through. I reinforced the segment where he carries his tape. I now have the run of the scrap box (many pieces even larger than yours), some squared and others with broken ends. I tend to destroy granite with my 12 ton press when I get too enthusiastic. It shatters or splits. I have switched to Quartz, which is supposed to be harder and denser than granite. I recently bought an inexpensive tile saw at Harbor Freight to square of the ends. It cuts through granite and quartz like butter. Cost around $20 with a coupon, plus the blade.

Not knowing what they used once cant be 100% sure the Alcohol will work but start in an inconspicuous area with a small amount and let it dwell for a bit then see what happens with a paper towel. You will need a lot of paper towels, patience and elbow grease if denatured is the right solvent. Keep us posted! Bob

Congratulations! You will have years of trouble free sewing. Bob

No, what I am saying is that Keen is NOT art, it's illustration, craft, which was designed to sell. I was a tenured Fine Arts professor at a major university, and taught both graphic design and fine Arts streams. I used to tell the fine art students that their program would help them develop their art and vision, and prepare them for a career flipping burgers. The Graphic Design students were there preparing for a career in practical art and ended up working in advertising, print and graphics production, etc. Being able to draw is NOT an indicator of an artist, as demonstrated by all the technical draftspeople out there. I think the same can be applied to leather. There are many leather artists that create beautiful and aesthetically pleasing designs that express their personal vision, and then they posses the skills and mastery of the craft to create that vision in leather, Then there are crafts people like myself, that can copy a pattern to produce a competent item in leather, but it's not art, just craft and style. I personally don't do it as an art but because I like working with my hands and it produces an income stream. Bob

Feibings Deglaze is another Leather Company rip off. It is mostly ethyl alcohol (like you find in all alcoholic beverages) and ethyl acetate, ethenol reacted with acetic acid to produce enhanced effects. It is also contained in Kleen Strip Denatured Alcohol, at $7 a quart, or you can buy Feibings Deglaze, for $41.60 a quart (in 4oz bottles). What a country! Bob

Art?: The Keen stuff was popular in the 60s and is now seen as a cultural artifact 50 years later. The Rembrandt has always been "art" as it transcends the cultural aesthetics of the time. Rembrandts are worth $50M plus, Keens going for <$500.

Here is the MSDS: http://www.weaverleathersupply.com/docs/default-source/sds/Weaver-Gum-Tragacanth-50-2075.pdf?sfvrsn=2' And here is what the MSDS SHOULD look like: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927628 Bob I have been doing some research since this thread started unravelling, looking into alternatives for Gum Tragacanth. First off astragulus is NOT GT with a different name. Totally unrelated and is an herb made from a root, not a sap like GT. It may appear to have the same properties but is no way related. There is a huge Asian supermarket near me and I was able to find Katri Gum (Sterculia Urens), the Hindi name for GT in the Indian section. 100 g was around $4 and had a few dozen small chunks of GT. 1 chunk in 4 oz of wter left overnight produced a container of gel ready for application. I did a little more research and checked on the Material Safety Data Sheet for bothe Tandy and Feibings GT offering, which I have been using for years. SURPRISE! It's not Gum Tragacanth but Xanthan Gum. Maybe it was GT once upon a time but not anymore. Seems Xanthan gum, easily produced in a factory, has become an inexpensive substitute Gum Tragacanth. My guess is that in both the Tandy and Feibings offerings, the bottle costs more than the ingredients. I am going to use the real thing on my next project and see if there is any discernible difference. I also tested Gum Arabica and Agar Agar, and neither seems suitable as a replacement edge dressing. Bob

I think an analog is found in musical instruments. There was a perl engraver in the early 20th century named Consalvi who engrave pearl to be inlaid in banjos produced in New York and Boston: Many of these banjos are still being played today. In addition to these high end musical instruments, some were produced for exhibition at major international expositions and were made as pure art. If you visit the Boston Museum of Fine Art, there is a whole gallery of similar instruments that were built and decorated far beyond their actual requirements as a musical instrument. This next image is from their exhibit: I recreated the Consalvi "Gryphon" for t-shirts and also had a stamp made for decorating banjo straps. It took me a month to retrace and recreate the design in Photoshop, and I followed every cut made by Consalvi. It was not unlike carving leather. I see some of the saddles produced by leather artists as being more of a show case for their work, than a functional item. As for the exhibition banjos, I doubt any were ever played on stage and went straight into collections. Bob

Yikes! That was from a Fosters ad... Bob

"The Crocs ate all the Sharks"!

Brilliant Harry! What paint do you use in your machine? How do you catch the crocs? Stand on a beach with dead chickens in your hands?? Bob

Xanthan gum is around $10 for 16oz, real Gum Tragacanth is around $20 for 16 oz. Some bean counter at Feibings figured we are all stupid and wouldn't know the difference. Of course we all buy Coca Cola but the coca has been gone for a long time! Xanthan is a byproduct of black rot introduced to typically GMO soybean or corn and then extracted. Gum Tragacanth is the sap of various sub species of a bush harvested a bit like opium and is mainly sourced from Iran. Of course the leather doesn't care about GMO since that probably all it ate. Bob

I have been doing some research since this thread started unravelling, looking into alternatives for Gum Tragacanth. First off astragulus is NOT GT with a different name. Totally unrelated and is an herb made from a root, not a sap like GT. It may appear to have the same properties but is no way related. There is a huge Asian supermarket near me and I was able to find Katri Gum (Sterculia Urens), the Hindi name for GT in the Indian section. 100 g was around $4 and had a few dozen small chunks of GT. 1 chunk in 4 oz of wter left overnight produced a container of gel ready for application. I did a little more research and checked on the Material Safety Data Sheet for bothe Tandy and Feibings GT offering, which I have been using for years. SURPRISE! It's not Gum Tragacanth but Xanthan Gum. Maybe it was GT once upon a time but not anymore. Seems Xanthan gum, easily produced in a factory, has become an inexpensive substitute Gum Tragacanth. My guess is that in both the Tandy and Feibings offerings, the bottle costs more than the ingredients. I am going to use the real thing on my next project and see if there is any discernible difference. I also tested Gum Arabica and Agar Agar, and neither seems suitable as a replacement edge dressing. Bob

I am familiar with CA VOC regs, especially South County (LA) which are the strictest in the country. I doubt that either product contained sufficient VOCs to interact with the finish , however, Resolene contains: Poly(methyl methacrylate-coethyl acrylate) 9010-88-2 propanol 67-63-0 200-661-7 These, when they off gas, may interact with a lacquer finish, not polyurethane. I would check an invisible part of the finish with a drop of alcohol and see if there is a response. PU is usually pretty bullet proof. Maybe just bad Mojo!? Bob

I play Irish tenor banjo and used to play in The City in the 70s. Slainte Bob

Bob, didn't mean to appear snooty, but you are quite right. Actually I should have stated the speed reducer or the hand wheel to be accurate. Regardless, a great machine that has paid for itself many times over! Bob

Yes I believe it also functions as a flywheel: fly·wheel ˈflīˌ(h)wēl/ noun a heavy revolving wheel in a machine that is used to increase the machine's momentum and thereby provide greater stability or a reserve of available power during interruptions in the delivery of power to the machine.

Gum Tragacanth is water soluble, so may be OK for Eskimos but NOT for a belt in Spain, other than to produce a glossy edge. Since the flesh side of the belt will possibly get wet from sweat, you should seal it. I use Resolene, which is an acrylic and will seal the leather and prevent any staining of either pants or leather. Where in Ireland are you? I used to live in Dublin but spend a lot of time in West Clare. Bob

I have found vinagaroon to be both unstable and unpredictable. I found it lightens over the years. I no longer use it. I would suggest acrylic paints from the local hobby store like michaels. I have tested their durability and they hold up for years, especially under a coat of resolene. Go for the expensive ones ($.79 a bottle). It's a good as any acrylic leather paint. Bob