BDAZ

Well said! BTW I lectured in Photography at Trent Poly in the 70s. Bob

I use the double 90% of the time and the left the rest on my Cowboy. Bob

This is based on my experience in wide format digital printing and memory of having read this description of those dyes. There are two ways to design a dye, either using pigments held in suspension (a colloid) in a solvent (water can be the solvent as well as alcohol) or actual dyes dissolved in a solvent. The low VOC (volatile organic compounds) can be acrylic or use solvents that do not evaporate as quickly as alcohols. There are regulations in CA making it very difficult to sell certain high VOC products. That being said, I would and do use the solvent dyes as they tend to penetrate deeper into the leather and require less buffing to remove excess which hasn't penetrated. Neatsfoot is supposed to be an oil derived from the shin bones of calves. It's unlikely that is the case today but there is a percentage of real neatsfoot in the "pure" derived from bones. The compound is the natural oil extended/adulterated with other oils including petrochemicals. Here is the MSDS of the pure: 1. Ingredients Name CAS# OSHA ACGIH % Triglycerides 8002-64-0 N/A N/A 100 This product contains no hazardous material. HEALTH - 1 REACTIVITY - 0 FLAMMABILLTY - 0 Here's the MSDS on the compound: Severely Hydrotreated Heavy - INHALATION: Vapors or oil mist from this product may Naphthenic Distillate cause mild irritation of the upper respiratory tract. (CAS Reg No. 64742-52-5) INGESTION: Considered no more than slightly toxic if OSHA PEL: swallowed. Acute oral LD50 (rat) greater than 5 g/kg of ACGIH TLV: body weight. Severely Hydrotreated Light - CARCINOGENICITY: Naphthenic Distillate NTP? No (CAS Reg No. 64742-53-6) IARC MONOGRAPHS? No OSHA PEL: OSHA REGULATED? No ACGIH TLV: SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF EXPOSURE: As noted above. Prolonged Exposure limit for total product None and repeated skin contact may lead to various skin as mineral oil mist in air: disorders such as dermatitis, oil acne or folliculitis. OSHA PEL: 5 mg/m3 Minute amounts aspirated into the lungs during ingestion ACGIH TLV: 5 mg/m3 (TLV/TWA); 10 mg/m3 (TLV/STEL) I stick with the pure. Hope that helps, but note, I am no expert in leather dyes. I do hold patents on soy based solvents and am currently a partner in an international wide format printing business. Bob

Heavy Dutyartisan® TORO-3200 Stitchers with a 12 1⁄2" working area cylinder bed are known as Compound Needle Feed, Walking Foot (Unison Feed) Lockstitch Sewing Machine and include a very large size Bobbin and Oscillating Shuttle Hook system designed to stitch from as light as 2 to 3 sheets of paper, up to as heavy as 9⁄10 inch or 24.1 mm thick. Some features of theartisan® TORO-3200 include a lever type stitch regulator with Reverse feed and a built-in bobbin winder mechanism. The machines stitch using threads manufactured using bonded twisted Nylon or Poly Threads from light weight sizes such as z-69 (tex 70) up to as heavy as size z-415 (tex 410) industrial threads. We recommend genuine SCHMETZ brand Needles from diameters as light as 794 NM110, (#18) up to NM250 (#27) including leather point needles 794 S #21 to #26 and 794 D #23 to #25.artisan®is the direct distributor of Schmetz brand, German manufactured highest quality needles and carries all of the various sizes. Please telephone or E-mail us at 888 838 1408 for help in deciding what is best size needle for your requirements. TORO-3200 with "U" Table$2175.00 My suggestion is to stop screwing around and purchase a machine that will do it all or stay with hand stitching and stop whinging. I saw this advertised in a magazine and it seems to have a wider range of capabilities than the 3200 Cowboy. If you want to spend your time tinkering instead of making leather products that could generate income, that's your choice bou IMHO, not a productive one. The only work I have done on my 3200 was to rework the electronics to slow the stitch rate way down, and to replace a flywheel with a bad bearing. I never have to waste any production time messing around with tinkering. To that end, the 3200 paid for itself long ago, both is sales and not a single product ruined by the machine. I can stitch a full belt and the last stitches are in the exact holes as the first. Again, please post a photograph of one of your items with the desired thread. Bob

I am a former fine arts professor and department head. IMHO, there are two aspects of being an artist. First is mastering the craft of the media you are working in. This could be leather, water color, photography, paint, music, dance. Once mastered, a small percentage of the participants (my guess is 5%) then have the ability to create art using the craft they have mastered. The other 95% produce well crafted items that generally sell at a fraction of those items that are acknowledged as art. Sometimes the process of recognizing a true artists is impaired due to the cultural norms at the time the work is being evaluated. Most great artists have rarely been recognized during their lifetimes, and many who have been are discarded as our cultural aesthetic moves on. As for me, I am definitely NOT an artist with leather. I am only interested in producing affordable products with a market and sufficient profit to justify my time. I consider myself a craft person, or artisan but not an artist. On the other hand, I do consider myself an artist in the realm of music and photography. Although I have supported my self well teaching and doing architectural photography, it was a means to an end. The same with music. I have the option not to either perform nor record anything I don't feel is "artistic". In addition, I will only photograph architecture that is worthy of my efforts, and have turned down many commissions. I have seen many artists displaying their work on this site, work that I am sure, they could never charge enough to pay for their time, but that generally is not top priority for most artists. Just my two cents. Bob

I think you are barking up the wrong mast. Do you have any pictures of your bags with the monster threads? Bob

I have used a black marker for edging which seems to hold up. Permanent marker is soluble in Alcohol. You may want to try to wipe down the belt with Acetone or Methylated Spirits (denatured Alcohol) and remove as much gunk as possible and try again. I doubt it will ever be 100% but you never know. Bob

That's for sure! I have converted a bathroom to a humidor using a home made swamp cooler which keeps all my leather and musical instruments at 60% Works like a champ! Wne I lived in SFl, everything turned green! Bob

Yep, this time of year is perfect leather weather... wet forming takes no more than an hour or two in the sun at 5% humidity. Where were you in AZ and where are you now? Bob I don't think he considered the practicality of the aesthetics he would like to achieve. With the walking foot and heavy upholstery thread the Singer does an adequate job for the $$. I turn down jobs for any light weight leathers. I find you can't recoup the cost of time in the price. Bob

If you go back to the original post I think you are missing the point. He is not making holsters, which is an ideal task for a 3200. I stitch 5-6oz leather with it and I suspect 4oz would be just too thin, because, in my case, there are parts of an item which requires a stitch through a single layer of 5-6oz and it's very difficult to get the knot right. I doubt a single 4oz would work without a loop. I use heavy polyester and a 110 needle and I get excellent results on thinner leathers and corduras.And for <$200 it's a new machine with a warranty and the option to return it if it doesn't do the job. Bob

My suggestion is to head into a sewing shop like Jo Ann's and bring in some scrap leather and have then load up one of the heavy duty Singers with Polyester Outdoor Upholstery thread and 110 leather needles and do some testing. JoAnn's has the singer heavy duty at $229 with a 40% discount tomorrow. There is an inexpensive walking foot attachment available as well. Again, I have successfully stitched 5-6oz x 2 with this machine and it supplements my Cowboy on thinner materials and fabrics as well as neoprene. Bob

Then we have the problem of BBQ sauce. I am a fan of East Carolina BBQ sauce but will accept the brown stuff in a pinch.. Now where's my spray bottle, I have some leather to case! Bob

Musical instrument cases. The largest is around 30" Bob

There was a food show that took real New York Pizza, Boston pan "pizza" and Chicago thin crust "pizza" and did taste tests around the rest of the country. 9 out of 10 preferred the NY Pizza. It is what it is..The speed of light is 186,000 mps give or take and it's not an opinion. Just to address Immiketoo's comment about Rome. I will of course make an exception for Napoli Pizza since they invented what I would consider the precursor and also have the right attitude maintaining strict controls of what can and can't be called pizza. http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/chi_siamo So I would accept Napoli Pizza as the great grandfather of New York Pizza. BTW I don't eat at Panda Express, Taco Bell, Opah! or most sushi places. Speaking of Chicago I spent a week in Greek Town..GREAT food! You can even get Retsina. Bob

No fight or arguments, just like debating the speed of light. It is what it is. There are round flat breads cooked in pans with tomato and cheese goop, thick doughy cakes with tomato and cheese goop and don't even get me started on Pineapple. There's Brooklyn style Pizza (AKA NY Style) and then all the other stuff. As they say, no accounting for taste and some folks drink Bud light..lots of em. If you can see through a glass of beer, I don't drink it and if a slice cracks when you fold it, I don't eat it. Bob Is this quick casing or traditional??

Sorry Gary, no pizza exists West of the Hudson and SOuth of Brooklyn or North of the Bronx. It's just the way it is. Bob

There is difference between used and vintage as well. You may find used industrial machines which may cost a bit more but will do the job for many years and also have a reasonable resale price. Toledo, usually in the banner ads, sells used machines and not too far from MI. Bob

I make a pocket holster that uses a heavy piece of skirting for the back and then stitch a 3 oz milled veg tanned to the front, which is wet formed. Milled veg tanned is similar in pliancy to garment. Never had any issues and these holsters spend their life in sweaty pockets with a chunk of steel and plastic bouncing around. Never had a failure, but make sure you have the tension set properly so the loop is in the center. Bob

Great move.I assume you don't miss Chicago winters!! I may take you up on that beer! BTW I used to play traditional Irish music at the Abbey Tavern, Chief O'Neill's, Irish Fest in Milwaukee and many other places in Chicagoland. The band wanted me to move and I told them I wouldn't be able to handle the winters. Again, thanks for the great videos. Bob

Are you in Greece working with the refugees, retired or working? I used to spend time in Greece when I was a kid. Loved it! Definitely in my immediate future. If you want to PM me... Bob

I used to use a sprayer with a drop of dishwashing detergent in distilled water for carving. It's been a while as these days I only case for stamping and embossing of production work. A problem this time of year is the 5% humidity in the workshop. I use a piece of cellulose sponge and then keep everything covered with plastic till ready to go. Wet forming usually takes a couple of hours in the mid day sun. Thanks for a very interesting and well produced video. Bob

I took a close look at your work and the problem is simple...sharks don't live in Alberta! Actually it looks like you have a layer of something preventing the dye from penetrating the surface. The acrylic paint is more adhesive but you may find it also chips or peels off. This week I had a wholesale order for 24 cases in brown, black, russet and natural. I always use drum dyed Wicket and Craig drum dyed veg tanned for colors and whatever I have lying around for the natural. I was edge coating the 24th item, a natural, and it dripped ..waaaa. I decided to try to dye the case black with USMC. It had no treatment other than having been cased, stamped then dried and wet formed and dried again. I slathered on the USMC using a wool dauber so it thoroughly soaked in and let it dry. I then gave it a second coat and let it dry thoroughly in the AZ sun (5% humidity and 103F). I then buffed off the excess dye, making sure there was sold black below the excess. I then sponged on 50% resolene, which was absorbed into the dyed layer, dried again and the result was perfect. Better in fact, than the drum dyed. Last coat was a Feibings spray wax. Took less than 1/2 hour, plus dry time, to save the case and keep the customer happy. He sells more blacks than natural. I have also noticed that different hides from Tandy take dyes differently. I have learned that it doesn't pay to use crappy materials. Only cheapskates can afford to make things twice. Bob

After playing with Photoshop and superimposing one image over the other it appears the buckle frame itself is the same size as the Tandy buckle but the prong seems to be smaller and narrower. The Chicago screws are a #6 punch but that is definitely too big for the prong.. I'm thinking I'll just have to wing it. Actually the press has the included steel plate I use under the granite. I have switched to quartz for my next project. Tighter grain and less prone to shattering and cracking. Thanks! Bob

I haven't tried his buckle, I winged it with the oblong punch. Bob

I was in the middle of a large project that required a lot of embossing using my 6 ton press. The piece of granite I use as a stage shattered after one overly enthusiastic pull. There is a granite kitchen place a few miles from the shop so I headed over and explained my situation to one of the managers. He took me over to their scrap box and let me take whatever I wanted. I found a few perfect pieces of granite as well as a few quartz, which is even better. I asked him if I could make something for him from leather and he showed me his belt. It was about torn through from where he clips on his tape. I told him I would be happy to make a new belt, using the same hardware and I would reinforce the area where his tape clips on. I had some usable leather and wanted to make a usable belt with minimum effort. I am sure he will be thrilled. I took a picture of the back of the buckle are and took measurements but I have no idea what size to punch the holes. I found a Tandy buckle to have a look at the final belt but the 2mm holes I punched are too small for this buckle. I have to deliver the belt tomorrow and don't want to show up with a hand punch if they are too small. I also don't want them too big either. Based on the pictures, any suggestions about the best guess at hole sizes for the buckle? I don't make belts and this is probably the first one I have made in years! Thanks! Bob