MikeG

Nicely done - I have something similar for a little Kel-Tec. I really like to be able to carry without drawing attention. Mine is cut down a little more so it is easier to get hold of.

Thanks for the kind comments. This has been fun. Several friends have offered to help with providing the caps, but not much else . . . . Kiwican, I take a pliers and open the crimped part of the cap until it is flat Then use a piece of pipe to further flatten and true the crimped part. Then punch a hole in the fob. I cut the leather round I punched out down to fit inside the back of the cap and then assemble it with contact cement, stitch and burnish.

I made a few keyfobs over Christmas as presents, using a template found on the forum here. Was using conchos and padding them. I think they turned out well. Then I came across an idea using bottle caps in leather & thought it might work - YES! My wife likes them. The trick is finding the right bottle caps - I was lucky and the beer is not bad. She is not ready to let me mass produce them yet, but it's a start . . .

Hey, Gnome - There's a Singer 31-15 for $200 in Old Hickory and a Consew 250 for $250 in Lewisburg on the Nashville Craigslist. There are a lot of these machines floating around. I'm guessing you will want a walking foot machine, but the folks here on this site can tell you whether a particular model machine will be good for what you want to do. Good luck!!

I'm in my 13th house. I've bought and sold using realtors and by myself. I have dealt with my share of the bottom feeders, but have also been fortunate to work with two phenomenal folks (both were brokers that owned the business). The coolest house deal was one we bought from the owner on a handshake. Got the paperwork from the bank (before the internet), and completed the deal in about 15 minutes. Of course that was also before asbestos, lead paint, radon and hazardous waste. Ah, the good old days . . . .

Hey, Gnome & Homestead - good to see some more southern folk on here. Tennessee's a pretty big state. I'm between Nashville & Chattanooga. How about you? BTW, I have a couple of round knives, and although I'm totally an amateur, I always do better with a round knife than with a brand new razor knife blade. Hey, Gnome & Homestead - good to see some more southern folk on here. Tennessee's a pretty big state. I'm between Nashville & Chattanooga. How about you? BTW, I have a couple of round knives, and although I'm totally an amateur, I always do better with a round knife than with a brand new razor knife blade.

You have some beautiful and unique hardware on your bags. Really sets them off.

Love the speedy holster. Waiting to see your quick draw holster . . . .

Nice clean stitching. It looks like you put the conchos in after stitching the conchos down - does that mean the screws are exposed on the back side? Can't help you much with burnishing thin leather, but there will be lots of others who can chime in. You might consider rolling the edges under so there is no exposed edge. As for pictures, take a look at Irfanview. It's a free program that is super simple -- image>resize allows you to shrink pictures by percentage. You can also easily crop and enhance colors. I've been using it for years and still can't find a program I like better. Keep up the good work and let's see some more dog collars!

Give a look at Irfanview - I have used it for years. It is free and totally simple. You can resize by percentage with just a click and you can do easy color corrections and sharpening, too. Crop a pic by just dragging the frame - that can make a picture smaller by eliminating unwanted background. It's got a ton of other picture tweaks I never use. I have used Paint, PhotoShop and others, but IView is my go to for posting pictures. http://www.irfanview.com/

I like leatherworker.net. Really like that I can find all the truly extraordinary talent and willingness to share and help at every level right here.

Welcome from Manchester. There is an active guild that meets monthly in the Hermitage area. I went a couple of times, but it's a 3 hour round-trip for me and so I can't regularly attend. Their website is http://www.sclcg.net/joomla/ If you want to PM me, I will send you the direct e-mail for the current president. Cheers, Mike

beautiful crisp and deep impressions! I wish mine would look that clean.

Absolutely gorgeous! As Tugadude said above, heirloom quality. Or, as Darth Vader would say, "Impressive." Thanks for showing it.

Fine looking work. The little glimpse of the board is a teaser - I just bet the board is of the same caliber workmanship. I'm totally jealous of your friend. I, too, like the offset flap. Thanks for showing it. Beautiful molding.

I have some projects in mind that need a really nice image transfer. Although others do it, I am concerned about using acetone on leather. I have heard of using mod-podge and if you look up Billy 2-shews you will find a link to his video. He is a master at this and uses a product called "Picture This." https://www.plaidonline.com/picture-this-transfer-medium/95/product.htm I hope you find a good solution, and that you will post back your success!

Very neatly done!

Indiana, To be honest, it doesn't look that far off to me. Maybe the colors are just too bright for a tattered flag. I believe if you make the white more yellow, brown or gray and mute the red and blue with a little white you will be much closer to the final effect you are looking for, and as you wash the colors out you may feel a little better about it. Good luck with it and my bet is you will be much more critical of the final product than your customer. The basic work is good.

Machine collecting can become a hobby in itself. I have a Pfaff 332 that is the spitting image of yours. Welcome to the forum!

Art, When I first started leatherwork, I attended a class where I was totally embarrassed that my best sharpening efforts were very poor. I quickly learned that leather tools need to be surgically sharp. I now sharpen blades on glass with wet/dry paper. Once my blades are sharp, I keep them honed, and I'm one of the guys that hones my razor knifes and scalpel blades. I'm of the belief that keeping a properly sharpened blade honed/polished is all that is needed and that resharpening is almost never required unless it is damaged or nicked. I would like your take on that. Another question -- head knives. Is there any way to set up a jig for sharpening a curved blade? I have one that has a true circular blade and have thought of drilling a hole at the radius & using a bolt to maintain a constant angle for sharpening -- I just haven't built up the courage to drill a hole in a really nice head knife. My others are not truly round or the curve is too large to do this. So what is the best way to get a perfect uniform angle? I am looking forward to this forum! Thanks, Mike

Sweet! Nice and clean. Thanks for the photo.

Can you show a picture of the back? Interested in how the stitching is run. Thanks!

LW, What a great tribute. Are ticket books a standard size everywhere? I can see this as a great community project. Thanks for posting.

Thank you Kiwican and Tinker Tailor. I have really been dreading this project. I appreciate the thoughts on how to make it doable. Nice pix, Tinker Tailor

A friend wants me to cover a thermos. I have looked here and across the web. The Stohlman book on cases has a thermos cover with a top and bottom - I only want a sleeve with no top and bottom. The Stohlman instructions show wrapping the thermos and then sewing it with a curved needle and awl. This is way above my current level, and not something I want to try right now (maybe in the future when I have more time) My question -- can a sleeve be made and sewn together and then slid onto the thermos? If so, would it need to be glued, or could it be "wet formed" to the thermos after the sleeve is sewn together? I am getting ready to try making a slightly tight sleeve, wetting it and trying to force it onto the thermos, but before i do I am hoping to get some thoughts here. If there are other methods that a sleeve can be attached to a thermos, I would appreciate knowing about them. Thanks in advance, Mike