Johanna

I looked on the shelf, and I have the exact same book, too. Mine still has the Tandy stock # 1891 and price of $5.99 sticker. I have no idea who the other two authors of the book are, but I think (and I may be wrong!) that this book was used in the Al Stohlman Home Study Course at one time. It's written as a textbook, in a style unlike AS's other books. I hope someone can fill in the missing details- I'm curious now! Johanna

I don't even want to think about double loop lacing upside down! I'd miss the whole movie! But you do start in the middle for a buckstitch, for example. The middle of your lace goes at the belt tip. Buckstitching is the only important "no splice!" lacing, unless you're going to hide it with a liner. Most of the time, like doing wallets and checkbooks and purses and so forth, you are better off splicing. The drag on the lace shows the wear after too many pulls. A good splice cannot be seen. You hide the ends inside the leathers when double loop lacing. If you must splice a simpler item, you can skive the ends of the laces and use a drop of leather weld. That's pretty much what they do at the factory anyway. I pull off a little more than an arm's reach from the spool, so I don't know how helpful the chart is going to be. These are estimates- your mileage may vary, of course. But learning to splice is a key to good lacing. Johanna

You know you have selected the right price when the customers gasps, and reaches for his wallet. ~J

Whipstitch: 3.5X Running Stitch: 1.5X Buckstitch: 2.5X Single Loop: 6.5X Double Loop: 8.5X Round Braid: 8X

I second that "Thank you!" You folks have made LW the most interesting and educational leatherworking resource EVER and I am honored to pour the coffee here. A big round of applause is in order for all the people who work behind the scenes- without your help, none of this would be possible. God bless you all! Johanna

Steve completely sold out of stock, and is waiting on a new shipment. Rumor has it that the next set of machines will be a distinctive color. Contact Steve through the forum (Cobra Steve) or his website leathermachineco.com. He's never too busy for his customers and friends. Johanna

What happened, Joane? Did you let the domain name expire? If you still own the domain name, you can get your site back! If I can help you recover what is yours, or if you need a new domain name and hosting, holler. Johanna

Greg is one of the pioneers of getting leatherworkers online and talking, and he is also a sweet leather artist. You lucked out, Luke! You coulda got something from me! Really nice job, now you know you gotta explain the lacing a little. That makes the piece really pop. ~J

You can clean off the copper rivets with any copper cleaner (do NOT get it on the leather unless you test in an inconspicous place first!) We always put a drop or two of Neat lac on them to prevent them from tarnishing. Maybe someone else has a better idea? Johanna

Clarification: The guy that owns Zack White's is named Tim. Kevin Hopkins, in case you haven't figured it out yet, is the owner of Springfield Leather in Springfield, MO. Johanna

I think it's fixed. Everybody jump in and let's see.

I've submitted a ticket to Parachat.

Okay- We've got room reservations...we're going! Try to conceal your laughter at my crappy JC Penney purse, please? Johanna

Well, I checked with the authorities, and they said they couldn't tell me anything, but that I should NOT give him any keys until he accompanies me to the BMV in person and PROVES his license is okay. (Call his bluff, maybe?) His license was suspended for driving a car that had no insurance on it, and Ohio doesn't play around with uninsured drivers. After he gets to court, he will likely lose his driving privileges for a year (he may get work driving privileges IF he has a job then!) and he will pay a higher rate of insurance when it's over. This is after he pays all fines, court costs, reinstatement fees and visits one of the 5 BMVs in Ohio that are able to "unsuspend" DLs. I guess I kinda knew he was not being honest with us, and I'm very disappointed in him. I turned the matter over to his dad after I was advised not to entrust him with one of my cars. Johanna

If you are having small text when you type, click the "add reply" or "post new topic" button and check the size of the font you are using. Forum default is Verdana 3. Is that what you mean? When you click the text size button, a menu should pop up with sizes. Johanna

Posting this for our dear friend Harvey Lutske...wow

Thank you thank you thank you... it doesn't get any simpler than that! Johanna

We're working on it. We don't want to break the board. The last time that happened, all you people freaked out and went through withdrawal. It was horrible. Kate has been experimenting, and so has IPB. It's coming- we're just being on the cautious side. Johanna

Guitar, and I still sing my kids to sleep just about every night. They still want me to. Go figure? Johanna

Is this happening on all sites or just LW? If it is all sites- hold your control key down and scroll the wheel on your mouse if you have one. Or click "view" at the top of the page and click the text size to whatever you prefer. Johanna

Situation- adult stepson got pulled over and got his DL suspended for driving a car with no insurance. Got pulled over again two weeks later in one of our trucks, and the Ohio Trooper informed him that his DL was suspended because of the first charge, which is still pending in court. The very nice trooper did not impound our truck and he didn't charge me with "wrongful entrustment", which he could have done. We took the keys away and told him not to drive anything of ours. Neither case has been to court yet. Now he claims he has a valid license because he paid a reinstatement fee and he wants our permission to drive. He has a license in his wallet, but we don't know if it's valid. How do I check (am I allowed to check?) to see if he has driving privileges in Ohio? I don't want to give him keys (the truck is in MY name!) if he's lying to me, and I can't tell if he is or not. Is there any way of finding out for sure? Would the sheriff's office be able to confirm he's okay to drive or not? I want to give him the truck so he can go to WORK which he sorely needs to do. But I don't want to get in trouble. Johanna

In retail they say a happy customer will tell 4 others. An unhappy customer will tell eleven. When you are working retail, you appreciate "complaints" because they give you a chance to correct the problem, keeping the goodwill of the customer, and eliminate the problem for all the customers who didn't take the time to complain, just grumbled about the inconvenience. People who complained were actually doing us a favor. It's the same way at LW. If someone doesn't hit the "report a to a mod" button or send one of us a PM, we might not realize that there is a problem, whether it's a technical glitch or an individual computer issue. But from 15 years of doing custom leatherwork, I can say for certain there are some customers you do not want. Send them to your competitors. Send them to Wal-Mart. Send them away, or you will be out time and money, and kicking yourself for letting yourself be persuaded to do the job. These customers are different than the jobs we take because there are bills to pay and we don't like the work. I'm talking about customers who are not going to be happy with your work, or not pay you. Johanna PS-John, we need an update of your best creation- do you have more pics of your daughter to share?

OCD is really CDO with the letters in alphabetical order like they are supposed to be!!! I have to go wash my hands now. ~J

PS- I would make him buy the bible first. It is much easier to construct a bible cover to a specific book than to find a bible that fits in one we make. I was in a bookstore the other day looking at bibles (our 15 yr. old got confirmed yesterday!) and there were so many choices! I wasn't even looking at size. ~J

Holly- this job has a lot of red flags! If you decide to do it- triple whatever price you were going to ask, then see if he still wants it. I have learned there are some customers best turned away. When I didn't pay attention and listen to that little voice in my head saying "CAUTION!", I have wound up getting screwed. Johanna