Hi Im Joe

I thought that too until I did my first 50 something plus inch strap.... But seriously it is pretty relaxing.

Dude those are awesome!

LOL. I feel bad hijacking the OP's thread but I don't want him to read some of David's comments and actually think they are correct and/or true.

I got family in Union KY which is right down the road from Florence. I lived in Fort Wright for a few years...God I loved Kentucky. You will like the Aussie. If you don't you can ship it to me!

Awesome! I live in West Chester. Been here my whole life.

I use Aussie on just about everything and love it. I have no experience with Carnauba so I can't really compare the two. If you use aussie take it and spread it on then use a heat gun or a hair dryer to get the leather warm. You can watch it just soak right in. Then I usually put another coat on and buff it like crazy. Gives a great feel and smell.

Really clean nice work!

Ah! Its not so bad. Really it's fancy words for covering up a cut edge. That's it.

Sew-speak?

That lapis side was very clean. It has a couple decent sized holes in it but other than that it is very clean. Most of the stuff from Maverick is like this. They try really hard to be upfront about what you are getting. I have called them and spoke with 3 or 4 different employees...all who have been super helpful and very nice. I ordered a couple different types of Essex and they are for sure seconds. I mean they are still really nice but not like the essex you see in pictures of other people's finished goods who probably ordered direct from Horween. One thing that is kind of a downside is sometimes they don't know what exact tannage stuff is. I understand this as they get a ton of leather and it's hard to keep track of but it can lead to surprises. My advice is to pick carefully from Maverick but if you are careful you can get some killer deals on some great leather.

The one drawback to this plan is the quality from Maverick will not be on par with the stuff from Tannery Row.

Yeah, I"m from USA as well and its not very common for men to keep change in their wallets. It's more common to just carry it loose in your pocket.

Interesting....guess I haven't bought light bulbs in a while.

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?165500-Japanese-pricking-iron-measurements Check that out...should be everything you need.

KY outlawed incandescent light bulbs? WTF?

No problem! Good luck!

You don't need to roll a tape measure over to figure it out. Just hold a ruler along the thickness and see how many mms it is. Or use a vernier gauge (https://www.google.com/search?q=vernier+gauge&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gQuwU9_oEYOUqAbas4LADQ&ved=0CGUQsAQ&biw=1536&bih=860). You don't need a skiving machine either. I've used a safety skiver for everything I've done so far and it works just fine. It just takes a lot longer than a machine. From a functional standpoint the result is just as good as a machine.

Sometimes it is very important to know what you are good at. However, If I can mash stamps onto leather and produce a design so can you. By the same token I know if I spend enough time learning adobe (I use inkscape b/c its free) I can create cool laser cut designs. It's really a function of how bad you want it.

That is even cooler!

I'm not sure how to answer your question. In the picture you posted you would not use a "french" bound edge. A french edge is one where you glue the lining on the grain side of the leather grain to grain. Then you stitch the lining to the hide. Then you roll the lining over the edge of the leather and stitch it down to catch the lining a second time. Example: https://www.google.com/search?q=french+edge+binding+leather&spell=1&tbm=isch&ei=oJOvU_n4H82ZyAS1koL4Cw#q=rolled+edge+leather&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=RUlGtjc9AxU21M%253A%3BZgm86QHEC97R-M%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fsalukifeathers.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F10%252FDSC_7570.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fsalukifeathers.com%252Fpost%252Fgallery%252Ftooled-leather-dog-collars-gallery%252F%3B640%3B424 You calculate it exactly how I described. You have the stitching allowance (I accidentally called this the turnover allowance in my earlier post. This is usually 8 to 10 mm) and then you have the turnover allowance (the thickness of the leather you are turning the edge over). Add these together to determine how much length/width to add to your pattern. For example: I have a wallet. I want to stitch it 4mm in from the edge. I know the thickness of the divider and card pocket adds up to 2.5mm. I just add 8mm (4x2) plus 2.5mm which equals 10.5mm to the overall length for each side of the wallet that I have a turned edge on. So since the top is open and will not have a bound edge that means I need 10.5mm to the width of my wallet pattern. However, both sides of the wallet will be bound therefore I need to add 21mm (10.5 x 2) to the length of my wallet pattern. Hope that helps. This is really hard to describe in text.

So did you airbrush the letters on? It looks pretty awesome!

For fabric linings you glue just the edges to the leather. You measure the lining as if you were not doing bound edges that way when you turn the edge it will cover the fabric. Then you can catch the bound edge and the lining up in the stitching. I think you want to do 8 or 10 mm for a turnover allowance. This does not include the thickness of any leather you may be turning the edge over. Basically, the straight turnover allowance is twice w/e your stitching line distance from the edge is. So if you are stitching 4 mm in from the edge you allow 8 mm for the turnover. This guarantees your stitch line will be right in the middle of the turnover. If you are turning the edge over something and not just onto itself you have to add to the turnover allowances the thickness of the various layers of leather. For example, if you have 2 layers of 1mm thick leather to turn an edge over then you have to add 2mm to the 8mm turnover allowance for a total of 10mm extra. I hope that makes sense. If not I'll try to explain again.

That's awesome.

^ My point exactly.

What a great movie. "Son, you look like you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose" has to be one of the best lines ever.