billybopp

The card slots look to be "ribbon slots". You'll find me info about that by searching "Ribbon slots" here on LWN. - Bill

Either way can work, but there are trade-offs. Natural fibers such as linen tend to fray and pick up more color near the needles. Synthetics such as polyester also fray and pick up color, but FAR less than do natural threads. Dye pick-up and fraying tend to occur most in the last few inches near the needles, so allow a good amount of extra thread for that. Lighter colors will show dye-pick up more than darker. As @Matt Smentions above, shorter lengths are easier to work with, but you can't totally hide the splices. Longer lengths are harder to work because they can get tangled, but there's nothing to hide other than the overlap where stitches begin and end: you just have to work a little differently to prevent tangling and a bit more work pulling thread but note, as you move along you're dealing with less thread after each stitch and it becomes easier. There's pretty much no choice with natural thread than to go with shorter lengths and splice. Synthetics give you the option to go either way as find comfortable to you. My personal preference is to go with synthetic and no splices. - Bill

They all get dull eventually, it's just that the better ones keep their edge longer. They can be sharpened a number of ways from inside, outside, or both. A little sandpaper or a stone for the outside and just twirl the punch will do the trick. Inside is slightly harder, but I've had good luck using a pointy stone meant for use with a Dremel works well for me (although only by hand, as IN the Dremel would probably overheat and spoil the heat treat). I suppose a pointy stick with some sandpaper would work nicely for inside as well. I'm sure there are other ways to do this as well! Most punches are tapered, so as you remove metal from the edge, you very slightly change the diameter of the hole, but that should not make much difference until you've removed a pretty substantial amount of metal (hopefully after years of use and sharpening!) - Bill

You might try an awl blade from Barry King ($30) or LeatherWranglers($25). The Leatherwranglers blade is Osborne, but will come profiled an sharpened, and might serve as a reference for your own blade profile and sharpness! A truly sharp awl blade will go through well over 1/2 of stacked leather without all that much effort. It'll also go right through the backside and into your finger almost without feeling it. :D - Bill

Lol. Are you sure your name isn't really Tom Sawyer?

I yelled at the folks below me and was yelled at by the folks above me quite regularly. We were always made to feel like as good as we were was never good enough. It was rare to receive praise. So just like regular corporate America job!

Tandy's eco-flo waterstain is a pretty decent looking metalic-ish gold color. I think it is designed to be an additive to other colors to give them gold fleck, but it has worked well as a stand-alone for me. - Bill

I don't see a teacher's desk. I see a big ol' solid work-surface with five storage drawers. Maybe get a big ol' piece of HDPE that's a little longer than the top and there you have a good solid cutting surface for your leather - it's sometimes easier to use a slightly shorter table to cut on so that you are above your work. A nice wooden sliding till in the file drawers would help make better use of the space there - I suspect there are already file hanging rails that the till could ride on. As for storage, I use these and organize items in a grid with size going horizontally and color vertically. So, for example I have a row of Line 24 snaps with the setting dies in the first column then silver, gold, black, brass, antique brass, etc - and the same for rivets and such with the last few rows for miscellaneous small items. I also use one of these for larger items like rings, buckles, etc. The drawers have a divider in them, so I sort snap / rivet parts within the drawer too. Fortunately, I found these containers on sale and paid about half the price you see listed in the links. Currently they sit on the floor since I don't have a work room, but when I do have one they will be wall mountable which will keep them isolated from work surfaces to help keep from bouncing them around when pounding / tooling. I'll probably do the same for tools and hang them on the wall as well. What you do, though, has to suit you and the way that you work. Since we each work differently, we'll all have different solutions. Just food for thought - Bill

He means a pinned topic in the sewing machine forum. Pinned topics are sometimes called sticky ( like a post-it note too).

I think you're going to like the pro dye! It's FAR nicer than the Tandy water-based. 1. As most, I use gloves when dying, but OOPS happens. By far the best hand cleaner I've ever used is "Dye-Gone-II". It leaves a little bit of a smell on your hands, but removes dye pretty darn well. It also works on fabrics, at least to some extent. Whether hands or fabric, if you can get to it quickly it's easier. 2. It's thin enough to go through an airbrush just fine, but I thin it about 50/50 so that I can control it a little better .. More spray, darker color. I have used dye reducer, but mostly use 90% rubbing alcohol now and can't tell the difference. 3. I don't pre-oil. I've tried it and again couldn't tell the difference - but that could just be my technique. YMMV. I do post oil most of the time since alcohol / dye tends to dry and harden the leather a bit. Sometimes tho, that hardening works to your advantage! 4. I don't really know how long it takes to dry - that probably depends on how much dye I guess. I just let it sit overnight and that works fine. - Bill

... So THAT'S what happens to cell phone slip covers when they go to die. - Bill

How is the blade, tho?

Did you notice that the post machine has a minimum order of 10?? They are both head only - up to you so sort out a table, motor, and such. And, as stated above, don't count on any support really. None of which makes them for the faint of heart, probably even for somebody with a lot of experience much less a beginner. - Bill

Is this what you're looking for? I expect lead shot might be hard to come by, but BBs would probably work as well. - Bill

Most cigar stores will give you cigar boxes, or sell them to you for a few $. They come in lots of sizes and styles, some with hinged lids some sliding lids, some fancy some plain. Most are lined with Spanish Cedar which smells incredible! I've wrapped a couple in leather, cut foam and felt for inside and gifted them as jewelry boxes. I also use some for tools - they are incredibly handy to have around! - Bill

I use a Logan 560-1 picture framing mat cutter to cut leather with - similar to what you Springfield is using, but just a bit smaller. We do a some custom picture framing, so had it anyway, and I decided one day to try it on leather and it worked great with a couple of limitations - mostly the throat depth behind the rail limits how deep into the leather I can cut, it's about 7 or 8 inches for pieces larger than about 50" or so (they fit between the hinges), and the straight edge is 60" long, so big enough to do most of what I need to do. Blades are inexpensive and pretty darn good out of the box, but I do strop them a bit. They also have the Adapt-a-rule system that is not board mounted($65 on Amazon), so you can clamp the straight edge to your work surface and run a cutter along it ($21 on Amazon). The longest they offer is 60", so reasonably large and without the throat depth limitation of the board mounted cutter that I use. I also use a Fiskars rotary paper trimmer($48 on Amazon) for thinner leather up to about 12" wide. - Bill

You mentioned using antique gel - if you're referring to Tandy antique gel, be aware it tends to penetrate and at least a little discolor acrylics and resist. Depending on the look that you want that's not necessarily bad, it will mute the colors - just be aware! Fiebings antique paste doesn't penetrate paint and resist nearly as much. I'd suggest using some scrap leather with the paints, dyes and resist that you intend to use and experiment a bit before you go to work on your actual piece. - Bill

The only thing I've ever hunted successfully is beer. As my waiste size attests, there has been great success in that sort of hunt. But I think @battlemunky has the right idea, the rivet heads, hardware and makers stamp are your clues for scale. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but copper rivet heads are around 3/8" diameter. That would make the D rings on the shoulder trap about 1" and the snap rings around 1/2" or 5/8" Your other option would be to just ask the guy you're making it for. Just tell him you've seen pictures and have figured out that it's not hard for you to make, but having never seen one in person don't know exactly how big it should be. -Bill

If you've got to have troubles, selling too well is a good one to have! Can't wait to see the video and it's awesome to hear that the zipper guide is working out well! - Bill

Lots of good advice above! I'd love to have a straight edge anchored to a workbench like @RockyAussie shows above, but I don't have a workbench! I'll do something like that one day when I do have one. But for now, I have a BIG self-healing mat and kitchen floor for now, and for pieces that will fit, I use a Logan matt cutter that lets me cut up to 60". Sure, it's meant for cutting mats for picture framing (something that I also do) but also does nicely on leather. But without those, you can still make good cuts! There are a number of things that can help you get that cut. A rubber or cork backed straight edge will help keep it from moving around during the cut. An extra pair of hands (or even feet) can help hold it down tight to help keep it from wandering. I have a 48" ruler that I put self-adhesive cork on just for that purpose, and also have a 24" ruler that came with a rubber backing (even better than cork). The quilting rulers that @battlemunky mentioned also work well since they have a LOT of surface area to help you hold it stable, and you can see through to your leather to help positioning over a pattern. Put your straight edge on the pattern side when cutting. That way if the knife wanders away from the straight edge, the cut will be on scrap rather than into your piece. Use body-mechanics to your favor. It's really hard to cut a straight line when you have to swing your arm around your body to keep it in the cut. Place your work and straight edge at an angle that will let you keep your wrist / elbow more or less locked. That'll help to keep the blade from wobbling and wandering. As you already know, your knife should be SHARP, and stropped! It's great if you can cut all the way through your leather in a single cut, since that will give you the cleanest edge. But if the knife and leather don't cooperate there's nothing wrong with multiple passes, you just might have a little more cleanup later on. Keep as much of your knife in the cut as you can manage. IE, keep the handle down close to the leather. That both makes it easier to cut in a single pass and makes it easier to keep your cut straight. A longer blade (within reason) lets you engage more leather than does a shorter blade. Also, don't let the knife lean or wobble side to side for a better cut. A bigger blade can make that easier, and that is just one of the advantages of a round knife - It stands tall so the slightest variation or wobble is clearly seen! If you're going to use a utility knife, strop it to improve on the factory edge. Also, you'll find that the fold-out type has far less blade wobble than the retractable ones do. For small cuts, an x-acto knife works great if you use the # 2 blades. The standard #11 blades are pretty flimsy. All things considered, tho, a good fixed blade knife is best. Just a few suggestions that you might find useful -Bill p.s. @RockyAussie I want that bag. LOL

Patience is a virtue. I am far from virtuous. - Bill

The Singer 29s are great special purpose machines designed for patching shoes and boots in inaccessible areas. They are not so hot as general purpose leather sewing machines for a number of reasons. But as long as you understand that and have use for such a machine, the main consideration between these two for me would be availability of parts. The 29k3 is probably over 100 years old, and spare parts are long gone. The 29k172 is at least 50 years newer, and if I'm not mistaken were still in production in the 1970s, with parts availability. For me, it's a no-brainer. go for the 29k172. As much as I love antiques, if they can't be made workable and kept that way, they're just decoration. - Bill

That's one cool machine! Kinda makes me wonder if one could get a cheap old sewing machine and somehow modify it to do much the same thing .... Hmmmmmmmmm - Bill

Looks pretty darned good to me. - Bill

Personally, I wouldn't risk buying one of these and would buy from a known reputable dealer such as the ones listed in banner ads up at the top of the page here at LWN. They go through the machines they sell and set them up properly to sew leather before delivery to you. They also provide superb after-sales support both here and by phone. If you buy a no-name machine, you may be totally on your own for initial setup, parts and support. Unless you have LOTS of experience with industrial sewing machines, that is certainly worth the relatively small price difference. Just my opinion, FWIW - Bill