billybopp

You might try pencil grips - lots of styles - not free, but not overly expensive. like these @Amazon. Might not fit all stamps, tho. - Bill

These are coming along nicely - It's fun watching your progress! - Bill

Battlemunkys shed looks nicer than some apartments I've lived in. Probably bigger, and better smelling too...especially with leather there. - Bill

The right way is the one that gets you the result that you were looking for. Some dyes get dark really quickly while applying. Those can be made easier to control when diluted. Resolene can be a bit difficult to get smooth when wiped or brushed, which can be made a bit easier with dilution. If you're getting good results .. Don't go changing! Bill

Love it! Outta the park again. Bill

Those are usually done with embossing wheel and gold foil. The wheels come up now and then on eBay. Search bookbinding. Bill

I love eBay ads out of China that have a long string of words.... None of which have anything to do with the actual name of the item.

There should be a rule on here where anybody that shows a holster or sheath must also show at least one picture of the gun or knife that goes in it! Lots of us like guns and knives almost as much as we like leather! In any case, nice lookin' rig! Bill

I think I remember seeing the loop clam on either a post here by Gmace99, or on one of his uksaddlery youtube videos. But I could be wrong since as you get older the second thing to go is memory. Bill

That thing is bigger than my whole workshop!

I suspect that was done with a roller embossing machine such as Tandy used to sell. Bill

Mitered corners are indeed a bit more complicated and less forgiving than straight up sewing two pieces together. I agree with the above observations, a round awl isn't ideal, the holes are a bit too close to the edge, and the thread is a bit too thick to work effectively, and possibly pulled too tight. - causing the leather to bulge. Amongst other things, on a corner like this, you can see both sides of the stitch line simultaneously so any errors are more visible. Because you are pulling the thread through at an angle, it's a little harder to be consistent with the angle of the awl - your eyes play tricks on you! It is more sensitive to how tight the thread is pulled since it's pulling on the hole at an angle rather than straight through - it bulges more easily. Things that can make the job easier include the proper awl, a box corner sewing jig/clam/horse/maybe-it-has-some-other-name and a smaller thread. While I also like the look of stitching without a groove, that groove can be quite helpful learning how to get your awl lined up just right giving you a clearly defined target for the exit hole. It also provides just a little forgiveness if it's not exactly right by somewhat pushing the thread into position. You may find this video by Nigel Armitage helpful! Hope that helps! Bill

The body of the bag is definitely piping where the two pieces come together with a contrasting piping/welt sewn between them. There is a pretty good video about piping on Youtube by Cechaflo - who has a bunch of excellent videos about upholstery. The flap can also be made with the same technique, but looking at the picture it doesn't quite look right to be plain piping - it's a little flatter, there is no edge showing from the flap body, and the stitching is VERY close to the edge. That leads me to suspect that it is a french rolled edge. Take a look at this wallet tutorial for some good photos of a French rolled edge. Bill

A couple of years ago, I came across a 29-4 at a good price($350 IIRC) and thought about buying it. In the end, after reading up on here, I decided against it mostly because I don't have much space. It seems that patchers are specialized machines - but for what they do they are THE tool for the job. If I had the space, I'd love to have one for those special jobs - but not as my primary sewing machine. There are a huge number of 29-4s out there, they had a fairly long production run and were an indispensable tool in ever cobblers shop. The disadvantage of the 29-4 compared to other later machines is that they are over 100 years old and most of them are pretty worn out at this point. They have difficult to replace parts, and as they wear stitch length gets shorter and shorter. Later versions were designed to be much more easily repairable, and would be a better choice for that reason. All that said, if I came across a -4 in really good shape and had the space I'd probably go for it! Bill

Welcome aboard from Philly.

Nigel Armitage on box stitching.

Springfield Leather has shearling on sale right now for black Friday / cyber Monday at &10 and up. Be sure to give LWN a little love and go there through one of the links at the top of the page! Bill

I used to maintain data processing equipment for a living - things like check reader/sorters that read the print on the bottom of a check at about 1600 items per minute, and sort them out into various pockets. One day, when I was still relatively new at it, my boss told me to bend a little lever arm a bit to correct a problem. I expressed my concern at bending such a finely engineered piece of gear, and will never forget his reply "We don't call that bending, son. We call it adjusting". Bill

I wonder if it would be a worthwhile and relatively cheap experiment to put in a Cowboy beehive spring and see what it does? Bill

Well done and it may be a good time to look that guilty one in the eye and tell him its time we made a doggy bag whilst stropping your knife of course ......... Reminds me of the other day at work, when a co-worker asked me if I could make a Boston Terrier bag. I said "sure!" and asked if she knew where I could get Boston Terrier leather. She was not amused. That bag looks amazing, Motocouture! Well done. Bill

There's an episode of Dirty Jobs where they go to a tannery, and show a mechanical measuring machine. They said they have a laser machine, but mostly used it to calibrate the mechanical one, if I remember right. Bill

While you would not want to cut through leather on a hard surface, skiving is not problem. The blade meets the surface at an extreme angle, pretty close to the angle on the blade - much like it would when sharpening. You may need to just stop and strop frequently if the blade is dulling quickly! Bill

You can't go wrong with Barry King mauls. Look for his ad at the top of the page here.

You can try wetting the leather then place something smooth and heavy on top.

Awesome to see this restoration in progress - It's a fascinating machine, but I have a favor to ask! As you put the shuttle and hook back together, take some pics. I'm having a hard time visualizing how the thread passes behind the shuttle! It seems like the shuttle would have to almost float free for the thread to pass, and just can't quite see it in my mind. Bill