billybopp

It knows far far more about you than you could imagine.

... And of course, it's by Lucas. One of my favorite bumper stickers of all time was on an MG .. A picture of a light switch, and read "Electrics by Lucas".. Switch marked OFF . Barely Visible . Dim.

I have both, and find the wooden cutter a little easier to learn to work with. The draw gauge works well too (even at 150 years old like mine). If money were no object, tho, I'd try a plough gauge - folks that have them seem to love them. If I were doing a lot of straps, I'd consider a rotary strap cutting machine too. Bill

Interesting problem! I just tried a little experiment and it worked. I probably wouldn't try to go much more than half the thickness of the leather. 1. Mark out your area and make a vertical cut at the edge to define that area, going to just about final depth. 2. Use a single bevel tool ( I tried a Japanese skiver and woodworking chisels, both work ) and cut in about 1/16 to 1/8 inch from the line with bevel down and remove the little wedge of leather to help define the work area and get down to depth. 3. Still with bevel down do help control depth of cut, work your way across the area removing material to depth. Just work carefully and remember a wider cut will likely make it easier to get a level surface. I managed to get a 2" square this way in about 10 minutes, with more than half that time marking and defining the edges. As always, whatever tool you use needs to be sharp. Like, should I even touch that sharp. You could easily shave with it sharp. Bill

Such occasions exist? It looks great. Love the colors and brass.

Thanks for posting videos ... And be sure to thank your videographer for us as well.

I've never actually been in a Tandy store either, but have dealt with Kelly by phone when she was in Allentown. Maybe one o' these days we can arrange for us SEPA/NJ folks to meet up there. It'd be pretty cool to meet up and shoot the breeze sometime! Bill

For irons that are marked with a number, sometimes that number will tell you the number of stitches per inch and others will tell you teeth per inch. So, for example, one maker's 6 is 6SPI, and another maker's 7(TPI) gives you 6SPI. With the cheapie Chinese ones, they are usually marked in mm, but they are cheap so that might not be totally accurate. To me at least, that's not all that important as long as they are ballpark correct and consistent. I don't really care if the stitches are 6.5SPI or 7SPI. It's much more important that they are evenly spaced, angled, and thickness, and consistent across irons in the line (eg 10 tooth, 6 tooth, 4 tooth and 2 tooth). Bill

If I were in your situation, I'd put the blade aside and replace it with a good steel blade, and keep using the swivel knife. I suspect it's a nice knife, and not nearly so delicate as the ruby blade is. Best of both worlds that way!

They don't make them anymore. They do come up on ebay once in awhile, and are quite expensive ... Like approaching and beyond $100.

Ruby is really hard stuff, and should have a great edge but be careful, it's brittle and chips easily if you drop it or bang it. Bill

Another couple of classic styles when butting two pieces of leather together is a baseball stitch or a cross stitch - with a couple of others in these subjects too, including twisted rope. There are a lot of possibilities with some research, or imagination, or both!

You're welcome. I've been looking about for a decorative stitch myself, but I want to have the stitches lie very straight, rather than our beloved angled stitches. I've been experimenting a bit, but haven't quite found what I want yet. Bill

There are several types of decorative stitches out there. I haven't seen one like yours before, but it's cool. One of the simpler ones is as simple as tying together two colors of thread and then doing a normal saddle stitch. There's a subject on here about it. Another is presented in a video by LWN member GMACE. There have been others shown on here, and still more around I'm sure. Bill

Interesting! Seems like if you have a machine that works like this, you could probably hold the lever at mid-point when adjusting stitch length and avoid some wear in the parts.

It seems to me that if the customer is ordering holster and belt, easy peasy. If you've met the customer, not all that hard to make a good estimate. But how do you tactfully ask an online or phone customer "Just how fat are you, anyway?" ... Particularly if you're dealing with a female customer?

Put some painters tape on before you cut, rout, or drill. It will help laminates to chip less. Bill

I have one of these, and it sticks to the ram really well ... BUT unless your arbor press is pretty big with lots of clearance between ram and base, it occupies much too much space to be practical. Bill

That crossed my mind - I'm thinking in combination with a diamond awl leaned back to 90 degrees rather than the usual 45 .. For my part, I like the look of a slanted stitch on lots of things, but for this it won't look right. Stohlman's method uses a stitch groove, which also won't work for what I'm trying to do - but I may try it to see. I've got a pretty good handle on getting a nice straight run of stitches. The description of what I'm looking for isn't as clear as it could be. The stitches between holes should look more like this ----- than like this ///// for the effect I'm going after. Thank you all for your thoughts and advice, It's appreciated. Bill

I'm about to start a new project, and need to make some lines of stitching that are very straight or close to. I don't have a heavy duty sewing machine, so hand stitching is the only option. The effect I'm looking for is like pin-striping. Any thoughts or advice?? Thanks in advance Bill

Just my opinion, of course, but as long as you're honest about how it's done just about anything goes. No objections to a laser etched design on leather as long as you don't pass it off as something else. I this case it's a no brainer - cuts are cuts are cuts no matter what you use .. And the real artwork here is truly by hand. I wouldn't even object to a light laser etching that is then tooled - I don't see a big difference there between using paper or film and tracing a pattern onto the leather and then carving / tooling. BTW ... Love your work that you've posted last few days. It reminds me of a style that isn't much seen anymore! Very nostalgic. Bill

Amen .. short wide mouth bottles such as baby food jars are great. Most hobby shops will have plastic eye droppers that are cheap enough to consider disposable(although I keep 'em with a single color and get a few uses from 'em) and they should have decent brushes as well (worth the money for moderately expensive ones usually). If you're coloring very small areas a paint palette such as this is pretty useful.

There are a few things that you need, a few things that are good to have, and a few to avoid. What you need is a way to mark out your stitch line and spacing, an awl, needles and thread - and those can vary a bit depending on what you're doing. Amongst what your supplier is offering, I'd choose their waxed braided cord as the easiest to work with, and harness needles (probably large, but ask 'em to try with your chosen thread) or if the large won't fit maybe the stitching needles (the eyes are awfully big on these can be tough to get through holes and are easily broken). To mark your stitch line you can go a few different ways - mark/crease the line or groove it at a set distance from the edge. A compass/divider will work well to mark the line, I didn't see it, but if they have the Craftool pro groover that's a fair tool that includes a groover and creaser tip - and I find it easiest of Craftool's three groove tools. Next choice for a groover would be their EZ adjust groover. I'm not at all fond of the cheap one - It doesn't have a way to guide it along the edge easily. Also workable, is a creasing tool, which is nice for decorative creases as well. Once you have a line to work with, you need to set the spacing for stitch holes. In order of expense (and convenience), get a fork from the kitchen and walk it along the line to mark even spaces ... Use your dividers (if you have) set to something between 1/8" and 1/4" and walk 'em along the line making impressions ... An overstitch wheel or pricking wheel will work(and is very traditional). Easiest to use (and most expensive) are diamond chisels (Note NOT lacing or thonging chisels), available in differing stitch lengths and # of prongs. For holsters and sheaths, 3mm or 4mm will be about right, and I'd suggest a 2 prong AND a 4 or 6 prong. Depending on the thickness of leather you are sewing, the diamond chisels may go all the way through and eliminate the need for an awl. I have not personally used the Craftool chisels, but a number of people like them. Now that you have a line and spacing set, you need a diamond shaped hole. That's where an awl comes in... I'd suggest the awl haft and diamond blades ... I'd probably buy both medium and large blades - I don't know how good those blades are, but choices are limited, and with a haft you can buy better blades later. I don't know what blade thickness is on the 1-1/4 awl, but it's a pain in the neck if it's too narrow. The 4-in-1 looks like a bargain, but it's just garbage ... ask me how I know. While there, take a look at a stitching pony which is very handy - and very overpriced. If you have ANY woodworking skill you can make your own cheaply, or find one elsewhere at a more reasonable price. The Stohlman sewing book is a good one, but there are other ways to good stitch work as well. His leathercraft tools book is an excellent guide to tools and how to use and sharpen them. Things that look useful bot are not include the above-mentioned 4-in-1 awl, all purpose needle pack, or the sewing awl. Not at mainelineleather, but you'll probably need to sharpen awls, and other tools. Sharpening stones and a strop are a good investment, if you don't already have 'em. As you already realize, you can do quite a bit better on price elsewhere, but there really is not substitute for putting hands on the things you're looking to buy too. Hope that helps, and have fun! Bill

Yeah. It can be overwhelming and when you include dyes, finishes, antiques and paint from different makers there are certainly more than 1000 combinations! What you use and how you use it will be determined by what end effect you're looking for. One resist finish will work well with one antique but not another, etc. You have the right idea, tho, for getting a good start. Dye, resist/finish, antique/highlight, final finish. Your dye can be a plain over all color, "painted color"(such as green leaves, etc), or even no dye at all before resist/antique. Assuming you're looking to finish your deer & oak leaves (very nice, by the way), I'd suggest maybe no dye natural finish, a couple light coats of resolene/water 50/50 as a resist and then fiebings antique paste - possibly diluted with tan kote, allow to dry at least a day and finally more resolene/water in 3-4 light coats. I'd avoid the eco-flo antique gel for now - it tends to penetrate resist, which can be used to good effect when you figure it out, but a little much for a first try. Particularly if you're interested in using color more fully, I'd suggest stohlman's leather color books. and here. The Tandy book is pretty good too. As is Fiebings Fantastic Finishes. Keep in mind, the Stohlman books are old and they tend to push the Tandy products (he was writing for them) and specific products are out of date but techniques are still solid. Here are a few examples of what I've done with color on some mug wraps that I've made. They are a combination of embossed, stamped and hand carved. Most of the colors are dyed (giving more muted color), and bright colors & white are paint.

Here are a couple of my guitar straps that have carved letters. (sorry Matt's is upside down).