billybopp

It works fine here in Philadelphia, if a little slow to load.

I've heard good things about the Jeremiah Watt interchangeable blade beveler. Cheap at something like $45 a full set and usably sharp out of the box. Haven't tried them for myself yet, but they're on my buy list. Bill

I was rather amazed at the Ferragamo guy's sharpening technique. Wow. But, I threw the video up on screen and continued to watch in the background as I was doing other things. It looks like he finally gave up on his sharpening technique at about 48:30 and opened a brand new Tina-messer knife! Now, we all know how un-sharp knives are straight out of the package these days, but it works better than his original. He also shows MUCH better technique sharpening that one at around 54:30 or so, which makes me wonder if he was originally sharpening the body of the blade and dulling toward the tip so as to skive the inner layer of leather thin without thinning the upper leather? Also, at 50:45 or so, you see him removing the tacks from the shoe .... so there ya go, Bikermutt! They mostly come out, except for it looks like a few at the toe and heel. After watching this video, I now also understand the shape of a cobbler's hammer. That swoopy head design makes sense. Who knew? Bill

Here is the link to the ribbon pocket thread. I would have posted the link last night, but was using a tablet, where such things are a royal pain! Nice as tablets are, some things are much easier on a real computer! Bill

You might take a look at ribbon pockets. Looks similar on the outside leather, but uses a strip of fabric to form pockets. A search here will find em for you. Bill

White dye is worse than useless. There are a couple of threads o n here about it. Bill

Wind Fire Designs Circle Tool

I thought about a draw gauge when I was initially looking for a strap cutter, but the darn things looked mighty scary! Instead, I bought the Tandy wood strap cutter and have used it for a few years, and it generally works OK. I've heard folks say that "the original strap cutter" is better than Tandy's, but can't confirm that myself. I have found that my Tandy wanders a little bit if not used carefully, and have also modified it slightly with a little piece of cardboard in the handle where the crossbar meets it to change the "toe angle" just a wee bit. That helps pull the leather in toward the handle and helps a bit with the cutter wandering. Also, as with most leather cutting tools, the blade needs to be sharp, sharp, sharp. Replace and strop often. Now that I'm a little more confident about not cutting myself, I've bought a draw gauge to try. I recently purchased a civil war era brass and rosewood draw gauge. It's just a beautiful tool, and the price was right at about $65. The blade is toast, but modern blades can be had for a pretty reasonable price. Can't wait to try it. Bill

I ran into the "no cash over XX dollars" for the first time back in the 80's, and managed to get my gas paid for by card... but .. I asked a lawyer friend of mine about it later, and this is what I was told. Cash is in fact legal tender, and if the store legitimately cannot change the bill then that is a valid situation. If they will not change the bill that's a totally different situation and you owe them nothing. I don't know if you'd get away with that in reality, but that was the legal situation in Florida at the time. Could be different now and other places. Bill

Good advice, zuludog! Needles do indeed come in a lot of sizes and the shape is different as well. The Tandy needles have pretty big eyes for the needle size as compared to the John James needles that I'm now using. That makes the Tandy needles a little more difficult to pull through in most cases, and I suspect easier to break. One little trick that I've found is that if you are having a hard time getting the needle through the hole, back it up a little bit and rotate it 90 degrees and try again. That re-orients the thread in relation to the hole and will often let you pull through by hand. If you do need to use pliers, as zuludog mentioned, be careful as they can nick up the needles. Smooth jaw pliers help with that tremendously, and can be found online pretty inexpensively (< $10.00 US ) as smooth jaw jewelers pliers. If you're using the smooth jaw pliers, it's best to go straight onto the needle rather than from the side. CaptQuirk .. Yeah sharp pointy things through your foot is no fun at all. Don't be afraid to modify your awl by flattening a side! Not only does it keep it from rolling off the table and through your foot, but the flattened side will help you keep the awl oriented in your hand so that you know by feel what you're doing! Hope that helps Bill

A few years ago I bought several hundred dollars of train tickets in Italy, and a bunch of stuff in World of Warcraft. Too bad I don't even have a passport or play WoW.

I think you've probably made the right decision. The box stitch is a bitch, and probably best tackled after you've got some experience under your belt. It also tends to work best for thicker leathers, probably thicker than you'd want for a bag. I use the same technique you've referenced above in Nigel Armitages video to make several messenger bags and it works well. If you're looking for a more square bottom corner for your bag, check out Ian Atkinson's messenger bag video. Bill

I don't know how the Tandy awls are sized. Sorry! Best thing to do there, tho, is to get ahold of threads of different sizes (just a couple of yards will do) and try them to see what works best for you! The Seiwa #2 and .8mm thread works well for the way that I sew, and the leather kind and thickness, and type of thread I'm using(mostly the chinese spools from ebay). I tend to use a pricking iron with not stitch groove. But if any of those variables is different it may not work for you. Experimentation is the thing! (Oh, and keep notes on what works best in what combinations). Bill

+1 for a deadblow hammer. For that sort of punch, the heavier the better ( as long as you can swing it and control it). Deadblow hammers also seem to transfer more of the force into the punch. Just a note, if you find that the deadblow face is deforming (some of 'em are pretty soft), you might want to glue on a piece of leather to help spread out the force across the face. Billl

Not only are there different lengths and widths of awls, there are also different blade shapes to sort through. Below, you'll see a few different awls, presented over a thick double layer of leather edge on, as you'd have is you were sewing it. On blade profile: The left one is a piece of crap expensive Tandy 4 in 1. It is the classic saddler's awl shape, which to me looks like a spear point. Mine is probably sharpened a little pointier than the classic, but as you can see in the picture it will make a bigger hole on the side that you poke from(front side) than on the back side. Because of the shape, you also must be very careful about the depth you use in order to get the hole size consistent. In other words, it's pretty darn difficult to use. You'll see a lot of these out there that are the same shape, but much better tools than the Tandy version. The next three are Seiwa awls in three sizes. The point is broader, and the sides are straight after the initial point. This will give you a hole that is the same size front and back of the hole. To me, they look like a broadsword. These are my go-to awls. You choose the blade size that suits the thread that you are using, and I usually use #2 with .8mm thread. Another advantage of these, and the spear point awls is that if you are using a pricking iron the tip of the awl will settle nicely into the slit that the iron creates and will really help you to get the angle right. The one on the right is an Osborne awl, and as you can see, it's pointier sort of like a rapier. It does work well, but requires a little more care to get the angle correct. I find them a bit hard to use for that reason. A lot of people will snip the tip off this type of awl to give it a broader tip. It is also tapered, but not nearly so much as the spear point awl, and will give a slightly bigger hole on the front side than on the back, but not nearly so drastic as the spear point. On Length: I prefer to use a shorter awl rather than longer where possible. As you hold the awl in your hand, a shorter awl tip will move around less than will a longer one as you move your wrist, making it easier to get the holes just where you want them, and easier to get the holes straight front to back. On handles: The Seiwa awls come with flat sides on the handles. This helps to keep them from rolling around, but more importantly, you can feel the flat in your hand and know that you have the blade in the right orientation without having to look (at least after awhile). they also fit my hand nicely. If your handle is round, don't hesitate to modify it to suit your hands and flat-side it to help orient the blade! You also may want to put a little leather washer at the base of the blade so that if you push a little too hard and go deeper than intended it will cushion the leather and not leave a bezel shaped impression on your work! On care: Many blades are plain ol' steel. As such, they will rust if you're not careful. A little bit of wax can help prevent rust, and some find that it helps the awl slide through the leather. They will also stab you when you reach into your storage space to grab 'em. A wine cork makes a great blade guard, and can also be helpful as a backer when you're sewing the thin stuff. Not to mention the pleasure of getting the cork in the first place. On sharpening and polishing: The awl needs to be sharp, sharp, sharp and polished like a mirror to help them just glide through leather. You should be able to go through a half inch of leather and halfway through your finger before you even notice it (as most everybody does a time or two). I'd like to tell you that I've mastered the art of sharpening, but I haven't. I'm getting there, tho! If you have good stones, use them. If not, sandpaper on a glass surface works pretty well! Nigel Armitage has a pretty good video on sharpening an awl. Bear in mind that as you sharpen and polish, you are to some extent also forming the blade profile. Not a problem, just be aware of what you're doing as you work! Hope that all helps! Bill

If you're stropping a straight razor, you may want more than one strop. That edge has to be very very sharp AND polished for a good comfortable shave. A strop with a bit of mild polishing compound on it can be a help when the edge is lacking a bit but not really in need of a full-blown sharpening yet. It will remove some metal. But after that, and for everyday use, a plain smooth piece of leather will polish without removing any appreciable amount of metal. The smoother that leather is, the smoother it can make the polish on the blade. Boning, or slicking would help to make that leather as smooth as possible. You might also take a look at jacked leather for a strop. It's more or less slicked when you get it. Bill

First off, I want to say thanks for posting this. It's awesome to see a project progress from beginning to end, and can't wait to see the end product! Whatever you use to skive with has to be really REALLY sharp, probably moreso than with any other thing you do in leatherwork. It becomes even more important when skiving thin or stretchy leather. There are a lot of different tools that you can use to skive, and they each have their advantages and disadvantages. The "safety skivers" that you get that use razor blades have the advantage of being really cheap and possibly a bit safer than an exposed cutting edge. That's about it. The French skiver works well for many things, but it's advantage AND disadvantage is with the lip at the edge. That lip helps to make it easier to follow the edge of the leather, but at the same time it makes it very difficult to get that edge really thin since it holds the cutting edge up off of the surface some distance. That makes a bit more bulk at the edge than you might want. For some things that IS what you want, but on a wallet it could make the edge a bit bulkier than you'd like. What I've done with my cheap little Tandy French skiver is to take the right side lip mostly off so that there is now a much smaller lip there to let me get much thinner at the edge. I don't mind modifying that skiver, but I ain't touching the antique ones! Some folks like to use a round knife to skive with, but I find them pretty hard to use that way. They work best for heavier leather as far as I can tell. There are a number of types of skiving knives, but I find that a knife that has the cutting edge at the tip easiest to use and best for getting a thin edge. Mine are straight ended and single beveled with a very long bevel, and are SHARP! They work well on both thick and thin leather allowing me to get down to a really thin edge. I also like the end-edged skiving knives that are angled and single beveled, but find that I need one a righty and lefty for different situations with those since they seem easier to use with the beveled side down. I don't have any that are double-beveled, but they would be usable right or left. Check out these videos to find a little more info: LWN member gmace99 showing the use of a French skiver. LWN sponsor Lisa Sorrell shows using a skiving knife. Hope that helps! Bill

You might find that a skiving knife works better and easier for what you're doing than a French edger does. But no matter what tool, skiving takes some practice. Bill

Pretty sure that if you don't bleed a bit here and there .. once in awhile ... while doing leather work, you just ain't trying hard enough. I keep a first aid kit and paper towels close by when working, and some bigger gauze pads & tape in the bathroom, which I thankfully have not yet needed for leather work so far. Bill

Beautiful work on all of those. I've never seen anything like 'em and I like 'em a LOT! Might even have to try something like the meat cleaver bags! Awesome! Bill

When airbrushing, one thing that can be helpful is to filter your resolene/mix before you use it. It gets a little gloopy on the surface around the inside of the bottle and also around the neck of the bottle where there's a bit of exposure to air. You do not want those gloopy bits getting into your airbrush. I just use a little piece of pantyhose across the top of the paint bottle/cup when filling it and it does often catch some bits. I do the same with dyes, although there is rarely any gloop there. It makes me feel better to be certain! Oh .. And have to add ... When clearing your airbrush as JLS suggested .. You're lucky if you ONLY get old faithful. Usually, the paint bottle fits onto the airbrush by friction alone, and when blowing back it can pop right out, drop to the floor and break if it's glass. Don't ask about that big stained patch of concrete on my back porch. Bill

Maybe its bison that got caught in some flooding. Just sayin'.

ALD's website says that they sell Chahin leather, which is from a tannery in Mexico. Weaver leather also sells the brand. I've never used it, so can't give an opinion on it. Bill

Nice lookin' tool! And quite useful. Keeping letters centered can be a bitch! Bill

Really nice work, as always, Chief!! Bill