billybopp

I'll take the packing iron / peter main books! Just let me know how to handle payment. Bill

Gomph has been out of business for about 50-60 years, so it has to be used if that's what you want. Bruce Johnson usually has some of their tools, tho. Bill

I like much better without the sidebar. It's not too bad if you're on a PC, but eats a huge amount of screen space on a tablet. Thanks again! Bill

I like it, Johanna! Thank you for the upgrade, and all your hard work ... always! Bill

Really nice! It's a bit of a change from your usual color scheme. I really like the decorative touches in the lettering too ...are they stamped that way and then decoration added? All carved? or a part of the stamps?? Bill

More like way to think outside the toolbox! I like it! Bill

I don't know anything about the sewing machines ... but I LOVE that seat in your picture, CD!! Bill

I start marking / punching my holes from the corners and work toward the center. When there is about enough space left for two or three tool-widths, and then make light impressions with the tool to see how many more / less will be needed to complete the line and then space out the last holes after I have an idea of what's needed. I'd like to tell you that I get really scientific about spacing those last holes, but I really just eyeball it with good success. This way your 'different length stitches' will be spread out over a few stitches and less noticeable. Bill

Both are to help you mark exact spacing for your stitches when hand sewing leather. Diamond punches or chisels are meant to poke holes all the way through the leather so that you don't necessarily need to use an awl to open up the hole to sew. The holes are diamond shaped .. hence the name. "European" pricking irons only make a narrow angled slit in the leather that you then further open with an awl before sewing. something like this ... / / / / Hope that helps Bill

Hmmm. It's not a style that would work for anything, but in certain applications it could look awesome! Picture a Christmas bag or ornament using red and white, for example. Good job! Bill

Please send samples of cooking and leatherwork, along with copies of any trust fund documentation. Optionally, include photos of self.

I have one of the mini pro edgers that I use with a dremel tool, so similar to what you have. It does get a little dye buildup which can transfer back to other pieces. I've used some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel to clear it off ... Works fine! Bill

I had the very good fortune as a high school student to see, and sit in with, some of the great bands. We had an amazing jazz band for a high school. Two band members that I know of went on to become professional musicians, one doing studio work in Nashville, and the other in LA. Two others went on to be music teachers. It's funny, but 30 some years later, when I started getting back in touch with classmates on facebook, they still remembered our performances ... During one of those, the band director arranged to scare the living daylights out of me. I had a tenor sax solo during one of our numbers, so he arranged for the entire band other than the rhythm section to get up, walk out, and take a short rest during my solo. Somehow, I managed to keep going for what has to have been a full five minutes until they came back in and picked it up. Got a standing ovation for that one, but I was coated in nervous sweat afterward! I got to see Maynard Ferguson, Herbie Mann, Buddy Rich, Doc Severinson, Count Basie, Woody Herman, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and the Air Force jazz band .. and I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two. I got to meet many of these and the bands as well. The AF jazz band, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra invited a few local HS students to sit in with them in a jazz clinic, and my band director always sent me. So, I got to play "In The Mood" and "String of Pearls" with the GMO. Talk about an amazing experience! There are some other great stories from those experiences, but we'll leave those for another day. Bill

Shippers do indeed do some amazing things to equipment. I used to fix mainframe computers for a living, when those were still a thing. We had a customer with a failed disk drive, when those were the size of a dishwasher. The individual drives were about 60 pounds or so, but came boxed and well padded in the box. The replacement was shipped with lots of "handle with care", "Fragile", and other such labeling on it. The first replacement failed immediately when we installed it, so a second was shipped, this time with shockwatch and tip labels. This time around, somebody was near the front door when it was delivered ... to find the FedEx driver flipping the box end over end along the sidewalk all the way from his truck to the door. So much for handle with care! Bill

I've already subscribed to your youtube. Love it! Watching the video in this post, you mentioned having a hard time watching what you were doing on the camera's tiny monitor. Many video cameras will allow you to connect a monitor to them while recording, if you use the TV output. A cheap-o flat screen TV, or if the output is the right type, a computer monitor could work great for you! Just make sure to either not connect the sound or turn it all the way down so that you don't get sound feedback! Bill

Yes. Yes. and Yes. The Eco Flo Pro dyes are relatively thick, so will need to be diluted to airbrush well. Water should work fine to dilute the eco-flow, AND the resolene. Thin to about the consistency of whole milk, or thereabouts. Be sure to clean your airbrush often and carefully. With some acrylics (like resolene) you have to clean even during use if you're covering larger areas. With dyes, you'll want to clean between colors. And you'll need to do a very thorough cleaning after every time you use the airbrush VERY soon after use. I'm not familiar with your airbrush, but there should have been directions included on how to disassemble and clean it. I keep a jar of water with a bit of vinegar and a drop or so of dish detergent for quick cleaning such as between colors, and another with plain water to rinse any residue from vinegar and soap. After use, I use the same formula right after spraying, before disassembling the airbrush ... then I follow that with a couple of rounds in an ultrasonic cleaner. The ultrasonic might be overkill, but I had it around, and figured "why not!" Bill

Once again, a fine video! Thank you! Bill

... Maybe "String of Pearls" or "Pennsylvania 6-5000" will get stuck instead. Oh ... And if a "Little Brown Jug" is the culprit .... Wellll!!.....

Well done. Great design .. Hand sewn? DANG!!

Hi Brian, Welcome aboard! Sorry to hear about your stroke, but never forget - Where there's a will, there's a way. You will find that there are a lot of us on here dealing with disabilities of one form or another. From arthritis to being wheelchair bound and most everything in between. There are a number of threads on the site where people show off their workarounds! I have some damage to both hands due to rheumatoid arthritis, although thankfully it's not TOO severe. As mentioned above, you can put your tooling leather in a sealed plastic bag when you're ready for a break, and come back to it a little while later. You may also want to consider getting a spray bottle to "refresh" your casing when you go back to it. Also, if it will extend to days, you may want to refrigerate your sealed up leather between sessions to slow down possible mold growth. I've also heard of folks putting additives into the water they case with to do the same. To mention a couple, you may find it easier to grip your tools with large, soft grips on them. Some have used heat shrink tubing, rubber pencil grips and a few other things to help with that. Another good example is using a modified mechanical arbor press for tooling so that you don't have to grip the tool at all! I've used my arbor press for 3D stamps and it works great, but have yet to modify it to use with handled stamps .. but it seems easy enough to do .. have somebody drill the ram down its length and then a smaller threaded hole from the side for a set-screw. I've give some thought to getting a deep-throat arbor just for that purpose, and rigging a return spring. Check out this thread. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=65483&hl=%2Btallbald+%2Barbor#entry427187 If you find you can't do your stitching with an awl, the aformentioned drill press idea could work well, as could a modified arbor press. You may also want to consider using stitching chisels which can go all the way through the leather in a whack instead. They are a VERY close second to a pricking iron and awl for making a pretty stitch line. Additionally, one of the nice things about sewing is that you can do a bit and walk away to rest your hands for as long as necessary ... No problem! I'm always amazed at the ingenuity of the things I find on this site, so please be sure to show off the workarounds that you find! Bill In any case,

I made sock garters of leather for a friend not long ago. In order to get the clips, I bought cheap garters for about $5 and cut them off. I used a Tandy hatband and buckle set for the main calf-strap. For this set, he wanted to use the elastic between strap and clips, so I attached the elastic that was cut off the donors and simply sewed them in to a piece of leather that goes around the main strap. My friend loves them. Easy peasy! Bill

You might also take a look at mail bags / postal carrier bags. They are just about the right size, and there are some patterns and such about on here. Bill

I probably wasn't clear about what I was saying, the glue should go from the very edge to about 1/4" in, give or take. That's far enough in from the edge to allow for a little trimming and sanding with enough margin for error that your stitches will still hit the glued area. Also, make sure your glue layer is really thin, otherwise it can make your edge burnishing look .. well .. not right. Bill

What you'll want to do is glue the pieces together a short distance in from the edge (maybe 1/4"), trim the edges totally even. I usually stitch next, then burnish the edges using more or less Bob Park's method. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101 Bill

When dying multiple colors, you just need to be sure that your brush is not too heavily loaded with dye when doing the edges. You can use a brush that's a bit more heavily loaded near the center part, where it will not be a problem if the dye spreads a bit. There's a youtube video from Tandyleatherfactory that goes into this technique, if you're inclined to look for it. Bill