billybopp

The difference between a $100 bag and a $500 bag is mostly about design, workmanship and materials. The difference between a $500 bag and a $3000 bag is almost entirely about marketing. Bill

Looks great. I really like the butcher paper roll and rack .. That's a great idea to, hopefully, preserve your tabletop. Bill

I stared off with a deadblow hammer, just because it was what I had around. I still find it useful for some tasks, such as alphabet stamps and setting rivets that can't be set with my press. Anything where I don't want a bounce. I was then given a couple of rawhide mallets, which work well for most things, and a big improvement for tooling. I have since bought a maul from China on ebay for less than $20, in order to try one, and have to say I like it. But mauls are not so useful for a few things! I'll probably eventually buy a better maul, but I have what I need for now. I also putzed around some with a wooden maul. Not recommended. It splintered a bit hitting smaller tool handles. The maul I'm currently using: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Durable-Leather-Stamping-Tool-Set-Craft-Tool-Kit-For-Leather-Cutting-Tool-Hammer-/311159085127?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item487286d847 Rawhide mallets are also pretty inexpensive: http://www.ebay.com/itm/rawhide-head-mallet-leather-hammer-Medium-/181560262197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a45d5be35 If I had to choose only one of the striking tools I've used, I'd go with a rawhide mallet. Hope that helps Bill

The copper rivets used on that bag are widely available from Tandy, Springfieldleather, and many others. You can also find a ton of information in the leatherworker.net forums, and videos about setting copper rivets on youtube. Hope that helps Bill

Really nice bag! I've never seen one quite like it, and I've never seen a gusset done that way before, with one side turned inward and the other outward! Well done! Bill

There are a number of good videos on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEmkRlv1Uo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU1ihT-rHTA&list=UU8urn9l3pybW5LztUa6zbOA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fll4eiVcfcA There's a pretty good tutorial here as well: http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/page04.html Most belts are 1.5" wide, and cut to length for the individual. Square cut belts are most common and simple, while tapered and ranger belts are more complicated. They can be lined or unlined, with unlined being simplest. Thickness is usually 8+ ounces total. Holes usually start 2 to 4 inches from the end with 5 holes at 1" intervals most common. Some like 7 holes at 3/4" intervals as well. Not long ago, somebody posted this helpful picture: Ends can be square (not very classy or practical), trimmed corners, round, or round-pointed (English point) with any number of variations on those. They can be cut with a knife, or a shaped punch. Many buckles require a slot for the tongue, but not all. They are usually attached by folding the leather around and the sewing, snapping or screwing the leather together along with the belt keeper. Exposed edges of the belt are usually rounded and burnished for veg tanned, or smoothed and edge painted for many other types. Pre-cut belt blanks from Tandy or Springfield are also not a bad way to start. That should help get you started. There are a TON of variations and techniques. Use your imagination, watch some videos, read some of the excellent info found here and elsewhere. You'll have a blast. Hope that helps Bill

Thanks for another great pattern ( and all the others as well). It's very kind of you to help us all out like that!! Bill

Both look really great! Stitching looks great. I like the contrasting white on the brown one. Edges are really good too ...How'd you do them? Bill

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101 That should help. Bill

Your best bet is office supply stores, or art supply stores. You can also find 'em on Amazon and lots of other places online. Stencils are great for spraying on paint, if you intend to tool the letters, you might do as well with any computer program with multiple fonts, and print out whatever you want in whatever size you want! Most computers have many dozens if not hundreds of fonts ... AND you can often find additional ones for free if you do some googling. If you print to paper, it's not hard to then transfer to the leather with a stylus. You can also print to an appropriate printer transparency film for better visibility. Hope that helps Bil

http://www.amazon.com/Trinity-Candle-Factory-Leather-Fragrance/dp/B002ZLK9T4/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1414942998&sr=1-3

Safety skiver, round knife, leather paring knife, or even a small block plane. Bill

Fabric sewing stores don't usually have thread that is as heavy as we use for hand-sewing leather, although you might get lucky on that too. It is just possible that you may find the right thing as "beading string" at a craft store, but I couldn't say for sure. If it's not pre-waxed, you'll want to wax it for sure. If you want something comparable to tiger thread, try this http://www.mainethread.com/waxed_cord.html or this http://www.ebay.com/itm/260Meter-1mm-150D-Black-Leather-Wax-Thread-Cord-for-DIY-Tool-Hand-Stitching-/111401102438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f005ec66 I haven't used the mainethread poly myself, but many like it. I have used the stuff from China on ebay and it is good. Not as nice as tiger thread, but close. Their 1mm is closer to tiger's 0.8mm. It's prewaxed, but not as heavily as tiger is, which probably accounts for most of the size difference. Hope that helps Bill

Really nice. Well executed and perfect stitching. Are both sides the same? Will you trade one for a 12 of Narragansett? Bill

A program would be great, but otherwise, I'd start with a piece of graph paper. Let each square represent the size of your rivet head, stud or whatever. Figure out the length and width of the space on your leather in terms of number of squares, an mark it on the graph. Write what you want in the space .. I'd suspect that capital block letters are easiest, and voila there it is. You may have to scale the graph up or down to suit the space, but that should now be relatively easy; Particularly if you have access to a copier that can resize. Hope that helps.

Great job! Keep hittin' it on the two and four! Bill

Congrats on a milemark @ 1000. All of those 1000 that I have seen have been excellent. You skill is exceptional as is your ability to communicate what you are doing. It's appreciated. Thank you! Bill

Hmmm. If you were to put in a sewn microfiber cloth liner and attach it only at the case opening, you could pull it partly out to clean glasses with and then just shove it back in when done. That may work or not, depending on the case design. If it works it'd be pretty nice, tho! Bill

ROFL @ zuludog. Now .. tboyce ... How do you run the same sort of calculation with a cast thread saddle stitch? That lil' ol' knot down in the hole does take up some additional amount of thread. Bill

Handy stuff! Thank you! Bill

I have to agree, the design is really nice ... but the stitch holes are too big and not angled quite right. What type of awl are you using? If the awl has a lot of taper, it can make the "front side" holes quite a bit bigger than the "back side" holes are. For that reason, I prefer straight sided awls such as Seiwa, or ones with a very slight taper such as Vergez-Blanchard. Also, play attention to the awl angle .. It isn't easy around curves, but it will make a difference. Hope that helps! Bill

Provided that the sides and bottom are perpendicular, the rounded portion will always be 90deg (1/4 of a circle ) hence the length around it will always be 1/4 of the circumference of said circle. Where h = Side height w = width of bottom r = radius of curve total length of the perimeter will be: 2(h-r) + (w-2r) + 2(pi*r*2*0.25) = total length Simplified: 2(h-r) + (w-2r) + (pi*r) = total length In your example: 2(20-2.5)+(30-2*2.5)+(3.15*2.5) = 67.85 That said, in my experience even the best measured gusset is never exactly right after cutting, dying, shrinking, stretching, stitching .. Any and all of which can cause the dimensions to change slightly. According to Murphy's law, this change will ALWAYS be on the side of too damned short rather than a little long. So just cut the thing a little longer than you need and trim it in place for best results. Bill

I don't even have words to describe how much I like that, and your other work as well. Bill

Very cool knives! All beautiful. I especially like the micro knife. There are times when working on very fine detail that it's hard to see what you're doing around the knife body, and it seems like that might be great for those situations. Bill

There are things on occasion that I find easier to hold between my knees when stitching (usually big stuff), but I use a stitching pony most all the time. They aren't hard to make if you have just a modicum of woodworking skill. If you don't have the skills, or perhaps live in an apartment you can find them from Tandy, Springfield Leather, or on ebay for anything from $25 to $2500. It's a good thing to have! Bill