TwinOaks

If it's caused by the position of your hand, then THAT is what needs to change. I re-purposed a gel wrist support from a computer desk, and added a leather pad to the back of it. Before buying anything, see if raising your forearm up a few inches (put a couple of books or magazines down) changes anything. Re: your question "..Is there a Pen type?" The answer is YES. Unfortunately, until I get either some production assistance, or another day job so I can buy another lathe.....production is on hold for the moment. The knife is dubbed "The Squirrel Pen", and consists of a barrel which is held like a pen/stylus, and the blade can freely rotate 360 degrees. It can NOT replace a standard swivel knife, but for many of the cuts it would work just fine. I designed (with input from member Shtoink) and prototyped it on a manual lathe, and sent out two of them to be tested. I'll check to see if one of them is still available if you like. ETA: Yes, it will be available. You can PM me if you would like to try it out.

Those look like some sort of furniture tack. Or maybe just 'spots'. If you're looking to exactly reproduce the sheath, then sure, go ahead and use them, but they aren't what *should* be used there. There are better choices if you want to reinforce the sheath.

Yes there is a difference! For hobby store acrylics, get the best they have, not the cheap $1/bottle stuff. Apply in thinned layers to build up your color. If you have a way to get it or need it badly enough to pay higher shipping, call Springfield Leather and order the Angelus paints.

You are having entirely too much fun with your mill. You should immediately ship it to me.

They **shouldn't** effect dyeing, but this leather appears to be problematic. If you haven't already done so, I suggest wiping down the surface with rubbing alcohol or some other cleaner (acetone, denatured alcohol, etc.) as it's possible that the surface of the leather has a finish on it. Even if it doesn't, wiping down will help clean off all the fingerprint oils, smudges, etc....which WILL affect the dyeing. A quick question: If you put a drop of water on the surface of the leather, does it immediately soak in, or does it sit there for a short while? If it doesn't soak in right away, it's either: 1. not correctly tanned 2. not vegtan (bridle leather maybe?) 3. it has some sort of finish on the grain side.......or some combination of these. If the water does soak in quickly, it IS likely vegtan, and you will need to go with the full casing procedure, and bag it overnight.

If you're only trying to keep the impressions (the outline of the letters) uncolored, then 'block dyeing' would be the way to go. If you're trying to keep the entire inside free of dye...then it's brush time. I also recommend putting liquid latex (aka masking fluid) in the areas you don't want dye.

Re: sitting in the baking soda too long... Leather has a slightly acidic pH level. IIRC, it's what helps the leather resist rotting. If you over soak the leather in a soda bath, you can take it from 'slightly acidic' to 'alkaline', which usually results in the leather getting damaged much more quickly than it should.

The neutralizing with a baking soda solution is going to be directly subjective to how strong the 'roon is. And, without chemical analysis of each batch, that's a guessing game. I've had a batch that went black instantly, and others that only went gray. And, with some leathers, I've gotten BLUE as a result. The 'rinse' solution I've used is 3 TBS of soda to 2 pints of warm water. It's just a quick dip, not a soaking, but that will depend on how quickly the leather took the vinegaroon. Oiling IS needed because the chemical reaction inside the leather pushes some of the oils and waxes out of the hide. You may notice an immediate water repelling effect with the 'roon, and that's the oils/waxes sitting on the surface. Conditioning the leather pushes those back into the leather. Failure to do so led to one belt (mine) developing surface cracks in the grain side.

Here's how I keep nylon or poly thread on the needle: Thread through the eye and feed enough through to get 2x past the point (just to have some working room). Take a lighter/match and lightly melt the end of the thread just so that it sticks together. Push the point of the needle through the thread, trying to pierce one of the cords. Then, feed the needle through the thread which makes a loop, and pull the loop down snug to the needle's eye. That gives you a thread that is locked onto the eye of the needle. Simply trim off any excess tail of thread and get to sewing.

Welcome to the best site on the internet! As you can see, we a truly a global family of leatherworkers, and we're glad to have you with us.

I think we'd like to see pics of the one that DIDN'T work out, too.

In addition to the above comments, I'll caution you as follows: DO NOT try to burn designs into the leather. That type of leather can be 'hot stamped' and heat embossed, but those do not involve burning the leather fibers....or the chemicals that were used to make it and still reside in the leather. Burning the leather (aka pyrography) can produce hazardous fumes.

That's as simple as severely drying the leather out with a chemical stripper...acetone is a good one...then flexing it, a LOT. Although you like it, it is commonly AVOIDED by most people. It may look pretty cool, but it's a result of the leather being improperly cared for. For a bracelet, I can see that the fiber integrity isn't a big deal, but the overall life of the product would suffer because of it.

are you wanting a clean line or a fade? A clean line is best accomplished by masking off an area. A fade is done with either an airbrush, or multiple layers of diluted dye.

I don't know your sewing machine experience, so please don't get offended if you already knew this: On your bobbin tension - there are TWO screws that need to be addressed. One is the tension, the other is the locking screw. The locking screw HAS to be loosened to adjust the Bobbin tension screw, then retightened. If you didn't do that, it's likely that the range of adjustment wasn't fully exploited.

Cobra is offering one....http://www.leathermachineco.com/product/cobra-mp-burnisher/ Hope that helps, and congrats on the number of orders you have!

there are several different types that are commonly used. Traditionally, a wax or lacquer finish is used as a final top coat. However, newer formulas sometimes are lacking, and people are much more aware of the dangers of VOCs. So, some people have moved entirely to friendlier chemicals. Here's a few of the things that are being used: Supersheen Resolene* Neat-lac* / Wyosheen Saddle lac* Leather balm* Carnuba cream Tan Kote / Bag Kote Sno-seal* Shoe polish parafin/beeswax/oil mixture just oil and... There are some additional finishes in the Pro Water Stain that I haven't looked at yet. They're used at different stages, sometimes more than once. For example, if you wanted to antique a piece, you'd seal the leather, apply the antique, remove the excess, then re-seal the leather. There are some that are better for waterproofing, some that are good for tack as oil will penetrate, but dirt and water dont....just gotta find the right finish for what you're doing.

glad to help

When you work with 'ray, are you having issues sewing it? I've got a piece that I haven't used yet, and found some advice to sand down the 'beads' where I'm going to sew. I'm just curious if it's really necessary.

If anyone is wondering what happened to this thread, there were two topics asking the same question, by the same author...and both have a lot of replies. So, they're merged into this ONE thread, so all the info is in one place.

I'd say just a decent SS body retractable pen. I kept breaking the metal/plastic combinations, so I tried SS. Parker makes one that I haven't been able to kill yet. Zebra f402 has lasted well, too. Both have easily available refills.

THIS ^^^^^^^ . Even the best tools on the planet will yield unsatisfactory results if they don't have a solid surface to work against. Your pounding surface needs to have a lot of mass. I used to set rivets on my granite slab (sink cut out), but noticed an immediate difference when I swapped over to a bench vise/anvil mounted on the corner of a table. The sound went from " Claack! " to " thunk". With more mass UNDER the rivet, all the force of peening went INTO the rivet instead of trying to bounce the granite around. If you can, pick up a 15lb anvil (or larger). Harbor freight sells a few sizes relatively cheaply. If you can't do that, try a scrap yard, or even a railroad yard, and see if you can get a scrap of rail. Then, set it in a small bucket of concrete, and you'll have a REALLY solid work surface.

When laying out the strap sections for the retention strap, cut it LONG..by at least an inch. That gives you plenty of room for adjustment...once the dummy is in the holster. If you need a thumb break tab (to stiffen the part where the thumb hits), cut an oval out of kydex. The SS ones are the best, but if this is a one off piece, you probably won't want to purchase just one.

Look into a consew 227 or clone. It is effectively the sewing capability of a 205/206 but in a cylinder arm machine. I don't know if anyone is offering a flat bed for it, but I'm sure it could be built. The Cowboy 2700 is a clone of the 227, and can be set up for leather before shipping.

Welcome to the best site on the internet! As you develop your new addiction hobby, let us know if we can help