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TwinOaks

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Posts posted by TwinOaks

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Don't know about others in your area, but Welcome to Leatherworker.net!

    It's a pretty incredible coincidence that you want to do pyrography on leather....one of our other members just posted some pyro on wood work in the gallery and I'd suggested he do it on leather. Maybe y'all can get together and compare notes. Talltales08 is the member.

  2. Posted · Report reply

    I usually say this in a joking manner: "Your awl should be sharp enough to get at least halfway through your finger before you feel it."

    There is, however, more than a little truth to that. I altered my method for making stitching holes because I'd more than once stabbed my finger AFTER going through the leather....and didn't know it until I was a little over 1/8th inch IN my finger. I have a really simple test for point sharpness - I use an empty drink bottle and if the plastic resists puncture at all, the awl needs to be sharper. Most of the time the point just glides right through. Having a scary sharp point is CRITICAL to the process because it lets you penetrate the leather without pushing against it. Yes, you push the awl. A dull point will push the leather over, often resulting in a misplaced exit hole...if you're using a clam. What I started doing is laying everything out on a table with a self healing soft mat under the leather and stabbing 'starter' holes vertically, then re-stabbing if I needed to widen the hole. Since I don't have a clam/horse, my alternative was holding the leather in my hands while I stabbed it.....hence my changing methods.

    Also, if you have a dull blade, you tend to push the awl harder and when it penetrates the leather it'll also penetrate whatever is on the OTHER side of the leather. If you're feeling for the point (a way to assure correct placement) and suddenly have less resistance on the blade....well, you get the bandaids.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Cross posted......I was looking up links when you posted that, Jack.

    Yes, that IS a good looking chisel line. No argument there. The ones I've seen and used were about 3 times that size. Since I've gone to the awl, I haven't every tried anything else....except a sewing machine.

    I'll start looking around and see what is new(to me) on the market.

    Incidentally, another reason I recommend the awl is that until you get up to around 3/4ths to 7/8ths of an inch, you can just go through all the layers at once. Maybe more or less, depending on the awl size. And when more than that is needed, it's pretty easy to start the hole in one side, then flip it around and 'feel' for the hole from the opposite side. It's also pretty dang quiet....except for accidental stabbings.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Last time I used one was about 4 years ago....right before I before I learned about using an awl. An important thing to remember is that all awls are NOT created equal. The 'Awl Set' that has a honkin' big awl blade isn't suitable either. A good awl will have a small and thin (yet very sharp) blade that is not much larger than the needle that will be used to sew with.

    Here's some good info: http://leatherworker...317

    and ESPECIALLY THIS ONE

    http://leatherworker...blade **post #8** It's a large pic, so click and drag the pic to a new tab.

    I have the Osborne awl, and just measuring it, it is 2.5mm wide. That puts the Douglas awl at around 2mm and the P.M. awl at somewhere around 1.5. Since I don't have the others in my hand, I resized the screen to make the Osborne holes 2.5mm and then took the measurements of the others. Not really scientific, but good enough for illustrative purposes.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    The 'simple' way to do it is lay out the body of the holster mostly as shown in Jim Simmon's holster tutorial http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19714. Abbreviate the back flap, and before stitching together, fold the flap around the back and use a straight edge to make the angle you want (trim as needed)...then leave enough for the belt flap and stitch it in place. Then cover the stitching with the liner and stitch up the whole shebang.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Getting into the reasons behind what OLD grumpy Mike said.......

    The leather fibers are, of course, skin cells/fibers. They're just preserved by the tanning process. In veg-tan leather, wetting it re-activates the colagen, which is essentially 'cellular glue'. When it's activated it lets us reposition the fibers, whether that's through molding or tooling and stamping. When it dries, it holds them in place. Using additional heat helps to 'heat set' them in place, and sealing the leather prevents excess moisture from getting into the leather and undoing all the work.

    It's important to keep in mind that you can mold TOO closely to the gun, so when you start doing it, make sure you don't over do it.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I think it would be difficult to for leather to be the ONLY source of income unless you were in a full time shop....like Lobo's holster business, or perhaps a saddle shop.

    Since I'm not an actual business, I don't have any production lines....several 'standard models', but 85-90% of my work is custom orders (including the one I should be working on right now). I have variable times at the work bench, depending on how many orders I have.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Tandy does it because it 1- lowers the price of the kit as 3 cents worth of needles and a dime's worth of thread are all that are required to 'complete' it, and 2- greatly simplifies the kit to appeal to people that have zero experience in leather crafting. Since the clicker dies can have the holes as part of the die, there's no additional cost after the initial set up for the die. It's strictly an economic factor.....and it does sound kind of strange referring to anything Tandy as 'proper'.

    Now, for lacing, there are other factors. For everything except a running stitch/lace and double/triple loop, the lace will penetrate a hole at least twice. For those, a hole is easier to work with. For the single passes, I think a slot cut with nippers looks a lot better - the lace just disappears into the leather. On corners, even with single pass patterns, you end up going through a few holes multiple times. Lace used on edges is also substantially bigger than thread (usually), so a larger penetration is physically required to keep from crimping the lace.

    Now, the REASON an awl is preferred over a drilled or punched out hole is that an awl's hole will close up around the thread to keep out dirt, grime, and gunk that can deteriorate the thread. The awl pierces the leather and more or less 'shoves' the leather out of the way....and it'll move back in time to where only a slit marking the width of the awl will be visible. A drilled or punched hole removes the leather from the hole, and while it may close up a bit, it'll never fully close.

    However....if you find the drilled hole method best for you, I won't tell you it's "wrong". Nor will I even attempt to criticize the 'production' method chosen. We all have our own ways of doing this hobby and that's one of the nice things about it. Leather would get pretty boring if EVERYTHING was Sheridan carved, with 8 spi stitching, and always dark brown.

    And incidentally, some of us DO lace by making one slot at a time, precisely where we want it. Yep, it takes a while....but anything worth doing always does. As I've gotten older wiser, I've come to appreciate final product quality over how quickly I could make it.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Flip #2 and #3, and you've got it.

    Also, don't ditch the chisels. They can still be useful for lacing should you want to try that, and they ARE pretty useful for prying open glue cans when you can't find your flat head screwdriver. The point is, you've acquired the tools so hang on to them (just not for making hole for thread).

  15. Posted · Report reply

    That theory does have some validity, but fails to address that the basket stamping was effected differently than the border. Typically a border is done with a camouflage tool. While it may be a little bit tighter pattern, it is anything but a uniform compression of the fibers. Also, the leather fibers are themselves much larger than the Fe(C2H3O2)2 molecules. I think the issue is not so much that the fibers are compressed to the point that the Fe(C2H3O2)2 can't penetrate, but that something, perhaps compression or slicking/burnishing, is preventing the WATER molecules from carrying the Fe(C2H3O2)2 to the tannins in the fibers.

    In my experiences with the 'roon, I've had leather turn brown, light gray, a beautiful shade of 'midnight blue' (I think that was some ZW leather), and a horrendous green that looked like a product of Linda Blair*.....and black of course. Reaction time varies on the acidity of the solution. In batches that still smell strongly of vinegar the reaction was nearly instantaneous - which may be a product of the penetrating ability of the carrier - and in old batches that have almost no smell, it takes up to a minute. I typically brush it on with a 1" nylon brush, but still soak it if needed. Another factor in the shading is the purity of the solution. In batches where I've strained/filtered the 'roon, I've had fewer problems. In my current batch, which is still sitting on the back porch in a 1 gal. pickle jar, getting the rust stirred up on the bottom results in some ugly patches. Speaking of rust, there's some probability that the brown is caused by solubilized (read as "itty bitty and floating in the solution") rust particles sticking to the surface of the leather. When I encounter them (yes, because I was too lazy to filter the brew), I just have to wipe the leather down with a damp rag and apply some 'clean' solution.

    There is a site (leatherchemists.org) that deals with the uberfun chemistry of all things leather.....but I don't go there because I didn't enjoy chemistry class beyond "hey, watch thi.......". THEY could certainly give an accurate answer if anyone wanted to delve that far into it.

    Note: The 'Linda Blair green' color was the result of leaving a wool dauber.....specifically the zinc coated dauber handle....sitting in a sealed jar of 'roon. I had set up a mini work area at my friend's store, and left it there for a few weeks. Being acidic, the 'roon ate part of the handle and the zinc reacted with it. If anyone is trying for a color that just screams "left in the barn to mildew"....this is the way to get it.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Initial google-fu searches make it look like it's a clone of a Consew 206. If you can, put a 'hold' on it until some of the sewing machine experts can chime in.

    If it is a clone of the 206 then it should handle the materials you listed just fine.

    Most of the clones have a clearance of ~1/2....maybe a little more, maybe a little less, but you should be fine sewing 1/4 inch or so of leather. Don't forget that you need to slow it down. Factory machines set up for high speed (2000+ spi) sound like " NYRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"....and then you've sewn your hand to a strap. Please just take a word of advice on this....you do NOT want to pick even a single stitch out of your hand.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    No, no idea on the website, but keep in mind that a machine that came out of a textile (clothing) factory is likely to be set up to run FAST. For leather you don't want 3000 spi. Our dealers on this site modify the machines, through ratio reduction pulleys, internal gearing, timing...etc., to slow the machines down so that they have enough torque at slow speeds to sew through leather.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    You should be using a 'diamond awl', not the stitching awl. The stitching awl is the one with the spool of thread on it. I see that you're using the awl to widen the holes, and that may be part of the problem you're having with aligning holes --leather sometimes stretches 'funny', especially if you happen to be at an angle.

    The chisels make pretty big holes compared to an awl, so your stitching would look kind of spaced out.

    Here's how to use the tools you have:

    Glue your pieces together - that's not as easy as you might think because you need to get glue to the edge, but not ON the edge. Then, even up your edges if they aren't. You can do that with a knife or by sanding....the key is that the top and bottom pieces are in the same place.

    You need to make an equidistant line from the edge, both front and back. You can use the groover to do that, just don't change the setting, and your groove line will be in the same place, front and back, provided you've squared up the edge.

    Now, use the overstitch wheel to mark the location of each hole in the groove. Push the awl straight through the leather....as in perpendicular....and watch the back side. You'll see the back side swell just a tiny bit right before the tip comes through. If it isn't in the right spot, back the awl out a little and reposition it so that the tip comes out in the groove. If you have a surface that you can stab into, you can place the leather on that surface and push straight down. When starting, it's sometimes easier to stay straight when the leather is flat.

    Now that you've got a hole, run the needles through that hole. It SHOULD BE A TIGHT FIT, and you might have to use pliers to pull the needles through. If you do, pull straight, and once the needle is out, use the thread to pull it tight.

    Maintain the exact same stitching pattern for the length of your stitch line. If you start with the right needle, push it through and pull back (towards previous stitches) and OVER the left hand thread, then push the left hand needle through, you need to do that with every single stitch. Don't swap needle over, needle under, start on right, start on left. Each stitch needs to be made in the same manner. That will add consistency.

    When your stitches are done, lay the work flat and tap it down, then pick up the over stitch wheel again. Set one of the little points in one of the holes and start rolling. This flattens the stitches down into the groove and clearly delineates each stitch.

    If you want to see some good examples of this, look at the work by Katsass.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    An artistic representation is typically highly stylized so that the viewer can identify the subject, and possibly the artist's work by that style.

    It wasn't until pretty recently that we, as people, had the ability to click on a picture and print it out in the comfort of our homes. Before that,....and way back before that....artists and artisans would portray an 'idyllic' version so the viewer could tell what it's supposed to be, without the onus of trying to visually replicate each and every detail of the real thing.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    I presume you're talking about a sheath to hold the axe head so the handle can rotate. I don't think you'd need ball bearings. Maybe a short bolt with a sleeve? The sleeve would be in contact with leather and could rotate around the bolt as needed. That would still allow some tension adjustment too.

    You could even do it with some over sized (too long) Chicago screws and 4 washers. Assemble with the leather sandwiched between sets of washers, with a CS holding all together. As long as the CS is a little longer (when fully tightened) than the whole assembly, it would have room to move. Maybe Nylon washers as the center two washers? From what I'm imagining, the axe handle needs to swivel while still hanging mostly down....it doesn't need to twirl around.

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