TwinOaks

I'm another satisfied SLC customer, but we've also had good reports from Weaver Leather, Sheridan Leather Outfitters, and several others. As far as your dyeing process....have you tried spraying yet? It's much easier to get a uniform coat at less than 'full strength', and it's also easy to get fades, so you can do 'sun burst' shading.

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.

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.

Use 2oz veg tan leather. IIRC, suede is chromium tanned which can be a no-no for firearms. Newer pistols with polymer frames and 'super finishes' (melonite, black-T, tennifer) don't seem to care, but a blued finish certainly might be effected by the chromium salts in the leather.

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.

You can use glycerin soap (facial bar) and rub it directly on the belt after slicking. After that, it's a case of being careful and not running the burnishing cloth/wheel over on the sides.

138 thread at the most. f you're bonding the pieces together and just using the thread as an edge binder, you could even drop down another size. I think size 69 might be a bit thin. My earlier post had "132" which was a typo.

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.

Not a criticism, but an honest question.....shouldn't the pieces overlap at the top instead of at the bottom? That way a downward stroke wouldn't catch on the armor or cut the connecting cords.

Certainly.... As we know, leather is a product of a chemical process - it is preserved from deterioration by tanning it. That process makes the leather slightly acidic on the pH scale. There are also natural oils, waxes and fats that are preserved along with the skin cells. When we drag a blade - steel, ruby, or ceramic- through leather we're necessarily also dragging it through everything else IN the leather. That's where the 'crust' comes from...though I'd lean more towards 'film' However, I think there is another possibility as well. Several people have written that they've noticed that more recently made ceramic blades have grind marks on them. It's possible that the small grind marks are picking up the same residue and "clogging" the blade, making it cut less smoothly. Stropping (as stated above) cleans out the micro grooves. Member "Shtoink" had some very insightful observations on stropping direction with the ceramic blades....I'll see if he'd like to post them here. Paul Zalesak at Leatherwrangers did some pretty extensive analysis and discovered that the chemicals in leather are actually corroding metal in steel blades. So, for steel blades, the leather actually is DULLING the edge...despite being a much softer substance. That's the reason that Paul developed his blades from a special alloy.....which, is a trade secret.

I get a light edging in the tight area -just enough to break the corner- and let the burnisher do the rest. It's a rotary burnisher with a 'belt slot tip'...basically I have a rounded taper down to 1/4 inch and I use that to burnish all the inside edges of the belt slots.

Contact Kevin at Springfield Leather (ad banner at top of page) and tell them what you need.

We decided that wimpy sport bikes should be regulated to vinyl and nylon. Just kidding!! I don't recall seeing anything specifically for sport bikes, so you may have found a niche market.

I thought you were suggesting making up the space with rings. That way, the original belt is the only leather used and removes the need to try and match the color. I can certainly see the merit of only using them to add new pieces. As long as the color/stamping is repeatable, then the latter will definitely be faster and easier.

Sponge is fine unless you have a lot of nooks and crannies like you find in Sheridan / Floral carving. If you do have a lot of little places to get the antique, I find that either sheepskin or fake sheepskin (pet dept. in walmart) does very well at getting the antique where it needs to go. Heck, you might be able to use a sponge on those too, but I like the wool better because it's softer.

So the trick isn't to simulate all the wear and distress......it's to get all the wear and distress...FASTER.

Contact Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Sewing. Link in ad banners.

It's going to completely depend on your SPI, and what your stitching together. I'd stick to either 132 or 207 and 5 or 6 spi.

You could do it with those plain (open / no center bar) rings...round or square...but remember to allow for the fold around each one. I'm guessing that you'd probably need 4 1" rings per side to stretch the belt 4 inches......because you'll use ~1/2" at each fold.

Hand buffing is the way to go. You could put a buffing cloth on a drill, but you have to worry about building up heat and making a burnished or burnt spot. You can buff when it's totally dry and do pretty good with whatever finish you're trying for. Or, you can spray LIGHTLY with some water and start buffing. That will likely result in a glazed finish...which is sometimes a good thing. But....you said you want a matte finish, so.... Buff when the leather is dry. Your choice of top coat / sealer will also have a major role in the finish.

The secret to edges can be found in Hidepounder's tutorial....right here in the 'How do I ....." section. You don't have to follow his way EXACTLY....but stay close to the guide and you'll have much nicer edges than edgekote will ever produce. Edgekote is a surface treatment...period. It's a product to produce a quick shiny edge, and it's basically painted on the leather. After slicking the edges, you also need to burnish, DYE them, buff them, seal, and re-buff. Since you're in hotlanta, swing by the Tandy there and check out the Professional Water Stains. They might give you some additional options on belt colors, and they're getting a pretty good review.

Well, you're definitely in the right place!!!! This site is one of, if not THE, biggest sources of leather working knowledge on the planet. Welcome to Leatherworker.net! When you get to main page of the forums, you'll see a lot of categories. Pick one and get to reading. There's so much here that it gets a little hard to fathom. We have a lot of amateurs, quite a few novices, and are blessed with some of the masters of the craft that generously share their knowledge with the rest of us. Recommended reading topics: Getting Started, How do I do That, Sheridan/Floral, and Figure Carving. In each category, there will be a number of "Pinned" topics that the staff here deemed VERY informative, and marked for easy location. You can also browse the Gallery to get an idea of what kind of things you'd like to produce. When you have a question, feel free to ask, and we'll help out when we can.

It kind of depends on where in "North" Florida you are. If you're near P'cola, you're not too far from Mobile. I haven't had a lot of business with them, but I've met these people and they are very nice. The have a little store front, and do have a patcher machine on site. You can give them a call and see if they can help you out. Beads & Leather (251) 660-1005 1530 W I65 Service Rd S, Mobile, AL 36693

If you're going to try the paper cutter(s) don't skimp on quality. My wife picked a cheap (walmart) one up thinking it would be useful, but it wouldn't handle much more than pig skin lining. Anything thicker and it would just stop, or worse, slide off to the outside. This one was constructed of plastic with a metal blade.

after you uploaded the file, did you remember to click "add to post"?