TwinOaks

Harbor freight 1x30 belt sander w/ 80 grit. Be careful, it removes leather FAST. You also need a light touch to keep from burning the leather. You can use finer grits for a smoother edge, but that just happens to be what I have. A sanding drum on a spindle sander or chucked up in a drill press would also work well. ** save all your leather dust for embossing**

I meant he could get my 66 so he could be yet another person that learned the hard way that home machines won't do leather.

And use a Sharpie to put an index mark on the tensioner wheels so you know where you're starting from.

You can apply it to wet or dry leather, it will do the same, but on wet leather, it just takes longer to dry. I've found I can skip the step of casing first if I'm molding something, and just douse w/ the 'roon, blot off the excess, and go to molding. If there's any carving involved, I case, carve, then apply the vinegaroon. One thing I have done as a pretreatment for 'roon, is to 'case' the leather with a strong black tea, just to add some extra tannins to the leather for a stronger reaction.

Yep, a planer blade should work well, just pay attention to the edge profile - it may need a bit of touch up for leather, like mine. You might also consider having something to keep the leather pressed down, right in front of the blade. That's presuming, of course, that you'd be splitting grain side up. If you split grain down, you'll need to work out something to ensure that you don't mar the grain side as you pull it through.

Loosen both. The bobbin tension should only be about a pound...ish. If you loosen the bobbin, and don't loosen the top, you'll end up pulling the bottom thread up to the top of the leather. The way I set mine is this: Once I got the bobbin tension 'right' at about a pound, I leave it there. Then, on scrap of the same thickness as my project, I'll sew some stitches. If the top thread is on the bottom, I increase the primary tension about a quarter turn at a time until is pulls back to "somewhere in the middle" of the leather. If the bobbin thread is pulling through to the top, I loosen the primary tension (1/4 turn at a time) until the top thread is pulled down into the leather. I got thread in several colors, but all the same size. That way, I rarely have to touch the bobbin tension, and only adjust the top tension...primary tensioner, really.....about a half turn either direction, depending on the thickness I'm sewing.

No suggestions, but for the $50 I paid for it plus shipping, I'll send you the Singer 66 I got off ebay that was advertised to sew leather. That way you can tell your wife "See? I need more/better equipment!"

Black dye is notorious for having a lot of rub-off. Here's how to fix it- buff, buff, buff, buff, buff....you get the idea....until no more comes off on your buffing rag. Once you've done that, you need to seal the leather. There's quite a few products for that, but I tend to favor Resolene.....or Katsass' homemade version of the stuff (Mop-n-glo cut 50/50 w/ water, and sprayed on). Apply a thin coat, LET DRY, buff, apply another coat. If you're set on Black for the color, type "Vinegaroon" in the search box (top right of screen) and enjoy some reading. It's the best black I've found, is permanent, doesn't rub off once dry, and is self finishing.

Generally, the only way to get "White" is to either paint it or get it white from the tannery. Please check with the suppliers listed at the top of the page- we like to support those that support us.

Providing that the pic on the left is the bottom threads, loosen up the presser foot tension a full turn to a turn and a half. It looks like what is happening is that the force from the presser foot is causing the leather to "pooch" down into the needle slot. After you adjust the presser foot, reexamine the back of the piece, and if you still have a little pooching, you can smooth it down with a slicker or stylus/modeling tool. For the first couple of stitches, which look loose, remember to pull 6-8 inches of thread from the needle and the bobbin and hold some tension on them until you either lock in the first stitches, or get about 3 stitches down the line. After that, the tension should hold itself. Read this thread: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=22058&st=0&p=141510&fromsearch=1entry141510 It was immensely helpful for tuning my Boss.

Have you changed thread sizes? That would be part of it. If not....check the thread take up arm and make sure it hasn't lost any tension when it's all the way up (check the screw at it's base, from the back of the machine) Start by taking the tensions all the way back to 'none' on the thread and start over, make sure you've routed the thread right and that it isn't looped over the stitch length screw. check the bobbin case to make sure there isn't a fuzz ball or anything jamming the spring, or even a broken bobbin spring check the needle alignment to make sure the scarf is in the right position make sure the needle is large enough for the thread Pics would be really helpful in diagnosing the machine

In lieu of sunshine, you could always rent a tanning bed for a half hour...... also, besides just slicking the edge, burnish it with a cloth. Look in the 'how do I do that' section and read the tutorial by Hidepounder on edges.

Welcome to Leatherworker.net!! As far as finishing it, it really depends on what you have at hand. A light coating of oil and some sunshine and it could pass for done. If you want more definition, you might consider antiquing it. Do you have access to "leather finishes" or are you making due with what you can?

YES, you can shoot pretty much any medium from a brush, but you cannot go straight from dyes to acrylics or vice versa. You'll need to thoroughly clean the brush between mediums. Unless perhaps you're using Eco- dyes, but even then I'd have to wonder. What I've suggested (and had other members echo) is to have one airbrush per type of medium, or application. You probably won't be doing any photo retouching with them, but you can get a good inexpensive airbrush from harbor freight. I've got Paasche, a Badger, and a Badger knock-off double action AB, and the paasche will do itty bitty lines. I've also got a $10 harbor freight single action, external mix AB, and I've found myself using El Cheapo for the majority of my projects. Spirit dye, and especially acrylic sealers need some pretty intensive cleaning between uses. I've found that having only 3 parts to remove/clean makes life EASY. The slightly more expensive badger knock off from HF is a double action and will do some pretty fine lines...certainly in the 5mm range- with practice, of course. That's another thing you need to consider: Skill set to use one well. Anyone with a good touch can use an AB, it just takes a lot of practice with the medium you're going to use. For belts, holsters, etc., I just shoot the whole thing at once, or feather in an edge- no need for fine control. That's where the single action excels. Fine detail on a mask....might want the badger knock-off. OR.... If money isn't an issue, you can go straight to the higher end ABs. They require a bit more care and cleaning, but they DO perform better, have smoother controls, etc.

Beautiful work. Did you remember to seal down the scales on the python?

I broached this subject with Johanna sometime after I posted this thread. She related some info from John Henry that goes something like this: You know you're at the right price when the customer gets a pained look on his/her face, but still reaches for their wallet. There's also a thread on pricing that gives some info on gauging the customers and looking for visual queues from them as to what they think is a fair price and what they expect to pay. You add small increments as you talk, and look for that reaction. Ex: " Base belt is $35"...(no reaction from customer)....."Color, seal, and finish is the standard $10."...(no reaction)......"Custom tooling is $40 for this size belt.".....(reaction!!! be prepared to stop at this price)......"And this buckle is $25"....(strong reaction, be ready to back down)......"but, if you prefer, I can locate a less expensive buckle or you can supply one of your own and I'll be happy to install it for you".....(look of relief, you have reached the maximum price for this belt at $85). Or....alternately.....You reach the limit you're prepared to charge and haven't seen the customer react, you add in "I also thought you'd like some of the heirloom quality Sterling Silver buckles, but I wanted to check with you before ordering a $350 buckle". If this happens more than once - where you've set your price and the customer was expecting to pay more.....raise your prices.

I build for comfort as well, and have included the sweat shield on almost all my IWB holsters. I think the finish on the leather also plays a large role in things, as I've seen very little soak through when I've properly sealed the leather. That said, if the entire holster is IWB, then that little piece between the back of the gun and our skin/shirt is probably seeing LESS sweat than the rest of the holster. Still, I've had a 1911 stab me pretty good with the BTGS, so I started including them. So far, no complaints about them. I also thin it down to where it doesn't interfere with the firing grip. The bit about wiping down the weapon, daily, after holster wear, is somethingm that I've always done, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to mention it in the 'care and feeding' notes about the holster....this day and age, it seems like every customer needs an itemized list of what to do with the holster.

Howdy folks, I've seen an increase in requests for belts, specifically 'gun belts' for IWB/concealed carry. As most of us know, a double layer belt generally looks better, which means we can get a little more money for them. I'm not at the point where I'm ordering whole sides (yet), so I'm reduced to ordering belt blanks. I'm fortunate that they are pretty uniform, but when doubled, they are a tad bit thick. So, I've been searching for an inexpensive splitter so I can run 7/8 and 4/5 for a doubled belt. The problem is that pretty much all splitters worth having are several hundred dollars....if not more. I toyed with the idea of making a splitter, as I'm sure many of us have done, and realized that by the time I build one, it would have been cheaper to buy one. But, I don't give up that easily. So, what's needed to split leather? A strong blade that won't flex...razors are a bit thin, and may flex under pressure....no good. Something that will cut a uniform depth....that's handled by the roller on a splitter. Needs to NOT mark the grain side....it'd be pointless to split the leather and have ugly grain left for the belt. Introducing the Bench Plane. I got it at Lowe's today, and chose it over the Block plane due to the angle of the blade. The blade will just accommodate a 1.5 inch wide strip of leather, so I'm gonna have to make a jig of some sort. For 1.25, it's a snap. It's adjustable for depth of cut, so I can pick how much I'm splitting. I've found that a smaller amount is easier, so that's how I've got it set. I lay the belt blank grain down on the table, grab then end with some pliers, position the plane, and start pushing. The flesh side peels off in a wonderfully uniform ribbon, leaving a cut surface that's a little smoother than I expected. Of course, your leather will ultimately determine how smooth it is, but I'm sure this could EASILY be slicked up as it is. The first time I tried it (on scrap of course) I got some chunky peelings and it left a surface like a rasp does- divots, stringy fibers, etc. So, I got to looking at the blade, and yes, it needed sharpening (I mean, really, we're leather workers. Is there ANY 'factory' blade that's sharp enough? I strop brand new razor blades for cryin' out loud.) So, 5 minutes on a diamond hone, followed by some stropping and I re-installed the blade to the plane. NOTE: If you do this, be sure to set the depth to zero before putting the blade back in. If you don't, and you've correctly sharpened the blade, you find that the thing the blade is dragging on while you're tightening the screws.....that's your newly cut finger. So how much does this cost? I got mine for $21.99 + tax (List price was $31, but I wasn't going to argue with the scanner at the register), fifteen minutes of playing experimenting with it, five sharpening it, two to reassemble, and whatever a bandaid costs these days. Net result: I've got my belt splitter at about 5% of what a typical splitter costs. Time to start turning out some belts!!!! I'll get a pic or two in here a little later.

This thread is getting moved to "Wanted". This forum is the 'for sale' side of it.

That can't be a real work bench.......it's MUCH TOO CLEAN!!!

Sew on a small piece of leather, stitched on two sides. Insert the back of the clip through that ....'sleeve' for lack of better term.

Youtube has some good instructions for them.

There needs to be a poll option of: "Never heard of 'em, but it's pretty good stuff."

6-7 for the wallet back is too thick. That's 3/16ths of an inch of leather when it's folded......and that's before figuring in everything else.