Kevin

Vikti, in leatherwork it is called an echancree, I have a Don Carlos and a Blanchard, But the only use I can imagine for them is to straight edge a side and I find a round knife much easier to use. But it is a cool looking knife, and if I didn't have two already, you couldn't talk me out of getting one. Kevin

OK, if I didn't have a machine, I would use a curved awl and a curved needle and do a backstitch, so you don't have to try sewing blind with one hand inside the boot. No you don't have to take the pieces apart, if you don't want to. I wouldn't, if I were handstitching it (well maybe I would 'cause I am a knothead). Don't make your patch too big or you might get into the stiffener in the counter and you probably can't sew through that. If that is sheepskin you are sewing the patch to don't make the stitches too small or it will just tear through. Oh, you might want to stitch the tear together before you patch it. Hope that helps, Kevin

Bar Keeper's Friend, which you can buy at the grocery store. The main ingredient, I believe is Oxalic acid, otherwise known here as leather bleach. Kevin

The last elephant I saw before the ban was an ear and it looked like an ear too. I haven't seen any since its legal again, so I don't know if its sold that way or not. Oops, wrong Kevin

Nothin' yet, but today marks the thirty sixth anniversary of my mother getting me the Let's Do Modern Leathercraft Kit. I don't think a day has gone by since then that I haven't thought about or done something with leather. I think it has affected every facet of my life, when I was married, my wife's wedding band was three shades of gold in a braid. 99% of the people I know are either involved with horses or directly with leather in one way or another. Where was I going? Oh yeah, so it is the gift that has given me almost everything over the years and I couldn't ask for more. Kevin

I love it! At work we had a Campbell that I painted yellow in the hopes that it would reflect a little more light than the dark blue. I still used linen and wax, it made the most beautiful stitch and you didn't have to worry about anything coming apart. Then in the late nineties, customers started whining "I want the thread to match the leather". So in 2000, I said lets at least come into the twentieth century, so we got an Adler 205. Yeah, I guess its easier to change thread colors and it has reverse, but I don't EVER look at the stitch and think "that is pretty, I'd like to just see that stitch on something" like I did with the Campbell. But what I want to know is, Why three pedals? And what is holding up that seat? Surely not just that 1/4 inch rod. Merry Christmas everybody, Kevin

If its a piece of junk they don't care about, you can glue a patch on there, but you have to rough up the seat flap for the patch to stick. Then later down the road when they want a new seat, the seat flap is ruined and they have to replace that too. I usually tell them to get a seat saver or get a new seat. Most patches are going to look worse than the hole and if the leather is oily it won't stick anyway. Hope that makes sense, its four in the morning and one of my fine neighbors has been "sharing" their Christmas music since three. Kevin

IF you have a patching machine, just separate the torn area from the counter,glue and stitch your patch to the leg and stitch it back to the counter. You might stitch the tear together before you put the patch on, but if its sheepskin, the stitches may pull through. I know I've kind of simplified, generalized this but otherwise I would just go on and on and on....... Hope that helps, Kevin

Two things to check are the presser foot pressure and whether the foot is actually picking up high enough to advance. One other problem if its a machine that hasn't been used for a while the throat plate may be "sticky" and the leather isn't sliding easily. These are some problems I've experienced, maybe it will help you. Kevin

Windmill Supply used to stock what I think you are talking about, but don't anymore. They will probably order it for you, but you have to get a whole roll and it comes from England so you have to be patient. Sorry I'm at home and don't have their no. here. Kevin

Citizen Kate, I have a book, Cavalry Equipment 1874 Ordnance Memoranda No. 18 It has all the who, where, why and heretofores you could ask for and very detailed patterns with measurements. It is a reprint and probably still available, of course, I don't remember where I got it, however; Reprinted by S and S Firearms 74-11 Myrtly Ave. Glendale, New York 11385 I may have gotten it directly from them or an over-reactor supplier ( oops I mean a re-enactor, Oh no, I mean an historian) sorry I couldn't help it... Hope that helps, Kevin

You never cease to amaze. Did you cut the leather first and sew it down or sew your pattern and cut around it? Either way seems pretty difficult on that knit. Kevin

I have mine screwed down at the corners; countersunk enough to put leather plugs on top of the screws and used brass screws just in case I might hit one. Used to have it glued down, but that doesn't work very well because of the flakiness of the Masonite. If you use enough glue to really hold it down, you'll have a bad mess when replacement time comes. Kevin

IF, you're a little handy and not looking for anything fancy, you might consider a Singer 31-15. I guess it was originally a tailors machine, but fitted with a roller foot you can sew right up next to a (insert your own teeny weeny thing here). There were at least thousands made, parts are available and pretty cheap, usually the suppliers minimum puchase is the problem. This is what many bootmakers use for their fancy stitching on boot tops. HOWEVER, if you're not handy, it costs just as much to have these worked on as anything else, so a couple hours labor on a fifty dollar machine adds up fast and makes you feel like you're throwing good money after bad. Kevin

I could be wrong, but I think the specialized, expensive pliers are what is new, everybody I personally know (not that many) uses glazier's pliers. I've bought a pair of Vice-Grips with a wide jaw to try because I think they will stay parallel and keep even pressure, 'cause I am a spaz. Kevin PS I got my pliers at the hardware store in beautiful downtown Sturgis,SD, but I s'pose its long gone like the Piggley Wiggley and A&W root beer stand. Used to be a little cow town, other than the grocery store being a Harley dealership, I didn't recognize anything the last time I was there. Christ, I sound like I'm 150 years old!

I have mixed Edge-Kote and a cream leather conditioner together and gotten pretty good results on worn corners, its pretty forgiving and you can control the shade with the mixture. I would think acrylic dye would work even better. Good Luck, Kevin

That's pretty close to the way Braille was developed. Ow. Kevin

Hilly, My answer may not help you one bit, but here goes. I do think you did the right thing by prebending your piece before putting together, otherwise you get a wrinkley mess. Contact cements are not created equally. I prefer Master's cement and another person at work prefers Barge. I feel the Master dries faster and "drier", the other person likes the Barge because it takes longer to dry and allows for flexibility in putting the parts together. At home I use Weldwood and it seems to work pretty well. Cement can be too thin, too thick, too dry ,too wet, sometimes it takes two coats. If I'm glueing something like suede pigskin or cloth, I like it to be a little thick so it doesn't soak through. I usually prefer the glue to be thin and use two coats if the glue is all that will be holding my pieces together. Sometimes the pieces need to be roughed up so that the glue can get a grip. Depending on the situation, I might even brush some glue thinner on the leather first as I feel it pulls the glue into the fibers. That may just be my imagination, or it may be the glue talking. Just kidding, we have a spray booth. Kevin

I've made one before and used a curved awl and needle to sew the liner onto the belt so that no stitching showed at all. Kevin

I got everything from 4 thru 14 from Mast Harness Shop, I haven't paid attention to whether Weaver's carried on the line or not, when they bought Mast out. For some reason I had the impression that they were made by McMillen. Very reasonably priced. Ooops, scratch all that. I bought them directly from McMillen, $20.95 each. McMillen Tool Co. 573-374-7880 Kevin

This summer, I was at a Best Buy and found a set of DVDs that had 120 episodes of old shows and it only cost $20. Wide Country, Stoney Burke, Judge Roy Bean, lots of Cisco, lots of Roy Rogers,US Marshal, Sgt. Preston. I think one was called True Tales of the Old West and starred the guy that played the patriarch on Dallas (Gary Davis?). Almost forgot Sky King, Buffalo Bill Jr., Sugarfoot and more I can't recall right now. Kevin

Nobody's gonna like this, but if you try it you'll be very surprised. I cut on a piece of sheet metal. An English saddler told me that's how fine leathergoods makers do it. If you use a slanted blade, the only thing that touches the metal is the tip and that is not the part of the blade that is actually cutting. The fuzz on the back doesn't get dragged down into the surface with the blade and it gets cut also. I use the red handle from exacto and hold it like a swivel knife (except index finger on the yoke of course). Kevin

I used to know a buckle maker who domed the coins and soldered a Chicago screw on the back. Kevin

I doubt if one of ten people could tell you what a score is. Most people couldn't tell you what a gross is either, I just think of it as a dozen dozens, and I can't tell you why I know it. We order stuff by the hundred generally also. There's something I order by the gross, but I sure can't think of it right now. Kevin

I haven't ever done that, but I would say try it on scrap first, 'cause it sounds like a good way to get a fuzzy edge and then you'll play hell trying to get the fuzz out of the bee's wax. If you are trying to even out uneven edges, I would sand, rough then fine, bevel the edge, wet it and rub until it is smooth enough. Then dye and burnish. Maybe that helps, Kevin