SmokeyPoint

McPherson Leather in Seattle has them, and they'll set up a wholesale account. It doesn't really look like it, but you can order from their website. After you set up the wholesale account, you just note your account info on the order and they'll apply the discount. http://www.macphersonleather.com/

I use Leatherweld from Tandy. It holds well and you have a bit of time to get it down on larger pieces. It can bleed through on thinner pigskin liners though.

I bought a CNC laser machine a year ago thinking I could cut some parts and pieces with it more efficiently. I still cut those parts and pieces by hand, and my wife bugs me about how much I spent on a machine I don't use much. I'm not happy with the: Time it takes to create cut files smell discoloration of the kerfs slowness waste idea of not being completely hand made My next task is to try to make the thing cut acrylic templates for me so I can get perfect templates to make my completely hand-made leather items. Then at least it'll earn its keep.

This is a really old post, but I'm glad it resurfaced. I've done rope borders that turned out OK, but not great. That's a terrific tip on the beveler. Helps to hide the scribe lines.

Thanks, actually the tines on the 5 and 6 irons are exactly the same: 3mm long. I just used a wider awl on those two columns. I wish I had used the narrower awl for the finer threads, but it's not likely that I'll ever use 0.6 or 0.8 at 5 or 6 spi, and i wanted each column to be consistent. Getting the 1.2mm and 1.4mm thread through the slits made by the narrower awl used for 7-9 required pliers. Here are the original iron marks:

Make sure if you buy HDPE, you don't get the stuff with the non-skid. I made the mistake of buying a large cutting board and it was textured. It imprinted that texture on the first piece of leather I trimmed on it, since that piece was glued flesh-to-flesh. Now I use the green self-healing cutting mats. Much better. I bought two medium sized ones and taped them together with gaffers tape on one side. They now fold in half for easy, flat storage.

Attached is a picture of a "chart" I made on fairly thick leather to show the differences between thread size, thread shape and stitch length for various threads. I use this to choose the thread/SPI combination for the project I’m working on. The Chart: The chart lays out stitch lengths across the top in Stitches per Inch (SPI). You need to add one to that number to get the Tines per Inch (TPI). You’re on your own for MM’s. The left side of the chart shows the thread size. The Tiger Thread goes from 0.6mm to 1.4mm, and the bonded nylon machine thread is listed by its size at 69, 138 and 277. Some Background: I had some trouble guessing at just the right combination of stitch length to thread size when I started exploring Tiger Thread and European pricking irons. Some online videos got me in the ballpark. So bought a set of irons, some sample spools of Tiger Thread, and went to work. Now I have a more extensive tool set and a full suite of Tiger Thread, so I can use this chart to choose among my options. Since Dixon is out of business, and the GoodsJapan European-style pricking irons are no longer available, V. Blanchard is pretty much the only game in town for European-style pricking irons. So we’re clear here, by “European-style” I mean the diagonal slash mark irons that are not meant to be punched all the way through the leather. They make a / / / / / mark rather than a series of diamond-shaped holes. For this chart, I lightly struck the irons so they just pierced the top grain of the leather, but didn’t make it even half-way through. I used an awl to punch the hole the rest of the way through. For 5 & 6 SPI, I used an awl that was .14” wide to accommodate the larger threads that I would normally use at those lengths. For the rest, I used an awl that was around .11” Note: Blanchard irons seem to be consistent in the length of the slits at 3mm each/ 0.118” for all stitch lengths - something that surprised me. I can make the longer stitch length slits longer, but I can't make the shorter stitch length slits shorter without grinding on some very expensive tools. For those who have never encountered Tiger Tread (aka Ritza 25), it’s not round. It’s more of an oval shape: 1.4mm tiger thread is about 0.8mm thick. Black is one of the very few colors of Tiger Thread that is available from 0.6mm all the way up to 1.4mm. Most colors are available from 0.6mm through 1.0mm, with 1.0mm being offered in the widest array of colors. My Conclusion: Clearly, I still lack 10 SPI irons – maybe next Christmas, but this chart is mostly complete for what I sew. If I were to put a pin in the optimal thread size/stitch length for my tastes, it would go 1.4@6, 1.2@7, 1.0@8, etc. That said, there are useful applications to the left and right of each of these if you play with the width of the awl. (or don't get tired and get sloppy on the 1.4 as I clearly did here.) Also, don't flame me on this one, I said "for my tastes". I hope this helps others in their search for their “right” combination or picking out a thread/iron combo for those just starting out. I still need to do the same thing on thinner/softer leather with the shorter stitch lengths once I get my 10's. -Sean

Awls: I own Tandy, Craft Sha from goodsJapan.com, and V. Blanchard. The Tandy awl I have took many hours of sharpening/polishing to become remotely useful, so I bought the others to see what I liked best to round out my set. Initially I liked the Japanese awls because they were smoothly polished and slid through the leather with less effort than the others. The Blanchard came SHARP but was rougher on the surface than the Craft Sha. However, after using them for some time, I now love the Blanchard and intend on buying the other sizes Blanchard offers to complete my set. The Japanese steel is substantially weaker, and I now worry about it bending/breaking on thicker leather. With minimal polishing and a little wax the Blanchard awl works like a dream.

My $.02 - Pick up Al Stohlman's book Leather Craft Tools, How to use them, How to sharpen them. It covers methods for sharpening various actual leather crafting tools. And if you're not happy with your over-sharpened head knife, ship it to me. I'll dull it up a bit and ship it back for you.

I assume you mean chrome tanned, because veg tan you just case and trace like you're going to carve it. For chrome tanned, print/draw your pattern on a piece of paper, turn it over and carefully trace the pattern on the back in pencil. If you don't have a light box, put it up against the window in the daytime and your pattern will show through. Once you have a good deal of carbon (lead) on the back of the pattern, place it over your leather and trace in pencil again. The carbon on the back will transfer to the leather.

I mix machine and hand sewing, but only on things that are sewn MOSTLY with the machine. I can get a better look and more consistent corners hand stitching than I can with a machine. Because I don't have years and years on the machine. Generally on something that mixes both, I machine sew everything I can, then sew D-shields, Buckle shields, etc., by hand. Also there are things that need to be sewn on that simply can't be reached during the assembly process with a machine. So, here's the rub - you need to do everything you can to match the hand stitching as closely as possible to the machine stitching. Same thread. Same stitch length. Machine stitches lie in a straight line, so using european pricking irons are out. Etc., etc. Mixing straight machine stitches with slashed hand stitches may be a design element you intend on doing, so it's not that you can't do it that way. But if it's just machine sew this and hand sew that at random, your product will look like two different people made it and somehow joined it together. Or... it will make you look bipolar.

Oh, and it came with the canvas bag even though I didn't have that built separately, and needle magnets, which are awesome. Fred no longer adds the leather hand rests, but I have his rough instructions on building them for myself. I haven't yet decided if I am going to attempt it or not. The leather covering the jaws was not included, I assume so you can logo them yourself, which I did after I took this picture. Verbatim from Fred's last email to me, after I let him know that I had bought one through Morten: "Glad to learn that you have this possibility. You may indeed well own a "collector" since I am not sure at all to make many more clamps and ponies from now." So... get them while you can.

Ok, so I just bought one of Fred's saddler's clams in October after trying for about six months to get this done. It's beautiful, VERY well built, functional and worth every penny, which these days are a LOT of pennies. He is having issues, that's all I'm going to say about that. His production is very limited at this point so getting a custom made clamp is going to take a lot of time, if ever - his words. There's an alternative, and this is what I wound up doing. Contact Morten at laederiet.dk ( mail (at) laederiet.dk ) and let him know that you're interested in a Fred Moreau clamp. Fred has been building small batches of these and sending them to Morten in Denmark, who handles the sales/shipping from there. They are NOT listed on his website, so you have to email Morten to find out what he has available. It's a what-you-see-is-what-you-get thing. He sent me PDFs of two table clamps, one vertical clamp like what you describe and two leg-powered stitching clams. I bought one of the latter, but now wish I had bought one with the clamp device. I have a hard time getting the jaws tight because they are so wide - leg pressure is spread across a wider surface area. After shipping, wiring money, etc, it's going to set you back around $750 US, so be prepared for that. Mine was my Christmas, Father's Day and Birthday presents all rolled into one. That being said, the thing now lives in my living room, and makes a great conversation piece when not in actual use. Hope that helps, -Sean

Wow, you'll be there all night. Yeah, bevel, burnish, edge paint, sand, slick, repeat until satisfied. There's a great sticky on it here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101 Not necessarily the exact formula, but do what works for you.

Avion, for your original question - a craftool pro basketweave should give you a usable impression. I own a couple and they work just fine. Don't stamp your wallet until you have the process down. Practice on scrap pieces. Look around your hide and cut off the chunks around the edges that have folds, scratches, whatever and stamp those. Figure it's going to take you 4+ square feet of stamping before you even approach consistency for a product. More if you suck at it. Less if you're gifted. Case properly - try this: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19121 or follow the tandy leather tutorial videos. Then stamp away. Try for straight lines and consistent, crisp impressions. Initially you won't achieve either, then one, then the other, then both. You'll need to burn some leather and elbow grease to become proficient at this.

Dwight, hopefully you don't mean a real hammer. That's how you damage your tools and possibly your eyeballs. A maul or mallet of wood, leather or poly is what you need. You can use anything from a cheap, lightweight rawhide mallet to a 3-lb poly maul, but there are advantages to the "right" weight for the tool you're stamping. The leather mallet has almost no weight, so it will require a tap-tap-tap-tap to get a good impression, so you're controlling the impression depth by the number of light taps. You could find, especially just starting out or on a bouncy surface, that you get bounces in the tool resulting in the ghost impressions mentioned - they'll look blurry. A heavy maul can do an impression in one strike, but will wear your arm out in a hurry and you need to control impression depth by the swing of the maul. And then there's the size of the stamp. Hit a seeder with a 3-lb maul and you've turned it into a punch. Hit a large, wide meander stamp with the leather mallet, and you'll need four or five taps to get a crisp impression. I use a medium (2 lb) poly maul on the larger stamps, a small (1 lb) on smaller stamps. I use a leather mallet on certain specific tools. You really need to play with the tool you're using and see what it takes to get a good impression with minimal work on your part. The poly mauls are expensive compared to others, but they're worth it.

I apply edge paint in multiple coats, but the first two are always coating the rounded edge farthest away from me. My holder is two pieces of square tube aluminum on my bench that holds the strap on edge. I paint the top and farthest edge first being careful to only paint to the finished edge, which I seem to be able to control better on the far side. Once dry, I turn the belt around and do the other side exactly the same way. Note, I didn't say "turn the belt OVER" It takes four passes to get both rounded edges of the belt done, and then I do additional coats/touch-up work.

The Tandy Leather bag stiffener. Although I was there the other day and got the last of their supply of the original stuff. The new stuff is about half as thick and from another vendor based on the markings. Not sure what I'm going to be using in the future if they stick with that junk.

I glue in 9X12 panels of stiffener into my portfolios between the layers of leather using water-based leather glue from a glue roller that I bought off of Amazon for about $6. It's a glue bottle with a screw-on roller top and a lid when you're not using the roller. Works well, but takes a little practice to get the right squeeze/rolling combo so you don't overdo the glue. Don't try to dilute the glue, that just makes a mess. I tried spray adhesive, but it didn't hold as well as the leather glue and I wound up with bubbles eventually. Maybe I had the wrong kind, but the leather glue works perfectly as long as you don't let it dry. You get the added benefit of being able to reposition the stiffener if you don't get it just right the first time, as mine are glued in place with 1/2" borders all around the stiffeners. Looks like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Big-Horn-19044-Roller-8-Ounce/dp/B0015YJHO0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1447775469&sr=8-7&keywords=glue+roller

I don't sew the bag stiffener on my portfolios, I sew around them, so I didn't know the answer to the question. So, I found a scrap piece and gave it a try. My Cowboy 3200 punched right through it like it was leather. I suspect that it would dull the needles faster than leather, but that's just a suspicion.

No, it looks to be some form of fibrous material with a better bonding agent than cardboard. I honestly don't know what it's made of, but it doesn't swell with a water-based glue like card stock would.

If that's the case, then I'm going to break future orders into tiny orders.

No worries. You can get all kinds of different product from pig skin. My possibles bags are made from very oily 1.5 Oz pigskin that's tough as nails and nearly waterproof. Full thickness pigskin isn't a huge market these days (outside of chicharones ), so normally I see it in the thinner lining leather thickness in full or top grain, and the suede that results from the split. I think glove makers use a lot of the full thickness stuff.

If you're talking the micro-thin pigskin, then I personally use it for lining only. Thicker pigskin, like 1-1.5 oz or so I use to make possibles bags, pouches, etc.

I actually use bag stiffener from Tandy for situations like this. It's not cardboard, but it's not overly thick either. So if I need more structure, I use leatherweld to glue multiple layers together. Then sandwich that between layers of leather glued and sewn in place. Works great.