mikesc

Most "fashion designers" do not actually understand fabric, let alone leather, they rely upon the artisans "to make it work"..and when , after much work by the artisans "it works, either in fabric or leather" the credit goes to the "fashion designer", the artisan is "hidden under the carpet"..You'll learn far more from most artisans working " in fashion", than you will from 99% of fashion designers..even the "couture names".. One learns by doing, and watching ( others, ( and oneself ) whose work brings their experience to the atelier / table ) and especially "seeing" ( even "seeing" one's own work and processes ) understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you wish to achieve..Will help you understand how to achieve it. Head, hands and heart.. There are no "short cuts" , but there are techniques, some of which are learned through experience, others can give you the benefit of theirs, and intuitive leaps. Take your time..use it wisely..do not waste it, ( often teaching or explaining to others what you have learned, will help you yourself ) it is all that you have, from the moment your are born and even before..

Yep, I think Fred's idea is safer ( you can't get it here though, unless ordered "online" ) ..nickel plated rivets ( or even gold plated rivets if you are going "luxury" ) is another option, I presume you'd know how to electro plate your own ..Just don't breath the chemicals or the vapours given off either :) Edited to add.. Possibly a drop of clear epoxy , the kind sold for "incrustations/ inclusions" might work, epoxy should "hold on" to polished metal OK ( "ish" , test it ) and may not discolour ( again test it to see )..Polyester resin would no be clear enough, but some epoxies might be ?

Nope..never.. That is either* just wear marks ..because the thread was not seated correctly..most people ( yep that is what I said..most people, including many who post on here asking "why" etc etc ) do not seat the thread correctly in the tension discs, ( it should "snap" all the way down to the post when it is trapped between the tension discs ) and many ( because of totally wrong videos by a certain dealer on youtube ) do not follow the correct path for the thread ( they wrap it around the small "post" which is only there to stop the tension discs revolving, which is INCORRECT !! ) either.. *Or..You can get these kind of wear marks by using dirty or dusty thread, dirt / dust can be very very abrasive, keep your thread protected from dust , even when on the thread stands on the machine.. ** Or even more likely..read on ..Someone may also have attempted to sand out marks already from your tension discs, which is ( IMO ) why some of the marks, on opposite sides of the hole that is for the "post" would appear to be parallel to each other....Some of your "scratch marks" look very parallel .. to each other..normal "wear" even from dusty thread is more "radial"..But..attempts to sand out ( manually with sand / emery paper / cloth ) rust and or thread wear lines, would look just like your tension discs do. Looking again at your original photo, your disc appears to have traces of slight "pitting" ( probably due to rust ( despite the fact that most tension discs are / were steel often with a thin chromium or nickel plating ), it appears that the pitting was polished out, but that someone had / has also attempted to "sand out" some deeper scratches, ( which has created more scratches than it "solved" ) which is what left the parallel sanding lines..You can try to use a finer emery cloth and afterwards "rouge" or metal polish to remove the scratches, depends how deep they are as to whether you will succeed..order new discs anyway..

Ed.. Deja vu..thread on it already.. https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/85596-tandy-pricing-structure-change/

Short term solution...nail varnish ( which is low grade acrylic lacquer ) ..chips very easily..and is not truly glossy ..because it is hygroscopic. Long term solution.. 2 part ( 2 pack ) polyester or epoxy "clear" as used in "clear coats" for high grade metallic car paints..includes catalytic hardeners, cyanoacrylates* ( polyisocyanates ) usually..must use a mask ( against toxic vapours ) ..good to stay glossy for around 10 years .. *Miss-use of them can kill you..overdose is odourless ..by the time you smell it, it is frequently too late..even the best masks give no warning when they are saturated and no longer filtering the toxins..and they are long term carcinogenic.. I came close to not waking up again twice when I was a custom painter using these..so i quit..

^^^^What he said :) ..with an additional.. you could always start out using threaded bar..which will make all of that unnecessary..the "grip" will be "built in".. Too "harsh" on the fingers ? use "heat shrink fit" * for cables .. *Or whatever it is called where you are ..

Yep.. that was always pretty obvious from the page..cheaper in lots of 100..which is normal..

But it was obvious from the first photos that you posted that it wasn't done with a double needle stitcher ( twin needle stitchers do not stitch lines that converge ) unless they are really badly broken.. As I used to say to art students when teaching Art* ( in as much as one can teach art ) at University many decades ago..there is "looking" and there is "seeing".. Quit "looking" ..learn to "see" what is in front of you.."looking" is easy.."seeing" sometimes takes more effort.. Same applies to Hearing, Feeling etc etc .. *Yes..some of them used to say "it" ( art ) with an audible capitol A..

OP..What you posted , smooth out the lines with fine emery, and then polish to mirror..With jewellers "rouge", which frequently is not red ( rouge ) but green or grey or blueish..each colour corresponds to a different "grain"..ie; each colour is "finer" than the previous colour in the sequence..The colours in the "sequence" can vary from country to country and from manufacturer to manufacturer, the red " rouge" ( true jewellers rouge is ruby powder* ..or Corindon ( French ) ..in English it is Corundum..hardness 9.5 ) is usually the finest before you get into actual diamond ( hardness 10.00 ) powder "grades".. ( size of diamond dust ) all of the other colours are variations on "aluminium oxide" powder in waxes.. Cheap jeweller's rouge is frequently garnet..like in garnet paper which is used by cabinet makers ..and is waaay "softer" than aluminium oxide.. Sapphire is also aluminium oxide..which is why some pastes are blue or grey.. Tension discs are cheap.. so , yes usually simpler to replace them, but, if you are in the middle of a job that cannot wait ( customer with "deadline", contract signed etc ) then it can help to know how to "fix" what you have whilst you wait for the others to arrive.. HTH :) Ps..."Emery" is "carborundum" stuck to cloth...Waaay softer than aluminium oxides of which ever sort..and obviously waay softer than diamond powders..all of which are harder than the polished steel used to make tension discs..

Get a cylinder model, ( more versatile ) not a flat bed, get a "table attachment" ( @uwe may have some ) for it, for when you want a flat bed..

Back when I last lived in the UK..over 30 years ago now..Trade counters would only sell to registered businesses in the same trade..Like a restaurant owner could not buy paint from a trade paint supplier's "trade" counter..Although my local "cash and carry" was quite happy to sell me food and , alcohol etc, at wholesale prices ( every business I knew had a "cash and carry card" ) even though I had ( completely non food businesses at that time ) a craft shop and a printing business. You could only get access to the "trade" counter of any business, and to the "cash and carry" if you could prove that you were a registered business.. UK must have changed even more in many respects than those I see from outside..Here "trade" price or "trade" counter requires proof of being a business ( business registration number, headed note paper ( which has to have your business registration number on it ) , and frequently a recently issued ( less than 3 months old ) from the relevant govt dept business registration document ) ..non food related businesses cannot purchase from food "cash and carry" type outlets "food section"..tobacco products are only available through specific shops anyway.. "Trade" is usually between 50% and 30% lower than retail ( retail being the public price, minus the VAT element ) ..Many of the tanneries will not deal at all with anyone who is not a registered business, you can be registered as more than one type of business or service supplier at once..I am..But you have to pay more taxes etc that way.. "Paperwork" here for businesses is a nightmare..I'm in the middle of calculating and submitting my taxes for 2018-2019 ( year ending April 2019 ) at the moment..Have until 15th may to get the paperwork in to the tax authorities.. Salaried people just moved onto PAYE type tax system this year..yes..this year!! They still ( for this year at least ) have to submit tax forms as well or they can "do it online"..similar to how it works I think in the USA..long time since I was in the USA , so it may have changed there.

Technically "glazed" would mean covered in a layer of molten glass. ( as in Glazed Pottery ) at an extremely high temperature... as opposed to what appears to be the case here which is smoothing with friction via abrasion with a glass object ( despite what you might think that you see, the glass is not at "fusion temperatures", if it were the skin would be charred, and the image would not be possible to take due to the smoke and vapour clouds ) ..Thus, I'd agree with Jimi, it should be possible to reproduce "the finish". I suspect that the term "Glazed" derives from the French "Glacé" which means glass like or shiny.. The skin has probably been finished with a varnish ( smoothed with a smooth glass bar or roller ) which combination of process and chemistry leaves a very shiny ( glass like ) surface..Water spots etc would "mark" such a "finish" as they do mark ( by dissolving a thin layer of the "varnish", and thus rendering it "matt" ) what is known as "French polishing" ( for example on Pianos" )..restoring a "glazed" surface should be very ( basic restoration technique used in picture restoration to make "matt" spots disappear and thus restore the "gloss" and thus "restore" the "depth" of blacks and dark areas etc that depend upon the glossiness of the varnish..and the "restoration" process can be reversed, which is imperative in restoration of objects and paintings which may be centuries or millennia old, and have value in the multiple millions of dollars ) "easy".. Yes ..I also obtained many decades ago, a doctorate ( amongst others* ) ( since when I've had very many occasions to gain in practical experience in those fields ) in restoration of paintings, sculptures and other fine art objects..Design and manufacturing ( and prototyping ) of leather items is a "side business".. one of many.. Chemistry and Physics are very important to restorers, Chemistry more so, but physics ( like biology and maths ) is a "why not".. *Heinlein said** ( In Time enough for Love) which I read when I was 8 .. "“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” He also said "rub her feet"..and many other things.. One of my favourite authors.. :)..I'd add plough a field and a whole lot of other stuff..but I digress..:) I'd also add, despite having a bunch of "paper" qualifications..that practical experience ( IME and IMO ) usually outweighs/ outranks ) paper "experience", by at least a factor of 10 to 1..Ploughing a field ( and many many other things ) looks simple, until you have had to do it with only the back end of the mule in front of you for "inspiration"..even worse when you have no mule or horse / pony, and are pulling the plough yourself.. Been there..I come from poor Irish stock..grew up that way.. **My Grandfather in Ireland said more or less the same things..he had travelled more than the average for our region, our house had no electricity, no running water, no car, when I was a child in Ireland***..When I was a child in the UK ( which I was for 6 months or so every year ) we had all of those things..Contrast.. Glazed doughnuts..on the other hand..just mean shiny sugar coated heart attacks... one bite at a time :) ***Perhaps I should make it clear..I preferred my time in Eire..still do..Would not change a thing, we had a small farm , horses, ponys, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, turkeys, bees, dogs, cats, other animals, ( too poor to be anything other than organic ), books, paper to draw on , radio, no TV..( when we were not in the UK, then we had TV..B+W ) , wonderful life for a kid growing up :)))

n'importe quoi!! Mutually exclusive uses ...garments, chaps, saddle seats and bags, upholstery, do not use ( if one is doing/ making them correctly ) the same types of skins , leathers, and tanning..Then again, I've never bought anything from Tandy, not even so much as a rivet ,and the more I read, the more I think that was an entirely sensible decision..

I found the idea of Amish with a website somewhat incongruous..but..thought discretion was probably the better part of valour ;)

There we differ Jimi, :)I'd take an existent working 29K4 at $200.00 and a couple of hours drive away over a " at some time in the future having a 29K71 ( in what condition? ) show up ( where? ) and at what price ? ..probably at least double the cost if working order..Buying a working 29K4 for $200.00 "now" would not stop me buying a 29K71 later, if one became available, the 29K4 could be sold easily enough ( IMO ) at a profit.. But..I like them ( must be my steampunk gene ;)..last year I just missed buying 5( five ) 29K "somethings" and a couple of Adlers ( working ) as a "lot" less than 25km from me ..They were asking €200.00 the "lot"..The guy selling them ( his grandfather who had 7 shoe repair shops ) had just died and they were "clearing out" to avoid paying rent for another year on each shop ) said someone was "already interested"..( you bet !! ) and would be arriving the next day ( obviously a dealer ) I left my number, never heard back..

This page has all the parts that College Sewing UK carry for the 29K models, the page is showing 29K71, but, scroll around and you'll find many parts that are 29K "generic" and some such as "small hook" and "bell crank" ( frequently the hooks and the bellcranks are worn ) which will fit the 29K-4.. https://www.college-sewing.co.uk/store/Singer29K,29USewingMachineParts I might ( cannot remember ) have a manual in pdf form on another computer, but someone else here ( lot of us have one of these machines in our "collections" ) is bound to have both the operators manual and the parts manual in pdf, that they can upload...I have an original paper operators manual, ( that I have never scanned to pdf ) but it is in French.

Short arm Singer 29K patcher that appears to have been motorised..for $200.00 I'd be there in a heartbeat..with cash.. Take a piece of leather 3 oz see if it stitches, and what are the minimum number of stitches to the inch you can get it to do..the more worn they are the higher the number per inch as the foot doesn't advance so far with age..Not used for sewing long straight lines, but incredibly useful to have around.. When you have it..post pictures of what is going on with what looks like "motorisation"..The aluminium guard and gubbins.. College sewing UK has almost all the parts..apart from I think 'rack" parts.

I have a Juki DLU 490-4..Whether or not alternative presser feet or parts ( what parts are you searching for ) are available, depends on the ones that you have.. a picture or pictures of the feet that you have would help.. The 490-4 is not really a leather machine..it is a top and bottom differential feed machine ( dual feed ) with no needle feed.., It can do leather, can do tarps,( very well ) and can do fur and thick textiles or "ruching".. What is the motorisation ? .simple clutch? servo,? or ( as mine EFKA airclutch ) ..

The comments in many French "horsey" forums concur with SheilaJeanne's saddler, everyone seems to say that the quality of the leather used was better "before", and that the saddle construction was more amenable to minor alteration and adjustments to the padding, some are restoring / using ones made in the 20s. This page ( calculator of the "value" of various saddles ) might be of interest to some. https://www.equirodi.com/argus-selles-cheval/hermes.htm as might these https://www.hermes.com/fr/fr/equitation/selles/ https://www.tosoniselleriashop.com/fr/selles/selles-anglaises.html https://www.au-coeur-des-chevaux.com/l-equitation.php?page=l-equitation-le-materiel-et-l-equipement-la-selle-et-ses-accessoires-la-selle-type-anglaise I find it interesting how many Hermès saddles ( which are reckoned here to be "expensive" ) one could buy for the cost of an Hermès sac :)

It isn't "English" it is French made..the manufacturer is /was called either "premiere" or "France"..( it is unclear which, my money would be on the brand being "France" as it has the ® next to the word..in French this designates a "trademark" or a "marque déposé"* ) there are a couple of posts in French "horsey" fora asking about the saddles ( French for saddle is selle, but selle has other meanings, one of which is the name of a breed of horse, another is human faecal matter ..so be careful how you ask French people about "selle" or "selles" :) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selle saddle / selle images https://www.google.com/search?q=selle&hl=en-FR&gbv=1&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3k4qhkfDhAhXS8OAKHbWPAaUQ_AUIBQ HTH Btw Selle is pronounced as if it were written Sel..rhymes with the name Mel..as in Gibson. Whereas the word which is written Sel..and rhymes with Mel is French for "salt" *re the ® strictly speaking , legally in France the ® has no meaning nor legal value, the use of it is an anglophone countries "mark", but a large number of French companies and businesses do use it..mine included , for trademarks that we have registered in France.

Text don't call, then you have a trace..with time stamp.

Now make your own site, and you'll get to keep the percentage that Etsy currently take from each of your sales.. My best wishes to you Wayne , from what I've seen of your products they appear to be well worth the money , and with far more options than those of Regad. :)

Seems a pity they dont let the management buy stock from the States at real trade prices With whose money would they be paying for what they were buying ? What are "real trade prices"? Selling online requires a secure website, with a back end to a bank account, the site would have to be run by a team, with experience, who would pay them ? Trade counter ? who would be allowed to buy ? Only businesses, which is what "trade counters" sell to..they do not sell to the "public" or "hobbyists". Franchises ( which are a very specific type of legal trading entity ) cost money to "buy into"..eg most ( if not all ) MickeyD's ( and other Fast food etc ) are franchises.. We looked into buying one ( McDo) here ( they are the run under the same "franchise system" in the UK ) would have cost us at the time ( early 90's ) around 2 million euros to buy in, plus a franchisee then gives a high percentage of their gross each month to the "Home office" in return for being a franchisee.. We decided to pass , put the money into something else..mainly because in France we would have had to have employees, and already we had learned that to have employees in France is like shooting yourself in the foot, but the trigger gets pulled at random. I don't know if Tandy have a franchise system ? I think the store managers are all salaried staff paid by the head office..if they do have franchises, they won't be giving them away..But, you could ask them if you could "buy in" to keep them open in the UK, but based in Norfolk. :) Prices to "buy in" are no doubt even higher now..There is a supermarket chain ( each shop run by franchisees in France) called SuperU , one about 1km from me was just sold..the new owners had to "buy in" as well as pay the previous owner for the deal..the "buy in" ( what they have to pay to the "home office" ) is north of 50 million Euros for around 9000 sq feet of retail space branded SuperU, plus parking ( about 200 cars )plus a petrol ( gas ) ) station , my sources say that they paid nearly as much again to the owner, whose father gave it to him around 5 years ago..But..they bought a money machine..

Yep..DHL..not the most efficient knives in the box..I heard all about the Kentucky debacle over on a pro IT forum.. I second a vote for goodsjapan..good quality stuff, very efficient people, good prices..re VAT ( if you are registered you'll be getting it back ? ) is 20% from anywhere ( USA or Japan, or even EU )..outside of UK , if UK customs see the goods go past their beady little eyes, or if they are imported by a customs agent shipper such as DHL, UPS, Fedex , TNT etc.. Difference is that once outside of the EU ( post Brexit ) there will be other assorted customs rates applied on goods from the EU before the VAT is charged.. Which could make some things a lot more expensive to bring into the UK from the EU..actual percentage rates won't be known until after Brexit ( some have been leaked, but by no means all )..leather for different uses may have differing rates applied , as may tools, rates depend on use, or dual ( or more ) use.. "international transaction charge by Royal Mail of £8" that is basically like a flat rate customs clearing agent charge for "customs handling" that Royal Mail apply.. DHL ( and others ) quoted rates usually are inclusive of customs handling, but not inclusive of customs duty and VAT.. Each class of items is technically "one point"..so cowhide veg tan is "one point" , "cowhide analine" is "one point", horse is "one point" etc etc..head knives are "one point", ( or may be classed as "leatherworker's tools" , ) stamps may be "one point" ( or may be classed as "leatherworker's tools"..etc etc.. A Customs broker charges for handling each "point"..Import and customs clearance of one veg tan cowhide could be "one point" charged at $100.00 plus duty + VAT..import of 1000 veg tan cowhides would also be £100.00 plus duty+VAT..if there was one lambskin in the 1000 veg tan cowhides, that would be an additional "one pint and be charged at an additional £100.00 +duty +VAT..and so on ..and so forth..Which is why ( unless you are shipping 20' or 40' boxes or stuff ) most people use the mail or DHL, UPS, TNT etc..who have a flat charge per package included in their rates and who do not charge per "point"..There may not actually be a classification of "leatherworker's tools"..and without looking it up in my Douane ( Customs ) tables I couldn't say for sure.but the principle holds good, each thing is in a classification , each classification counts as "one point" each classification has a rate of import duty applied to it, if things are dual use, you get to negotiate with the Douane ( Customs ) or your importing "customs clearing agent" does so for you..if they can be bothered, DHL etc usually cannot be.. Whatever you do..never call it a gift , nor allow your supplier to do so..that way can lie jail and or heavy fines..and your customs people ( HMRC..or in my case la Douane, les Douanes ) are usually empowered to do things that the police are not..

^^^ Love the Tux :-)