mikesc

Now..that is pretty cool..and "the glimpse" of the machine.

Mjolnir, OK..I read your post there re the mysterious albino cetacean, and..as i can hear you champing at the bit from here ( the sound is coming in on the westerly storms were are getting ATM )..I rang Mr Fred Moreau ( I was going to ring him next week ) ..I had to leave him a message on his answering machine as he is "unavailable at the moment" ( his says it in French as do mine )..But ( and here is the good part to keep you going ) his answer machine does have his voice saying his name..so..step one accomplished..:) I left a message explaining briefly who I was and that there was interest in his clamp in an English"speaking ( we say "Anglophone"..pronounced just as you would think it would be ; ) forum and that I'd like to be able to talk with him and if possible meet him , if he is OK to be visited I suggested that I visit him next week, I'll call him back again later this evening ( it is currently just before 17.00 hrs here ) around 19.00 hrs..If I can't get him today, I'll repeat the calls tomorrow maybe at a different time ( morning, and lunchtime )..Just as soon as I get some concrete news, I'll post it in this thread.. As Jake says, don't you dare burn your clamps.. I'm copying and pasting ( and will print out to take with me , if he is OK for a visit ) any questions that any one has. I know that he reads and writes English very well , so I don't expect that I'll have much ( if any translation to do ), but as I actually spend far more time working , speaking, reading and writing French than I do English, any conversation will probably be a mixture of the languages anyway..Much as I noticed when I was in the USA ( many times ) was / is ? the case in areas that have a large Spanish speaking population..You tend to think and express yourself in a mixture of all the languages that you speak, and some things ( like a lot of humour ) just doesn't translate well anyway, because all the background of the culture is needed to make the humour ( or whatever ) "work" a 100%..except of course in silent movies.. :-)

I think those ( the gold parts ) are probably rollers. The last one looks to be the "plants" for each part of the UK, Rose , Shamrock, Thistle, Leek. looks to be a roller overlap at the corner. The inner one also looks to be a roller, with a combination spot stamp in the corners featuring the Prince of Wales three feathers. The dark brown edge on the lower one could well be a hot roller with no "leaf" applied. the edge on the upper one ? combination of Roller for the long "straights" and individual stamps to get around the curved corners.

Brian ..Velvet draw string bags..we make our own.. if you are hand sewing your wallets, you do not want to be hand sewing draw string bags..But they can be sewn on any cheap domestic sewing machine..so you can make your own..the embroidery part ? ask at your local custom embroidery tee-shirt shop how much to make you a hundred ( like anything vaguely printing related , the initial "set-up" costs a bit ,but after that the unit cost is so cheap that you don't count it ) I pay $0.50cts per embroidery for a logo in a single colour ..logo size is about 2" x 2" at that price, we have some that are larger, or have more colours )..give them the velvet flat ..then sew it afterwards on the machine..add the draw string.. Voila .."luxury !!" ..and you can increase the price of your basic item by far more than the cost of the bag and the embroidery and the boxes.. ;-)

Depends if you are talking about "shipping boxes" ( ie the mailperson sees/ handles the box, this is an alternative to shipping in padded envelopes )..or display boxes ( gift boxes )..if shipping boxes then $3 to $5 is a lot ..unless in the USA these things are much more expensive than here in Europe ?..Example ( for a shipping box in white carton , looks OK and is solid, that would fit a man's folding wallet ) I pay ( with Raja ) around $0.50 per unit ( inc tax ) for an order of 100 units ..delivery extra..delivery would be another 5cts per unit if the delivery cost is broken down..if I put the item into a high quality plastic bag ( zip lock or glassine type )..I can get them for $0.01 per bag ..if I want to add a sheet of silky type wrapping tissue, the price per sheet ( around 18" x 24" is about the same as for the bag )..If the outer box is of the Amazon ( fold over ) type that they ship books in..price is about $0.70 per box in white..add a few gold foil stickers with the company name on..and less than $1.00 for packaging before postage. I actually ship everything in a much more fancy packaging than that ( think velvet or silk draw string bags with embroidered logo..and embroidered customers initials ) or soft leather bag with embroidered logo and embroidered customers initials..then that goes into the silky type wrapping tissue which goes into the white or black or red box ( black or red cost me more, they are custom ) which again has the logo..this then goes into waterproof un-rippable opaque outer plastic bag..whole packaging still costs less than $5.00 per item ( even for larger items that need a box that is 12" x 15" or 15" x 24" ) before postage. Postage and packing ( against signature with tracking ) is included in the price of whatever the customer purchases ..so they pay what the item price says..no surprises..opening their item should feel like a really enjoyable event to the customer..the kind of thing that some of them would want to maybe film and make an "unboxing" to upload somewhere.. You don't want to think of it from the "improve my image" point of view..you want to be thinking of it from the "how to make my customer, or the person who opens something that was ordered as a gift, feel really special"..Every sense should be played to..sight, sound, touch, smell...taste if applicable ( for those selling S&M ;) )..Make them enjoy the unwrapping and the item, they'll be back for more, and they'll sing your praises to others.. HTH :-) ps..I forgot the silky type ribbons an bows around stuff, or in some cases leather strips around and tied in bows..people ( especially women ) love undoing bows..this is why drawstring pouches are successful ..my wife has ( amongst others ) two draw string leather handbags, Vuittons..genuine originals and another one whose maker name I forget, might be Hermes ..cost as much each as a good second hand car..loves them..and yet the design is the "throw it all in there and can't find a thing" drawstring leather bucket type..We used to live right next to the Hermes boutique in Cannes, you walk in there and they made you feel like you were the most special person in the world..they all sell the "sizzle"..the actual cost of the raw leather and materials ( "the steak" ) is so tiny compared to the final price of the item, but you are buying "the package", "the experience", "the cachet"..and also the fact that they are Veblen..which in a place like Cannes, if you are in some businesses, is almost mandatory..iphones and apple gear are the same..the wrapping / experience is the sugar that helps the medicine ( the price ) go down in the most delightful way .. my apologies for the ear worm....sing it Julie ;-) pps..I'd also suggest that you look at aliexpress, the Chinese excel at luxury packaging, and will often ship free in smallish quantities ( around 100 to 500 units )..

That link just goes to some artists /graphic designer / leatherworker's ( yours ? ) facebook page..nice work..but no mention of it being a Cowboy machine official dealer..That said , I think that Bob once mentioned he had an official dealer here in France , and when I looked them up they had no website, no business registration number etc just an email address ( not very confidence inspiring considering the cost of the machines )..maybe the simplest thing would be to phone Cowboy..or Neil's Saddlery ( I can never work out who out of those two is the official importer / manufacturer in the USA..of what I think is a "Global" machine ) and ask them who, if anyone, is their official dealer in Canada.

He said to me the reason was that the seam line ( on the "bag" part of bagpipes ) is curved all the way from beginning to end, and that pricking irons etc are straight so he couldn't use them to make the holes ( if you see what I mean ) and if he did the holes one by one ( say with an awl ) it would take longer and the holes would not be so regularly spaced..so he has an old Pfaff walking foot ( I cant remember the number ), with an ( IMO ) highly dangerous motor ( not a clutch, nor a servo, it is a thing that runs at full speed and is "braked" by a piece of plywood rubbing against the shaft at the opposite end from the machine pulley..so it is straining when it starts and putting your foot on the pedal releases the plywood brake shoe a bit and the Pfaff whirs into motion..I have similar motor that I took off a Singer 20U.. Reason for hi-jacking your thread somewhat there ( my apologies ) is to say that if you do come across a walking foot machine with a bad motor, you could always hand wheel it to make holes..( he had to do that while his motor burned was being repaired after it burned out a year ago ) might save some wear and tear on the hands ?..or you could treadle mount a walking foot machine..a few people here have done that and posted images of the machines set up on treadles and how tos about their methods for the conversion..

Referring to posting copyright images and texts ( all images and texts whether they say so or not are copyright to their creators ) that are not yours ..and calling it sharing..whatever you want to call it..it is not ethical..and is illegal..see my post above.. "Slighted" , ..No ..But I don't like seeing creators getting their work ( images or texts, "before paint and after paint" images of painted leather signs, or instructions , in Russian , on how to do two colour stitching for example ) ripped off by someone posting merely in an attempt to make themselves look good and knowledgeable.. Normally, when people post "how to "techniques or images here, they are their own images or techniques, or they link to the original creators website..that is the ethical and legal way to do it..Building a "rep" on copying and pasting other people's work found on pinterest or wherever..is not..no matter what you call it.. People have been doing that kind of thing to my images and designs for over 4 decades now..and I personally know people who have gone out of business because pinterest have their images and their "how to images" and now no one buys "images" or "how to images" from them anymore. oh..and to clear something that a lot of people believe up..if something is posted on the internet..it is not "public domain" ..unless it specifically says so in writing..posting an image from the New York Times ( that is posted on the internet ) and claiming it is OK because it was posted on the internet and is "public domain"..will get you in court..civil and criminal..breach of copyright / unauthorized use of copyright material, images or texts is both a civil and a federal offence..and can lead to huge damages being awarded in court against the person doing the "breaching"..and huge fines being imposed in court too.

Very neat..the lining is a nice touch.. 's funny..I know a guy here who makes bagpipes, he uses a walking foot machine to pierce the stitching holes all the way around the sac part that you squeeze..and then he goes back and stitches it all by hand..

That is so cool.. that I poured myself a glass of Talisker just to raise it to you...love it.. Reminded me of the bicycle that someone here wrapped...and a leather wrapped swivel knife.. are just so cromulent.. Raises glass to you again.. :-)

Nice work..and a 1000 internet points to you for making the Alabama Damascus "attribution".. :)

As, I think it was Sir Laurence Olivier who said it.. M'dear, one does not say that one is "unemployed", one is "resting"..

Pinterest is ..from the point of view of those of us who create stuff, a repository of stolen images..our copyright stuff, taken and reposted, without our permission, in order to make the poster look good..it isn't sharing when what is being posted does not belong to you, or you do not have the written permission of the creator to "share" it.. They are not mine..but pinterest..and those who repost what they "find" (what you call "share". but as I pointed out above ..you can only share what is yours , not what belongs to someone else ) have taken billions of images of other peoples works ( and some of mine before I blocked them )..and the creators get nothing..no credit, no traffic to their sites..just their images reposted in order to make the reposter look good with their "sharing".. You wouldn't "share" a car that didn't belong to you without the owner's permission, ..would you..? It takes time, money and skill to make images or objects , craft item, leatherwork etc..some of us make our living from making these things if the images of them get "shared" without anyone knowing where the creators websites are..the original creators will not be able to survive to continue making them..only share with the original creators written permission, otherwise it is unethical, in and many countries , including the USA ( if the image had been registered, it can potentially result in huge fines to the "sharers", and if it has not been registered it is still "breach of copyright ") it is illegal..pinterest has billions of images that are being "shared" illegally.. Oh..and BTW..I can already do that kind of paint work..with a brush..been doing it for many decades..and ..No..I don't post examples of my work..that way it doesn't get "shared".. Why haven't pinterest ( and similar sites ) been sued out of existence ? ..simple..they have Google backing them..and they have more money for expensive lawyers than anyone else..so they "skate" due to that to sue them would bankrupt anyone while it went through courts in the USA..but you notice that pinterest never allow anyone to post images ( that stay up there ) that are owned by the Getty image bank etc ..because Pinterest have algorithms that cross check against those owned by the image banks..and they get automatically deleted..so as to not antagonise the image banks, who also have big legal companies on retainer.. Oh..and "fair use" does not apply..fair use is for educational establishments, reviewers etc ..and can only use at most 10% of a text ..does pinterest ( or google images for that matter ) show just 10% of an image..nope..they do not..But when Google began ( before they got their lawyers ) they were run out of an University, so they were allowed "fair use"..now they are not "fair use"..they are just too big and powerful for anyone to take them on over copyright abuse..as are pinterest..who have Google money ( and other VC money ) backing them.. Lastly..posting images ( and texts or book reviews etc ) that you do not own the copyright to, or have permission in writing from the creators to post..leaves leatherworker.net and Johanna open to being served with DMCA notices..and potentially being sued for damages by the original image owners or text owners..putting her ( or anyone ) in that position..is not "cool" ..

they are from where ? whose work ? yours ?

Not very often that anyone says this here ( usually someone has to explain how to make images smaller in order to be able to upload them )...but...you need to make the images that you post bigger..you have upto 1.4 megs available in total per post for your images..yours are each about 33 kb..so they are very small and it is hard to see much of anything..what can be seen looks OK, but it hard to make anything out...and thus to comment..

Been following this thread and just looked up Fred Moreau..He lives about a hours drive from me ( unless he has moved ) ..I'll give him a call ( won't call now as it it near 19.00 hrs Sat evening here and for French the weekend before the new year is sacred, reserved for family and friends, would not want to disturb the man ) next week and see if he is OK for a visit.. Wayback machine has his site as last on line in sept of 2017.. Adam..can you drop me a pm..

In UK primeministerial circles, I think those are referred to as "kitten heels"..what does your dog think about that ? You might want to add "waxing of legs" to that list..so as not to distract from the stitching...and ditch the socks..unless you are English...even then...ditch the socks...especially for the beach...

Okay......a SWAT team have been despatched ...

Holy belt attachments ..they do ..it does..wow!! ..zapp!!... cool !!

Don't know anything about it...but I'm jealous, it is gorgeous..

OK..the French TV weather woman wasn't telling the entire story, Wednesday was mainly sunny , but with severe hail showers about every 30 minutes ( falling right out of clear skies , like they do ) ..so..I didn't get my tarps on until Thursday afternoon..But I did translate the original manual from venc during Wednesday night and into Thursday morning ( took quite some time because I had to go exploring French websites* about "old style" French shoemaking to try to understand some of the technical terms ) finished and proof read ..just the once..because as someone here says .."life is too short". I converted the original manual which included the images of the machine and it's parts ( it was in French ) which was posted by venc.. ( Thanks venc :-) ) to a PDF..and made my translation of the French text to English into an accompanying PDF.. I suggest that anyone who wants them downloads both..and opens them side by side..they will make more sense that way than if I had tried to "blend" them ( which was what I had originally thought to do ) into one PDF. The original French manual from venc is too big for me to upload when converted to PDF ( I kept the image quality high so as to keep the photos of the machine clear ), so I'll be contacting a mod to help me with the upload and hopefully they will place the link to it in this post..here The English translation PDF is much smaller ( no images, text only ) and so I can upload it here directly..please download both..unless of course you read French, in which case you'll only need the French one.. English translation *My main source for the meanings of French shoemaking technical terms is a website run by "tic tac"..who I know from his blog is a visitor to here sometimes..to tic tac.."chapeau bas et merci" ( my hat is doffed to you and thank you ) .M Gritzner Manual Sole Sewing Machine English Translation of Original French Text.pdf

I didn't forget this time, but have been unexpectedly very very busy over Xmas, ( was just settling down for a relax, and ...lost some roofing in a storm, been sewing temporary tarps to hold out the weather today, weather woman says tomorrow is less rainy/stormy, hoping to get my tarps finished and in place by Thursday, and be able to take a breather, and put the PDF together, go food shopping etc ) ..the weekend coming is for splitting logs, long range forecast says colder and more stormy..we are right on the coast, less than 5 minutes walk from the beach. Can get cheap Chinese tarps here ( 240gm per square metre ) , but they are the wrong dimensions, so have to cut them up and sew them them back together ..in the house..as the workshop roof is what got damaged..fortunately I have one industrial sewing machine ( although it isn't a tarp sewing machine ) in the living room.Cutting and resewing 4m x 6m tarps in the living room is very awkward..as is attaching them to the roof in a storm, hence I hope that the TV weather woman was accurate about Wednesday's and Thursday's weather.

If you can find the bar soap brand "dove" it has glycerine in it ( as do most traditional "bar" soaps" ) .. Soap "works" for the reasons areas Tom gave.. "slipperiness"..which is actually more to do with the physics ( friction, or in this case reduced friction ) than the chemistry of the constituent parts of the mixture. Sometimes* chemistry and physics are very interdependent. * In fact , always..but the "hows" and the whys" are not nearly as important for our purposes as leatherworkers ,as the "effects". Drugstores also have glycerine , it is cheap, and any tools which have any rubber joints will benefit from having glycerine smeared into them..good for your skin too..and your leather...it "rehydrates" and thus softens..put a few drops of glycerine onto a dry leaf, rub it gently into the leaf, the leaf will soften.

^^^what Tom said..what ( ... ) is a "dye box" ?

Could the lack of location info not be solved simply by making a field to that effect ( "location" ) mandatory when creating an account ?