YinTx

That is a whole lot of tooling! Nice work! Kudos for doing your own drawing! YinTx

Ahhhh, gotcha. I like it. Why didn't I think of that. Maybe on the next one... third one already in the works, about to be stitched, so not happenin on it! YinTx

Thanks! and you mean stitched outline on the letter? Cuz I did "antique" with pearl blue... stitchin would be a trick tho... YinTx

Thanks! I'm always happy when someone orders something other than black on black on black. YinTx Edit to say the pearlescent blue on the initial looks much better in person, as does the blue thread.

Thanks, and I hope so! Going to Taiwan... one of my farthest shipments. ! Thanks! Thank you. IIR, 9.5 x 3.25 inches Was a mere guess on my part... I believe this was one of Northstar Leather's clips. Appreciate it! YinTx

I like it, but I'm sure I'd figure out how to impale myself on some of those implements. YinTx

I kinda like the design.

The aforementioned commercial cover...

Thank you much! Jim is pretty easy going and complimentary, so he might, but I suspect he'd be dyin inside. Appreciate it! Thanks! Thank you. Keep in mind this particular font works best on thicker leathers, or you have to put a compressible backer for thinner leathers. I went and looked. The one for $20 wasn't so nice imo. Spongey leather looked like plate embossed, whip laced single layer. I'll drop some photos. Regarding the rub, that is why I went and bought bibles to go with the covers, folks look at the covers I've made, and say thats nice, but I don't know if it'll fit my bible. Well, no more excuses. Get em for gifts! And if you get too many orders, send a few my way, I'll crank em out. Can't take too much credit for the design work, I've seen several patterns, read Stohlman's book - couple of times - seen Don's video, etc, enough repetition that somehow the knowledge leaked into my brain and got applied when I sketched out my pattern. Nothing new in my design, heck even the tooling pattern was Jim Linnell's. Thank you for the compliment and the photo showing the fabric lining. Yours came out well. I've not been happy with my own attempts using fabric. So for the second version of this same style cover, I've burnished the inside of the leather with Tan Kote, it is much slicker, and I hope it works well. Time will tell, I hope to finish it up tomorrow! YinTx

As promised the inside images. sorta. Anyhow. Forgot to reply re the finishing process. This time around I think I used Fiebings Saddle Tan Pro Oil. It came out a lot darker than the last time I used it, which I thought was highly unusual. I really wanted a lighter color. But as it turned out, I really liked the end result. Leather does leather, not what I tell it to do! If I recall, I used 50/50 resolene as resist, and some Fiebings highlighter for the antique, and resolene as a seal coat. YinTx

Thanks for that. I'll practice on a few pieces, and if it works for me, I'll give it a go on the next one that I am currently working on! YinTx

Picky batch here too. They want nice, but less than $20 because that is what the local Christian bookstore charges for the ones from India. This was my effort at reducing my total materials and labor cost. I have a chrome tanned version of this using 3 pieces of leather (no separate spine piece) that I may be able to put out there for $35, we'll see how that goes. I've made several bible covers all hand stitched until now. A bit of work, but worth it for something like this imo. Thanks! Haven't done one of those... no requests what so ever. I designed this one with a separate spine because I wanted it to be more rigid than the rest of the cover. It is 9-10oz, versus 4-5 oz for the body. The interior pockets are 2-3 oz. This was made for a specific Bible that I will be including with the cover. I purchased a set of six, they are paperback, and thin covers at that. I did not remove the covers, the book can be removed and replaced if desired. After I did the design and construction work, it dawned on me it looked awful similar to Don Gonzales. So I got his pattern, and sure enough, dimensions are within 1/2" of the ones I used, so if you are curious on construction, he has a video on it and everything. Difference is I didn't line this one because I am trying to make a more affordable version than my usual stuff. That cuts about $10 of leather out of the material cost. I'll post some pics of the inside later this evening if I get a chance. YinTx

I did have to do some more timing adjustments after all that, and in general it will catch the thread on backstitching now. It does still miss occasionally, maybe something I am doing wrong as an operator? I am using a 794 needle, size 23, with a 207 thread in this latest run. Brand new, just got the package this week in the mail. The other needle as far as I know was new, but was a size 25 and if I recall correctly, was using a 277 thread. I did not see the back plates opening at all when stitching heavy leather. I'll see what happens when I lift it with my thumbs next time I'm working with it. Currently, the presser foot does not raise very much, if I adjust the feet to allow this, it results in binding. I still have to take the presser foot spring and grind it flat, we'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, I did manage to successfully stitch this bible cover with it! YinTx

Probably shouldn't be if you have the tension exactly correct. Idea is to have the knot land in the middle of the layers of leather, and if the thread is thin enough for the single layer to allow a knot to form in the center, if the tension is correct, you shouldn't see the knot. I was not so certain I had all the settings right and the thickness of thread small enough for it to do that in a single 5 oz layer. I am no machine stitching expert, as you can see, since this is one of the few things I've done with the machine, and the first thing I've done since learning the cam that drives the presser feet was 180 degrees out of alignment and correcting it! YinTx

Thanks for that feedback. You are right, I normally would run the stitch all the way, but I was worried it would look bad on one side or the other if I had the tension wrong when it got to the single layer of leather. Have to build up some sewing machine confidence there, I suppose! I was happy I could run the two words on the spine, instead of just choosing "Bible," and I agree, the font is spot on for it. YinTx

Thank you both! I had to shrink the tooling pattern, which made it even more difficult to tool, as if Jim's stuff wasn't complicated enough already! And the machine stitching made me really nervous. Glad to see others think it came out alright! YinTx

I would be interested, might enlighten me on what folks don't like about my version! YinTx

I made a few items like this. I think I have 3 or 4, they haven't sold, even for really cheap. Let me know how it goes for you! YinTx

Very nice. I like the touch of inverted carving on there too. YinTx

Trying to make a more affordable item, so first time machine stitching, and unlined. Please let me know what you think! It is a Jim Linnell tooling pattern that I used, not sure I did it justice. YinTx

Absolutely love your design aesthetics and color choices. You are definitely and artist! So glad you share your stuff with us, very inspirational. YinTx

You should not need a new blade. a new one will probably still need sharpening. What kind of leather are you tooling? Have you cased it? Have you stropped the blade? What did you use to sharpen it? Do you have a photo of the blade end? YinTx

Ain't nuttin wrong wit dat! Came out alright, if I do say so. YinTx

I think I've visited there, nice area if I recall. YinTx

That is a steal. If I didn't already have 4 or 5 of these things, I'd be all over it. YinTx