TinkerTailor

I second that. Not a fan of the pdf catalog at all. I do not have a fast computer or a huge monitor in the shop so navigating the catalog zooming in and out to read stuff is cumbersome, specially when it takes a while for the pages to load due to a slower shop computer. It is fine on the 21 inch monitor, faster computer in the office, but i never am looking up hardware there.

She is kinda curvy, but she has a leather-face......

I would back away. The 431d is not the most common machine, parts may be scarce. It appears to be a fabric machine and not a walking foot from the pictures i have found, and likely is ill-suited to leather. If it worked why not try, but with its condition, spend your time and money elsewhere.

Wow there is some great info there.....must bookmark...thanks

I wonder if thread twist is one of the reasons why Adler made those stands that feed the thread up and then down the center of the cone. I think it was Adler anyways?/.

FYI if you do a google search of this site, there is a discussion somewhere i found once where a user was experimenting with tattooing leather. It is probably at least a 5 year old thread.

I have to admit, with the price of the reducer as an add on and what you get for it, I probably would have built my own if my machine did not come with one. On my next machine, I have started to get ideas to clean up the underside of my table with one of these and a cogged flat belt to the motor. I have found them for 30-50 bux in the past. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/DODGE-SPEED-REDUCER-5-1-RATIO-SHAFT-DRIVE-430-INCH-POUNDS-/161095311448?hash=item2582076058:g:7yAAAMXQzH9SHNHi

I found a 10lb handful of 6"-12" long tool steel rods and square stock in the bottom of a toolbox in an antique store. Some had tips ground as lathe tools and had the telltale setscrew marks. Paid 2 dollars for it. My girlfriend thought it was strange that the only thing I bought was rusty steel, ....though she is used to it........To me it was the most valuable thing in that overpriced kitschy shop.

It is true that there are still genuinely knowledgeable people in Tandy stores around the country. I will tell you i have met them in 3 stores. I have met 10 people who I doubt could even make one of tandys kits for every good one. As the good ones leave or retire, they are replaced by salesmen. We are talking about a downward slide. Tandy used to be 10 times better. Greed has decreased quality and increased prices. Corporate policies now heavily favour salespeople over craftspeople. They have some pretty strange personality tests as part of their hiring practices. There are copys floating around online. Our discussion is about this downward slide. It is a slide that is going to ruin the only brick and mortar resource left for good. That is the concern. I am sure that every person who expressed an opinion here actually want tandy to be good again, and help way more people than they currently do. Innovating, bringing in new products, recognizing that leather is not just about western tooling. Carry consistent product of quality. It would help everyone. There is a whole other world of leatherworkers. Retirees should not be their entire market target

Thanks for that, that guy is practically my neighbour. May have to sail over to pender island this summer and see him.

"Sketch-up Make" is vector based and free. It is also capable of full 3d. Not giving tutorials, so don't ask. There are plenty online anyways.

Lighter chrome tanned leathers can be very stretchy and hard to cut. The proper way is cutting the strips in a circular pattern from the hide. This gives longer strips, but is more difficult. Here are 2 ways i have handled accurate cutting on thin stuff. With both methods you just need a straight-edge and a big cutting surface. A sheet of plywood will work. A length of aluminum angle from the hardware store is a good straightedge Use double sided basting tape under your cut line to hold it down while you cut. This requires a strip for every cut. You just peel it off later. Bit of a pain in the but.. Lightly dust the backside of the whole hide with 3m spray77 contact adhesive. The object is not to coat it or glue it, just give it some tack. Stick it down to a large cutting surface, and cut away, one strip at a time working your way down the hide. If you use this method, the glue may not slide through the binder well. The less you use the better, and the longer you wait after cutting the better. Giving the backside a very light oiling or a quick rub with some wax before feeding it in should help. This method also can't be used if the backside shows on the final product. I also use these methods to hold leather down when cutting complex pattern pieces and inlay holes.

That etsy supplier is charging over 10 dollars a square foot for leather that probably cost 5 or less. Just buy upholstery weight hides and strip them yourself. I will post an easy technique to do straight short strips the length of the hide later today when i have more time.

I know right? It sounds like a five year old made up the title, however there is no mistaking what the job entails from the title ........Like what the heck is a cordwainer....... At first i thought the handle was twisted then i realized that was a worn thumb groove. Imagine what his palms look like. Probably have the same groove.

Mcmaster-carr should have most of what you need. The part that holds it in is sometimes called a pin vise.

Did you know that it is a 5 year apprenticeship to become a Scissors Putter-togetherer

I stand corrected, i see they do for $27.99/$16.80cad elite price for 100. However, $12.30cad/$8.85usd : http://www.buckleguy.com/rv4756-double-cap-rivet-cap-4-7mm-post-5-6mm-natural-brass-solid-brass-100-per-bag/ There standard discount: Most of our "In-Stock" brass hardware items have the following volume discounts: (10 - 99) -15% (100 - 499) 25% (500 - 999) 35% (1000+) 40%

Snake venom quenching is the secret.

There is one thing at Tandy that is above par......The prices... Here is my thoughts on Tandy: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=67396&p=447268

I think you may be the only person on this site who works at Tandy and admits it. There are a few who used to work there, but not any that do now that I know of. I commend you for this. I think Tandy headquarters could do themselves some good to get an account here, and read some of the other things said about them. They may be able to win back some former customers. Its not like there are 60,000 leather working users on here or anything....... Perhaps they could send a check and advertise... to: Tandy Corporate: You used to be the go to store for entering into this hobby, and also a supplier good enough for some businesses to use exclusively. You had good quality at reasonable prices. My mom, dad and grandpa shopped there. Tandy had what a leatherworker needed and had mail order, and a nice catalog, so you became the only game in town. All the exclusivity went to your heads. Product got crappier and crappier, and prices went up. Now in the days of the internet, I can get the same crap tools for alot less money online. Tandy is no longer the only game in town, and you are losing market share fast. Tandy has horrendous quality control. Your tools are so inconsistent, most experienced users steer the novices to other options. I, and many others here have multiple generations of tools from Tandy. I have new and old versions of the same tools. They look the same but the new ones suck. I understand that quality control of random internet tools is questionable, however sometimes i can order 4 or 5 tools for the price of one at Tandy. One of them will be good. It is a crapshoot, and is wasteful, however its a gamble I usually win......If I knew I could trust the product I got at Tandy to be consistent from piece to piece and visit to visit, I would buy it there, even if it was a little more. Not double price, just a little more. Its the trust in the product that is most important to me. As far as hardware, why do all the snaps and things have Tandy logos on them now? I am sorry, advertising costs money, and if Tandy is going to advertise on my product, they better pay me, not the other way around.....And would it really be that hard to carry solid brass double cap rivets? With the internet, people can shop around and won't put up with this crap for long. Your high prices and low quality drive them away. And don't get me started about the staff who spend more time training on the up-sell than on working with leather. You sell horsehair brushes (Item #2942-00) for $18.19cad. I can buy the exact same brush at the grocery store in the shoe polish section for $6.99 You sell 6 nitrile gloves (Item #2096-00) for $5.60cad. A box of 100 is 12.99 at any drug store, or hardware store, or paint store or...... You sell 6 glue brushes (Item #3432-00) for $5.60cad. They are $0.25 each at the hardware store. Who the heck do you think you are fooling? You may be able to screw someone over once or twice, but once they figure it out, they will be resentful for a long time. On sites like this, they tell others about it and you lose customers you never knew you coulda had..... These are not boutique shops, there are the same chain stores in every town. These prices are less that half of the tandy "gold" "wholesale" customer pricing. Some much much cheaper, and they are RETAIL....... Other businesses can pay their bills selling these products at reasonable prices.. Why can't you? Is it just plain greed?... Get a grip and respect your market, or you are going to lose what grip you have left and go under. Take that to corporate.

You are much more likely to get it from other humans. It is also present in human intestinal tracts, and is the largest cause of foodborne illness in the usa. Nearly 1million cases per year says the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/diseases/clostridium-perfringens.html That is from the burger king employees not washing their hands after the washroom btw.... In addition, Clostridium Perfringens only multiplies at a faster rate than our immune system in anaerobic environments. With healthy bloodflow to healthy tissue there is no problem with the presence of Clostridium Perfringens. Flesh which has reduced blood flow due to injury or swelling is where it attacks and multiplys to create gas gangrene. Most common cause of gas gangrene in horses in injection sites, though rarely some horses do have the bacteria in their tissue, and have got gangrene from bad bruises, it is not common at all. In other words, you need dead, damaged or dying tissue already to get the infection. People tend to worry about germs too much.

paypal required signature confirm and insurance over a certain amount for their fraud protection to the seller. No tracking no fraud insurance. if the person says they did not receive, and you have no signature, paypal will refund the seller or force you to re-ship. Read their fraud protection policies for sellers, it is pretty ridiculous.

Looks like something is catching up somewhere on the rollers and preventing it from feeding correctly. Or you are holding it back absentmindedy while trying to position stitch, Or roller pressure is not high enough. Or the wheel is driving up the padding. Something like that. I would get out some scrap, and make some long padded sections and see how close to the padding your machine can sew. Sew the first side, and then on the way back, gradually reduce the distance between the lines to see if there is a minimum width you need for the leather and padding combo you use. Watch for the raised padding hitting the roller or something.

Contact cement is a glue technically, but they are a special category that bond on contact. Most glues you smear it between the pieces, clamp it into position, and wait for it to dry/cure. While you wait , you watch and make sure things do not move. The small advantage is parts are repositionable. Contact cements, you put it on both sides and let it dry (usually 15 mins), THEN you put it together. Once it touches, its stuck. Hammer or roll it and it is stuck forever. No additional waiting. There are various grades of contact cement. The heavy duty stuff from the hardware store is what Dwight is refering to and the stuff i also use. Surface prep is key to a good joint. The smoother the surfaces, and the greater the wax and oil content of the leather, the higher likelihood the joint will fail. With veg tan, a simple scufff of the surface is enough for a good bond. Waxy, oily horween stuff may need to be cleaned with alcohol or something where the glue seam is before application in addition to scuffing. Rubbers, plastics, synthetics (including the finish on the grain of some chrome tanned fashion leather) are a different story and may require special glue or additives. Most footwear these days are contact cemented together. They last ok.