TinkerTailor

I use random pieces of steel pipe from rona. I have found it is ok to set rivets on a curved surface as long as it matches the final curve of the piece somewhat, and you are hammering towards the center of the circle. It is easier to hit the rivet on an angle and bend it this way. Just make sure you line up your hits. Find a pipe that just fits the final inside size of the piece and you are golden

I am relaxed, however I am on a timeline. Time is money. I understand delays, they happen. However communication is key and is the first step in service. I am posting this in the hopes that the employees of this company that are members here may see it over breakfast and open outlook when they get into work. The website clearly says all over it to email inquiries.

There is one supplier which I won't name publicly who advertises on this site who is not checking their email frequently. IF YOU SELL LEATHER SEWING MACHINES (or anything) CHECK YOUR MAIL DAILY!!!!! I can not give you my money if you don't tell me how much!!! I was hoping to get this machine on the way to me this week. You may not be in a hurry to sell but I am in a hurry to buy. I have emailed a request for a quote 3 times this week and got no reply. I sent the first on Monday with a follow up question in a second email and re-sent the request early Thurs morn from a different account in case the first was flagged as spam. It is now Friday. No reply. I sent out requests to 4 suppliers on Monday. All of them have got back to me right away with a landed price for what I want but one. I sent the email on a holiday Monday for one and they got back to me at 730am on tues..... As for the machine I was most interested in.........No info grrrr. As to the inevitable comment about phoning them, First, I have a day job. Can't spend time on the phone for this during working hours. Second, I want a quote with shipping all in to me and i want to see it on paper. My particular situation does not allow me to do accurate shipping quotes on websites and i had alot of questions i did not want to forget. I also wanted to be able to compare quotes for equivalent accessories packs. I want to get the right machine and accessories. While I am venting, What is with you all having lost leader deals on machines on your websites??? Several companies I have talked to have up to 3 machines on their sites, that were really good deals. All either nearly new refurbed clones or clean original machines for a good price that "just" got sold. All of these machines have been on their websites for a while and they all "just" sold????

You have got to be kidding me.....One is talking about forge welding a sawz-all blade into a ring? The other is talking about buzz boxing disimilar steels into a punch, one of which is a thin saw blade and do it all without cracking and warping? That is beginner home blacksmith skills? That is the diy easy solution?? These solutions are easier than calling the scrap yard or a bike shop or a welding shop for some proper material??? Wow. I bet the store that sold the sawz-all blade sold hole saws as well... they would work if you cut out the middle. Why go the hard way? "Work smart, not hard. Working hard is for the feeble minded." On second thought, You spend your time how you want. Weld stuff and hammer it for days, Take the long way around who am i to care? I'm out. I have leatherwork to do.

I like this design alot. I HATE the particle board arborite allthread and nuts fakeness that the 441 clone flatbed tables are. I will have a clone in front of me very soon, and i intend to tell them to keep the flatbed and throw in thread. I have a router and know how to use it. I am also going to replace the wood on the tabletop, or at least veneer it. Rubber edging is yuck.

There is this: http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/the-elusive-left-handed-sewing-machine.html The 18-2 line of singers are cylinder arm left and right machines used for vamping shoes. i wonder if yours was a later model?

A pretty cool trick for a bad finger cut is to wrap the finger in string or thread several wraps over the wound tight enough to close the wound, then crazy glue the strings to the skin on either side of the wound for 1/2 inch or so. Then cut off the excess. Voila, superglue sutures. This trick can be done with 1 hand.....

If it has not been mentioned yet, members of this site Nigel Armitage, Ian Atkinson, and UK saddlery all have great videos on youtube.

Call a bike shop or two. Shops that sell used bikes usually have more crap frames lying around that the race type shops. I recycle 1-2 frames a week during the summer at the shop i work at . Offer some barley bucks to get them to save you a steel frame or two. Don't give them the beer until you get some steel..... There are frequently dirt cheap bikes at thrift stores in the fall.. Also, I see you make duty gear for law enforcement. They may also have confiscated/accident damages frames. Police frequently have unclaimed bikes or ones they picked up abandoned on the street sitting around. The police here sell off all the usable bikes in an auction every year, and scrap the rest. Ask them where the guy selling/scrapping old bikes is.They will know. If they don't, ask yourself who is looking for stolen bikes.....

Did you miss the part where old bicycle frames are free chromoly tubing? Even the High tensile 1020 tubing of cheap frames is higher in carbon than black iron pipe. It lists as 66 rockwell hot rolled and 72 cold rolled. At 0.20% carbon hi tensile 1020 bike tubes should harden just fine. These tubes show up in LOTS of sizes. It can be heated and worked. Its also commonly used in race car/offroad/atv/motorcycle chassis shops so cut offs may be available at a fab shop. I crushed a heated piece of 7/8"d 1/16" wall chromo in a vise and it made a 1 1/8" X 3/16" slot punch. I don't have it in front of me but I think 1 1/8 tubing made a 1-1/2 inch punch 3/16 wide. Only needed a propane torch a vise and alot of filing. Thats as beginner blacksmith as it gets. http://www.coburnmyers.com/materials-carbon-steel/ http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/731539-high-tensile-1020-butted-tubing.html half way down is a post withthe material specs for 4130 and 1020 as used in bicycles.

That 1860s military surgery manual is gruesome. Adding it to the library. Thanks. Every treatment goes one of 2 ways, give him some opium and cut it off, or give him a boatload of opium and end him off.......happy....

4130 steel - 92 rockwell http://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=m4130r

I have a roll of barbour that i got in an old leatherworkers kit at an antique store. It must be 60 years old, judging by the era of vintage hardware with it. Its dry and crusty looking but still strong as hell. A little fresh wax and it stitches beautiful.

Watch this video at around 4 minutes. It shows how Audi lays out car interiors. It appears they use a water jet.

Use your laser cutter to make templates of the pieces from sheet plastic of some kind and place these around the bad spots in the hide, minimizing waste and then cut out by hand. Its the best way to get a clean edge and it pretty quick with templates. Using cnc does not work for cutting leather because the hides differ so much. There is alot more setup time and not nearly the repeatability of other materials. Its not 4 x 8 sheet goods.....Layout of hides is a skill usually reserved for the really old been there forever guy in big leather shops. It takes experience to choose the right parts of the hide for specific pieces and not waste half of it as scrap One technique is using but hiding minor flaws. Like cutting a briefcase side so the pocket gets sewn over the ugly blemish in the middle. If the average guy can get 10 bags from a given pile of hides, the good one will get 12 or 13.

Cobra/techsew fully loaded are both around 4000-4200 landed in my shop, while the bare bones chikon with 3/4clutch motor and speed reducer is 4200 before tax. No feet or accessories. They don't carry them. He said he can cut down a foot for me......I'm thinking local isnt the best choice....

How does the chikon 441 stack up to the other clones? I have a reputable place local to me that has sold them for 20 years but i just heard the name for the first time today and am very near to pulling the pin on a shipped in machine. Would rather a local but am very leery of a name i have never heard of.....

4130 steel bicycle frames yield lots of sizes of tubing. It is stiff and hard enough in its native state to make adequate punches and is usually free. It is not really hardenable, but still works ok. Better than gas pipe that's for sure. The edges don't tend to bend and stay sharp for quite a while if you are careful not to over drive them into the cutting surface. I have a few made this way and they are all good, some with alot of use. I have also sharpened chromoly sockets because sometimes when I am punching holes through multiple layers, I don't want the stretch at the top of the hole a standard punch makes due to the wedge. If you sharpen the inside, you get a straight sided hole. It helps to pre punch the hole a smaller size with a standard punch so the plug doesn't get stuck in the socket.

I just use the cut to fit method. Make it 6" too long, and then put it on the customer. I then use my english point punch and a maul to cut it to length right on the customers hip. One big whack. It took a few tries to get the depth and technique right, but I'm like a pro now....

Bingo. These are definitely on the want but don't need list. Now to find a project that needs them.....

I have seen them as a hand tool much like a stitch marking wheel but with an embossing pattern.

Run an embossing wheel over the marks and make it look like you meant it.

Belt measurements and leather thickness are all about Pie....Or Pi rather....3.14. Circle math. Its actually really simple. You have the circumference of the waist and the thickness of the leather. You need the outside circumference with the thickness accounted for. Mathematically, If you take the exact circumference of the shape you are wrapping, in this case the outside of the pants, divide by 3.145, divide by 2 and you get the radius. Then add the leather thickness to the radius, and reverse the above steps. Waist / 3.14 x 2 = radius. Radius + leather thickness = radius to outside of belt, grain side. Outside radius x 2 x 3.14 = actual belt length. eg: If you have a 30 inch waist and use 12 oz (0.188") leather: 30" divide 2=15". 15" divide 3.14= 4.777" radius. 4.777" + 0.188"= 4.965" radius. 4.965" x 3.14 x 2= 31.18" outside circumference. or simplified 30"/6.28=4.777" 4.777"+ 0.188"= 4.965" 4.965"x6.28= 31.18" A 12 oz belt on a 30 inch waist needs to be 31.2 inches long. I use this math to wrap bottles, tubing, etc. If you think about it, if you have a square box to cover and each side is 6 Inches, if you do this math using a 24 inch circumference for the 4 box sides, you can work out exactly how much leather is needed with thickness accounted for to wrap it.

I saw that and actually thought 20 would be good for sewing mouse skin coats.......

This is how i stitch and i live in canada and am basically self taught. Its funny how many ways ther are to do some of these things correctly. Thing is, each has its advantage in the right situation. A stitching technique for saddles may not work at all for a boot sole for instance. So much to learn, and everytime i learn something, i find 3 more things i need to know..... I find if i cast(knot) the stitch in every hole, i can pull the stitch up way tighter, even tight enough to sink the stitch line below the surface. Obviously this technique isn't for thinner projects and i have pulled too tight and had the stitch pop before. Ever seen old saddles or boots which are so worn they look like there is only a dot of thread left in the stitch hole? If you dig out the tread you will find the knot in every hole. The knot will expand in the hole locking against the sides, making the stitching much stronger. I also have wet the leather along the stitch line after pricking to soften it a bit and help the stitches sink in. Here is one i sank pretty deep, no overstitch or hammering on this.