RKCrowe

A follow up on the knife; it does a good job. However, if you want to shive more than 10-15mm, the wooden handle becomes a liability as it interferes with getting a shallow enough angle on the skive. Especially with thinner leather. I had get the leather high enough off the bench to allow the room to drop the handle low enough to get the shive correct. 10-15mm and less it is good. Something to consider if you are in the market.

I’m really interested in the flat knives, even thought of getting a d2 steel bar and try to make one. But it will be the next skive knife I purchase By the way, I nicked the edge of my Chinese special. I filed the nick out and re-sharpened it and all is well again.

Just got a skiving knife off Amazon. Sold by Bayvan shop, $9.99. Stainless steel blade. Though it looks like several shops selling the same knife. I bought it because it was very cheap and also had numerous positive reviews. Also if it was junk, no real harm and I would buy a name brand knife. The edge was pretty rough but some time polishing and stropping fixed it up nicely. Opinion: it was worth the risk and price. And I accept that I will have to strop more often than a big boy knife, and start saving for a big boy knife. Works nicely on “designer sides “ too. As a side note: I also got the Aiskaer wide (French) beveler/skiver. Based on the stitching irons from same that I’m happy with. A quick polish and it is good to go.

Hey Pete, I made a coaster for my mom-n-law, I finished it with a couple coats of well rubbed in bees wax. It keeps the condensation from a glass of iced beverage from being absorbed. But she doesn’t use it because the moisture beads up collects in the tooling and then spills when she picks up the coaster. It of course works perfectly for all other beverages that don’t “sweat”. This probably doesn’t help you, but there you go. Richard

I just got a picture of how the guitar will be carried on the suitcase and it really will not be an issue about the stress forces. Guess I just saw snarks and gremlins in the darkness of doubt. This will be my biggest challenge to date, being for someone other than me. Again, thank you all Richard

Thank you everyone for your responses. It has definitely helped.and what I love about this forum!

Good day to all, I am going to make a gig bag for a Travel Guitar. The person that I am making it for travels a lot, and when walking with his bags he either slings the guitar over the shoulder , which poses no issues. The stress force is inline with the anchor point of the strap ⬆️⬇️,OR he loops the strap around the suit case handle and that poses an issue for me. The stress force is at an angle ⬆️➡️ The issue being, when he carries the guitar on his suitcase, the stress on the strap attachment point is at an angle to the normal. So consequently, on his nylon bags the strap stitches eventually start to fail. And why I am seeking some advise. I am planning to attach the sling to the inside of the bag, exiting through a slot to the outside. I plan to augment with reinforcing piece on the exterior and slightly above the slot to pickup some of the stress when pulled at different angles. Would that be sufficiently strong? I also consider, in addition, to angle the anchor point, thinking the strap would then curl some, wether carried over the shoulder or the suitcase handle, effecting a closer alignment of the stress force lines? I am open to all options. I plan to use “designer” leather that I got on sale at Tandy, for both the bag and liner. And 5-7 once veg for the sling. Or am I just over thinking it? Thank you for your time and advise. RIchard

I just bought these off Amazon. They were inexpensive, no more than $15.00. With the thinking; if they are bad just toss them and keep looking. My thoughts: they are small and could get lost in bigger hands ( I’m a ML golf glove). I have used them a couple times with no problems. A little polishing helped. They have a smaller hole and better tine angle than the Crafttool Pro 3.5 mm from Tandy and much better than the regular Crafttool. Hope this helps a little. Richard

Good day to all, I would like to know what lining leather for use, against the guitar, for a travel guitar case? It will be two thin leathers with some padding in between. I don’t want to discolor the finish or ruin it as it is not for me. thank you, RKCrowe

This seems like the best place for a question: I want to make a travel guitar case, thin leather with a liner and padding between the layers. My question, is there leather I should absolutely avoid using for the liner, in contact with the instrument? To avoid discoloration or finish damage? And a 2nd question, would it be better to use a fabric and if so what fabric? Thank you, RKCrowe.

I used Jim R. Simmons, Making the Cowboy Holster. Thank you Jim,

Hey Jackwack, I agree, but..." person who can do gusset, can do anything!"

Thank you for the help. I did go back to my printed materials, Al Stohlman and Valerie Michael. They advise gouging, dampening and pre-forming the gusset. Also, Valerie indicates to use a 3-piece gusset for more square corners and one piece gusset for round bags. There is always a little gem to find in the printed material! thanks again to everyone. Richard

I recently made a bag with gussets of different lengths, on each side of the middle divide. Two things occurred: 1) though I measured several times one of the gussets, the wider one, ended up too long at the top. 2) I had to fight to get the gussets around the bottom curves transition to the sides. One gusset about 3.5cm, the other 8cm wide. Both from 3-5 oz. veg hide. the finished bag, now referred to as the "prototype " for the "real" bag to be made, the slimmer gusset side was a pocket for my iPad, the iPad sat above the top of the pocket I'm sure due to the bottom corners ending away from the edge, pushing the iPad up. The other side, was better but the gusset tops finished higher up the bag and had to be trimmed. So, if you please; How do you measure your gussets, considering the corners radius? If you require a thicker leather for a gusset, do you skive the edges? The length of the gusset or just the corner area? Are multi-piece gussets easier to get around the corner than a single piece gusset? And What techniques do you employ to get the gusset in place and ready for stitching? Thank you Rkcrowe

electrathon thank you. Of course, I found the thread after I ordered. But will be upgrading some of my stuff from GoodsJapan!

I just ordered one off eBay : alstonery is the seller, interchangeable 2 and 4 prong diamond shape heads. Doesn't mention the size but looks to be 3mm. $25.00 free shipping. Chinese made. When they get here I will write a follow up on what I think about them.

Thank you Tugadude

Good day to everyone. I am looking for recommendations for a stitching ( not lacing ) chisel pliers, for gusset edges that are too difficult to lay flat enough or far enough on a surface to use chisel and mallet method. Thank you Rkcrowe

GrampaJoel, your work looks great! That is what inspires me to do better.

Any suggestions would be great! What I am trying to do is a turned edge on a wet formed case, with a scallop cut out of the front panel. I can not figure out how to come up from the side to the front and transition into the scallop and up and down the opposite side. Now to really clarify things, When I say turned edge, I mean; when you stitch the edging material, flesh side out, on the outside of the project and then flip it over the edge of the project and then stitch it into place. I have tried to take a picture, but the site will not allow me to post it. I keep getting the file too big message, how big a file is a picture? Anyway, thank you for the help.

Thank you bucksnort and KnotHead, I did tie the knot and it looks good. I'd put a pic up but can never get them to upload.

Thank you.

I am making a dog lead out of pre-cut latigo strap, from Tandy. And am keeping it simple, i.e. Hand loop, edges beveled only for the handle and the clasp at the bottom. It will be used all weather and off the beaten path. I stitched the handle and the clasp. And while the stitches at the clasp came out good, the stitches at the handle loop make Frankenstein's stitches look like fine art..! So, I was thinking of putting a simple long Turks Head knot over those stitches. I would use a mandrel to tie the knot and slide it down the lead and tighten in place. The strap is not round and I have only seen braided knots on round objects and that is my question. Will a braided Turks Head knot tighten around a stap or object with squared sides and still look good? I was trying to insert a picture but apparently the one photo I took is more than 1.46 MB, which is normally the message I keep getting! Thank you for any advice or suggestions, take care Richard

I have made a couple coozies. just a reminder, but if you remove the top and bottom circles and cut a cylinder and lay it out flat, it is a rectangle. The easy part is how tall to make it, but how wide is not so easy but not too hard. Look up the formulas for the Circumfrence of a Circle. Pi x Diameter, or 2 times Pi times the radius. For the coozie that will be the thickness of the leather times 2 and the diameter of the can or bottle multiplied by Pi(3.141). The Radius is equal to half the diameter. Also the Area of a Cylinder: Area is equal to 2 times Pi times radius squared plus height of cylinder times the sum of 2 times Pi times the radius. The first part of this formula is the area of the top and bottom circles of the cylinder. And the second part is the area of the cylinder, which is a rectangle when flattened. And the area of a rectangle is W x L or H x W and you know how tall you want, just have to find W. So by finding the radius of coozie and using that number in the second part of the Area of a Cylinder formula, you will have the area of the coozie, and you know how tall you want it, divide the area by the height and the width will be the result. Be sure to add a couple millimeters to the width or the coozie will be too tight on the can or bottle. Use the Circumference formula to figure out the bottom of coozie, if planning to do so. Hope this helps and I didn't didn't muck it up too bad. Richard