UKRay

Nice one Terry - and thanks, George for your 'offline' input. Ray

Are we finally going to see a leatherworking 'Masters' section in the new change around? Ray

I have just started experimenting with shoe making and It was suggested that I acquire an insole or an outsole stitcher - at least, I think that is what they said! To be honest, I don't really understand the difference - can someone help with a description of their individual uses please? Hey, maybe I need both! LOL Ray

Just to let you know, I did win the auction for one of those post riveters but as it weighs considerably more than I do - and those who know me will understand that this is a serious matter - I'm currently waiting for some young, fit and strong help to get it out of my car. It uses a number 9 tubular rivet (not a bifurcated one) and has a 'star' shaped anvil at the bottom which appears to split the rivet into four sections and turn each of them over in a different direction (star shaped) to rivet the work. I have seen work with this sort of rivet in it but had no idea how they were used/applied. There is no obvious name on the machine but it has a foot pedal at the bottom like the one Steve has in Devon. It also has a hopper arrangement with a 'spinning' wheel on the side that seems to sort and arrange the rivets so they auto feed to the head. Now the gory bit, apparently the bloke who owned it before managed to put a rivet through his hand (through a bone). I had a demo when I collected it and let it suffice to say, I'm going to be VERY careful where I put my fingers! Ray

Noooooooo, you can't do that to me, Roo - what did you work out? Where are the pictures? I need to know <grin!>. Ray

You are not as scary as Tashabear, but you have some frightening ideas, Suze... <grin!> So what should they be wearing? Ray

This week I've been making a bunch of guitar straps with the name of a band on 'em. I found it irritating that the letter stamps I've been using (Tandy's 1" western style stamps) are not made so the spacing is correct if you butt them together. The letter i is a good case in point. I found myself 'shuffling the i stamp over to make the spacing correct and then shuffling the next letter over to look right with the i. Okay, that is the problem, so how do you guys get over it. I have seen a whole lot of work where the person clearly hasn't even tried to make the letters look right but it does make the work look amateurish and I'm not having that! (I suspect there is a technical printer's term for getting the letters to look right but can't remember what it is - CelticLeather, can you help here?). Timbo came up with a great gadget for putting letters round a circle on his water bottles - perhaps someone smarter than me (or with a better memory) can find a link to this tutorial as it would be a useful one to re-visit. Another issue is getting the things to line up properly. No matter how hard I try I can always manage to get one letter that sits a tad higher than the others. Surely there must be an easy way to get around this - anyone got any ideas? gadgets? suggestions? Ray

I have to agree with all that Bruce has said. Although I have been in the leather business for many years I have always hand-stitched my work but recognised that I needed to mechanise to make a decent profit. I asked for advice and it came back in volume, freely given and all of it valuable. In fact, without the forum's advice on buying sewing machines I would have missed a whole lot of recent work opportunities. Given that I live in the UK, most of the fine machines available on the other side of the pond are simply not available to me at a sensible price (shipping costs killed every possible deal) but the forum gurus were not put off... despite the fact I was never going to put money in anyone's pocket for a new machine the advice still came thick and fast - so many thanks for all your help folks. I ended up buying an amazing Highlead machine here in the UK (from a forum member, cheers Troy) that, with a few modifications (once again I had a huge amount of help from the forum) does all my heavy stitching. When I couldn't work out how to sew in straight lines (doh!) I was even sent a roller guide as a gift (thanks so much for that Art, it changed everything!). More recently I was having a problem sourcing needles in the UK - a quick email to a couple of UK based forum members (thanks CelticLeather and Steve Brambley) and I was sorted out and ready to work again. I now regard the forum as an extension of my business. LW isn't absolutely perfect, but I can't imagine being without it now and wonder how I managed before. I'm going to buy another machine sometime soon and will be looking for even more advice. Sadly, I won't be able to access the incredible bargains currently available in the US and will have to work very hard to find an affordable deal over here. Count your blessings all of you in the USA, buy now if you can afford it, I can't see the prices staying low for long. Ray

You tell 'em cousin Luke! That 'ole Tashabear is one scary lady and I'm certainly not goin' to upset her! LOL Ray

You could always try plain old yellow saddle soap, Holly. I've used it for years and see no reason to change. It just works. Lately I've been using Fiebings (nice stuff to use and I can get it easily) but I can't imagine the other brands are much different. Ray

Greetings from Shropshire. Hope you enjoy your time on the forum, it should inspire and infuriate in about equal measures - the inspiration comes from the amazing stuff you will see here. The fury is from trying to emulate the experts. Have fun! Ray

Hope you do really well with the auction. It is always hard to find something original to make for charity auctions but you certainly cracked it here. Good on ya! Ray

Yay! Go Tashabear go!!!! LMAO But next time don't sugar coat it... Ray

Enough! Ray

Hey, Sheridanman, I'm fairly confident that if you start cutting or pounding on the ear of an elephant that isn't dead you probably won't have to worry about the legality of the issue... Elephants can resolve their own problems! LOL Ray

Very nice quivers, Paul, I particularly like the tooled one - now get back out there and cut that grass! LOL Ray

And you want me to dignify that with a reply? - You just keep your undersized widget off this board, young man! LOL Ray

Interesting topic, but hard to put into a personal perspective. I don't see myself as an artist and I'm not much of an engineer either but I do see myself as an innovator. I like to take very old machines and having given them plenty of thought, find skilled engineers to alter them and make them more efficient and even do things they weren't built for. I also like to explore new ways of producing good looking leather goods that take them one step further than the original concept. I can use a swivel knife and hand tools well enough but feel they are simply there to enhance the beauty of the original design. I suppose that makes me mechanical... or does it? Ray

I belong to this forum to find out about leatherworking innovation, learn new techniques and enjoy the banter. I don't need to hear about the vendor's power struggle or be subjected to any spurious, underhand and offensive propaganda from their supporters but I do want to know about new machines as they come available as this is valuable knowledge to someone in the leather business. I am delighted that Johanna saw fit to tell me that there is a new machine on the market - I won't buy it, but it pleases me to know as much as I can about new kit as it become available. Sometime in the future I may need a machine that does exactly what the new Artisan machine can do and then I will know where to start looking. I have spent money with both Ryan and Steve - both gave me good honest service. I have no doubt that the other vendors would deal honourably with me too - mainly because I make it clear what I want from them and insist the people I deal with tell me exactly what they are going to do for me before any money changes hands. Try it, it works. There is no point in wimping because the price of sewing machines is dropping - that is simply down to commercial pressure and you can be sure the price will rise again soon enough. Prices are only low as long as there is a struggle for supremacy. As soon as there is a clear leader (and I couldn't give a monkey's **** which vendor comes out on top as I will simply do business with the one who gives me the best deal) things will return to normal and profit margins will be adjusted accordingly - hey we all need to make money. If you are in the position to buy a machine now then go ahead and do it - bear in mind, however, that pretty soon there will be a newer model with more capability, deeper throat or a longer widget. The computer industry has been doing this to us for years - buy a new computer and see how long it remains current... and just watch your new computer fall in value as soon as you get it home. It works the same with sewing machines, but to a lesser extent. Get used to it! Unless you are planning on buying and selling sewing machines you probably purchased the thing to do a job. If you had any sense you researched the price before you started and made sure you could afford it. So now get on and use the thing as you intended and stop all the complaining. It doesn't help anyone and IMHO just irritates most folk. Rant over... Ray

You would need long arms to reach all the way to Ludlow, Luke. LOL ...and you wouldn't want to pay the shipping on a 29k even without a stand! Ray

I'm thinking about cutting and selling a range of natural leather 'armour scales' for making LARP and re-enactment style armour and wondered if anyone had any experience of making these? Do they all need to be the same size and shape or would it be best to make a range of sizes with a common shape - or maybe a range of sizes and shapes? Is there a shape that is better than any other? Any help or suggestions gratefully received. Ray

It looks like an older kind of 'durable dot' fastening similar to those used on boat covers... but what do I know? Ray

I've only been working leather for about thirty years and have never seen a hand punch that can crack out 1/4" holes - perhaps some of the 'old timers' will be able to help you... I use a foot press to punch my 1/4" lacing holes - it is a whole lot easier and quieter than any other way I've tried! Ray

I have a workshop full of old machinery but need to clear some space. There are two Singer 29K sewing machines in there that I have never had time to sew with although they are both threaded, well oiled and came from an old shoe maker's shop in Birmingham that closed down recently. I believe they are both 29K58s but will check this and post pictures as soon as I am able. One machine is on a treadle stand and the other is free standing - both seem to work pretty well but will be sold as seen and tried. I'm not looking for a lot of money for them and will do my best to help the new owners get them sewing nicely before they leave my Ludlow workshop. I'm keen to shift them quickly as I need the space for another bit of kit. I do have other hand operated machines and a large number of hand-tools for sale including a hole punches, embossing stamps, 3D stamps and saddlery equipment including a lovely vintage stitching horse. I also have a book binder's skiving machine (the razor blade sort) and several round knives. If you are interested then please send me a PM and arrange to view them asap. I'll gladly send my phone number so you can ask questions first. Ray Edit: I'm happy to trade for these machines and for the hand-tools/machines - what are you offering? I'd particularly like a good quality splitter and a 4" bench mounted belt sander. I also looking for a good quality skiving machine.

Leaving aside the cool design and solid construction of the armour, the clever bit for me is the way you have managed to get that brown dye and black dye to look so good together. I'm a fan of your work, Paul - having seen it 'in the flesh' so to speak; but this is a very nice bit of work indeed. I noticed that Tandy now sell a kind of 'scale' armour in pre-cut sections and I wondered how popular it was. Your shoulder sections look like a nicer design altogether. How are you going to finish the back of the leather? Ray