UKRay

No Art - definitely not a dumb question. This whole moccasin thing is a whole lot trickier than I first thought. I reckon you have to be a pretty good leatherworker to make them look right. I'm really looking forward to finding out how it is done. Now, if cousin Luke wasn't a shopaholic we might have had some answers by now...

Have you ever set out to make something and five hours later wished you had never started? Yup, the nice soft leather moccasins for 'She who must be obeyed' that I promised and I'm currently failing to deliver... I'm not going to show you the mess that is currently sitting on my bench. I am too ashamed... even more ashamed than the day I antiqued the dog, the walls and (it was later pointed out to me) a small area of ceiling. Let it suffice to say I'll be cutting 'em up and making some 'nice soft leather' pouches sometime soon. I really need help here - can those of you who know how please bring yourself to share a tried and tested working pattern and a few tips and tricks? How do you start, what leather do you use and what things have you learned along the way that would help a complete fool like me to get a grip on moccasin making - preferably before my personal Pocahontas gets creative with the leather shears... As usual, a few pictures of the process and the finished goods would make the learning less painful... Thanks guys!

As always, that is a lovely clean job, cousin. I do wish we had better access to leather like that here in the UK!

I can't see 'em either, Barra. Nice knife though!

Nice job Luke!

I'm something of a traditionalist and enjoy working with the same stuff that has been tried and tested and used for years. I like using brass fittings and nickle plated brass because they work. IMHO, they don't spoil easily, don't wear out too fast and even when they get old, brass fittings can still look beautiful. I think all this probably comes under the heading of: If it works don't fix it! Others will doubtless give you the technical stuff, but from an aesthetic point of view, I love the look and feel of old brass and properly cared for leather and I believe it is worth using brass fittings for that reason alone. I'm not sure that this is the criteria you were wanting folk to comment on, L'Bum; but hey, you'll get all kinds of nonsense from me!

Total agreement - my bolts are also 6mm and I'd also advise checking those welds every time. I originally wanted to do them with polished brass bolts until I found out how much they would cost to make...

I believe ZEB makes staples for obsolete staplers. See zebmfg.com As a example, they say they have Neva-Clog A-1000, L-1000, B-1/4, B-3/8, and DJ340 staples in stock.

Here you go Trastu - I just had a batch of these tribolts made by a local metalworker - cost was about $6.50 each including materials and delivery. It is probably easiest to copy the picture and take it with you to the blacksmith. Just tell the guy each leg needs to be 40mm or slightly less than 2 inches… Note: Each threaded ‘leg’ needs to be big enough to go right through a thick bit of broomstick. Broomstick legs should be about 24" long drilled halfway down to take tribolt. Make your leather 'cap' to whatever size you feel fits best. This is my pattern which you are welcome to copy if you choose.

I am fortunate enough to have one of the older Tandy machines like the one Jordan described and also a new Tippman Embosser. The older machine works okay now I have worked out how to use it properly, but I think the Tippmann is a lot more versatile and is much easier to set up and operate. Speed of set up is important - the Tandy machine needs to be fairly well disassembled to change the embossing wheel whilst the Tippmann just needs a couple of bits unscrewed and screwed back on again. I really like the way you can use the Tippman embossing machine to produce belts with a fancy raised centre section - Having the two machines set up and ready to 'roll' allows me to keep the old Tandy one for basketweave and use the Tippmann for fancier stuff. The Tippmann can also be rigged as a leather cutter but, to be honest, I don't use this facility. I think the trick with belt embossing is to use the embossed section in conjunction with hand embossed work. Okay, that might not sound particularly sensible if you fancy getting into mass production, but it does mean that stuff that is very time consuming like basket weave can be rolled down the middle of a belt blank and then 'tidied up' with hand tools to give a much higher value product. Sure, the rolled basket weave won't be anywhere near as good as the best 'hand done' work but it is quick and relatively easy to make a number of belts this way. It is especially handy if you need to increase your inventory in a hurry for a show or special event. I find rolled belts sell pretty well providing you are sensible about the price - I also get around £15 / $25 to $30 for a rolled belt here in the UK - but it is worth remembering that the customer could possibly be tempted to spend the extra money on handwork if the cheaper alternative isn't there...

Thanks for all the kind thoughts people. I hope you are all having as good a day as I am! Enjoy your birthday too, Luke.

Happy Birthday Cousin! Have a great day.

Aha! Now that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the explanation Major. I'm already much happier about this stuff but would be glad to hear from anyone who has anything else to add. I don't think we have quite got to the bottom of this yet. Yes, Luke, that IS a very small sample of the mess I made earlier... but we aren't going to mention that again are we? In fact we are going to wipe it from our memories and never ever use it to tease, taunt or torment. <grin!!!!>

The dog always sleeps in the bath, Hilly. He is a bloke so it is almost obligatory... I am a little confused (it doesn't take much does it?) as I have been advised to mix the antiquing with water. Now I thought the stuff was spirit based. It smells like spirit, it looks like a spirit based substance - how could I be so wrong? I would really like a little reassurance at this point that the stuff I am using is the same as the stuff you guys have got - see picture below. FYI: I have managed to salvage the three belts (with meths, glasspaper and hard work) and I think they look okay - see picture below. I've really gotta sort this stuff out before I make any more mess!

I got some pretty good ones from my local house moving people. The ones they use have to be tough as they get re-used several times. The boxes I found had handholds. Hope you find some.

That would need to be one heck of a big shirt, Hilly - those gloves sound fun though! The dog is asleep in the bath at present but I'll let it know what you suggested...

Give this thread another couple of days, Schno, and you may be looking at it! I really appreciate all the advice people. I've actually got some latex gloves but don't appear to have the intelligence to wear them when required... I promise to do better in future! I am still not too sure how long to leave the stuff on the leather before trying to remove the surplus. What do you do? From your comments I'm fairly sure one of my problems is not letting the stuff dry for long enough before trying to buff it off. Would you say that overnight is essential? I haven't seen Hi Lite in the UK yet but I suspect it is available from the new Tandy shop. Are there any tricks to using it?

I'm still trying to get the filthy stuff outta the dog fur and offa my hands, Luke! Let it suffice to say I wouldn't dream of embarrassing myself further... Just think long, black and covered in slime... much like a large eel! LOL Actually, make that three large eels...

I have just finished antiquing three belts, I have the horrible stinkin' stuff up my arms, in my hair and all over my bench. It is on both sides of the belts (okay, the back isn't entirely covered with it, but you get the idea...) and I even managed to get some on the dog who was not amused. There must be an easier way to apply antiquing and get a great finish with it without coloring everything else in a ten yard radius at the same time. My method is as follows: I stain the leather with a wool dauber (usually with tan or British tan stain). I then open the jar of 'Fiebings Foulness' and stick a bit of rag into the pot, kinda scooping out a healthy dollop. I then slap the dollop as carefully as possible onto the surface to be antiqued. This is where the trouble starts as the stuff then develops a mind of its own. I carefully smooth it along the surface trying to fill in all the tooling. I'm constantly aware that I have to work quite quickly as the durn stuff dries out so fast. I reach the other end of the piece of work and then I notice a bit I missed so I have to go back to it, spreading black guck in, on and around the piece of work. At that point I give up trying to be neat - this is war! When I have finally coated the job in guck I then try to polish it off with a clean rag... ha! Now we are really getting into trouble as the stuff migrates from rag to hand to head to dog to wall to ceiling without me being aware of it - how does this happen? Having got rid of the surplus guck by spreading it around the room I then try to seal the job. I've tried Tan Kote - boy does that stuff stink, I can't stand the stench and it makes me want to honk! I've tried Resolene - which just seems to remove the antiquing from the tooling leaving a sludgy mess. I've tried El Cheapo floor polish which kinda works okay but has a limited life expectancy I've tried beeswax polishes which just lift the antiquing and spread it all over the job. There must be a hundred different ways of getting antiquing onto leather and finishing it nicely - all I want is one that works! - What am I doing wrong? How do you saddlery people do those wonderful, beautiful intricate saddle panels? Can you PLEASE tell me how you do this stuff? (Oh yes, and does anyone know how you get the stuff off dogs? LOL!!!)

That really looks good RDB - I'm still working on mine! It will make stuff a lot easier to move around too. Shorter set up times mean you can stay abed just that little bit longer... LOL! Thanks for the tip Gary - I'll check those out.

Nice job on the strap Jordan - I am delighted to see you are another member of the 'tin mug club'.

Oh, do I know that feeling... LOL! Have you perfected the swooping hand movement that scoops dropping tools out of mid air? I can unstuck earlier today as I tried to catch my splitter (yes I know I should screw it to the bench, but I haven't decided precisely where it is going yet) and took a substantial chunk out of my thumb with the unprotected blade. I certainly won't be doing that again in a hurry. in fact, baskets sound like a VERY good idea...

Sounds like a drill and a curved needle job to me... but what do i know? LOL

Schno, I'd definitely go with Josh on the thicker plywood. The thinner stuff would be a misery to work on as everything will bounce and jump about too much. The box idea is a good one too. Whn I built my workroom I was fortunate to find some well made, solid oak ex-library tables and just resurfaced them with larger chunks of heavy sheet material to make them fit the available space. IMHO, especially if cost is an issue, I would suggest you go this route. Find existing furniture with built in storage (solid old desks are great) and resurface with ply or something similar (maybe raised up on battens to take your inset slab) to make them fit exactly into the space you have allocated. You might also want to add some provision for template, lace and strap storage plus a proper 'self-healing' cutting surface as this will save your knife blades and your temper! LOL

Making anything articulated is really tricky, Schno, so I reckon you deserve plenty of bonus points for that design. The colour is great and the tooling looks interesting - what tool did you use? - ...and how did you make the articulations work as those look a lot like hammered tubular rivets?