dikman
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Everything posted by dikman
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Macadamia oil - all the references I've found about it refer to using it in cooking (apparently very good for you and a high burning point) BUT they also say to keep it refrigerated and mention it eventually turning rancid, so it may not be what you're looking for. I have a couple of Macadamia trees and thought it might be worth extracting the oil but it looks like a lot of work so I don't think I'll bother (the only way I can crack the nuts is in a metal-working vise so it's a very labour-intensive and tedious job, and I keep eating them as I crack them!). So far the only animal fats that I'm aware of that store well and don't turn rancid are beef and sheep fat, rendered to tallow (and maybe deer fat?). These have been around for a very long time, and along with beeswax are tried and proven for treating leather. Just something to think about.
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You were talking about the use of pork fat in the past to treat leather and it would have been stored at room temperature so to me that is the criteria to use for determining its suitability - what is its shelf life? If it can be stored indefinitely at room temperature then adding it to leather shouldn't cause any problems. However, everything I have read so far about rendered pork fat says it has a limited shelf life but fred's experience suggests otherwise (albeit fred's is in the fridge, not at room temperature). By asking you to do it, why not? You have the pork fat so your experience with it would provide all of us with valuable first-hand information, no different to what others do on here when trying something out. As to whether "stuffed leather" has air in it, I have no idea as it seems pretty irrelevant to me. I don't understand why you appear to be attacking me over this, if you want to use pork fat on your leather that's your business it doesn't bother me, I'm merely pointing out that what I've read so far about rendered pork fat gives me cause for concern about using it to treat leather.
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I would consider that a restoration project machine, maybe $100 for someone who knows what they're doing!
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A 441 machine gives you the ability to sew some pretty heavy stuff if needed but my suggestion would be to try and pickup a used upholstery-class machine as well, these generally have 3/8"/10mm clearance under the feet, run #69 thread and are great general-purpose machines for lighter work. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding a used one and if it needs a servo fitted that's no big deal. The chances of finding a used 441 in Australia, however, are pretty slim!
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So far everything I've read about rendering pork fat to make lard has referred to a shelf life of maybe a year in a fridge but it eventually goes rancid even in the fridge. Outside the fridge it will likely have a shorter lifespan. As you already have some of this pork leaf fat might I suggest you render it down and store it at room temperature to see how long it lasts? It may be a long term experiment but I'm sure quite a few on here would be interested in the results. I'll stick with my sheep tallow, I know it's stable at a wide range of room temperatures, has a fairly high melting point (significantly higher than pork fat) and stores indefinitely without turning rancid.
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Don't sweat the mistakes, it's all part of the learning curve (I'm sure you made quite a few when you started knifemaking). Nice knife, by the way.
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Pretty good set up you've got there for it Dwight.
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A lot has been written on here about using a 441 for sewing lighter stuff (within reason). Two members on here, RockyAussie and Patrick, make a narrow feed-dog and needle plate which will allow the big machines to comfortably sew the sort of gear you're talking about with #138 thread. They could use #69 thread, the limiting factor being finding suitable needles (not common in Australia). RockyAussie is located in Rockhampton Qld, you can contact him via the forum. I fitted RockyAussie's narrow plate set on my 4500 and can't see any reason to take it off as I can use #138 to #377 with it. These big machines, by the way, are not set up to sew as fast as, say, a typical upholstery-class machine, they are designed to sew very heavy thick leather where slower speed gives greater control.
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"Once rendered it keeps basically forever in the freezer and for months in the fridge." That suggests that it has a limited lifespan and is not stable indefinitely at room temperature , not what you want to use on leather.
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To my thinking if it's called tallow then that means it has been rendered down, if they call it "refined" then who knows what that means? Personally, I would render that pork fat before I'd consider using it on leather, I wouldn't use any animal fat unless it was rendered to make tallow.
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Kangaroo has the advantage that it is naturally very thin compared to most other widely used leathers and is very strong for its weight.
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Looks like a pretty generic airbrush, Frodo, no reason it shouldn't work ok for what you want. The compressor will be the limiting factor, those little ones are pretty basic, the biggest potential issues are they tend to pulse the air out (no tank) and are difficult to regulate the air pressure. As kgg suggested a bigger compressor would be better, and with a tank even better still. I've noticed they often pop up on ebay/facebook marketplace, you might find one pretty cheap from someone who used it for modelmaking.
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Hmmm, think I'd be a bit wary of dealing with him unless you know exactly what you're doing.
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What Chuck said, I doubt if it's the actual airbrush that's problem, even the "cheap" ones these days are pretty good. I have several () and quality-wise they're fine. Diesel, I also bought one of those cordless ones just 'cos I didn't have one. No problems with the airbrush. I read several reviews on modelling websites first and in general they were happy with them.
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The detail work on the eagle is awesome. Nice touch on the knife guard, looks like eagle talons on the ends.
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I bought a hand-cranked 201 (same machine) many, many moons ago, before I got into leatherwork. When I had to make some holsters I soon learned it wasn't suitable for sewing leather! (A steep learning curve followed!!). What I did use it for was pre-punching the stitching holes, in ONE thickness of leather only, which gave me a neat, evenly-spaced guide to use the awl when I folded and glued up the holster. The same process would work for you BUT it is not designed to sew leather, the same with virtually any domestic machine irrespective if they are called "heavy-duty", "semi-industrial", "suitable for leather" etc. They are domestic machines intended for sewing material. While this is a nice-looking machine, with a well-made speed reduction setup, it is not what you need.
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Strictly speaking it's not "Damascus", the correct term is pattern-welded blades. These were developed in several countries and as Chuck said were originally intended to make high-quality steel go further by mixing with poorer quality iron. This was the reasoning behind Viking swordmaking. It can be argued that the zenith of this process was reached by the Japanese with their forging skills. They combined softer steel to give flexibility and a shock-absorption backing to their extremely hard cutting edges. The original "Damascus" blades were actually made from Wootz steel, a crucible steel that was made by melting the iron in sealed crucibles containing wood/ leather etc, which provided the carbon to create steel. This process provided a more homogenous uniform structure to the steel but could still provide a pattern when etched. This Wootz steel was made primarily in India and imported by various places, including Damascus, to make blades. One or two modern knifemakers have experimented with making Wootz steel but it's far easier to forge pattern-welded blades from modern metals.
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Made it myself. A butcher gave me some suet and I chopped it up and cooked it (slowly) in a crockpot/slow cooker for a few hours. At the end I had a clear liquid and lots of hard crispy bits, I filtered the bits out and when it cooled I had this lovely milky-coloured block.
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My tallow, rendered from suet from sheep, doesn't smell and so far has survived many years of stinking hot summers and cold winters stored in an uninsulated small shed. I've used it in various concoctions, mixed with beeswax, linseed oil, neatsfoot oil, olive oil, baby oil etc and so far it has remained stable. Just sayin'.......
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stitching clamp Help needed with Ash wood
dikman replied to indynusp's topic in Leatherwork Conversation
I can't see anything wrong, looks fine to me. -
Very nice job on the sheath. As for the blade size, I made a small round knife from a worn out half-round blade from my multi-tool (so it's about the same size as yours but a bit thinner) and I find it a nice size to use.
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I have an old model 335 that was set up for binding, I initially wanted it for normal sewing so bought a replacement needle plate and feet, and while it didn't have an "oscillating" feed dog it worked ok. I've since restored it to a binder. My suggestion is unless a) you want a binder or b) it's very cheap then look for another machine if you want to do "normal" sewing.
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Using tallow I can understand as it's fat that has been rendered and is pretty stable (doesn't go rancid). I don't think I'll be trying pork fat, however, I've seen a few "recipes" for various treatments and none have mentioned using pork fat. Same with lard (lard is for cooking with as far as I'm concerned).
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Well, that's certainly different and doubtless quite unique. Well done.
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I rewired the transformer to make a spot welder for attaching the solder tags to batteries. Haven't used it since I built it.