Sheilajeanne

I once made the mistake of putting cayenne pepper in an Italian seasoning bottle and not removing the label. I knew what was in there, and even if I forgot, the colour of the contents should have been a dead giveaway. Then, my diabetic friend who has poor eyesight was doing some cooking in my kitchen... Fortunately, I caught her before she put too much into what she was cooking!

You don't live in Canada, battlemunky! They are all too common here! At least my pharmacy has designed a bottle for the medication caps that allows you to disable the child-proof feature by removing a small tab on the cap, or I'd likely be leaving my pills sitting in the cupboard WITHOUT a cap on them! Unfortunately, can't do that with liquids...

Me too, Squid! We have them in Canada, and they are a terrible PITA! Glad to know that trick with the inner cap, will give it a try! One way I've tried to avoid trouble with opening them is making sure I wipe both the threads on the bottle and the cap before closing the cap. If the buildup of dye doesn't come off with a simple wipe, I'll wipe them down with alcohol. Another really annoying thing about them is they are supposed to be childproof, but they sure aren't LEAKPROOF!! And you'd think that would be one of the most important features of a bottle that contains dye! To deal with the leakage, I keep them in plastic sandwich bags, inside a clear plastic storage container with a lid. You can get bottles suitable for dye storage at craft stores. Michal's has dropper bottles with caps, and also larger clear plastic bottles with a spout that flips up. I bought some of the latter, but have never gotten around to using them for some reason.

Looks like he's plotting his revenge!

Okay, I finally gave in. I am now the proud owner of a Singer 99K. It runs, but not well. Probably just needs cleaning and lubrication. It came with a table, but the table isn't in great shape. Some of the veneer is peeling or missing, though the legs are solid. The machine is missing the attachments. Got it for $60. I'd post pictures, but the seller already took the photo down. Will let you know how things go... Am I nuts or what...

kgg, not going to sell for that price! I've seen the featherweights for sale, in good working condition, for around $100 - 200 Canadian. The treadle machines generally go for a lower price, as they are harder for this generation to use. Electric Singers in good working condition generally go for $100 and up, depending on the condition of the cabinet.

Very nice! How many layers are in the handle/divider section? You did such a nice job of the edge, I can't tell!

I just found my cheapo Tandy stitching chisels, the black ones, are pretty much beyond the point of saving, even though I've always used a poundo board underneath them. The Tandy pro chisels are on sale for 20% off right now. I'm in Canada, so importing stuff from the States (or elsewhere) is pricey and slow. Would the Pro tools be worth the money?

Klara, I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing with my strap cutter! Why couldn't they modify that one to use the old-fashioned razor blades? They still sell those in pretty much any store that sells the modern razors with the interchangeable heads! And you'd be able to flip the blade around once one side got dull, so it would last twice as long. I was looking at the slit in my cutter as I changed the blade, and wondering just how I could make the slit longer so that type of blade would fit. But it is such a narrow slit, I'm not sure how to do it.

Thanks, that's what I thought!

Gotcha, Fred! Will go for the cheap ones next time I need a 45 mm blade!

So, to continue the tale... No one sells the injectable razor blades that fit the strap cutter anymore. You would have to order them online, and since I also needed the rotary cutter blades, off to Barrie I went. Tandy (where I was greeted warmly by name!) had a package of 5 strap cutter blades for $3 and change. They also had a 45 mm Olfa blade for $9 and change. I decided that was too much money, and headed off to Michaels (craft store chain). I don't really need a blade for the 45 mm cutter right now - I must have bought a replacement at Tandy at one time. They had ONE 45 mm cutter hanging in the paper craft section and NO replacement blades. The employee I talked to said getting supplies in was a real problem since the pandemic hit, and no, she wasn't sure where I might be able to find blades. So, this morning, I went online, and ordered both 28 and 18 mm blades. It's $13.69 for 5 28 mm blades, (Solumex) and $12.89 for a 6 18 mm. blades (Headley). And I didn't realize until just now that I'd ordered from two different manufacturers! I thought both were Solumex. Guess I need more coffee! Will be interesting to see if there's a difference in how well they work, and how long they last! I also could have had a set of 6 45 mm cutter blades for $6.99, but when the prices is that low, I start to get reaaallly suspicious of the quality, especially when no brand name is given!

You've obviously never tried cutting leather like this! Scissors would produce a horrible uneven edge. Honestly, I've never had this much trouble getting a clean edge on a piece of leather before! It's not thin leather, either - just has a soft temper and is really stretchy. It was probably meant to be garment leather. I thought I had spare blades for the 28 mm cutter. I was wrong. They are utility knife blades. Off to Barrie today...

Will try that when I can get a new blade. I totally lucked out today when I tried to find something sharp enough to cut this stretchy leather. The drugstores don't sell the injectable blades anymore, and Home Hardware doesn't sell the rotary cutter knives or blades, only utility knives. They do have them in their online websites, but there's not enough demand for them to stock them in their stores. Given how long it will take to order them online, it looks like I will be making a trip to Michael's and Tandy's in Barrie tomorrow.

Thanks! Will see if I can find these in a store. I had no idea where to buy them other than Tandy's! I'm in a bit of a bind at the moment - the only thing I have that's REALLY sharp is my Olfa utility knife! And this stretchy leather is an absolute PITA to cut unless the blade is razor sharp! Edit: oh good! Home Hardware has the round cutter blades! I thought I might have to go to Michael's to get them!

Sorry, should have clarified I was using a strap cutter not the Fiskar's blade! Since I don't have a replacement for the strap cutter blade, I am planning to use a rotary cutter on it, so thank you for the tips. I already found out the utility knife didn't work.

Yeah, CT brands often aren't all that high quality. They are for the home handyperson, and if you want professional quality tools, you have to pay a higher price, which most of us non-pros aren't willing to do. I think the Vanadium tools are the better set, but he broke a 3/4" wrench in that set, and I'm missing the 10 mm in the Job Mate set. I assume he broke that one, too.

Thanks for the info, MtlBiker! Good to know! A nearby city (Barrie) still has a fabric store where I could buy this stuff in person, but they are getting REALLY hard to find! As for the Fiskars cutter, I watched a video where they changed the blades on both Olfa and Fiskars 45 mm cutters. The Olfa seems much better designed, and has a washer, which I think keeps the blade turning better than the Fiskars cutter. My two small cutters are both Olfa. The leather I am working with is REALLY stretchy. I'm trying to cut a strap from it, but found it just bunches up in the cutter. Yes, THAT needs a new blade, too! Any tips for doing this? I'm making a tool roll and need a strap to tie it up with!

The one set is Jobmate, a Canadian Tire brand. Not sure who made the Vanadium set. My metric tools are Jobmate, and that set included the Imperial measurement tools, but a LOT of those are missing. The Vanadium set is Imperial measurements only and is complete. So, going to keep some of each. I am in the midst of making a tool roll to keep them all organized - that's why I'm asking! And my handyman seems worse than most at misplacing tools, which is why I need to tool roll, so I can bug him when he doesn't put them back where they belong!!

I have spare blades for my 28, so I think I'll be using that one instead. This one still isn't doing a very good job, even with the new blade.

Oh, look what I found! You can get a sharpener for the 45 mm blades!

Yep, 45 mm. One of the videos I watched mentioned there IS oil on the new blades, and it could be this one's been sitting so long that the oil has dried up. I may give it a wee squirt of sewing machine oil, and see if that helps.

Thanks, Fred!