Sheilajeanne

Yes, olive oil is a very heavy oil, and tends to go solid at room temperature, so would not absorb into the leather well. Neatsfoot or a neatsfoot blend intended for tack is the way to go!

Yup, horse blankets get VERY dirty! Horses like to roll while wearing them, so you will be dealing with both mud and horse poop. If you are planning to machine sew horse tack, you will likely need something that can handle at least 10 to 11 oz. leather. I did a search on the forums here, and some posts even talk of leather up to 15 oz. Don't forget, tack items are frequently lined to prevent the grain side from absorbing sweat, so that increases the thickness you are sewing.

Some horses are very tough on blankets, so you will likely be patching a lot of holes, rips and tears in heavyweight nylon. Blankets can also be made of cotton, canvas or wool. Some are lined with artificial fleece for warmth or may have a quilted lining. Most blankets these days do not have leather straps. The straps will be tough nylon webbing, and will sometimes need buckles re-sewn or torn straps mended. I don't yet know enough about sewing machines to say what type of machine will be up to the task, but I think a patcher would likely do the trick. As for tack, you will be mending a LOT of straps: halters, bridles, lead shanks, stirrup leathers. You'll need a good skiver and strap cutter for sure!

What are those screws called? I'm familiar with Chicago screws, but have never seen them with recessed heads before. Very nice work!

My thoughts are the fact he's repairing and selling some of the machines doesn't mean he's NOT a hoarder. When I saw his 'showroom' I thought no one who's seriously interested in selling machines would let someone/anyone sit down and sew with them. Treadle machines take a fair bit of skill and practice to sew with, and you can mess them up pretty badly if you don't know what you're doing! (Yeah, speaking from experience here... ) Also, he mentions the show room isn't open yet. Um, he's been doing this for over 2 years, and the show room isn't open?? He can't be very serious about selling the machines, if that's the case!

If you listen to the video, he talks about it taking two or three machines to repair one. He also said the Singers with the 'nice de-cals' (never heard it pronounced THAT way!) were sold. So, he's more than just a hoarder.

Doesn't hurt to experiment! But here is Hidepounder's method (Bob Parks). He makes some VERRRY nice stuff!

Hidepounder says gum trag prevents dye and edge coat from penetrating the edge, so he uses glycerine saddle soap instead and follows with a final coat of paraffin after dyeing. The gum trag could be what's causing the problem. And yeah, I am finding the same thing about the leather quality. Now working on my second bag, which is a much better quality leather than the first, and the edges burnish super easily with just a little rubbing!

I am planning to bind the edge of my current WIP. I am also going to line the bag with fabric, which means I'm going to need a needle with both a sharp point and a large eye to sew the binding in place. Where can I find such a needle, and what would it be called? I have also thought of trying to sharpen a couple of handstitching needles. I have quite a few from the Tandy kits I've worked on!

I had to read that more than once, but I think I understand. You use the cloth to burnish the edge. The leather does not move, but stays flat on the slab. Be careful to only rub the edge of the leather and not the whole piece. Burnishing thin pieces of leather is tricky. This is an interesting way of doing it, one I've never heard of before. Definitely worth trying! And yes, I will say it again: You are very talented!

Okay, so the edge of the pockets is just cut and burnished, right? How do you finish your edges? (I'm planning to put card pockets in my most recent project, that's why I'm asking all these questions!) :D The edge is not turned over. I'm not strong in this yet Really?? Could have fooled me! You are VERY talented!

You do gorgeous work! Even the interior of the wallet is first rate! And the cougar is so lifelike, you can almost hear it purr! One thing I don't get is how to get that edge on the card pockets. Is it turned over to get that line just below the edge?

LOL! I think that's pretty universal for English speakers everywhere!

what can I do with a gifted singer 66? Become its agent and put it on stage? (Sorry!) You don't get given a straight line like that very often on these forums...] I, too, got a domestic machine when my mom died, though a modern one, not an antique. I am going to be using it to sew bag lining (fabric) and very lightweight lining leather.

fredk, my mom used to listen to a radio progam called "Calling All Britons'. Its host was a Cockney broadcaster named Ray Sonin, and he'd always sign off with "Until next time, this is your old China, Ray Sonin, saying TTFN - Ta-ta for now!" That's why I thought the expression might be of Cockney origin! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Sonin He was the first North American broadcaster to play the Beatles' songs on N. America radio. My friends laughed at me when I told them I'd heard the songs before they did. Guess they thought I was making it up! Glad to have that memory justified after all these years! We now return you to our regular programming...

IIRC = If I recall correctly WTF?? = well, I don't think I need to explain that one! :D Describes a lot of things going on in politics south of the border ATM! Most of these have come into common use as a result of the internet, and people texting on their cell phones. BRB - be right back TTYL - talk to you later TTFN - an old British expression (think it's Cockney) - ta-ta for now! YMMV - your mileage may vary, meaning you may have had a different experience with this, or different opinion WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get. An old computer term, meaning what's on the screen right now is going to be what you get when you press 'post', or are finished entering your data. Not heard so much these days. IAW [person's name] = I agree with [person] As for leather thickness, I prefer to use either millimeters or inches. Most Canadians of my generation are bilingual when it comes to metric vs. the imperial system, as the switch-over happened while we were in school! But I still prefer to use pounds for my weight and inches for my height, and think of zero degrees as being REALLY cold, and not just the freezing point of water!

Maybe an inch or so.

Plinkercases, yeah, that's exactly the book I looked at too, and the diagram that made me realize the handle was too long for me. I guess I just lack the confidence to do it... There's no tang or anything I have to worry about, is there?

Just wondering - I know there are some people on this board that do. I recently bought a round knife, but the handle is too long for my lady's hand. Would like some help in cutting it to the proper length! You can PM me if you wish!

Mike, thanks SO much for that video! I just got a round knife, so this was very useful to me!

Seriously, so much depends on what you are planning to make, and how you usually go about it! You'll obviously need cutting things like knives for cutting out blanks, scissors, cutting board, poundo board, quartz slab if you're going to do tooling. Don't forget ruler, dividers, etc - whatever tools you use to make lines to guide your cutting. Needles, thread, your favourite punches for making holes, buckles, oblong punch for buckle hole, and stamps. I have thought of making myself a tool roll for stamps for when I travel. It would have a separate compartment for each of the major stamp types: backgrounders, camouflage, pear shaders, seeders, veiners and figure stamps. For now, I just sort them into ziplock bags, and label the bag with the type of tool. When I first started leatherworking, I remember seeing a sheet that showed us all the fancy things we could do with just SIX stamps! So, look yours stamps over carefully, and winnow out the ones you use most often! As for finishes - dyes, alcohol, top coats, etc, I'd get a small tote with a locking top that I'd fill as full as possible to keep things from tipping over, and maybe even stuff newspaper between the bottles to further prevent spilling. Throw in some swabs or brushes for applying them, plus containers for mixing, and a sponge or two for wetting the leather for tooling, and that should be pretty much it! Oh, wait - sandpaper for smoothing edges. Forgot about that! Might be a good idea to cut out some blanks for belts and holsters before leaving home?

So, could someone explain (or speculate!) on how the edge of the card pockets were done on those wallets? I'd really like to know!

Yikes! Glad to be living in Canada, then. There aren't a lot of leather sources other than Tandy in my area, and at least they are close enough that I can see the leather in person before I decide to buy! The shipping cost of leather from the States makes buying across the border a bad deal for most items.

That's ridiculous! One Australian dollar equals .94 cents Canadian. Here is the price of the SAME ITEMS from my Tandy Canadian sale flyer for September! https://www.tandyleather.ca/en/eflyer/1809rt-ca?utm_source=Tand-E-mail+from+Tandy+Leather&utm_campaign=6d08150e03-2018-08-31-WebSpecials-CA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e267c11fde-6d08150e03-76561025 They are charging approximately a 25% markup over Canadian prices. (I used the Cumberland sides to do the math on this.)

Chip clips....lol! Just bought two of them plus two carpenter's clips at an estate sale on the weekend! Got all 4 for 50 cents! Yes, popsicle sticks come in very handy too!