fredk

Are you pulling your threads through in a consistent way. Supporting the project in a sewing clamp; When I sew, as the thread from the right side goes though the hole to the left side I pull the thread back towards my body, and the thread going from right to left is fed through the hole on the side away from my body and is then pulled tight away from my body. Then this right-left thread becomes right to left on the next hole

I support the others in saying what you plan to make will guide what you want to buy. I've developed my leather work over 20 plus years. I've bought tools as and when the need arises. Last year I came into some money so I splashed out on buying a load of 'wish list' tools. At present I don't need them and they sit in their boxes. To give a list of what I'd buy is just filling a 'Christmas Shopping List' and may have absolutely no relevance to the OP's needs I don't need a heavy duty sewing machine, I have 5 lightweight duty ones. But I expect a harness maker would need a good sewing machine. Someone making watchbands needs lighter, finer tools than a harness or saddle maker. With no disrespect to the OP I've come across this sort of idea before. Just because you can buy all the tools or hardware for a profession doesn't mean you have the knowledge to use them. eg 1. In my town a good number of years ago a chap took a very nice photo of a ship passing the town. The praise went to his head. He bought a load of more expensive camera equipment and even bought a shop and fitted out as a studio. He even got backing from investment authorities. But he closed up shop after 9 months with a load of debts and lawsuits because he did not have the necessary skills to take professional photographs and do the required marketing. When I was a professional photographer I used the bare minimum of camera equipment and even hired items for jobs, My 'studio' was an old converted cow shed in the country. I only replaced equipment when it was worn out. I made living at it for 26 years and I developed my skills as I went. 2. A friend of mine picked up a car servicing garage for a song because a guy who had fixed a few cars for mates thought he was a car mechanic. The guy thought he could make a business at it but he wasn't trained as a mechanic, nor was he good at business. He fitted out an old service garage with the latest of tools and car lifts then went bust. He lost his home and family as he had borrowed to invest in the service garage. My #1 son has a car parts/servicing place. He too has added tools and lifts as and when he needs them I find that a lot of people outside of leather working do not realise there are so many varied disciplines within the one general heading of leatherwork. There are; watch strap makers, bag makers, holster makers, saddlers, harness makers, shoe makers . . . . and so many more. Sometimes we cross over the divides but often we mainly in the one division Top of the OP's shopping list should be a set of courses on leather work, if he is not proficient in that yet and a set of business courses designed to be devoted to his new business and not general purpose ones

1. that leather can be identified as chrome tanned by the bluey-green colour in the edge 2. the stiffness of your leather can depend on where on the animal's body it came from and from which animal. Assuming cow; 5 mm from the back bone area is very much stiffer than 5 mm from the belly area which is more pliable and stretchy, with different amounts of flexibility between the two, then there are shoulders, stiff but not as stiff as back and not nearly as big to get long thick belts from. Leather from buffalo is stiffer everywhere than cow, and camel is more flexible everywhere compared to cow. 3. I think 5 mm is pretty thick for a flap on anything. On period holsters I've checked out the flaps are no more than half that and often thinner, about 1.8 to 2 mm. On bags I've made I've never gone above 2.6 mm on big bags and never above 1.6 to 1.8 mm on smaller bags. Choice of leather for each part of a project is part of the game, eg whilst 2.2 mm stiff leather might be good for the front & rear panels and flap of a bag its not really good for the gussets, there you'd want 1.6 -1.8 mm belly leather 4. Not knowing where you get your leather, I suggest you work up a relationship with them so you can tell them what you need the leather for and they'll send you that. eg. I've bought 99% of my leather from Le Prevo in Newcastle. Recently, I needed about 20 -22 sq ft of moderately flexible 1.6 mm veg tan. I emailed them my requirements. They sorted out a hide for me and within the week I had the hide at my place. Their choice for me is just right.

Basically, yes. You can also use that hardware for fixing a screw-on concho as a front for a snap. Tandy sells packs of the necessaries edit. Tandy https://tandyleather.world/products/concho-snap-adapter-10-pack?_pos=10&_sid=93680ea78&_ss=r 10 pk for £3.12 afair the screw size is the same for almost all CS

Either side is good, but on raw veg tan I prefer applying to the 'flesh' side - your 'matt bottom' The other side is called the 'grain side' I have some 4 - 4.6mm veg tan and its quite pliable so if your 5mm is very stiff it sounds like its dry. Its always best to wet the section along which you are going to fold. Also a groove gouged on the inside of the bend helps

Depends on just how stiff it is and why. If its a case of being stiff as it is too dry just about the best option is to apply Neetsfoot Oil. 1. use pure Neetsfoot Oil and not the compound 2. apply it in small amounts and let it soak in. Its very easy to apply too much and the leather gets saturated with the oil and then you can just write that leather off as its almost impossible to get the oil out again

If you go down the pop rivet road, you can get automatic pop riveters, which work as fast as an semi-automatic gun. You can get types which run off compressed air or are battery operated ie cordless. I did some work with a place which rebuilt old trucks and buses and the workers there used a compressed air type. They put in the rivets faster than you could sneeze https://www.hansonrivet.com/tools-machines/blind-pop-advel-tools/pop-blind-rivet-tools/pop-rivet-feeding-systems/

a. the folks who glue it to cardboard use a rubber glue which just peels off b. compressed cardboard is like cereal box or 'do not bend' envelope backs, to differentiate it from regular corrugated cardboard as in regular boxes

All of us were there at sometime btw, another tip, put some layers of parcel or duck tape on the back of the leather piece. Some folk even glue it to compressed cardboard. This helps to reduce the stretching of the leather as you stamp and tool it.

Did you let the leather start to dry? Yes 'casing' is the correct term and you did right wetting it then putting it in a bag so the water can get through the fibres. But after you take it out of the bag you should let it rest and start to dry. As it turns to a dry, normal looking colour, but cool to the touch then its about ready for stamping and tooling. I keep a bit of the same leather but dry near my cased piece to compare the colour to. When the cased piece is almost the same colour as the dry piece then I reckon its ready

I would highly not recommend either of those Unfortunately, I have experienced that the funny rubbery plastic used on mobile phones, ipad etc can get stained by these. I had to replace two phone covers because of this. Fortunately one was mine, t'other was my dottir's and not customer's

1. leave it as it is and it'll wear smoother through use 2. a nice slick lining is glazed pig skin https://tandyleather.world/products/glazed-pig-lining?_pos=1&_sid=c3c46daab&_ss=r or this https://tandyleather.world/collections/leather/products/economy-mission-grain-lining

I think the OP is dreaming of problems that will probably never arise. In over 20 years of leather work I've only ever had to re-sew a few items, viz 1. Medieval shoes repairs, as the original maker left the sole to vamp thread on the outside surface of the sole where it wore away 2. one small waist pouch, mine, because when I originally made it it had no lining, later I decided to put a lining in it. The seams had been glued with contact adhesive and sewn but this was cut through carefully using a scalpel. Other than those I've never had to re-sew anything at all. I've made a good many items for medieval history re-enactors and presenters. They are hard on their leather items, not looking after them, moreso than the ordinary person, and yet I've never had to re-sew anything but those shoes Proper use of thread and sewing practice will ensure a good sewn seam. I very much doubt that a thread inside a card wallet will ever wear to the point of replacement. I am still using a cheap leather wallet I bought in 1986. Only in a couple of spots has the thread come out or broken. The wallet is still in use and serviceable. That is the only reason why I've not yet set to and made myself a new one.

A conservation expert at the RAF Cosford museum showed me how soaking metals in a mildly strong citric acid solution worked wonders on cleaning the parts of corrosion. He showed me parts made of iron, steel, aluminium and brass, both before, during and after treatment. I've since used it on metal parts instead of my usual hot vinegar & salt solution.

This may give you a start on your search https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165-RARE-LEATHERWORKING-BOOKS-ON-DVD-LEATHERCRAFT-GUIDES-MANUALS-LEATHER-TOOLS/163689933492?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

2 things you need to watch out for 1. some makes tell the size by the centre hole, others by the diameter of then outer ring, thus 6 mm from two different makers, one will have a 6 mm centre hole, the other is 6 mm overall with a 3 mm hole. 2. The larger you go the thicker the leather you can go through. Small sizes for very thin leather. I wanted to go through 4 mm leather and had to use 10 mm (centre hole) rather than the 6 mm I really wanted to use.

I think they look like 3mm lacing slits

No difference except price. When I started leather work I got my sail grommets - the ones with washers - from a sail maker. Then I found Le Prevo and bought from them. On a couple of occasions their grommets came in packs with the same name on as the ones bought from the sail maker

Depends on whether you want to buy in US or go abroad. I get my brass stamps made in Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. A 2cm across stamp costs £15, a 6cm across stamp costs £25, and sizes in between and over at pro rata prices. I send the artwork as a jpeg and I get the stamp back in about 10 to 14 days usually. The artwork needs to be binary though. My makers stamp, 3 cm across, cost £16.99 afair

1. Dyes penetrate the leather fibres into its depth. Paints only go so far in but really remain on or near the surface 2. Paints designed for use on leather remain flexible, other paints can crack and even peel off when the leather flexes. For small areas the craft shop paints will be ok

Scrap value, about 75p. Current scrap steel/iron price in the UK is about £75 per clean ton. However, I've seen a vintage car engine that was used as an anchor totally rebuilt and put back into a vintage car. The engine was given to the car owner as an anchor for his boat. One man's scrap is another man's required item for a resto

What size is this thing? I think the way I'd tackle it would be to make four wood bucks; #1 for the main body and #2 & #3 one for each end and #4, one of the complete shape. Then wet mould thin leather over/around the bucks. When they are dry I'd sew them together around buck #4 I think thats a way to do it. Anyone else have any ideas?

@Chris623 Just round them a wee bit, not much, and smooth the top corner edges and the corners 1. just a bit off the edges will help prevent the leather getting marked by any roughness there if the leather is drawn across the edge 2. if you round it as much as a counter top edge there is chance, however slim, that you may accidentally do some work close to the edge and the piece may slip round the curve and ruin what you are doing (don't ask how I know this can happen, )

12 x 12 inch or 14 x 10 inch

you had to ask, didn't you? you just had to ask! I don't think anyone really knows what the letters DFS stand for. There are plenty of ideas tho DFS is a furniture company which has 'this week only' sales running just about continuously through the year. Their short-term sales never end. Its become a joke in the UK. You have to see their TV adverts and experience them over several years to really understand the humour