fredk

My wallet is 102mm [slightly over 4 inches] deep by approx 235mm long [about 9.25 inches] on the outside. All UK notes fit in ok. It could actually be better if it was a bit deeper for the £50; say 4.25 to 4.5 inches. On the notes; £5 is smaller than £10 which is smaller that £20 which is smaller than £50 which is the same size as £100. Euro notes are closer to US notes sizes. Euros are not used in the UK but your client may put them in the wallet when on holiday in Europe

After I dye a belt, both sides get a few coats of water-thinned resolene and then some neetsfoot oil/beeswax mix rubbed in. The back side gets more soft beeswax rubbed in and buffed up, more than the front gets. This really slicks the flesh side smooth and waterproofs it

I use a regular edger, on both flesh and grain side edges then the edge becomes rounded when I work it with my slicker

Very nice indeedy

You could try an industrial work place; they use spring steel banding around packing cases etcetera. I used to get if from that sort of place when I made wooden toys. However that steel is very hard to cut and drill. An alternative is brass strip from K & S Metal out of Chicago. A lot of hobby shops carry racks of their brass and aluminium in strip, sheet, rods, tubes. It can also be bought directly http://www.ksmetals.com/ I always have a selection of their brass strips and sheets on hand. Its useful for supporting or backing some fittings

Nicely done I have to agree tho; that bull-dog clip just doesn't suit it at all. The rivets are much nicer The 'interim' one is nice too

As JMcC says; buff after the dye has dried. Use a pale coloured cloth and buff, buff, buff. When you think you've done buffing, buff some more. Keep turning the cloth to a clean part so you can see when its not taking any more dye off. Depending on your work and home area let the item dry for at least a few hours or overnight. If it feels cold to the touch its still drying; when its room temperature its dry. Now you can put on that thinned resolene. Patience is needed in finishing an item to top quality standard

ooops, for dipping, the resolene should be diluted as well, not straight from the bottle

Enough already Back to your corners you two Please

Buffing wont remove the line marks. Forget the Resolene's own instructions. Dilute Resolene 1:1 with water [or even 2 water :1 resolene] and apply using a slightly damp sponge. Put it on wet and wipe in a circular motion until its covered and getting into the leather. A couple or three coats put on this way with time to dry between them. Or if you can, dip coat; put the resolene in a clean container like an oven tray and dip the leather item into the bath, hang up to drip and dry

Go to a hobby shop which caters to R/C or plastic kit modellers. They usually keep sheets of plastic [aka plasticard] Available in polystyrene or ABS etcetera. Thickness is usually measured in thou of an inch, eg 10 thou, 20 thou, 30 thou, 40 thou. 40 thou = 1mm approx. Sheets are commonly A4 size and about $1 a sheet. It comes in white, black, clear and sometimes other colours. A sheet weighs just a few grams 30 thou [three-quarters of a mm] should be thick enough. Use a contact adhesive to stick to bag leather, then cover it all with a pigskin lining For mildly firm re-enforcing I just use compressed cardboard - the type which is used in the 'Do not bend' postal envelopes. Cardboard has been used like this for about 100 years. I've even used the thinner card from cereal boxes on small projects

What bikermutt says. To add, I use a heavy duty stapler [staple gun?] to 'tack' the leather to the support wood. If you do it carefully the holes made by the tack/staples will be your stitching holes in that top piece

I'll try to tell you of what I've found; nothing artificial acts like leather. I've used various faux leather materials. None have had any trade name on them; they've come from top material suppliers and fabrics outlets. Whilst ok for covering bus seats, or door cards and the like, which have been glued and sometimes tacked in place when it comes to sewing they can't take stitches without them ripping out. Leather, like fabric, has fibres which hold stitches, faux leather is just a sheet of plastic, no fibres. Some like Leathercloth have a fabric on the rear to help with stitching but I've found that the stitching still rips the plastic. I've bought the cheap Chinese made wallets made of faux leather just to see what they do. Mostly the parts are heat welded together and the 'stitches' are a heat imprint, not actual thread. A few years ago I had woman bring an expensive leather handbag to me for repair; it cost her about $250 from a good named store. The stitching at certain points was ripping out. I took a snipping of the bag material and put a flame to it, it burnt like plastic, the bag was not leather at all. After 6 months use the bag was near useless. A chap in my history-presentation society tried to under-cut me by making draw-string money bags of faux leather; 'just as good but half the price' he said. It cost him dearly. The bags were simply two same sized pieces sewn together with a lace thong going thru holes in the top edge to draw the bag closed. Within a short time of use the top holes were ripping thru and the stitching ripping out. He had to repay the buyers their money plus he was out the cost of materials and the time. My leather bags are still being used 18 years on. What I'm trying to tell you is that any of these faux leathers are not suitable for likes of bags; they wont last. There are many faux leather bags for sale but they are designed for short term use and then throw away when they start to rip. Go to any thrift store/charity shop [in UK] and find out how many faux leather bags they are given which they have to dump because of damage. If you still want to use faux leather; make a bag out of heavy weight material like cotton duck and use the faux leather as panel accents on it, where it wont be under stress Just an opinion and thoughts on it.

You've not got an 'arms race' on your hands; Son gets nice knife sheath Daughter wants something else to up the one-man-ship then son wants something more to up the game it can be a happy cycle of events, but be prepared for making lots of things for ever-more just joking btw

I'd use various sizes of hole punch to remove most of the leather then use a scalpel to trim the edges; a E11 and 12 blade

Yes, and yes; I use a neetsfoot oil/virgin olive oil/bees' wax mix rubbed into both sides after dyeing

Nicely done Yup, dads can make anything!

A thought; dunno if this would work out 1 piece for the outside, 4 triangular gussets - right angle shape, 2 inner pieces, 2 zips Sew each inner piece to two of the gussets, along the long straight back, sewn in by about 10 mm. Sew two gussets and panel to the outside part after sewing zips along top edge of inner panel and outside, this x 2. Fold the outside sides up to meet, where the triangular gussets meet, overlap and sew together; thats what the 10mm excess was left for - this forms a 10 mm pocket, wide enough for most phones A tab and loop with a D fitting can be sewn to that gusset joint. A strap using lobster clips could be used. It will need careful measuring; the base of your triangles x 2 plus approx 10mm or what ever you want the centre to be

I bought a press for stamping, buts it not a permanent fixture yet, not till I build a new work bench. In the meantime, for one or a few stampings its quicker to just set up the wood bar and whack the stamp with a mallet What is hexnhit?

I'd not worry about damaging the leather. It'll be robust enough. Can you turn the bag inside-out?. If so, do that and wash the lining under running water; mildly warm water, no more than comfortable hand warm - not hot, the leather won't like hot. Use a mild fabric or dish washing soap, either liquid or powder to help clean the fabric. Just keep the running water going to keep flushing it. Once the water is running clear, return the bag to right way, pack with clean kitchen paper towel and place in a mildly warm area where plenty of air can circulate. Change the paper as often as needed to absorb the interior water. When you think the interior is dry; its not, thats just the beginning of the end. It'll take another week for it to fully dry out. When the paper towels come out nearly dry, put no more in, allow air to circulate into the interior; at this point you should be able to turn the bag inside-out again to speed up the drying of the lining and inside of the leather. Do NOT try rushing the drying out; thats what ruins a recovery. It takes time, patience and care. Only after this drying out period apply the leather conditioner. Applying it too early will lock moisture into the leather and force it to dry out via the lining which will cause that to either go mouldy or rot, or both

If its anodised it should be ok but raw aluminium quickly corrodes blue in leather giving a blue black stain which leeches outwards from the fixing point

A pair of compass/ wing dividers; set the points apart how far from the edge you want the line, eg 3mm apart, then run one point on the outside edge of the leather and the other on the leather. Just go slowly and carefully; don't rush it. https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/wing-divider Or use one of these; an adjustable creaser https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/craftool-adjustable-creaser I prefer the wing dividers. I've filed one point down so its shorter than the other and its a bit more of a round point, to make a smoother line. With one point longer I don't have to tip the dividers to the side but can keep them upright If the Leather is thin and tending to move or squish up consider glueing it to a bit of cardboard or wood.

I don't stamp letters too often. but here goes; Recently I made a couple of adjustable frames like this one sold by Tandy; https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/leather-stamp-guide Mostly I just clamp a thick piece of wood across the leather. It needs to be thicker [deeper] than the letter stamp and very wide so as not to leave an impression on the leather. I use this as my base line. I leave the letter just stamped in place and put the next letter stamp against it. Make sure the edges of the letter stamps are smooth and even and free of casting flash. Many I have have little nubs sticking out on the edges which can throw the alignment off. A few strokes of a metal file quickly removes them. Work slowly and carefully, make sure your letter is the right way up, hold tight to alignment board and to the leather and make a positive strike. if you need to strike more than once try not to have a bounce as that will cause the letter to mis-align slightly

I presume you are just skiving a bit for the buckle end? I mainly use a 'Super Skiver', using a 'Safety Beveler' for the edges first Super Skiver; https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/super-skiver Safety Beveler; https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/safety-beveler Recently I bought one of these; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skiving-Machine-New-Black-Handheld-Cut-Leather-Tools-Skiver-Cutting-Splitter-V-/132240769186?hash=item1eca2a00a2 Does the job very well and quickly

also; the thinner the leather, or the softer it is, the greater it will distort