fredk

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

100 years ago: chemical dyes were available, so was bees' wax and neetsfoot oil 150 years ago: the same 200 years ago: mostly natural dyes, eg reds/orange/yellow from saffron, blacks from walnut shells. Some chemical dyes starting to be made

Heres how I do game boards; 1. Cut leather to top size plus the height of the sides plus approx 10mm extra on each side, eg on a board 30 cm square on 15mm thick board the piece would be at least 350mm square 2. Put board on leather, onto flesh side, mark its size, then gouge a fold line along where sides meet top area 3. Apply contact adhesive to board top, and just a little to flesh side of leather in the top area 4. Place board onto the leather; turn over, I use a brayer* to flatten the leather and firmly attach it to the board, using the brayer in a star line fashion, always working from the centre towards the edges and corners * instead of a brayer, a good rolling pin might do 5. When the centre top has had time to dry I then glue the sides down using the contact adhesive. I do opposite sides first, then the other two. I use one of my antler folders/burnishers to press the leather tight. This leaves 4 sticky-out bits at the corners where the sides meet. When the sides are dry I use a sharp trimming knife to cut off these sticky-out parts; cutting straight down and the knife at about 45 deg to the two sides. This saves having to measure and cut the ends of the sides very carefully before attaching to the board 6. Now, using my sharp trimming knife I go around the board cutting the leather on the sides level to the bottom of the board; like a cook cutting pastry from the edges of a pie 7. I like to use upholstery pins/tacks along the sides of board. They are not necessary to hold the leather but they look nice. I place about 5 or six per side; but the same number on each side eg all sides get 5 or all sides get 6 8. I have a few templates for different sized playing areas and templates for making the squares. I place these on the board top in turn, marking them out. I usually gouge the lines for the squares now. 8a. Sometimes I cut and prepare a separate playing area which is glued onto the main board after #9 9. With the playing area marked and cut I case the whole game board, carefully, so as not to get too much water into the wood board. Once cased I stamp or otherwise make the pattern I want 10. After that work I use a few coats of thinned Resolene as a dye blocker on playing areas I do not want dyed. I dye the playing squares I do want coloured, then use an 'antique' over the whole board, then a beeswax mix as a sealant 11. I add a leather disc at each corner of the reverse side. The discs are punched out of waste leather. Prior to the start, depending on the type of wood base its has been either varnished all over or painted matt black. All corners on the board have been rounded, to ease the leather round them 12. Choice of ood is upto you, but it needs to be well seasoned and stable. I can no longer get such wood, the last full grain board I used warped badly after a while, plywood boards have also warped and even de-laminated, I now use thick MDF board It doesn't need a whole lot of glue; once its stuck down a bit and the edges are done that leather aint goin nowheres. The drying out after casing helps pull the leather tight too I don't usually keep photos of the things I make but here are a couple of a board game I made years ago

Try just applying the bare minimum to stick the parts together. It looks like you're stitching them together anyways so the glue only needs to be a small amount. Too much glue; the excess has has to go somewheres, and as you apply it to the top of the surface the excess goes into the leather and out the other side

Depends exactly on the Arbor. Its the Ram bar. Some need a hole drilled into it; vertical orientation. Some have the hole already. A hole from the side is useful too, for a lock screw/bolt to help hold the tool in the other hole Am I making sense?

Only you can say if you need it It can be adapted to take the Tandy fittings for their 3D letter and figure stamps. For easy-peasy, and quiet, embossing of those letters and designs its useful. It can also be used to set ready-rivets and snaps.

Are they rapid rivets or screw-backs? On ebay; one example, 8mm dia screw-backs; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8mm-12mm-20mm-Dome-Rivet-Screw-DIY-Leathercraft-Punk-Spots-Hat-Shoe-Bag-Decor/142242086124?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=441307270496&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 rapid rivets; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6mm-8mm-10mm-12mm-15mm-Round-Double-Mushroom-Cap-Rapid-Stud-Rivet-Leather-DIY/282401196506?hash=item41c06c49da:m:m-SVdK7eXKjmFdtPrJMRNOA

Lumber/timber yard or a hobby specialist which supplies special woods for pen makers or wooden model ships