fredk

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

Ask for a Back and tell the supplier that you need to cut some 78 inch straps*. A good supplier will try to meet your needs. * go longer than needed cos the ends might not be very good and you'll need to trim them, also asking for longer the supplier might have slightly shorter but still longer than what you actually need. The other sections you mention will not give you 72 inches. Buying individual straps is handy but not cost effective; they work out at about 10 times what you can cut them for

I'd go with bikermutt's suggestion; try to get more bleed through. if that doesn't work you're no worse off Over-all thats a nice bit of stamping etcetera - its worth trying everything to save it

You may not need to keep completed areas as wet as needed for tooling but you need to keep it somewhat wet otherwise you'll have tide marks on your leather ie where an area dried differently to another because it dried sooner I've never had properly stamped or tooled areas rise up again. Yes, you can keep the piece damp that way. If its going to take a few days or more put some mold retarder into the casing water. I use just a few drops of baby bottle steriliser

1a. I've never heard of a Husky Razor Knife; but by the sound of it its too light duty for the job. A heavier knife with a thicker/wider blade is needed. A handy one would be a box-cutter type with 18mm wide snap off blades 1b, run over your tracing with a blunt awl first; even wetting the leather then following the tracing with an inked-out ball-point pen, to mark your cutting line first. Cut slowly and steadily. Cut away from corners, not into them. Cut half-way around a curve, then cut from the other end towards that half-way point, finishing the cut. Do it in small stages, try not to do it all in one big cut 2. you may need to sand the edges to even them up before using a slicker

Reading thru this it reminds me of the sheets of mounting adhesive I used to use to mount photographs to mount boards and canvas and other flat surfaces, whatever would fit in my 20 x 32 inch mounting press. Similar temperatures and procedures. I once mounted some b&w photos onto canvas duck for an artist who then wrapped them around columns and posts in her display venue.

Happy to know you're happy We're a strange lot aren't we? Happy to have a nice, high quality working knife..........

wot he says;

I think you've answered yourself remembering back when I did a stint helping at a charity shop, we threw away a lot of decent looking women's shoes only because the ankle strap was ripping away. I reckon a bit of kevlar between the leathers would be the way to go right enough. I'd glue the two leathers for the straps then sew, but not cut too close to the thread when trimming. How close is too close? maybe less than 2mm is too close

Yes; I have had to do it too. If I'm still sewing and the needles are attached I just reverse stitch back to the error and then stitch forwards again. But if all is done, eg on a repair job I have three tools in my armoury for cutting the sewn threads. Two have been mentioned already; the dress-makers seam ripper [on the left] - mostly for fine threads, a Swann Morton #12 scalpel blade in a SM handle - good for regular leather thread and even lacing up to 2mm thick [centre] and on the right, a dental pick, as it comes the point is sharp but I blunted it so it doesn't dig into the leather - its handy for loosening threads or lacing amongst other jobs