fredk

I've actually seen that switch in action. I used to help out at a Special Learning School and it was used in the craft room by certain pupils. Not only used with a sewing machine but with a vertical drill stand and other power tools as well.

Would the trigger mechanism from a [cheap] mains powered multi-speed electric drill [ or even a sabre saw] work? It has a speed reducer built into the circuit, a finger trigger and a push button [usually] to lock the power tool on. I'm thinking; just saw the handle grip off the drill unit. You have the mains power lead already wired in, from the trigger unit run the power leads, which would normally go to the motor unit, to the sewing machine motor. Cap the top cut off part of the drill handle with a bit of plastic or even a bit of leather. The trigger can be made into a multi-finger one by attaching a large piece of plastic or aluminium to it. With a wider or longer attachment to the trigger the handle unit could be mounted somewhere close to the s/m so it can be operated by an elbow or a fore-arm New cheap drills can be bought for as low as $15, even cheaper at car boot sales, a couple of ££, it doesn't matter if the drill actually runs, as long as the trigger parts are intact.

Interesting design concept. Personally I'd go for a spiral wrap. Edges flush to each other. Skive and overlap the end joins; hide underneath and it'll look continious. Plus, maybe, doing different shades every so often - to make a feature of the colours of the leather.

oddly enuf, I came across this just last night; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Vergez-Blanchard-LIndispensable-Flat-Leather-Cutting-Tool-Cutter/231956741566?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D43782%26meid%3Da062a1b25a534160b112c287ea2b73ac%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D162429787557

Interesting design One thing I'd do is to end the cut line of the front panel with a cricular hole, to reduce strain on that part

Also I learnt that a cobweb was made by a male spider. The male spider being a cob, the female is a hen. Ancients* thought only the hens could spin the perfect web and that the males could not, thus the messy type of web, typically used in the old horror movies is a cob-web * Ancients as in the ancient Greeks who believed that the shepherd's daughter Arachne was turned into a spider to spend her days never-ending spinning near perfect webs

Not shure about that. I learnt it was because it was shaped like a bird's head. Now the half-moon shape doesn't look much like a bird's head, but if you look at the original leatherworkers' knives of the Roman to Medieval period they do look like a bird's head. On these the cutting blade is just over a quarter circle and on the opposite side is an awl tang; this makes them look like they have a beak and a comb.

Well, thats a nice little quickly made piece

To re-enforce the above; if you need to apply heat you are only warming the leather and the mix - you are not taking it up to cooking temperatures

How soft is your mix? and what is the [roughly] temperature at which you work? Bees' wax melts at a very low temperature. My mix is like very soft margarine. My working area is quite cold, about 18 degrees C [64* F ?] As you rub the mix in both wax and NFO will be absorbed by the leather. The NFO will go deeper tho leaving the wax nearer the surface, to be burnished. I have never yet heated either the mix nor item to get the mix into the leather, just rubbing it in is enough. Rub some mix on a bit of thick scrap, then cut thru it and you'll see how deep it can go.

Yes it does discolour. Mine, when fresh is a very, very pale honey colour, old stuff has darkened to a tobaccy-stain colour. If in doubt, throw it out; it might be contaminated with dye or somat else you could try a bit on some scrap and see what happens. If we don't hear from you again then we'll know it wasn't good stuff

I wuz jes teason

looks very nice whoa there; today is June 1st - for Christmas?! are you early, late or using a different calendar?

very nice I don't make anything really big; but I have lots of scrap upholstery leather and felt which I put under anything I'm working on if necessary to protect it from too many scrapes and bumps

tidy, neat,

There will be some subject where you will be the more knowedgeable and can add and further our learning. Remember that bit in 'Smokey and the Bandit' where Burt R basically says 'how stoopid you are depends where you come from'? You know guitars - I know nothing about them, but I bet you don't know how to strip, rebuild and tune up a 1930 Austin 7 Ulster racing engine [actually - I don't either, , ............................just kidding, I do know ] yup, some people want to keep their 'secrets' to themselves. Come across it lots. Sad innit? When I come across anyone enjoying a hobby/subject I enjoy and they want to learn I'll happily share any info. They ask questions; I answer if I can or direct them to someone who knows the answer if I don't

A. a link; http://leatherworker.net/forum/forum/9-patterns-and-templates/ there are over 10,000 postings; I'll let you search thru them b. This forum is good & friendly; I've been on other forums which have been the very opposite

Well....you could make the circular bottom larger than the hole, skive round the edge, glue into place with the skived edge folded downwards, then stitch thru, or put the skived edge folded upwards and stitch thru, going around the outside of the bag

Very nice, all of it

I reckon that is most excellent. A simple product very neatly done

Any of those sorts of bags I've made have been in anything from 1.5 to 2.5mm belly leather [1.5mm = about 4oz, 2.5mm = about 6 oz]. The bigger the thicker the leather. Heck, I've even used 1mm upholstery leather for smallish bags, [about 6 inches x 7 inches x 1.5 inches] OK if its not to carry much weight

Interesting discussion this 1.Not very long ago I was contacted by a 'craft' shop. The offer was I rent shelf space in their shop. They do the selling, packing and accounts. Rate was $5 per square foot of shelf per week, minimum 5 square feet for inside regular area, $10 per for main sales area, $15 per for premium area. The shop would take 10% of sales price per item to cover packing supplies. Seeemed a not too bad offer. I and #3 son checked it over. The shop was in the side part of a shopping centre [mall]. We watched it over a few weeks and did a clicker count on footfall. On the best of busy days it had three shoppers average, most days there were none, zilch, nada customers. On-line chat with other crafters, someof whom took up the offer. One sold one fabric handbag in 6 months, one sold a couple of bracelets in the same time. So, not a great place to sell from. 2. On a recent visit to a shop in Belfast to inquire about something I've ended up, perhaps, with an outlet for certain leather goods [not fetish ones - I don't do those] which I never in a lifetime reckoned there was a requirement for in N.I. I need to learn how to make these items - not hard - make them, get them to the shop owner. I think it'll be a wholesale sort of pricing deal. For him I need to keep prices low-ish but it promises to be a lead in to more and other leatherwork

I had two, similar, but to suit my measurements made by a lazer cutting company for under £10 [$15] plus £2 for bolts

Carnuba adds hardness to any wax mixture. Too much can make the finish brittle and flakey when it has dried. Car waxes have a large amount of carnuba in them but car bodies ain't supposed to bend or flex like a belt or a tote-bag edited to answer one of your other questions; I use my soft wax on the flesh side of belts. It soaks right in and just a little buffing with a polishing brush gives it a modest shine and smoothness. On the outside of belts and bags I apply resolene first then my hard wax. It takes a bit more effort to buff up using a scrap of linen, denim or a stiff polishing brush. The heat generated by the buffing in both is enough to melt the mix into the leather. I've never yet used a heat scource on them on applying to the leather. Just in winter I need to warm the hard mix to soften it enough to use.

my soft wax is sort of about 45% NFO, 45% beeswax, 10% olive oil My hard wax is roughly the same but about 10% carnuba added I don't measure precisely, its, umm, sort of dumped into a bowl, warmed up and mixed