fredk

If its iron contamination, the only way I can see that sort of spread is if some one used an angle grinder near the leather allowing the 'sparks' to land on it. The 'sparks' ain't sparks but very tiny pieces of hot metal

I've used my Singer 15K and 99 to sew thin upholstery grade leather. Its chrome tan about 1mm thick

That is an excellent idea. I may try it

If I remember correctly, the very earliest sewing machines used two large spools of thread. The top thread was pulled through the material by the needle and as the needle came up again a loop was made in the thread on the underside of the material. A shuttle, like the shuttle a weaver uses but in miniature, went though the loop pulling the second thread through. At the time this was efficient but prone to timing failures. As the invention of sewing machines progressed the bobbin as we know it was invented and was more efficient, with fewer timing failures. All the inventors adopted the cylindrical bobbin and its circular shuttle. Some fitted it vertical and some had it horizontal and some even had it at an angle, but its the same workings

Cut the stitching carefully. You can reuse the sewing holes. Skive all three mating surfaces. Some on the inside to make a tight fit with a bevel towards the outside.

I'm a total numpty when it comes to thing like this What size needles would I buy for my Boss?

It can be dyed, but I don't know about vinegroon as I don't use it If the chrome tan is pre-dyed, I use cellulose thinners as a prep. Then I dye it.

or, superglue a thin sliver of plastic to the edge of the ruler and carefully sand it away until its just right

Officers' shakos were made of beaver felt, rather than sheep's wool felt

Depends on how stretchy your leather is. I've done about 2 inches. In theory, with very stretchy leather you could do a 4 inch cup

I'd used washed & dried veg tan to laminate with suede

That is a real bargain. If you can afford taking a chance buy it. But be aware that it is manual. You have to pull a lever with your right hand. It can be tiresome at first then it becomes tedious. Your right arm muscle will get stronger. Its good exercise! But it has the advantage of not needing any power, so it can go anywhere. Tippmann is a good company and can supply accessories and spare parts

Depending on what your stiffener is; I would do the front and back panels and the top flap (in two pieces) but not the gusset or the base. The double layer of leathers there will be stiff enuff, but will still be flexible

I made this. It copes with any size of letter and is easy to make, with a couple of spacing bars. The top two bars are replaceable with others Another thing I do is; I've taken rubber molds of my letter sets and cast up resin letters which I then glue together I also have this; I made a couple. They're easy to make and adjust to any size of letter All these are used by me in my Tandy pro-press

If you're using a press it won't matter which but I think a raised pattern looks better, is different

Mea culpa Caveat; my press is an earlier version in grey The pin is shanked on both sides. It is approx 5.8 mm (15/64 inch ?) on the outside (both sides) and is straight cut narrowed from approx 6.5 mm (1/4 inch ?) which goes thru the handle. It is approx 30.85 mm (1 7/32 inches ?) long, but has room to be a slightly longer

I'v not used cow horn as I can't get it any more, but I've used it for drinking horns. I got mine from a farm and I'd say, make sure its not got anything in the centre and its smooth on the outside. They can be quite rough with hair on the outside and the insides tend to stink after a while But if you buy one from a commercial seller all that is done I use small deer antler points for folders and smoothers, as well as piece of sheep's rib I found over 50 years ago It all works Now I must go look on ebay for a cow horn

I have a Tandy Pro-Press and it doesn't have any such 'limiting pin'

Many tanneries can supply pre-dyed veg tan leather with a 'distressed' look, and they can 'spilt' it down to the thickness you'd need for upholstery work

Apply the very diluted dye by airbrush and build up the coverage and density of the color with multiple passes of the airbrush

I have some Ripstop in various colours but I intend to use it on water-proofing the insides of bags. I don't have a laser thingy to cut it though

I wouldn't try to make the edging integral with the brim but sew on a contrasting piece of thin veg tan leather. It will also protect the edge, suede can be very fragile as an edge

Thats very nice A nice design all in

In the last week I've seen some people that size, at least!

Most very excellent