fredk

I wonder if he's just relying on the stretch of the veg tan to hold the shape, or is there a step we do not get to see [the trade secret] where the veg tan is slightly dampened before the wood block is forced in? I've not done anything I can think of which I forced into shape dry I wonder if RockyAussie has any thoughts on this?

A. you should wait longer for a response. Not everyone is on here 24/7 b. A link to what you are talking about would be helpful, then we examine it and tear it apart

Thats excellent I also use FIMO/Sculpey, but for the occasional small stamp We need to edumacate the heathens on here about polymer clay,

Not throwing any doubts about Frodo doing this, but many others have done the same and its become a common joke Not too long ago I told my #1 son the story about Benjamin Franklin. He was a book publisher as well as a kite flyer. The story goes; a customer asks Franklin's assistant how much for a certain book - $1. Thats too dear, get Benjamin out. BF comes out from his printing. How much for this book? $1.25. But your assistant said $1. Yes, and now Its $1.50. A moment ago you said $1.25 and now you want $1.50! No, now I want $1.75, the longer you keep me here away from my work you'll pay for my time. The man ended up paying $2 for that book My #1 applies that principle to his time-wasting customers since hearing that story, but he adds on £20 to £100 depending on how busy he is Sorry for the deviation but I just had to share that

Another leather things supplier https://www.ivan.tw/collections/digital-download-pattern?utm_campaign=newsletter-custom-03d8ac177d3e41469c91c0dd638a8c49&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seguno

yes, a sewing machine leather needle, at least the ones I have, are shaped like glovers' needles, triangular in cross section shape, or like a knife blade, between the eye and the point. Look at the needle under a magnifier. The edges of that triangle, or blade, should be sharp as should the point. Fabric needles are just fairly sharp as it doesn't take much sharpness to go through 2, 3 or 4 layers of woven cloth because the needle can push through the weave, but a leather needle needs to cut a hole I just use a very fine sharpening stone to give the needle a few swipes to sharpen it

and sharpen the edges of the leather needle. I find most are blunt and just the point is slightly sharp. Do a few needles and replace every-so-often with a fresher one. Then sharpen again that replaced one

I just discovered that Tandy does a stitching chisels adapter for use in their press; https://www.tandyleather.world/products/press-die-for-hand-press-diamond-chisel for use with their set of inter-changeable chisels https://www.tandyleather.world/products/diamond-hole-chisel-set When I'm rich again I might buy the adapter and chisels sets. I have the press already

For keeping the holes on your work piece equidistant from the edge whilst cutting or drilling or punching the holes you can use a magnetic thingy, like this one : I use one (a large one, top picture) on my sewing machines. It sticks to the metal bed and you just run one edge of your work piece along it so that your stitching, or holes in this case, are equidistant from the edge. These magnet thingies come in different shapes and sizes and cost just a few $$ (try the sewing section of Hobby Lobby, or on ebay or Amazon) PS. I'm working on an idea for a holder for my Tandy Press to hold regular type diamond awl blades

Are the stitching holes still intact and useable? If so, you could use a curved needle. I used to use a curved needle to repair medieval style shoes for my team. With the shoes I could not reach the interior very well so I stitched through the sole and vamp with a curved needle. btw its easy to make any needle a curved one

Please note, or remember, that using any solvent to clean un-dyed / raw leather will remove its natural oils so it will need a feeding of nfo at some time

I like to wipe over the raw leather with one of these; cellulose thinners, Fiebings Dye Prep, isopropanol alcohol or acetone. Which one depends on which come to hand first. Any one of them will de-grease the surface and some of them will remove marks such as dirt from the surface. After using a prep, I let it dry then wipe the leather over with a damp sponge a couple of times before attempting to dye it Chrome vs veg - chrome tan won't take a stamp impression very well nor wet mould

I can see both photos very clearly Nice choice for the exterior, but I'm not shure on your choice for the interior. It kinda doesn't go with the exterior. and I think you need to work on your edges

Cut through the leather, get a clean edge. Chrome tan will (usually) have a blue-ish line in the centre of the cross-section

I always dye the back of the belt the same colour as the front. Its the accepted here

I have pre-dyed veg tan which I bought from Le Prevo. IMO its brilliant. If you only need the colours you can get it in. In my case some shades of brown. No fussing with dyeing, cleaning up, potential bleed, et cetera. I don't really do any tooling but the leather takes a stamp impression very well In my case I got the leather in one of Le Prevo's discount sales. It was still a bit dearer than the non-dyed but it saves more time value than the extra cost that it is. I mean, think of the time you need to spend preparing the leather for dyeing, dyeing time, space taken up whilst it dries, cleaning up you dye area - with this, just cut a piece off and you're good to go This book cover was made from some of the pre-dyed

Nice

I apologise. I just learnt this evening that McDonalds has about 850 places in Russia and that McD owns the majority of them. How many the report did not say. Anyway, I've not had anything from a McD for about 2 years. The only thing I did get regularly was either a Hot chocolate drink or a Cappuccino coffee, so boycotting them is easy for me

The blade in question has been claimed by general leather workers, shoe-makers, cobblers, glaziers and carpet fitters I have one, hardly ever use it though

nope, I haven't

sounds like one of those hacking spams thingies

McDonalds are actually franchises owned by the local business person. McD supplies, sets guide prices and runs the advertising campaign but actually has no real input in that local, unlike a hop such as Tesco or ASDA

thick paper pattern; trace around and mark the special areas

POIDH

I wrap the item in tissue paper. Not very carefully. One large sheet of tissue paper wrapped around it. Then it goes into a white carboard box for posting or in to a white paper bag which has handles on it if its being collected in person I keep a lot of leather on hand, in what I call me ready-use boxes. Every thickness from 6mm to 0.5mm. Its all kept in plastic boxes. The main thing is I keep a computer spread sheet and a paper copy of a list of which box has which leathers in it I moved from a good generous sized shed to the spare bedroom in a small apartment. I have one main work table, a smaller one for dyeing and one for small assembling. What I'm thinking of doing this year is making a ginormous wood tray for doing the dyeing on. It will sit on my cutting / prep table when needed and after dyeing it can lifted away and stored vertically till the next time its needed