Schno

Q: I need to be able to sew garment leathers, thin (2/3 - 6/7oz) leather, and normal textile cloth. I'm not doing really heavy work with 1/2" or more of leather, so I'm hoping that I don't need to drop 2000 on an Artisan or similar. Anything heavy like that I prefer to hand stitch anyway. I just dread the idea of hand stitching garment leather. I've been perusing Ebay and Craigslist and I'm finding a lot of antique Singer machines that purport to handle leather. I love the look of these machines, but I have no clue whatsoever what I'm getting myself into. Some look motorized while others do not. How does it work without using the motor? Are parts available for these things? Will they do the job that I need them for? Can they do just regular sewing duty with cotton as well? What model is better? So... that's me: clueless. Help? Here are some pictures of machines that I'm looking at. Do any of them look worthwhile? 1) Singer 15-90 2) Not sure, but priced right: 3) 2 PLATES ON THIS READ 8368 & 8369 4) ??? 5) looks kinda small Thanks for helping me out here!

I've had the pleasure of seeing these in the flesh, so to say. Fantastic work, Anne! It's great to see a vision come together so well!

Johnnie Walker Gold right out of my flask. Since I've discovered the wonders of Scotch, nothing else seems to compare. Oddly, I suppose, I don't like to get a buzz or anything from it. I actually really just enjoy the taste. If I could find non-alcoholic Scotch that tasted the same as the spirited stuff, I'd be in heaven!

Unfortunately, I don't have any answers with regard to antiquing... only more questions. My problem with antiquing is that the few times I've tried it (I've only ever used Tandy's gel antique), it stains the whole project too dark. Following the directions of 'Apply. Wait about five minutes. Buff off' seems to be a bunch of malarkey. Fortunately I tried it on a scrap piece before applying it to my project. I generally just give the whole antiquing thing a miss, so I haven't even gotten far enough with it to get it all over the room. That sounds fun... Is there an antiquing guide posted here anywhere?

I think bobocat's info under her avatar says it right:

Nice work on the basketweave there, Jordan... and really nice work on the color! I wish I knew how to play the guitar so I could make one of those for me

I definitely like the idea of building off of a pre-existing base. I can probably find a decent oak desk on craigslist.com for cheap. I'm not entirely sure I get the plywood box idea. Wouldn't that require that the backside of the box be closed? I'd like to be able to access the area underneath my workbench from either side. I do suppose it would be more solid, though. I'll have to think about that one a bit. Thanks for the warning! 3/4 definitely sounds sturdier and it's not really all that more expensive So, aside from a vice are there any other generic table-top tools that you guys find especially useful to have mounted somewhere? I was considering a buffing/grinding wheel combo...

That's an impressive slab of marble, Tom! But, I did notice that it's time to change your calendar!

Wow... okay. So Rolf definitely wins the 'coolest leather shop' award! That must be such an inspirational place to work! Welcome to LWnet!

Here's what I'm working with currently: I manage to keep it relatively neat most of the time. It gets progressively worse the farther into the project I get. But I need to get my shop out of that room before I manage to stain the marble a deep Fiebings mahogany red! I've posted another thread with my new leather workshop plan. Check it out and feel free to point out any glaring omissions in my grand scheme.

I went through my garage and I've cleared out 40 square feet of room (8' x 5') with enough clearance to get around easily on all sides. Unfortunately, due to the layout of my garage (which also serves as our walk-in closet), I don't have a wall to anchor against, so it's all free standing. I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to making things out of wood, so I'm kind of trying to work this out by reasonable guesswork. I'm planning on 1/2" plywood for a table top, supported by 4x4s (too much?) I want to leave as much space as possible underneath for bins and storage. Here's the area I have to work with: And here's the plan I've come up with for my ideal work area: So if you had 40 square feet for a leathershop, what would you do with it?

LOL... I may be many things, but Mary Poppins I am not! I totally want to see a volcano, though! (By the way, I promise to take a shot of my work area tonight in honor of the topic of this thread. I may also start another thread. I'm looking at building a leatherworking area in my garage and I want to get peoples' views on the 'ideal setup'.)

That's great, Clay! Here's a shot of the cover from their website: Congratulations!!!

lol... I'd dare say that there would be something unlike tropical breezes as well! England isn't really celebrated for its climate. (Although, for the month or so of time that I've spent there it only ever really rained once. I've been told that was just shy of unbelievably good luck.)

No? Nothing? Hmmm... maybe some pictures sans dirty, tattooed hippy will help. I only had two evenings in which to complete this, so some of the edges are a bit rough. This was an effort at costuming more than armorcrafting, but I learned some valuable lessons that I'll apply when I start making real armor. And now, an unveiled emoti-cry for feedback:

Fortunately, the layout of the bike is such that being thrown (painfully) forward is actually very unlikely. Believe me, if it were otherwise, there's no way I'd have dropped spikes into the landing zone!

Taken from wikipedia (link): I was one of those 49,599

I downloaded it a few days ago, but until the new Google browser can use the old Google toolbar, I don't have much use for it. Google toolbar is one of the best things they've come up with.

Color me jealous, Ray! I've been through nearly every part of England, Scotland, and Ireland so far, but I still haven't made it through Wales. And in spite of the counsel of my Anglo-Saxon friends, I'm fascinated with that part of the country. I hear that due to the Welsh resistance to Norman conquest, there are more castles per square mile in Wales than anywhere else in the world. It was interesting to learn that Ludlow castle was built by the De Lacey family. I visited another of their holdings in Ireland a few years ago. Trim castle was built by Hugh De Lacey as a stronghold against the denizens of the Connemara, probably around the same time. Anyway, Wales is definitely on my list... but only after Hawaii. After spending a week in the dust storms, hot days, and chilly nights at Burning Man, I want a vacation with tropical breezes, room service, and little paper umbrellas in my drink!

I've just arrived home from Burning Man. It was, as always, quite an experience. For those that are unfamiliar with Burning Man, check out the Burning Man Website. Getting around at Burning Man requires some kind of wheels, and unless you've gone through a lot of trouble and expense to build an 'art car', that means that you're best bet is a bicycle. And since you run the risk of getting run down at night by a random triceratops or giant fire crested duck, it's best to engineer some lighting on your bike. For my purposes, I used electroluminescent wire and a leather harness for it. A little leather... some spikies, some O rings and voila! A Pirate Approved Spikey Chopped Out Burning Man Doomcycle from Hell... or the San Fernando Valley, at least. Here it is, all lit up like Christmas. And in case you didn't believe me about the triceratops...

So, in the interest of constructive criticism, I tried to find anything critique-able. Nope. Flawless. I love the scotch label idea, almost as much as I love scotch!

Hey Az... I'm very fortunate to live a couple of miles from my local Tandy store and a hour or so away from the Hide House. I go through the stacks of hides looking for the most pristine pieces I can find for the money. I end up passing on about 80% of them. There are a lot of sub-par hides with scars and knots and all kinds of hideous aberrations. I guess for every steakhouse cow there's fifty McDonald's cows. I couldn't imagine ordering hides on line to be honest. The odds of getting precisely the kind of quality (or lack thereof) that you've described are way too high. If you can manage it, find some way to get out to a dealer and do it by hand. Some others may have had some luck with on line orders, but I'd be wary. Can you send back the mangled hides and get better ones? If you're working on a commission piece and you need someone to hand pick a hide for you, let me know. Your work is simply too phenomenal to tack onto just any old dead cow. Oh, and thanks, by the way, for inspiring me to get to work on my armor. I definitely took a page out of your book doing my girl's bodice. I'll have pics soon!

Just goes to show how the romantic view of something (like living in a house that's 500 years old) is often a better fantasy than reality. (Though, I'd have to say it may still be worth it. I would love to live in the depths of so much history!)

So here's the first go at armorsmithing. I read somewhere (maybe here) that leather was the medieval plastic. This really proved true when I molded the neck guard/upper lame. I've found that resin bocci balls work really well for molding round things. I bought the bocci ball set at Target for fifteen bucks earlier in the Summer. I also learned the value of painters' plastic sheeting for cutting out patterns. You can pick it up very cheap at Home Depot, mark your pattern with a sharpie, cut and tape and mold and cut and tape and tweak and cut and tape until it's just right... then lay it over your leather and make the cuts that count! Fantastic stuff. I finished my pauldron (the shoulder piece here) and my girl's bodice/pauldron combo and I still have 95% of the roll left. I'll have pictures of the bodice/pauldron soon. She wants to get all made up for the pictures Anyway, here's the pauldron: Thanks to Photoshop for taking me out of my back yard and putting me in front of an ancient Irish fortress! And thanks to the awesome leathersmiths on this site for providing such impeccable guidance and inspiration!

Happy Birthday, brother! Being a virgo means that you must keep your workshop really neat, eh?