battlemunky

Yet again, more clean impeccable work Dale!

Good to know, thanks for the knowledge!

Shouldn't be knotting for saddle stitching. Make it look like below and then pull the short end so it doubles up on the long end and repeat for the other needle. Not my pics, found 'em when I googled. Try this link too: https://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-thread-a-leather-needle/

Ott lights are great but they are very proud of them. For general shop lighting you can pick up long LED lights from whatever your equivalent of WalMart or Lowes is up there for pretty inexpensive prices. I think I paid $20US for a 4 ft lamp. I'm waiting to see a deal on Ott and then I'm gonna pounce. Maybe if I was actually paying for what I make with what I make but being hobby level/selling to friends, I'm not ready to jump in yet.

That may be the best backgrounding work with a seeder I've ever seen. Your floral work is really nice too

I really only use the finger gloves I made when marathon stitching. For most things I'm stitching for under an hour at a time and am ok for the most part. I can feel it for sure but luckily I don't get cut.

Looks pretty good Doc. Are you using the anvils that come with the ez rivets? Those can be pulled apart easily enough when set with the anvils and even easier when set flat and have the hell beaten out of them so be mindful of that in case you didn't know already. Also try and match up the shaft length with the thickness of the leather too and that'll help clean up the tops a bit. Looks like you have the sewing machine figured out, those stitches look really neat and clean.

Beautiful work and great choice! Fuji peeking out in the background just like in the original!

I have a key fob attachment piece I made that is just glued and it has been 2 years and is showing no signs of stopping. I meant sew it for the aesthetics and practice.

Welcome Ray! Tons of solid info here.

POIDH!

I've seen it before and have tried it myself but I can't say it made it harder or easier or the stamping more crisp. I don't usually do it. I'll make a point to try it a few more times and pay better attention. It may be a "do it sometimes" thing too since it darkens the leather quite a bit.

Good on you!

I'm thinking "ant" was short for antique @Sheilajeanne. @JLSleather, that is a most agreeable color for those grips. I think ya nailed it again sir.

If you are interested in wallets, I'd suggest finding a pattern (JLS, above, has several of them on his website for free ) and make 10 of them. By making 10 of them you can see the changes from the first to the last and the repetition is worth its weight in leather. That'll get you used to cutting, sewing, finishing, and then you can find a different thing to make multiples of, maybe tool some, maybe carve some?

Sick work Mike!

Can't add much more other than a good Welcome to the forum!

This^^^

Pretty cool aside from the stitching. I can't wait to see the final version and love the collaborative nature of the effort. Y'all are awesome!

Yeah, shoes, definitely are on my list too. Luckily for this thread anyway, I'm inexperienced enough to where I'm intimidated by most things so I have a ton of new things I want to try. Tooling is definitely something I'm working on improving but am no longer intimidated by it, I just know I need work which comes with more practice. One thing on my list is to get away from raw veg tan. I want to try a few sides of different colored leather instead of dying all my own. I see Nigel's videos and he's using pre-dyed stuff a lot of the time and the convenience appeals to me. I'd also like to try working with more chrome tanned leathers but the little bit I've used doesn't behave anything like veg tanned so I don't even know how to think about executing with it. Floppy. How?

I have a few different size threads just for this. I braided some for the #5 since its so huge.

If this ain't cooler than any leather thing I've ever seen, I don't remember it.

That is a nice looking sheath @Instinctive and a great little knife, I have 2

I like that sheath quite a bit. I have one of those type knives and I owe it a sheath. I am intimidated by skiving pretty badly and have gotten some pretty good skiving in with this, its just a matter of trying on a ton of scrap. Mine sharpened up to light saber really easily too and has held its edge with nothing but stropping. *cough*sew the sheath*end cough*