Bree

Great looking case John. I have two pool cues in my office and you might end up inspiring me to make a case for them!

I am making a support belt 6" wide tapering to 4" wide for a friend. I used a saddle skirt side very similar to the one that you describe. It is a pain in the butt because of the variations in thickness and texture. I decided to bond some soft 3 oz. suede to the back and stuff the 6" section with poly fill. My original intent was to use 7 or 8 oz. veg tan and do a double layer back to back. I really wish that I had done it that way because I like the double layer belts a lot with two layers of the same thickness. I usually split 8-9 oz. blanks to a uniform 7 oz. which gives me 14 oz. total for the belt. It is hard to find sides with 14 oz. leather across an entire blank made from the side. So I vote two layers of uniform thickness.

It's looking more and more like icing. I surmise that the plane iced heavily which disrupted the airflow, caused loss of control, and caused loss of engine power. That ultimately brought the plane into a stall and a near vertical drop. We'll see if my speculation is right. At least the victims did not suffer long. It happened very quickly.

My bench is 30" x 96" with the surface made of two laminated pieces of 3/4" MDF and Formica laminated to that. I keep a 24" x 36" cutting surface on top of the table for cutting work. The long surface is very useful for laying out sides and full hides. So I second the notion of having some laminate put on top of your pine table.

Flight 3407 went down last night about 10 miles from my house. It was terrible windy rain-sleet mix weather and it looks like 50 people are dead. A little prayer for the victims and their families never hurts.

I could never bring myself to buy the leather tools from them. I just wasn't willing to go THAT far. But these airbrush tools for simple tasks like I have are good. I haven't trie that eraser but it has caught my eye. I have some spray guns for sandblasting that I am eager to try. I may just pick one of those up!

Lookin sweet Josh!

I have one and it works great. Highly recommended especially for production type work where speed is important. Or even just lazy folks who don't want to spend a lot of time or elbow grease burnishing.

+1 I do the same work in my business and have been doing it for many years. #69 bonded nylon is the best way to go. Both machines will like it. I have about 30 spools of it on hand in various colors and it has never let me down. If you have something that will be constantly exposed to UV, switch to #69 poly for its better resistance to UV radiation. The needle might be a little large but you can experiment on what works best with your machines. There is no hard and fast rule. If you start skipping stitches, change your needle size. If you start fraying/breaking thread, change your needle size. These are both treadle machines so you won't need a servo motor. If you upgrade to a modern high speed machine like a Juki 1541 or Consew 206 make sure to get a servo motor. It is essential for this kind of work as it requires stitch by stitch control.

Troy... Believe it or not that little HF airbrush works quite well!! I am pretty happy with it.

You hit paydirt. We are our biggest enemy when it comes to price and value. We cage ourselves even though the doors open right up if you just push on them a little. And like Bob says just don't sell $10 bills for $5!!

Bevel everything prior to assembly.

Some people file off the serrations to minimize the footprint. But if you can't fit the leather under the foot, it's all for naught. An unmodified 29 class machine is not designed for 30+ oz of leather. I think the guy was pulling your leg.

Go here http://www.ninedotsystems.com/exercise.php When and only when you have tried to find the solution for a sufficient time then you can look at the solution at this URL http://www.ninedotsystems.com/exercise2.php The solution requires you to escape self imposed limitations.

1/2" is too much for this machine. 5/16" is doable. What exactly are you trying to do with it?

You betcha!! Always remember this... you can set your base price at an astronomical level and then discount the heck out of it. It is a time tested, proven technique... a fall back. What it actually turns out to be or how it gets there really doesn't matter as much as understanding that we are our worst enemies when it comes to getting what we are worth. We see things from our own vantage point or perspective... from our own income level. Believe me that people of great wealth see things differently. Low prices bespeak mass production and not custom quality. A good exercise is to create something, set the price extremely high, and try to sell it to someone. Don't give up!! Use every ounce of your brain to figure out who to go to and what to say to get the high price. Train yourself to think like wealthy people think. Talk to some Silver Spooners and probe their thought processes. See how their thinking differs from your own. So that you can avoid be trapped in a corral created by your own mind... the Nine Dot problem of pricing and value. I remember a trainer I once had who said that you earn income in proportion to the level of income of your customers. That always impressed me as a good principle which embodied a lot of common sense. In later years I came to realize that having upscale customers helps us to escape from our own limitations. The problem is which comes first... the chicken or the egg. We have to somehow rise above our own self-imposed limitations relative to price and value. Scientific experiment is a good way to start that rise. So experiment with pricing, value, and BOLDness!

Heck I'm lucky to be able to cut leather in a straight line much less create the masterful works of art that Peter and the others produce. I have to become much more treacherous cuz as you know... Old Age and Treachery Will Overcome Youth and Skill!!!

It's soooo sad... that I can't do the magical things that Peter does!!

If you want to test your prices, double them and see if sales fall or increase. You can always say that a mistake was made and return the prices to the original level. The message is charge whatever the market will bear. Don't be afraid to charge what may seem to be ridiculously high prices. It's not like someone can go down to the corner and pick up a Samurai helmet crafted in leather!

The formula for unhappiness is light-medium weight machine for heavy weight sewing. The DDL 555 is not going to be good for the purposes you state. You need something like a Toro 3000 or Toro 4000. You can't sew through thick layers of heavy leather with a cheap machine. The two things just don't go together.

I have a Juki 1541s. It is one of the best machines I have ever owned. I have never had a problem with it. The machine just sews and sews and sews. It is very powerful and EZ to use and maintain. I highly recommend it for light to medium weight leather sewing. Neel is a great guy. Too bad he doesn't sell Juki's!!

I understated the score. I got two dozen conchos, 3,000 spots, a bullhide shoulder, a couple hundred Chicago screws, some casing concentrate, Barge cement thinner, and some deglazer. I love shopping!

I am fundamentally cheap... a perfect consumer. I shop shop shop til I drop drop drop. I wanted to get a 64 oz maul to make it easier to lop off belt ends. My first choice was a Barry King maul. I have a lighter one that I like very much and I was planning to get the 64 oz model as well. So I shop Barry's website and come up with a price of $70.00. Ouch!! I was hoping that the price point would have been lower on that. So consumerette starts shopping and low and behold there is a nice 64 oz leather handled maul at Weaver. It's one of the Weaver Master Tools series and the price is $56.65. That's a winning price and though I very much wanted to support Barry who I like a lot, I must surrender to my consumerism. I buy from Weaver and it is delivered today along with many other goodies that I bought. WOW!! The maul is beautiful!! I love it! So I am fooling with it and studying my new tool and what do I find... BARRY KING!!! Hot Dayum!! The Weaver Master Tool is made by Barry!!! Yeah!! I got the "Nice Price" AND I got to support Barry King to boot. He didn't score as much as he would have if I had bought from the website but he scored something. And I had $13.35 to spend on a baker's dozen of those great Jeremiah Watt slotted Floral conchos which are on sale for $.96@. And I have almost a half a dollar left over to drop on a nice candy bar!

I seriously doubt if these giveaways are anything other than deficit inflating bandages. They do little to solve systemic problems. Quite the contrary, I think they create many more problems then they solve. The kids will be paying for all the goodies that we purchase. We have stimulus giveaways here in the States. I think it's just a legal way to buy votes. My $.02.

I have a pair which I have had for several years and I DON'T like them. I think you can get better shears from a lot of makers including Gingher. I now use an electric rotary cutter for cutting leather down to rough size. I like that much better than scissors.