Bree

The customer is not always right but they have something that you want... the $$$. So they are right enough.

Nice job... kinda neat how you offset the clamps to get a better view.

Ah it's not that bad. She didn't charge a new saddle for the horse! And you haven't gotten your IRS Tax Lien yet. Life is good! Now about those tools you need to sell at a drastically reduced fire sale price...

Very nice issue. I like the belt patterns and the tutorial. Happy Holidays!

Simply elegant and lovely. Happy Holidays Peter!

BC... That's a very nice Christmas present!! Now if I can just get Santa to bring the skills to tool it as beautifully as you do!! Happy Holidays!!

I wouldn't. What seems to you to be dry may not be dry at all. Moisture in the air may not be visible or detectable without instruments. Moisture is the enemy. I keep all of my rolled hides in a temperature and humidity controlled location. They are too expensive to leave anything to chance. Once you have mold spores all over the shop, getting the place cleansed is a bigger nightmare than buying new hides. Best practice is not to let mold or mildew get started in the first place. My $.02.

I got a price of $220 to the freight terminal in Buffalo. I picked it up in my Dodge RAM with a bunch of biker men who did most of the lifting. LOL!

When I'm not using real heavy thread and I have a lot of room, I like to go back 3 and up 1, clip the threads, and then maybe take a needle and run a little bit of FabriTac or even some clear nail polish to the threads I just cut. That helps lock them in and prevents them pulling out and leaving danglers. I'm not sure that there is any right or wrong way. I used to just go back two like lots of folks do but I changed. Nevertheless, I could easily do back-2 and it wouldn't bother me.

Another thing to watch carefully is the threading... 2 full turns around the lower tensioning disks... COUNTERCLOCKWISE. That one is EASY to screw up.

My 4000R LA-25 came on a pallet with attached boxes. I picked it up at the freight terminal and had it loaded onto my Dodge RAM. It is a big machine. Have at least two people to unload it and to unpack the machine head. The 16" model will be a little smaller but not all that much smaller. You can uncrate it on your pickup truck and bring it into the shop or house a piece or box at a time. There was a little bit of assembly required but not much. They assemble the critical components. And they will help you if you have any questions or problems. They are quite good at that.

I ordered some stuff from TLF a couple of weeks ago. It came promptly and included one of the $149 Hair On Hides (Black and White) It was just great. Excellent color and quality and it was a good size hide to boot. I was real pleased. That hide is not covering out dining room table for Christmas! Or until I figure out what I plan to do with it. LOL!

The 10 signs of Christmas

I just looked at the Ginger and it has a smooth finish. There is a distinct grain pattern but it isn't pebbled. It looks real nice. We loved that side as soon as we saw it.

Ivan won't be happy about it but I think you can get away with it... quietly with no fanfare!! LOL!

I have one. It is all metal construction... no cheap plastic gears. The pot motor is small but you can flywheel through seams easily enough. It's a tough little machine. I think you can sew maybe 1/4-5/16" of leather with it without any trouble. My feeling is that with a little extra care you can sew some fairly heavy duty material just about all day long with the 15-91. It's not an industrial machine but it is pretty darn close in many ways.

I have 3 sides of their premium heavy chap leather... a black, a ginger and a cream side. They are about 5 oz and buttery soft. They are expensive but I couldn't resist them and picked up three sides the last time I was in Syracuse at the Tandy store. Call Bill Johnson at the Elgin, Ill. Tandy Leather Factory warehouse. They have a very large supply of everything since they are a warehouse and not a storefront. Schmooze with them a little and ask them to pick out something real nice. They will lay their stock out on the big tables and do a little selecting for you. Very good people. Just tell them that Bree sent you. Maybe you will get your order free!! LOL!

I ordered a bunch of 8-9 oz blanks and had them all split to 7 oz uniform throughout. They are beautiful and ready for me to work on when I get some time. They should produce some real nice double thickness belts. BTW For the best leather for belts try getting some backs. A natural double bend is perfect for belts. You get a more uniform thickness and better quality (fewer defects, better strength etc.). Don't forget to share some PIX!!

Come on Ed... dig down deep... you know that you want it!!

There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. --- John Ruskin

You can use the 1,750 grinder to run one of Ivan's burnishers!

Shoot... the leather on those holsters looks so good that now I'm gonna have to try this method for sure. Back to brewing up stuff in the basement. I feel like I'm going back to the 60's! Edit: Ok if I'm gonna fool with this stuff I want to know what I'm dealing with. Here is the MSDS sheet on Ferric Acetate. http://www.pfaltzandbauer.com/data/uploade...MSDS-072506.pdf And here is an interesting little article about some scientists who were trying to brew up their own batch to stain some chromosomes. It shows the chemistry and some interesting things about process steps and soluability. http://article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/ppv/RPV...p;startPage=527 OK I used to be the curator of the chemistry lab at a University. I am not a chemist but I always like fooling with chemicals!! In the labs I learned that this can be a passion that can get you into trouble very fast. So be careful!! Ordinary things can quickly become extraordinary.

Jerry gave me a demo of the 20" splitter in Columbus. Granted he did not split wide leather but I think Dave hit the nail on the head as to why he didn't use 20" pieces.... cost. For the several pieces he did split, that machine split them like a hot knife running through butter. It certainly caused me to jones for one myself. But I wasn't there looking for a splitter. I bought a big stitcher instead which I am quite pleased with. Bottom line... I would buy that machine for myself with full confidence after seeing it in action.

If that is all you are going to do with the machine... sure. That little HF grinder will do the job. Why not just get a Dremel tool or Dremel clone?? That will work just as well and be useful for a lot of other tasks. It will probably last longer too.

And a wonderful Merry Christmas to you too!!