RockyAussie

I forgot to say I am calling this my Holy Poke method. If anyone knows what it should be called please advise us.

Thanks Chuck and Frank for that info. What I am wanting to be able to do is along the lines in these pictures below. This is at the very rough prototype stage at the moment and further pieces are to be added to it yet so please overlook the roughness as it has not been hammered etc as yet. As you see by the patterns the numerous holes and cuts that have to be precisely placed makes doing by hand tedious and with a clicker very expensive knife costs. Cleaning the edges in an efficient way may be important. ps. I got bored with stitching and wanted to explore other alternatives looks.

Thanks for that Chuck. What watt size are you running? I am wondering if the size will have a big difference with the charring as well? You are cutting through the low tack transfer tape when you are cutting and thus keeping some of the charring from transferring over? I am thinking of making some pretty intricate stuff that would be impractical to further cut with a knife and so am wondering what methods people have found gives an easy clean up. For instance when I used to colour change shoes, I used a glass bead blaster to etch and clean the shoes first. One little bit of sticky tape is all it took to stop the glass blasting away any areas I did not want blasted. The tape just makes the beads bounce off . Therefore I wonder if the transfer tape left on until after blasting would be an effective manner of char removal. Perhaps some edge sealer can penetrate the charring and keep it fixed? and so on. Brian

Thanks for the input @LatigoAmigo. I guess cleaning up the charring on the edges is something that will have to be solved before I commit to too much expense. I will try and get a bit done somewhere to have a look at it further.

I am seriously thinking that this laser stuff could have some merit in it. I have been doing some prototype production work recently that I believe would probably only be realistic to do with a laser. I am curious to find out if a 40 watt can actually be used to cut 3mm (7to 8oz) with the right software and such or not? @LatigoAmigo That bag looks good and different as well.May I ask if after cutting is there much work in cleaning up the edges before applying edge coat? I mean such as in the crew punch strap holes in your bag and similar. I think that would be an excellent idea. Lets do it.

Thanks again for your kind help there ABR. I really don't have much knowledge in this area as yet.

Thanks YinTx I have a bit more work to do on it yet but will post it all with measurements used etc when done. Customer is a croc farm manager and does a lot of hunting in the wet tropics so that should test the construction techniques to the max. Time will tell. Brian

This part that you mention has me confused and as you have not pictured the disc or that area, I have tried to find what it is you are mentioning. It may be something peculiar to the Cobra machine though. I have taken some pictures of my Cowboy that may help some and I have attached a pdf that does not show any disc but is about the only diagram I could find that shows that area. As Floyd said I think correctly the bent rod needs to be hooked back on to the hinge screw and then the loose screw that lets the mechanism rotate needs to be tightened up. I hope this helps some. Brian 441 parts.pdf

Well it"s not too ugly ...I think so let me know what ya think. I will post in a separate a more full break down of the steps and measurements I used later on. Shown below the strap is just over 44" long out fully.With loops on can go down to 32". Hope that's enough range. Backside of strap shows the nu buck lining and thumb loop set into and stitched down. Chicago screws installed The padding shows here a little better. All ready to test now isolright I reckon.

I would also check that all of the parts around the tension discs that get spread open are not getting caught up and or out of alignment. Was on my Cowboy.

Looks good. Another strap to the other side and a couple stirrups and she should be ready to ride.

Thank you ABR. I will hopefully get 1 made this week and I'll get back with a pic when done (if it is not tooo uglly that is)

They all look good to me. How long do you make the rifle sling straps when they are at full length. I have been asked to make one from the hornback crocodile straps and I think this design shape would work perhaps. Any padding tips would be welcome as well. Brian

Beautiful> I would like one but with oval holes please.

I guess you could take the shaft right through and hose the end into a bearing held into a vice at the base.

I agree with Floyd and have run it straight down for the same reason and have not had any problems.

Hey Dwight ...I just thought I would add a little to this as I have used your answer here in a different post http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/79982-braided-dog-leashes/?tab=comments#comment-534074 There is some more detail in that post but in case it helps, here are some pics here that should tell the story . Note that with this set up you can easily set whatever hole or needle spacing you want and get at the same distance from the edge consistently. Brian

Further to @TomG excellent tip I will offer 1 step further in case it is any help. Firstly as I am trying to out do @Dwight at being plain lazy so I will high jack his answer to a similar sort of question. As follows....... Now this is going to rankle some feathers , . . . and it is just too bad. I'm just plain lazy, . . . do not like to do any extra work that I can figure a way around or to get out of. That is why I have a Tippmann Boss sewing machine, . . . "Hands are for hamburgers, . . . sewing machines are for stitching". But if you don't have the machine yet, . . . this is a down and dirty way to save yourself some grief. If you have a small drill press, . . . or one of those $20 things that hold a hand drill and work like a drill press, . . . drill a 3/8 inch hole in a piece of plywood about a foot square, . . . tape it down so the hole is where the drill would be, . . . chuck up your awl blade in the press, . . . run your stitch wheel so you know where they need to be punched, . . . use the drill press to punch the holes. Take a piece of duct tape and tape your chuck so it does not turn on you, . . . or just eyeball it every time you get ready to drop it through. # 1: it is a super whole bunch easier # 2: it is easier to see where you are punching because your hand is not in the way # 3: the holes are absolutely 100% straight up and down (otherwise the back looks somewhere between "not perfect" and "downright shabby") # 4: you can punch all the holes for a project, . . . take your awl, your needle and thread and go over to the couch, . . . turn on your favorite TV show, . . . sew and watch the boob tube at the same time. AND, . . . it is so much easier on the hands. Also, . . . if you want a bit of a fancy stitch, . . . turn the awl blade about 30 degrees, . . . and it gives a bit of a rope looking effect to your stitching. May God bless, Dwight Me again.Thanks Dwight. Now some pics to make maybe a bit more sense to this. The first pic is a tool as Tom suggested and note the end is round and could go into a drill chuck. . The second picture is a drill press set up with a jig I made and has a hole punch in the chuck in this case.The purpose of the jig held in the 2 way vice is to allow adjustments in both directions and to keep the leather at the same distance away from the edge hole after hole or slot after slot or awl after awl etc. In this next picture closer up you can see a little rod set into the wood and this is to move the leather onto each time a bit like a sewing machine. I drill down and it cuts the leather with very little effort and does a little burnishing as well if I want. Great idea for lacing up bags and such hey. Last pic here shows leather being hole drilled with same distance from edge as well as same distance apart. NOTE by moving the adjuster on the 2 way vice thingy I can set the hole distance apart at any spacing I like from the peg and get thereafter the same hole spacing time after time. With the slot you want you would need to set in a thin nail with out a head and work it to one edge of the slot each time.(MAKE SURE THE DRILL CAN NOT BE TURNED ON WHEN SLOT PUNCHING) I might make this a separate post a bit later. Brian

What makes it not look like veg to me are a few things.1. there is not depth of colour into the hole and it looks like a pigment (paint coat) 2.Veg will normally compress when cut and retain the compression after the punch is removed. 3. The grey colour looks like chrome tan and if it were coloured that way it would have gone into the lining as well. Still I could be wrong. What's your bet?

I'd say the wear looks normal but I would have thought the top was not a veg tan just gong on the look and the hole colour green grey . Could be wrong!!

Love the bobbin -thread inspection hole.

That'll stop a single wearing thread track.

Had some years to get all of them though. Now where is that emojie with a trail of money falling away???

Yea that happens sometimes.....not sure why. Be interesting if we get the patches size down for purses and such.......we wouldn't need stock for 20 years maybe Helps if you're a bit mad I think....or a lot Thanks Gary More next week and have a good weekend you all.

Thanks @bikermutt07. To be honest my wife Mary has more to do with the making I just work out the basic bag design and a few other bits. I will try and get to show a bit on the bottom stop protectors and how they are made as we get along more but for now here is a few pics that will help give the idea. Note that although I have elected to 3d print the support for these pieces they could be made fairly readily by putting 2 pieces of veg together with the different size holes and then skive or sand to shape. Chicago screws are what I have used in this case. I will attach some pics of a similar handle holding system I use on some bags as well again with Chicago screws and in one case a small bag foot as well. Note the bottom bag shows some more uses for the small leftover pieces to go to use.