Handstitched

@flora18 Is this of any use ? : http://www.pfaff.com/SiteMedia/PFAFF/Products/Machines/Support-manuals/pfaff_145-manual-EN.PDF

This is a silly question, but you do have the correct needle & thread ? If that happened on my machine, 441 clone, I'd be sweating by now ...and a little nervous. HS

@Frodo from our ATO website : The Medicare levy helps fund some of the costs of Australia's public health system known as Medicare. The Medicare levy is 2% of your taxable income, in addition to the tax you pay on your taxable income. ... Your actual Medicare levy is calculated by us when you lodge your income tax return.Jul 1, 2020 Back on topic. @fredk Thanks for mentioning that. Even though they're cheap enough to buy, they should last a bit longer than that. I'm leaning towards the desk type . HS

In Australia, we have an annual Medicare levy of 2% , so we can go to a public doc or public hospital, get treated....and walk out again...unless you've just broken your leg ...ahem...sorry Meds are discounted if you're on benefits or pension etc. otherwise full price. Private practices are the money munchers . Yes, back on topic: I will have to get my eyes tested again ( for free) , eventually . And how often do you have to change the batteries in those? Perhaps the plug-in desk type might be better after all, but I guess these days you can get rechargable lithium batteries , or get a pair without the lights , decisions decisions . The ' hug light' looks handy. My Mother is always knitting or sewing. HS

@chuck123wapati I think the head band type might be better , but I will have a closer look as to how much space I have on my bench, maybe re-arrange a few things as thats where I spend most of my time. I finished the guitar strap this arvo ....phew, 2 days before the deadline , but my eyes did struggle . @Frodo This may seem like I'm bragging a bit here, and off topic, but I can go to my local GP, then go into a major public hospital, get my eyes done, and walk out with no fees. But I will have to pay full price for any meds . But with private hospitals ..?? ...$$$ plus. I'll focus my attention ( pardon the pun) on head band magnifiers, and go from there. HS

O.K. , so its back to this again....now I'm a little bit older, don't laugh . This belongs in ' Tools' , but anyway. I've been doing a guitar strap recently with a ' Celtic' 5 part braid tooling pattern. I love doing those patterns , they're laboriously time consuming, but so effective when finished. But I find myself with cross eyes & blurry vision, like I've been staring at a TV test pattern for too long. I do take breaks, which is recommended, but when theres a deadline...? ....( its due Monday , 1st Aug) . I did once have the ' cheapy' magnifier glasses from Red Dot ( a discount shop in OZ ), that worked for a while, but I ended up with script glasses. ( my eyes need testing again no doubt) I think I need up the ante for the future projects and get either a desk magnifier with light which I really like, or, as space is limited, I'm leaning towards a head band magnifier. I could get both I guess. Any recommendations? My budget is $120- tops. HS

@RWL2 Just out of general interest, how much did you pay for it? The issue I would have if I tried what you're doing is getting the timing right. One of the many passing thoughts I've had is to get a machine head ( like my STW Seiko) just to learn how to pull it apart and put it back together again ...and get it working, timing and all Hope yours all goes well in the end HS

Sure wish I could put my hands through the screen and show you. You were almost there. But have a look at this: HS

Not sure what happened there, but heres the hat . The leather is called ' Combat', (here in Oz) 1.2mm chrome .A soft-ish leather , good for M/C bags etc. ....and hats, polishes up nicely Thats my first hat btw, I'm still learning.

@Tbushard Heres a hat I made. While I had all of the pieces on the bench before assembly, I gave them a good dose of N/F oil, then gave them a buff up with some good ol' black ' brand name' Parade shine' boot polish . That would be enough water proofing. HS

@fredk I'll make a pink wallet and see what happens I have some pink roo skin. I have some light green & yellow too I think .I'll make a green & yellow one as well , and I'll tell you who buys them . Not sure why I bought them, impulse buy I guess. Either that, or I was just getting in touch with my feminine side, gawd !! HS

Not sure where to put this to be honest, but as its in context to the thread, I'll put it here. Post lockdown: economic recovery...and my whinge. Here in Western Australia we're doing quite well , compared to other states in the east . Victoria are in deep s...t atm . NSW , ACT. and maybe Queensland are a little nervous right now. And I am grateful that I am now just as busy now as I was before the ' proverbial hit the fan . I've have orders coming in , custom belts, cases etc and a custom guitar strap,and some mods to 54 mtrs of garden netting ( not leather, obviously ) The pollies ( here in Oz) talk about the economic recovery, getting people back into jobs, stimulus packages post covid etc. Thats fine, no issue, we really need it . But what frustrates me is that all the ' traditional' trades, like what a lot of us do for a living don't get a single mention, here in Oz anyway. Surely theres a place for ol' leather workers like myself in the big wide world of commerce? *sigh* I guess I'll just be confined to a ' niche market' and ' quaint little markets ' @dikman I had every intention of taking a pic of my stall here in my town as you suggested, as I bought a new wiz bang deluxe gazebo, on special, woo hoo !! I even took my camera with me .....but I forgot to take a pic. I remembered after I packed it up?......bugger !! Next time Stay safe HS

G'Day from a fellow Aussie All of the stuff I make is pretty much ' gender neutral ' . I have made an assortment of items including wallets and card cases, but I haven't made them specifically for a bloke or a woman , either can use them and either have bought them , some plain, some with carving etc. My wallets & cases are just of simple construction, enough for say 6 or 8 cards and some folding cash . Some are mostly for cards, with some cash & coin, some are just for cards , or just cash, and so on. I've also made the simplest of ( minimalist) wallets/ cases , just a few pockets...and thats it, both men & women have bought them , it depends on the customer I guess. I've had customers, women & blokes, asking me to make ' wallets' that hold a gazzilion cards, " and a pocket for this , a pocket for that, 'and a thing-a-me bit' in the middle that goes 'kerplonk' " , everything but the kitchen sink...... I don't do those , go to Red Dot or get a hand bag. . By the time its filled with coin, folding money, cards etc....and the ' kitchen sink', it'll be 2" thick . I've made carved belts with flowers, roses etc. Now you would think they would be ladies belts ? .... but nup , they were for blokes. HS

@Geotech1 G'day, in all honesty I'm a bit worried about googling 'leather suspenders' , not sure what I'll end up with, just kidding I assume you mean leather braces? I did find this: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/125960120801409707/ Theres also this: https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/10714-leather-suspenders/ hope it points you in the right direction . Are you from Perth Scotland or Perth Western Australia ? HS

Thats a shame, sorry things didn't quite work out for you. I guess covid didn't help . What will you do now? Whatever you do, I wish you the best . HS

A bit of ' brute force & ignorance ' works for me on copper rivets @Constabulary Is that yours ? Just wondering what the rounded device is in the background? Looks like something a milliner would use, an ' expanding' ....thingy? . Curious HS

No bother whatsoever , I had a quick look around, no luck in my neck of the woods , Australia However, I agree with Greenwood regarding price. Have a look at this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pearson-6-Harness-Leather-Stitcher-Sewing-Machine-British-United-Shoe-Machinery-/264403734733 That makes it around $4500- $5000 Australian WOW !!! HS

I tried that for a while, but ended up just taking their waist measurement . Some of the belts they had were probably bought from 'Cheap 'n' Nasty Mart' , were stretched, split , frayed, almost broken bits of plastic HS

I have occasionally done decorative ( hand) stitching on belts, but I made a pattern first . I make a pattern on tracing paper, then carefully mark out the pattern on the leather belt. I have only done free hand on rare occasions on the machine........ if I'm feeling adventurous .Free hand takes practice, but its fun . Some may have a CAD.....machine...... thingy . Takes all the fun out of it but handy if theres multiples of the same item to be stitched. HS

One other thing that I have done when moulding, sometimes the client will give me the item to be moulded, a leatherman for example. I would wrap the leatherman in plastic or a plastic bag, bound with plastic packing tape so no moisture gets into it , and make a case around that . Once the leather has dried out just enough and taken shape, I remove the leatherman as soon as practicable while the leather is still pinned to the board and unwrap it . The 5mm leather I have moulded was for the round bit on a H/D fishing gimbal , and fishing accessories . The other "accessory" I made, was a belt mounted stubby holder ( you call them coolies over there? ) ...for the beer of course HS

In metric, ( I'm in Australia ) thats about 3.5 - 4mm? I've moulded that thickness for knife cases, sheaths etc. regularly . I mainly use the tried & tested...and trusted ' Al Stohlman' method , for around 15 years. Against the ' norm', I soak the piece of leather in water for about an hour, maybe two, grain side down. You'll see and hear the air bubbles coming out. Its then pliable like clay. I choose a template, a leatherman knife case for example, and use a pin board , a piece of pine off-cut , or something soft enough for the panel pins to go through and carefully mould & pin the leather around the template,and keeping all the panel pins in line , and adequate spacing from the edge of the template, so when its stitched, machine or by hand, the stitching hides all the pin holes. However, I don't use a ' bone folder' , I use a 3mm thick 'O' ring or a 3 x50mm square ring to mould it. The ' roundness' of the rings and and the corners of the square rings are ideal. With that thickness, it does take a bit of ' elbow grease' . I have done thicker, around 5mm. You'll have an arm like 'Arnies' by the time you've finished. I put the case out in the sun or near a wood stove to dry out. ( you can cheat a bit by using a hair dryer for about 10mins or so, and then put it out in the sun or near a wood stove to speed things up........but I never told you that ) Been doing that for 15 years. Thats my method, others on here will have a different take & a different method. I just do what works ...and it works just fine ....for me HS

@jrny4wrd Its also known as ' basting tape' . I used some just a few days ago for a custom welding apron. Very handy stuff . In this case , I used 1/4" . So you may wish to use the reference ' basting tape' in your search . Hope this helps HS

Firstly, welcome to the forum I question that. Its a long process to produce quality veg tan leather, not something that can be done in a day . HS

Another little tip, 'magnetise' the screwdriver , just give it a good rub a few times with any magnet, so the screw sticks to it as you (gently) pull it out . Just something I did when I use to repair old vintage radios, in another life HS

The strap end punches I use came from Birdsall Leather in NSW. Non- branded ' V' & ' U' punches. They work just fine, work even better since they were on special I just sharpen them up from time to time. I agree. I go into tool shops even when I don't need to buy any, but 'tis nice to look eh? Like a kid in a sweet shop HS