Handstitched

@zuludog So I guess your new ' skill' with the fluff would have to be, ' belly button ping pong' or ' tummy tennis' , you may have created a 'new' online sensation , you'll be famous I'm sure HS

I hope all is getting better in your part of the universe. Here in West Oz, the amount of confirmed virus cases are now in the single digits, we had just one new case recently , after going down to zero a few days ago , and some restrictions are sort of slowly being lifted , albeit cautiously. So far , I've managed to get through quite a few unfinished projects, and when I've finally finished these unfinished projects, I'll take a pic of them all. I've had some business coming through the gate, thanks to a regular customer , God bless her She gave us a free 2kg leg of lamb a few weeks back, I marinated & BBQ'ed it , sooooo delish!! I cooked it thats why ,lol, Peace HS

Its is lovely piece of ( working) history, I'd buy it , even for the historical value . It may even inspire ' bryan4christ' to get into harness making or some other form of heavy leather sewing. Love to see it in operation , but would hate to get my fingers in the way though Hope he buys it HS

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the leather is a blue hide, or sometimes known as ' wet- blue hide' , where the tanning process is incomplete. The blue comes from chromium salts, chromium 3 , I think. HS

" O'h what a beauty... I've never seen one as big as that before.." ( a silly old song) Check this out, not sure if its of any interest: https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/72483-getting-a-landis-1-going/ http://www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=hurheral_articles&id=1213 It does reference the machine. May well be worth looking into further HS

One little trick I've used ( depending on the fabric) is to seal the inside of the fabric with a sealer used to seal paper, drawings etc. , let dry and then apply the adhesive. I have had adhesive go through the fabric before, making a mess and looking ugly, so this trick seems to work. HS

Yes I see what you mean , you wouldn't see it at all. But despite that little " oops I broke it " moment , its still looks great HS

@Gregg From Keystone Sewing Oops, sorry Theres only one company in NSW , the east of Oz that sells them . Even one of the biggest industrial sewing machine specialists in Qld doesn't have a listing or a reference for them, unless they're under a different name. HS

Maybe it wouldn't hurt too much to braze that last bit ? , or fill it, perhaps just enough to cover the crack, sand it down , and paint it the same colour as the machine? At least you can use the machine now until you can find a replacement HS

@iron1951 Very well done on the restore, the paint job looks great but pity about the take up lever, . If you can't find one, would welding be an option, if they can be welded ? Good luck HS

@Marievee I know I'm biased, but I have a well serviced 54 year old Seiko STW 28B, ever reliable, I mostly do horse rug repairs, but also light/ medium leathers .Never heard of ' Jack' machines before until now . @chrisash they are belt driven . I've never had to do it , and hope I never will, but to change a belt, I guess it would be like changing the timing belt on a car engine , don't dare get the teeth in the wrong place, or " clunk ka- ping !!" HS

How about a boot patcher? Just a thought?

@Grindaur You've done quite well considering you haven't done it for a while. I'll be pulling out a few unfinished projects, some that have been staring at me on my bench for the last 6 months, but mainly the ones I threw in the ' too hard' basket ,and um...threw across the workshop( one is 16 years old) .... and a few that I simply didn't have time for . I normally do markets ( that have been canned) so I've been advertising locally a fair bit , and also sending texts to my ( horse rug) regulars letting them know that their repairs can still be done as the cooler months approach . I don't do FB, but a friend of mine has kindly offered to put my leather business on FB for me. While restrictions are still in place, a lot of the panic & hysteria seems to have calmed down here in Oz. Theres a few 'pin heads' that ignore restrictions but apart from that, everyone is doing the right thing, with 'tentative' positive results . Stay safe all HS

G'Day, You went on a cruise? ....and lived?? What a legend When was the last time you did any leather work? Those straps look quite nice. Well done. I did think about ' re-visiting' an old past time myself.. ....exercise ...mmnah !! ...I'll stick to leather work . I've just been doing a heap of tidying up, re-arranging etc. to turn my meagre workshop space into a "shop" ..of sorts , but at the same time leaving enough room for me to work. It was never meant to be a " shop shop" , as most of my business is done at various markets etc. but I have to make do and get creative these days . Things are looking a 'little bit brighter' as far as the virus goes here in Oz , but restrictions are still in place for the foreseeable future , here, they're talking 6 months . Stay safe HS

Not bad for someone thats had a break from leatherwork . The stitching is just fine . So I'm not sure how you can improve something that already looks great. HS

Yep what @Matt S said. Most times I use a spacer, sometimes I use a pricking iron...and sometimes I just guess, but using my accumulated knowledge. I don't want to make it too perfect To this day, no-one has ever said that ' stitch isn't quite right' . HS

My leather supplier has been kind enough to just give me a heap of sheep skin off cuts when I make a purchase. I only use the lighter colours, not the dark coloured off cuts for dying. I give them a nice trim into 2 - 3" pieces and use them a bit like a soft brush. But some years ago, an ' ex- leather worker' gave me a massive box of off cuts ( people often just give me .....leather....stuff ) , most of which I had to throw out as they were too small to be of any use, but I do find some pieces that I can use. That box of scraps has been quite handy to this day I still have two more huge bags I have yet to go through.....that someone else gave me, I've had them for at least 5 years . HS

@Bert51 I'm not even permitted to got to Perth from the wheatbelt ( unless for essential...stuff ) I don't think Dan Murphys is essential Ha They wouldn't know where I'm from anyway , I have private plates on my car, not country town plates, unless someone checks my licence . @Brooks125 I hear ya, I have a job to do for local on a pair of boots, but the materials I need I can't get online, as much I have looked. Yeh, I like to pick and choose my hides, if theres a fault or a blemish, sometimes I can work around it or sometimes they'll give me 'mates rates' depending on the hide. @chrisash Like the saying goes, " two heads are better than one" eh? The one thing I am finding a bit annoying, is the constant bombardment in the media, print or TV about the virus. Be informed and stay safe & healthy, absolutely, that is important, but the media do like to go a bit overboard or a bit ' apocalyptic' making bad situation so much worse . Stay cool & calm....and get drunk I love that Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw once, " Don't drive naked" . Why not? Its my car? Take care, HS

I'd like to think I'll be making a few new creations/ products ready to sell on the other side of this hopefully out of the bags of scraps I mentioned, and a heap of regular extra stock ready, I need to replace a few things that I didn't have time for. Might even visit my early ' roots' of my leatherworking and dust off a few old patterns that I haven't made for a while, which reminds me, I need to sort out my filing cabinet, its choccas full of patterns , its a mess. . We have to remain positive I do have a small collection of those ' tarp anchors', some more in the workshop, one of which I use frequently as an anvil . Theres still some more I'd like to get. Lets hope & pray that this doesn't last too much longer, and that all on here and their families stay safe & healthy. Take care HS

G'Day, Like all countries , we're restricted to travel in certain areas . I'm in the Central Wheatbelt Western Australia, and we can't leave it , to go to the city for example , but "exceptions apply" , for eg.' essential services' . Our little country town is virtually a ghost town . Just need some tumble weed Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwood to complete the picture All markets have now stopped, and totally working from home , have no choice, and thank God for the locals, still repairing horse rugs and a few other bits and bobs , and doing various ' non- leather related jobs'( see pic) , as well as a few outstanding leather orders, (that I got before things really went pear shaped) . I did a 6 x 3m tarp alteration/repair , join 2 halves w/fell seam , 2" hem fit eyelets, its not leather I know, but a job is a job. My leather supplier can ship my leather out, but I can't pick & choose hides....cos they're 2+hrs away in the city, that sucks. But I know I can trust them . My thoughts are now turning to the bags...and bags of accumulated leather scraps . Tip the whole lot out on a giant tarp one arvo , see what can be used, and turned into something creative , after concentrating my mind , or sold as is...or just thrown out . I have plenty of time on my hands....now That was the one thing I couldn't make before ....time. I also have an old suit case that I intended restoring some years ago, might dust that off. Love to hear what others are doing or creating during these challenging times? Take care, HS

I have used a large metal ( 5mm) ' D' ring , 'O' ring or square ring to smooth those out on occasion, with a bit of ' elbow grease' . I don't wish to back off the foot pressure too much in case the adjustment screw comes out too much and goes through the roof of my workshop and leaves a large hole Its a pretty tight spring I'm guessing ? Not sure if I'll ever get it back in? Perhaps someone can enlighten us on that ? HS

While everyone is ' panic buying' toilet paper, maybe what I should be buying is ' tin foil' Does a tin workshop count ? HS

@Grumpymann A job is a job, I don't care how f****g weird it is Just another happy customer HS

I think this would be considered a ' weird job' . Anyone seen these ?? I was asked to make a ' pendant' for this ' WiFi'....thing . Well, according to the client...what sense I could make of what she was telling me.....its sorta like a ' WiFi ' ....repellent ?? You wear it around your neck and it protects you from the 5G .....alien... ....thingys I wished I hadn't asked, cos it took 20 mins for her to explain it. When I removed the paper from the adhesive backing, I saw a ' criss cross' of wires , like on a circuit board on the back . I just charged her $20 bucks for it , too weird for me mate . I did make a black swimming pool for some actual witches once , that spooked everyone from sales to manufacturing ( me included ) , so this falls in the same category of weeeiii..eerrrd !!!! HS

I haven't got a pic, but I have made some singles for .357 speed loaders . Simple one piece templates. Just think of the shape of a ' crucifix ' to give you an idea , because thats what my template looks like .It was helpful to have a fully loaded speed loader with me to custom make them. I hand stitched them . Its up to you or your client how the belt loop goes . HS