Handstitched

G'day, I've been in two minds whether to ask this or not . But here goes. We all have our areas of particular interest in leather and as and we progressed from humble beginnings, we later become experienced in some or all of those areas. Some are saddlers, or love making western gear, some love making belts or bags and so on, and some just love making ....well , anything & everything and indeed enjoy the journey . But at what point can you call yourself a craftsman ? The reason I ask it , is because I have taken issue with a particular individual. I'll explain later ( in quite lengthy detail) , but in the meantime, your points of view? HS

G'Day, I use a machine similar to the second pic in arashikage 's post, works great, especially when making various tool cases like leatherman type cases etc. in quantity . I also have a sanding block for finer areas on some projects. The block is flat on one side and curved on the other. The other sanding blocks I have are soft spongy sanding blocks in various grits . So a bit of both, machine and hand sanding . HS

Only if 'wheeldawg' was to make money out of it and/or start manufacturing them for profit . But the way I read it, its a leaving gift for a friend finishing school . HS

can't say I tried any of those. Never seen the meat in our local supermarket either. The dragon would come in handy to cook the unicorns & lions....geddit??....flame grilled .....gawd !!! @Rockoboy You nailed it. Roo meat is ideal for those ( meat eaters) on a low fat diet...like I will be soon if I don't watch my waist. The first time I tried Emu, I thought " WOW" the flavour hit me like a brick, but soon fell in love with it @nrk Slavery has been outlawed, but you can get discount flights to Oz I'm sure. Leather leather leather. Had to say that, getting just a lil' bit off topic here Dragon hides....hmmm Its been a long day..... HS

Tastes delicious , marinated & done on a BBQ goes well too. ' Kanga bangas' ( roo sausages) are really nice . I have also eaten emu ( pronounced ' eemyoo ' here ....not emooo) . Strong game flavour...yum We are the only country that eats its national emblem.....apparently ...as well making leather goods out of them HS

I carefully burn the ends all the time using a ciggy lighter ....and not near fresh dyes, sealers or adhesives........I like my eyebrows . With webbing , like on horse rug repairs, I use a blowy torchy thingy that I got from my local hardware for about 5.00 bucks to melt the frayed ends etc. HS

G'Day, I had that issue in my early days when I first started making wallets. I did make my own cardboard templates using old wallets for ideas, sizes etc. but over time they became a little ' frayed & dog eared' .So what I found helpful was that I found wallet templates on line and bought them to help speed up the marking out & cutting process with the added advantage that they don't wear out and are just the right size . I either machine stitch or hand stitch my wallets using kangaroo leather which is about 1mm in thickness. And indeed, you could make your own templates using perspex if you want to go that far.... I do have some perspex that I intended to make templates with ..........but I got lazy and bought them online instead HS

G'Day, not sure if this is of any help : https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/15389-vinegaroon-progress/ Hope it helps, even just a little bit HS

@TomWisc I'm not from the US ( Western Australia ) , however, I did buy some roo skins whilst on special , mostly black but a few brown. . I have made a quite a few wallets using these roo skins and they are really good go work with, either machine stitch or hand stitch . I make just simple or basic wallets with enough space for notes, and about 1/2 doz cards, some with a coin pouch & room for a pic, some with some without a snap, but not those with a gazillion pockets, about 2" thick that hold everything but the kitchen sink, more pockets & slots means more work . Anything bigger than a ' normal' size wallet, you'll be needing a small purse....or dare I say.... a man bag ?? I find that roo skins do the job. They're not too thin and not too thick either , just right at around 1mm , very durable and fold easily . ( P.S. Roo meat tastes delicious high in iron & protein and very low in fat . ) HS

I had a similar problem when I was contemplating buying a machine. It took me months to decide. But when I was closer to a decision, the machine I was looking at had very few reviews so I had to take a bit of a punt and I ended up with a 441 clone ( for business) and never looked back. I just wanted to speed up the process of sewing thick leather with the view to do thick belts etc. But I guess with some reviews there would be so many variables, like what it can sew,, what do you want to sew, for profit or hobby, how thick how fast, what threads it takes, reliability , availability of parts, accessories etc. If someone gives a bad review on Mr Google, it could be a competitor or the fault of the operator and not the machine , yikes !!! too much for my 'bwain' . Its best to just ask anyone on here, whatever machine you're thinking of buying, I'm sure someone on here will have one. I wish I found this site before buying my machine HS

Heres my crazy set up I did have quick count up this arvo , approx 300 stamping tools, plus Boss buttons , assorted 3D stamps , letters & numbers etc. The hardware storage is hardly ideal, but re-using butter boxes makes it cheap storage I also have a lot more h/ware in some old tobacco tins & take away containers etc. HS

@hwinbermuda "What? 45K58 and 196K205 ? or something more prosaic?" no, ' Stewart' & ' Brutus' . @fredk You can borrow my straight jacket HS

The plastic butter boxes don't last too long either. HS

Here in Australia, Tandy ' dropped' an entire store . All on-line now and shipped from the US . HS

G'Day, @fredk My tools are petty much stored the same way as farns005. I don't really know how many I have , at a guess around 100-150+ various stamping tools + boss buttons etc. I really should do a stock take eh ? I have a piece of 2 x 1 Jarrah ( Aussie hardwood) approx 16-18" in length with holes drilled into it. Its a bit' hickledy pickledy ' but I know where they all are...well ....almost. I also have a few old plastic (tandy) tool holders as well . I've always wanted my bench to be set up properly with all tools set all nice and neat into a custom made display with all hardware in custom storage instead of re-used butter punnets ... ...meanwhile, back on planet earth .... HS

I seemed to have started a discussion about different names for tools...oops! I call an adjustable spanner an ' AFS ' , " any f****g size" , waaaaaay off topic. No, but I have named 2 of my sewing machines . HS

My very first '''leather anything', was messing about with a scrap bit of leather, I even messed that up , but that looks great HS

I am right handed, so naturally I use my mallet in my right hand with any tools in my left. I also hold my mallet handle close to the mallet hitty bit, not at the other end. My mallet is a small rubber mallet, with a few bits of round leather glued to the round ' hitty bit' .It came from a kids tool kit from a discount shop so its just the right size & weight. I have another rubber mallet thats bigger & heavier for bigger tools , stamps, like 3D etc. I reject normality and make up my own HS

That looks like a nice challenge . Just ' ripe ' for restoration But I can't see any reverse, but I can see a chainsaw ha ha A good clean and large bottle of machine oil . You could get a new ' Singer ' decal if you're concerned about losing it. Love to see this one up and running soon...... and maybe the chain saw too eh? HS

G'Day, I have to concur with' trash treasure' . Its a Consew. The second pic is an easy give away. Here, have a look: http://www.consew.com/view/consew-model-206rb-5 You may even find some ' Consew' names on parts underneath . Parts are easy to get for Consew's , so I hope you're able to get it all up and running . Good luck HS

@RockyAussie No, no competitors, I am the only leather worker in town, and I am the only one that does horse rug repairs.I am bringing in rug work from other towns too now .A lot of my business is word-of-mouth . I have just started to get into selling a few equine bits & bobs like grooming brushes combs , kits, a few halters etc. because to my knowledge, there is no-one else thats sells that sort of thing in my town. The closest equine agent is either 40k's south or a retailer 70k's north or 130k's to Perth. It will take a little time to build that part of it up. But I'll persevere A'h yes, RMW, a respected brand, and I have seen those huge semi's, but I have on occasion seen some RMW products made O/S. HS

@kgg I do agree that shipping containers do make great sheds or workshops, however, our local laws here in Oz suck . In a town 35k's south , they're not permitted to have them ...period. In my town, you have to apply for permission through the shire council to have one on a regional property.In the town centre....forget it!! Our shire councils here in Oz have too much power over paid and over rated IMO , no brains or common sense, just ask ' Rockoboy ' , he's a westie like me. Shire councils here get a pretty bad rap, their own fault . I have my market stall in town sometimes. I had to go through a heap of shire council red tape for a permit just to put up a bloody gazebo in a carpark !! The land/ carpark I use doesn't even belong to the shire it belongs to the rail company....go figure ? Anyway, this is going off topic HS

Thank you for your support @Rockoboy Thanks for your optimism , but I'm hardly going to conquer the ' equine world' ha ha Just taking advantage of an increase in horses & horsey people in my area .This is just the beginning, but over time my stock will build up , just as the horse rug repairs did ( I'm flat out with those atm ) Reminds me of that ad on telly atm , kaboodle kitchens? "yes, ...we did" , .........(the girl in the ad is cute... er...... *cough cough* off topic ) . @chrisash I have checked a few of those. One of which is an old converted house not far from a race course and choccas with tack etc. If it wasn't for the small sign at the front, you wouldn't know it was a business, it looked almost derelict. I went there once to suss out some rip stop canvas for horse rugs. At the back was this old shipping container....that must have leaked because the rip stop was all moldy. Needless to say I didn't buy any. HS

Just an update: I still haven't had any luck with ' X' wholesaler selling me equine stock ie: mostly grooming and/or accessories, a few halters etc. and those that I have spoken to, all seem to have the same opinion that ' shop front only ' policies are discriminatory, ( in recent days, many ' shop front' businesses are going bust , because o/heads are too high) But I did recently send an email to the WA Chamber of Commerce business law dept for advice.Just waiting for their reply. ( W.A. is ' Western Australia' but for us westies, it also means ' Wait Awhile' , and theres some truth in that too ) However, I checked out a popular equine retailer here in the outskirts of Perth WA . They had 50% off everything online . So, I ordered a heap of stock online , and picked up & paid for my order this arvo. When I went to the warehouse , I noticed some more bargains...and bought them too As for 'X' wholesaler, all I can say is, theres more than one way to skin a cat......bwahaha !!! I want 3 parts to my business, 1) leather/ custom leather, 2) horse rug/ canvas repairs, 3) equine stock . The first two are complete, and now , I've just started the 3rd part (The horse rugs are coming in thick & fast now....its Winter here in Oz now. ) HS

I feel like an antique doing it all the 'old fashioned way' HS