Handstitched

Funny you should say that, because I also have one too but I accidentally blew mine up I had it on the wrong setting....oops! **poof** and it was dead. Just glad that the leather side of the ' empire' remained and didn't go the way of the electronics business, even if they are overpriced However, I doubt the ' electronic nerds' (like myself ) hate to hear that ha ha !! Perhaps one day I'll restore a valve radio with a hand made and hand carved leather case eh ? Leather hand bag radio ? Now I'm being silly. mmmmm?........however.........? HS

I often wondered about the connection between the two companies. The only reason I had an interest in Tandy Electronics is because in an earlier part of my life, long before my love of leather, I used to tinker with electronics , restore antique valve radios, mess about with radios, stereos etc . One of my sheds still contains all of that stuff. I very recently watched a doco on Youtube about the decline of TE and thats what piqued my interest all over again. Heres some interesting info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_D._Tandy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_Electronics I also spotted a commonality between the two companies.....they're both over priced HA !! HS

No, I've had no issues with it, however I do only use short lengths at a time, just like I do with any lacing . Perhaps if I used one long length maybe then there might be an issue towards the end of a project. HS

G'Day, I know this is the other side of the planet, but this is what I've used ( in silver) This is my supplier here in Oz. http://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/Kangaroo-Lacing/Metallic/3mm/pl.php I have used it on bags , and its quite good. But I used short lengths rather than one long length. Check out our prices here in Oz, and compare them to your prices while you're at it. I'd be guessing that yours are much cheaper.

G'Day , @bikermutt07 Equine stock, as in equestrian stable..... stuff, grooming stuff , tack, rugs etc. @chrisash I guess I could do some ...er *cough* cut and pasting of some " shop front" pics with some equestrian stock and send that to the wholesaler? Mmmmmm....nah , that wouldn't work I got a call from a small business dude, I just need to return his call and get some advice. HS

They're a staple ' down under ' . The curry meat pies are nice on a cold morning. Most people have cereal ...boring. HS

G'Day and thank you for your input. I've been in contact with a ' Small Business' helper , I'll be returning his call tomorrow ( 24/4) to get some advice. @bikermutt07 that will be my second option if this one doesn't ' play ball'' , just that this one will sell me ' manufacturers ' supplies , like threads, hardware etc. go figure ? They can sell me all that stuff, but not equine stock? Strange. Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post. @Rockoboy I can fully understand the ol' wholesale ' minimum purchase' , policy which is common, but a " must have a retail shop front" policy ? @immiketoo yes, I agree, they are money pits. I've been in this little town for many years and I've seen so many businesses come and go .Even when they don't make any sales, the rent and o/heads still have to be paid.The only businesses that survive in the main street are the " essential services " , like, post office/newsagent, bank ( we only the have one bank ) the 2 pubs, and the supermarket. And yes, the pubs are an essential service . The only other business that does well, is the bakery, only because their meat pies are yummy. This has nothing to with my little issue , I know HS

G'Day , Not sure where to post this..... or how to explain this......... Anyway, I wish to purchase equine related stock from an Australian wholesaler, with the view of expanding my business a bit into other areas due to an opportunity that has arisen in my town, just like the horse rug repair opportunity that has been quite good for me over the last 5-6 or 7 years or so. However, despite the fact I have a registered & approved business in WA , ' X' equine wholesaler won't sell to me all because I don't have a " retail shop front " . Just to give you a heads up, all the retail shops in my little town ( Central Wheatbelt Western Australia ) are over 100 years old, in various states of repair......*cough* ....disrepair , not worth the rent and the expense of any investment , painting, shop fittings etc. as they came to this > ..< close to being condemned and demolished one year. Some are still vacant , and some small businesses do occupy some of the shop spaces including a bakery. How they still remain operating ....and remain standing beggars belief . I haven't explained this bit to the wholesaler ...yet, I need to get some info/ facts first before I do. They are not breaching any Australian retail laws ( that I know of) and this " retail shop front only" nonsense is not stated in any of their policies etc. I just find them restrictive, and perhaps even discriminatory due to the physical make-up of my business, and I have contacted the appropriate retail governing peeps for advice, just waiting for a reply. What is the difference between operating a business from a " shop / shop front" in the street and a workshop /unit/ home based business ? Its the same transactions B to B , same retail trade, same clientele ,that know me well btw , good rapport etc. just a few K's out of town. I won't be impinging on anyone, I would be the only one selling ' X " products , no competitors in town....or the next , other than on-line. So, how do I get around this ? Has anyone else come across this " retail shop front only " policy ? If so, how did you deal with it ? I have also found another potential Australian equine wholesaler in the meantime. Thanks, HS

G'Day, if its of any comfort (?) , I have a Seiko STW 28 B , and I have the same problem. The reverse stitch is half the length of the forward stitch. On some leather jobs this may be a bit of an issue, but this machine is mainly used for horse rug repairs and canvas repairs, so I just live with it. I could go about messing about with it to adjust it, but its going so well ( touchwood) I don't dare touch it as I may make things worse, some things are best left alone. This machine has never let me down ( touchwood again ...just to be safe ) HS

G'Day Rolandranch , apart from a few odd jobs here and there over 14 years ago, , I used to be a ' rousy ' , ( roustabout ) in a sheep shearing shed ( Central Wheatbelt, Western Australia..., and no, not the 'outback' ) I did it for a number of years until I ended up with a hernia , common amongst shearers & rousy's , and.........very painful , but I had no interest to return to that kind of work post recovery. So literally out of the blue, I just thought I'd try my hand at 'leathercraft'. I knew nothing about leather back then. Long story short,after borrowing the only ' how to ' book on leather from my local library many times & many phone calls later, ( yellow pages) I entered the world of leather. Obtained some tools, leather, dyes etc. and off I went. After much practice and many ( sometimes expensive ) mistakes later , I thought I'd try my luck at a local market with a few simple belts, key rings, book marks etc. but barely enough to fill a table. So my good ol' Mum filled the table with her handicrafts, knitted and hand sewn bits & bobs Much tater, the ' internet' soon became a very handy tool, ........and so did this web site 14 years later, its now a full time business. I also do horse rug repairs, and canvas repairs . An opportunity presented itself , ( and so did the sewing machine ) so I took that on too. I am well known in my small town (with a population of around 1800) , ..... and the next town, as the "leather man" . Needless to say, my ' good ol' Mum' still does handicrafts and sells them too HS

G'Day , Thank you. I have quite a few Ron Edwards' books in my collection. Really good books. I've seen an assortment of knife pouches over the years, quite often with a lot of age ( and no doubt a few stories ) behind them , and in various states of disrepair , but the old ' bushies / stockies' just keep using them until they fall apart. You wouldn't think that a few small simple pieces of leather sewn together has any importance or significance , but they do. This is mine pictured. My very first pouch. I made it over 14 years ago, and repaired once . Its been on my belt daily, and has been used daily all that time. Even the knife has a ( long ) story of its own. I'm totally lost without it . Its like a little tool box on my side HS

G'Day, this another pouch restoration I did recently. When I get these, I sometimes hear from clients " it use to belong to my Father " or Grandfather. So naturally it really means something to the client. It doesn't matter how much it costs, they just want it repaired. If it was an old vintage motor bike in bits, my Father would regard it as a ' basket case' . Its a bit like 'trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear' ( as my Mother would say ) . But I do my best . I did post one of these recently. HS

G'Day, Here are my ' mauls' The one on the right I found in a discount shop in the toy section. I think it was meant to be for a child, like a childs toy tool kit, but it's just the right size & weight . Its been repaired a few times , as you can see. When I use it, my hand is around the handle close to the rubber bit. The one on the left ( I got from a discount hardware shop for a few $ ) its a bit heavier, around 9oz in your lingo, I use for bigger stamps like 3D . Despite their ugly appearance , they work perfect and suit my needs. A bit off topic, I was machine stitching a gun belt a few years back, and a few stitches were a bit wonky , a friend spotted it and said to me " thats a ' humanity stitch ' .........It just reminds us that we are human" . I quite liked that, and has stuck in my head ever since. HS

G'Day, Your hat looks great !! I had a quick look at the link, looks quite good also, but I'll have a serious read a bit later. The brown one pictured is close to what I'm looking at, but just a bit taller . I also found a cutting pattern for a leather ' cowboy style ' hat in one of my old pattern books from the 70's , so I am thinking of utilising parts of the pattern from that. Theres 3 different sizes too. I do have one in my workshop all made up that....someone... gave me, but its so stiff its like wearing a metal saucepan on my head Thanks for that. HS

G'Day, Thats actually quite good CLebel. My first attempt was ...well...... rubbish I knew absolutely zilch about leather long ago , I even used some old boot polish to colour my first attempts. The only way is up from here. Enjoy the journey HS

G'Day, and thank you so much for your input. I have a few ideas buzzing around in my head already . Thank you, HS

G'Day , What is the best leather leather for making leather top hats? I'm not into ' steampunk' . I thought about nat veg tan ? , so I can add my own colours etc. What about the overall weight, especially on the head ? Binding the edge of the brim ? Any advice will be helpful. I've never done leather hats, but after seeing a few rad leather top hat designs , I soooo have to do one Theres no market for them here , I just want to make one for the love of working with leather, and the experience ....if I have time . Thanks , HS

G'Day , I'm in a similar position to JerseyFirefighter. I have a heap of scrap leather that I could do all sorts of small projects with, I'll occasionally go through my scraps pull a good piece out and think " yep, I'll do something with that " ...etc . But in reality.....no I won't , I don't have the time . I'm forever filling clients orders and replacing/remaking stock with very little or no time to ' doodle ', experiment , or come up with new ideas. I keep telling customers that ask me about scraps to come to my workshop and just grab a bag of scraps for free, but they never do, so the scraps just pile up. I even thought about giving the retirement village a heap for recreation , but they ended giving ME all theirs , DOH !! HS ' I can make everything else except time ' .

G'Day , Geez Some of the restoration jobs I get ....well, I look at them and think , " wouldn't it be easier just to have a new one made ? " But I then think about the sentimental value the owner may have in it, as it could be a link to someone close to them . It was about 40+ years old, apparently . The old post was replaced with link from a bicycle chain at some point in its hard working life, crude , but effective, and the rest was bodged up with a few ' orrible' looking copper rivets and a piece of an old bridle, or reins ....I think. Removing them was a delicate job. The fob watch case repair was very straight forward. There were also a few belts for me to repair. The client was very happy with my work Just received a restoration job on a knife pouch at the weekend, that belonged to another clients Grandfather. Despite their appearance, I give these types of projects the compassion they deserve *sobsniff* HS

G'Day, No worries mate I have had a look for spraying leather videos, and apart from a few air brushing leather vids, I've had no luck either, except for this one, which you may have already seen,and ...well, its not very informative at all : Not much help at all. At least he's got a spray booth, which is more than I've got HS

G'Day, I'm hardly an expert on spraying leather as its not very often I do it, but I mostly spray large items like large hand bags, saddle bags etc. to ensure evenness without streaks etc. , as you said. But I haven't sprayed belts, except some air brushing. I have a general purpose $100 air compressor and use a 2 touch up spray guns ( 1 for dyes , 1 for sealer) and an air brush like the ones in the pic. The dyes I use are mostly water based , but I do sometimes add a little spirit to the spray pot to aid drying. Putting a sealer through the touch up gun can be challenging as it can occasionally clog up, I do thin the sealer a bit, but I run some spirit through it immediately after use to keep it clean. As for a spray both, thats something I don't have, no space. I mostly spray outside my workshop, or spray right next to the roller door ,wide open, if I need to be under cover. If I was to spray belts on a regular basis, I think I would have too much down time having to set up the compressor, the gun, keeping the gun/s clean and/or clean it to change colour .But I guess it also depends on the volume of belts you intend dying . Others on here may have a much better set up than I do. I use large pieces of sheep skin off cuts, trimmed, when dying belts etc. much quicker. *The small bag was just a practice piece to try my hand at air brushing for the first time. Hope this sort of helps. HS

Even the pre- rescue pic doesn't look so bad , but its nice to see that other leather workers do something similar to what I do. What I have done in the past, if something goes a bit awry.....I dye it a much darker colour, and if that doesn't work ....I dye it black no matter what It hides all my ' mistooks' Ha !! I fully understand about the spacing on the camo. But going back to the weave, the ' tri- weave ' has caused me to say a few words , that can't be repeated here, on occasion Ha ! We can't be perfect all the time eh? HS

G'Day, Radrider, I know nothing about these machines, but did you find out what that ' lump in the middle ' is ? Anything to do with the pneumatics ? Just curious, and learning . HS

G'Day, The basket weave is sometimes difficult for me to do. I have done some really nice examples that I'm quite proud of, , but also some really awful ones too, I'm only human . You only have to put one 'hit' slightly out of whack and its a mess. But I have to say thats really nice, lovely rich colour and a nice shine. Well done . HS

WOW !!!! You can add me to that list Sheilajeanne . I'm in Australia , and I wish I could just " pop in " and grab a few dozen hides . (Theres something to be said about the transporters from Star Trek ) I'm sure I can make space. ( pardon the pun ) I could easily use that leather for a wide variety of projects........me and just about every other user on here ha The purple looks striking. HS