Handstitched

Thank you very much for that Dwight. Thats very informative. I wonder if there is any difference overall in strength? I've always had the belief that a quality fully tanned piece of leather would be much stronger than the 'blue hide'. Thank you once again. HS

G'day, I recently had the job of replacing some girth straps on a saddle, as the ( 2) straps on one side of the saddle would not pass gear check for a comp this weekend, and the owner needed them repaired urgently. There was a split between the adjustment holes, and the other was showing signs of cracking. The straps on the other side appeared in good condition. The saddle was a very popular Australian ( and ex$y) brand of saddle, and looking well looked after and still new-ish looking. But I was surprised to see that the girth straps were the 'wet-blue' type , or blue hide leather, as I call it. I'll attach an example pic. I would have thought that being an expensive brand of saddle, it would have been fitted with a good quality harness leather on the straps. And why didn't they? And thats what I replaced them with. I do have a blue hide scrap, and I tried dying a piece, and it wouldn't take, and what did sort of take, looked pretty awful. Even the dye on the old original straps looked a bit 'wishy-washy' I've never worked with blue hide, a nor have I ever had the need to use it. In the pic, theres an example of the thickness. Just some general opinions, and what people have been using it for would be helpful. Thanks HS

G'day Once again, I'll ask my brothers friend to take a pic of him wearing it. And to be honest, I have no idea how much it weighed, but it certainly had a bit of weight to it. Perhaps anyone that goes shooting using a 12g shot gun may have a rough idea of how much a full box of shells weigh + the leather. I'll have to find out. If I remember to do so, I'll also take a pic of what I use to do all my handstitching. Thank you once again for the feedback, its very encouraging HS

G'day Thank you to Rohn, Sixer & Peter T for the great feedback. I forgot to mention that the 'strip' at the top to keep the cartridges in, is also 1.2mm veg tan. Although I've oiled it, its still little stiff , as is the rest of it, but that will all soften up with use. Obviously I had to take a few breaks here and there during stitching , as my fingers and hands were getting a little sore...as they do. The centre of my right palm was bright red, which is to be expected I guess. Yeh yeh...I know, I can use a pad but I don't, I just....well... I just get on with it But I do love the end result. Thanks once again HS

G'Day, My brothers friend asked me to make this. This cartridge belt is based on a picture that he saw on an auction site. Quote in the blurb : " RARE Antique Old west cowboy double buckle 44 S & W Cartridge Belt Circa. 1860-1880's " So, after putting my thinking cap on & taking some measurements etc. I started work on it. I had to make some modifications as the original was for a 44, and I had to adapt this belt to take 12g shot gun cartridges. Thankfully , I managed to fit 27 cartridge loops . Bit of an odd number I know, but I had to fill some space somehow. I could have machine stitched the whole thing to save time, but to at least give it some "authenticity" I hand stitched the entire belt. The original buckles looked a bit flimsy, so I fitted some stronger 45mm roller buckles. The leather is 4mm veg tan DS , 1.2mm veg tan on the back, and 2.5mm veg tan for the loops . A few coats of oil and Dyed with a few coats 'Saddle Tan ' and sealed. This was one of those jobs that 'lingered ' in my workshop for a bit too long imo, as he said, "theres no rush for it.....just take your time on it" . So in between other customer orders, making stock, fixing horse rugs etc. it took around 4 months . So nice get those jobs out of the way eh ? . I just hope it fits after all ths time. The last few pics ," double buckle gun belt " are the originals taken from the auction site. HS

G'Day, Well well well, how time flies. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was Judging leatherwork for a prominent show last year . I'm very honoured to be picked again for the job this year. I must have done a good last time for them to ask me a second time. Hopefully there will be some whips for me to Judge this time around, but this time I have a head start thanks to me buying a whip & practising and the helpful info on here. All the best, HS

G'Day and thanks for the reply , Thats good to know because I'm just in the process of making some more as I sold some at the weekend. I suppose I should really approach the companies to ask their permission out of courtesy , but if they say 'no', I'd respect their decision of course, but I think I'd be quite upset as I really enjoy making them......and they look good and people like them All the best, HS HS

G'day, I guess the same would apply to 'beer can art' . As in, artists using beer cans to make assorted items from recycled cans. This is one example: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_i_AovfzNXgQ/S1PM7IoScNI/AAAAAAABCs4/j7oAcwP3IJo/s400/asdfg.jpg I also see what I do with leather as art, not just a way to make an income.( as we all do) Of the many items I make from leather, I also put recycled beer can logos ( amongst others) into leather . ( see pics) But would'nt that also be free advertising for the company? And would they see it as a recycling initiative?. Depends on the company I guess? A long time ago, I did ask a beer company rep, of many beer brands ,in person, about using the beer bottle tops that I incorporate into leather, fridge magnets etc. (also a good way to use up scraps.) He said quote: " we're fine with that, so long as you don't alter the logo" . He seemed appreciative that many people use and sell their logos in an assortment of art & craft and wasn't concerned about the legal aspect. But other companies may not be as understanding. But I would have thought it would be very impractical and costly,( as well as bad PR) to issue legal letters to every single person across Australia that uses a logo or brand of some kind, in art craft etc. ?? HS

G'day, and thank you for your replies. I'll have to take a photo and/or draw a diagram of the simple technique that I seemed to have taught myself, and works for me. Its only a silly little thing, but it works for me. It may not suit everyone, and with the deepest respect to Bruce Grant, everyone has their own technique that they too may have taught themselves. I have always believed that there are no set 'rules' when it comes to leathercraft or leather work. If you have a method or technique that suits you and works for you, and you're happy with the end result, then so be it!! We also talked briefly about handstitching. What she was told, and the way I do it are completely different, but the end result is the same. But thats another story. All the best, HS

G'Day from a very hot Western Australia. Sadly, I see that some parts of the US are experiencing the complete opposite. Well, in the last few weeks, our little town in the WA wheatbelt had a lovely visited by an artist from De Vry University in Atlanta ,Georgia.( hope I got that bit right) I won't say her name for obvious reasons, but she was a lovely lady that was the 'Artist In Residence' in our town. Not only did she meet many people and have a lot of fun with many activities around town, she also wanted to learn how to do some leather plaiting. And someone in town said " O'h theres a leather worker outta' town......" etc etc . Well, you may know the rest. ( I'm the only leather worker in town btw ) . I was happy to oblige. She did have a good read of Leather Bradiing by Bruce Grant , ( 4 strand round plait) previously , but there were some things that she couldn't quite get her head around. So I showed her what I learnt...from that same book, ...........that took me hours to learn. (I consider Leather Braiding by Bruce Grant my braiding "bible". One of the best books in my collection.) But then I showed her my own technique that I taught myself . She picked it up and was plaiting literally within 5 mins. I also taught her the secret plait, talked leather and so on. One very happy lady . What goes around............. Not only that, she also bought a few things from me, Cane Toad skin bangle, a roo skin, local leather souvenirs ( made by me) toy kangaroo ( my Mother makes those), mainly Aussie and local stuff to take back home. I had no-one to teach me, all self-taught, with books, and lots of them word-of-mouth, practice practice practice , and a lot of mistakes, so I'm more than happy to pass on what I have learnt. HS

G'Day, Every time I go on the Tandy (Aust) leather website, I can't always get my head around their leather thickness measurements. Its either in fractional inches, or ounces. With deep respect to Tandy Australia, we are a metricated system down here . So, for those who prefer millimetres, here is a helpful conversion table that I found on the interweb ( saved & printed for future use) http://www.pinterest.com/pin/140948663310162519/ All the best, HS

G'Day, This may not be the problem you're having, but I adjusted the tension on the shuttle case on my Seiko STW 28-B ( very similar to 226R). You can just see the tiny tension screw just to the right of the slot where the thread comes out in the 'shuttle pic' , also my shuttle wasn't sitting in the right spot. The little square bit ( you can see on the right in the B&W pic). It has to be sitting in the square 'notch' on the needle plate, otherwise it will spin around. It took a lot of frustrating fiddling about to get it the way I wanted, but I now have it going really well. I use mine for horse rug repairs. Its quite a strong machine, I'm surprised of what it can sew. Just a few self taught things I've picked up, thanks to LW.net Hope it helps. HS

G'Day and thank you for your reply. My obvservations were way off eh ? OOPS! After reading your post, I now have a much better idea . After some searching I found the auction site where it came from and the info attached to the pic, and its a '44 S & W Pistol Cartridge Belt' , which more or less confirms what you said. Thanks for that. BUT , (theres always a 'but') My client wants me to do a similar belt for shot gun cartridges ( 12g) . He's supplied some samples for me to work with. SO, as they are much longer and fatter , I'd be safe make the belt 3 inches wide, and that front piece 4 - 4 1/2 inches. I'll use my 'artistic licence' for the width of the buckles. maybe 1 1/4" or 1 3/4 " Thanks for your help Handstitched.

G'Day, I've been asked to make a double buckle cartridge belt similar to the one in the attached pics. The pic was taken from an auction web site. Although the description says is approx 2" wide, it looks more like 3" almost 4" ? looking at the cartridge in one of the loops. The billets & buckles look about 2" ? And the front piece look approx 6" from top to bottom.? Some pics can be deceiving , so I just need a bit of help on the dimensions. Thanks for any help Handstitched

G'day Peter T, Today was the big day. I had a 3 hr drive from the bush to the Show grounds, after having to put up with a lot of idiots on the city roads. ( I hate the city with a passion ) ( I was also looking quite dapper, if I say so myself, I scrubbed up real good ) Anyway, I found the pavillion after 2 attempts in finding it. The stewards were lovely, kind & helpful, mainly oldies, but lovely & sweet none the less. After a few neatly cut ham ,cheese and lettuce sangas ( and I bet they too were Judged) and a cuppa it was immediately down to work. The quality of the exhibits was very good, but not as many as I expected going by the classes & criteria . There were only a few that I simply could not put a place on. For example, I spotted a big mistake on a belt before I even cast my full judgement on it. A nicely carved , oakleaf/acorn pattern belt, nice tri-colouring on black b/ground with a nice single pronged polished brass buckle. BUT....there were no holes on the billet to do it up!! OOPS!! Its just a strip of leather with a nice carved pattern on it.If only they put a few holes in it, it might have got a place. The one item that I was really looking forward to and hoping to Judge, was whips. THERE WAS NONE !!!! Damn, Bugger & Blast !!! After all that effort in buying a good quality whip, practicing my cracking, there were no whip entries!! I was soooooo dissapointed !!!! I was so looking forward to putting my (self taught ) tuition into practice . Acording to the steward, there were none last year as well. Now that surprises me, because there are some prominent whip makers here in WA . But all in all, I think I did very well. O'h well, thems the breaks eh mate? I now have a lovely whip and some experience in cracking it, so not all is lost in that respect. Maybe next year....if I get the gig again. But I really really enjoyed it. its all experience for me , its another 'notch' on my belt, and my name has gone onto a register of Judges....I also received 2 free tickets to the show .... you lil' beaudy!! All the best Handstitched

G'day Mate, I left a message in your in box. The big day is Friday 20th Sept. around 1.30- 2pm . It'll be a long 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive from here to get there. Not looking forward to the city. My whip cracking is doing quite well. the cracks are loud!! I'll let everyone know how it all went, maybe over the weekend. Best Regards, HS

G'day, well done, I like it ....and the dye covered fingers. I don't bother with gloves either. Handstitched

G'day again, I forgot to mention ( in case anyone spots it), this machine was originally a twin needle, but I changed it to a single needle. I can change it back if I want to, but I have no need for a twin needle. HS

G'day, If its any help, I have a Seiko STW 28-B ( 226 equivalent, see pic.) with only minor variations to the Consews. It gets used for horse rug repairs mainly . Horse rugs often present a variety of thicknesses, like thick seams, folds on ripstop fabrics, and variety of materials etc. But I can also sew 2.5 - 2.8mm leathers quite easily. Its quite a strong machine, but being mostly used for horse rugs, I keep it clean and well oiled. Hope this helps a liitle bit. All the best Handstitched

G'day Red Cent & Ian1783, I have a Q Stitch Colt, which is vertually identical to the Techsew 5100 in the vid. with only a slight difference on the thread guides. On my machine, I loop the thread though the eyelet through the (top) discs , give it a slight tug to make sure it 'sits in' ( sometimes hearing a slight 'snap' of the discs ) , and back through the eyelet , and continue threading. Before I did that, on some very rare occasions, the thread 'snapped out' of the (top) discs whilst sewing. This threading method rectified that little problem. Also, as we all know, oiling your machine/s at regular intervals is important . As well as oiling all the regular oiling points on my machine, I take the shuttle hook assembly right out and put a little bit of oil on the rounded part of the assembly. ( and anything else on the machine while its out), but not too much . Just a little thing that I've learnt from my own experience. It now runs whisper quiet. All the best, Handstitched

Yes, I do a lot of handstitching as well Probably one of the most relaxing , and perhaps theraputic part of leatherworking. A machine is wonderful timesaver when doing large volumes. I don't feel quite so silly now giving my machine a name Without going off topic too much, I once called my old Landy 'Enterprise' ...but thats another story. Handstitched

G'day, I would have to say that my fave tool to begin my leatherworking day with, is my Kingchrome Folding utility knife: https://bnnn72.ssl-cdn.s.mel.secureinf.net/Product-298x298/1c0ff2db-33ae-4f17-9c61-c2132bbedaf9.JPG I have small hands and can't quite accomodate a large round knife, so this is ideal for me and the work I do . Because it folds, it's safe, blades are changed quickly ,easily and safely.The Kingchrome brand blades seem to last longer than other brands from experience. I can also sharpen the old blades up on a stone or strop to extend their life. My second choice ,when tooling, is my fave beveler ( the exact number escapes me right now , but maybe a B801).I have many bevelers, but the texture on this particular beveler is all but gone, its so well worn, but its the one I reach for on just about every single job/project, giving me just right effect that I want. Last but certainly not least, is 'Brutus' , my sewing machine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40990121@N05/4111321665/in/photostream/ Best investment I ever made. ( I' m probably the only one that give his beloved sewing maching a name!.....needless to say, I am single...still ! ) Good luck in your leatherworking endeavours. All the best Handstitched

G'Day, A bit more 'whip' news. These last few weeks I've been so busy, but I have managed to get some whip practice in. Youtube vids have been very helpful. Adam Winwich was one of them. My first attempts were pretty dismal , with only limited and poor sounding 'cracks', more like 'flops' than cracks. My next attempts were a slight improvement, but still no definite "crack". And in case anyones asks, yes, I have hit myself, quite a few times. But, no pain, no gain eh? Anyway,just now, I went outside to practice some more .I have now developed my 'swing' after practicing the cattlemans crack, but only this time theres a definite loud "crack", loud enough for it to echo across the paddocks.......its even got my sheeps attention. (hope people don't mistaken it for gunshot!!) That happened several times...YEY!! I want to do some more now !!! Quite pleased with myself actually. But now my right arm is tired.( like I've just arm wrestled with Arnold Schwarzenegger) No doubt in time my arm will strengthen and get used to doing stuff.....like...... cracking whips. Might do some more this arvo. All the best Handstitched

G'day again, When I go to my supplier , I have noticed that nearly all of the hard leathers veg tanned or otherwise, are stored flat . When they receive leathers, they are rolled up, but are unrolled soon after. I have also noticed that theres hardly any sunlight getting into the warehouse, only flouro's I am now having a think as to how to store my hard leathers flat. I have absolutely no idea how and where......as space is at a prime. My first thought is to modify the wooden shelf under my bench....somehow. all the best, Handstitched

G'day, I was just having a read through this thread , and there seems to be no set rule as to how to properly store leather. However, just to add my 2 cents worth. If I had the space ( which I don't) ,ideally I would love to store all my hard leathers (mainly veg tanned, harness etc. ) flat in a safe place, away from sunlight, ( as veg tanned is photosensitive), covered up to protect them from dust , and anything else that a dusty messy workshop presents. But thats the ideal scenario. So instead, I roll mine up, stored on a purpose built wooden shelf under my work bench. I use 4mm veg tanned double shoulders ( some up to 60" ) for my belts. I have learnt not to roll them up too tightly, because I have noticed that if I do, they do have small creases in the finished product. If/When my shelves are full, then I have D/shoulders standing up all over my workshop looking like totem poles, or leaning against benches etc....makes the workshop look untidy too. It makes me wonder if rolling them up (OR rolling them up for too long?), can have an effect on the grain/ grain side, in the long term. Interesting subject eh? It would be good to hear more on this Best Regards, Handstitched.