HellfireJack

Cuir boulli is actually a lost art. No one today knows how it was done. What they call cuir boulli today has nothing to do with leather releasing air into water when soaked. What TwinOaks is explaining is wet molding. Leather can and is hardened by using either hot/boiling water or by wetting and baking the piece after molding. The baking method is actually the easiest. You simply wet mold the leather and then bake it in an oven for a short period at low temps. For boiling you have to bring the water to some pretty specific temperatures and soak for specific amounts of time then remove and mold. Again these are only approximations of what cuir boulli was. THey don't know what it was soaked in to begin with, oil or water, what was in the liqid or how it was molded exactly. There are only guesses. I like you're idea of using glue though and it makes me want to experiment and most likely you'll have to as well as I've never read about anyone using glue. I've read one hypotheses in an old leather book on Google Plus that sounds interestingly similar except it suggests using gums rather than a glue in the liquid. You probably don't want to use pure glue since, as TwinOaks points out, it won't penetrate the leather. I would try the baking method (You can find it online) using a 50/50 water/glue mix to start. It's also believed that positive and negative molds were used in the original process in order to create the highly decorated pieces of cuir boulli that survive today. So there's something to consider if you actually try the boiling method.

Some of the oil chrome tanned leather meant for outside gear would probably do something to paper since it leaves residue on pretty much everything at first. You would use veg tanned leather if you're going to stamp anything. Latigo, harness, bridle leather would be fine as well if you're not stamping anything. As for thickness it's whatever you would want. I would probably go for 5/6 ounce. You can line with anything really. Cloth, felt, another type of leather, the same type of leather.

I'm sure in a lot of cases you could just scratch and sniff. Vinyl should never have a smell. Another way is to find a cut end. On a sofa or chair you could examine the underside to find a cut end. If it's smooth it's probably not leather. Also check for patterning in the grain. Man made vinyl will always have a pattern to it.

I think the same thing about all the goofy camp and boyscout projects Tandy has.

I did the same thing before I switched to just using a hand burnisher made of wood. Word of caution: do not use with a dremel. It will burn the leather and then ruin the smooth plastic.

I saw this on the Tandy site last week. Couldn't find a link to the actual projects at the time though. The pattern for the cards looks to be the correct size. The guy probably printed it out with a margine which would definitely skew the size smaller. I made a sleeve like that (withouth the lacing) for my daughters Kindle Fire. I'll definitely save the simple patterns for future reference though.

You can get the same effect as Pro Carve/Easy Carve by just adding glycerin to your water. You can get glycerin from your local drug store. It reduces the surface tension of water which means it can penetrate the fibers more thoroughly. In layman's terms glycerin makes water wetter. They use it in dish-soap which is why you'll see people every now and then suggest a drop or two in your water.

According to walden bags you can commission them in oil chrome tan at the lowest price, then moving up in price to veg tan, latigo or bridle leather. They typically use oil chrome tan leather in bags because it's more weather resistant. It is used in saddle bags a lot. If it were me I would probably use bridle leather.

HA! I've done that myself!! Except it was just regular BBQ not a hot dog.

Well no offense TwinOaks but his initial question was open to both awl use and chisels. Note the "the best stitching chisel size or hole spacing". It seems to me he understands there are two methods. It appears someone has just taken offense to his personal preference. But now you're coming closer to actually discussing the topic. Do you think the method by which you make the holes will actually change the strength of the stitch. i.e. given the exact same factors in leather type and thickness will a chisel based stitchline be weaker than an awl based stitch line? What about drilling? I have to assume drilling is only used on heavy veg tanned. You wouldn't use one on garment leather that's for sure. Have you (or anyone here) ever done any force testing on stitching to see where it fails? I understand there are myriad possible scenarios with different leathers and such but all we really need to do is pick some standards like say stitch two pieces of 5/6 oz veg-tanned leather and go from there. Or maybe if we have people who work with other types of leather, like latigo or chrome tanned they can chime in? Thanks for your answers so far though!

I think he's asking people's opinion on where they think the line between strength and aesthetics lies in stitching and not actually looking for advice on how to stitch two pieces of leather together. I personally can't wait to see people's opinions on this one. I've wondered the same thing myself. At what point do people believe spacing and thread size cause a problem rather than add strength. Seems clear to me what his what his original intent was. You all can keep busting his chops though for having the audacity to clarify his request after recieving an answer pertaining to how to stitch leather together as opposed to an actual answer to his question.

Whether or not you need a resist depends on what you're using to antique it usually. The pastes don't absorb into the leather very fast so they don't change the color much. The gels are more liquid so they will get absorbed and will change the color of unsealed leather dramatically. Use a piece of scrap from the same hide to test any finishes/techniques you're unsure of.

You use a resisting finish (Block) like resolene or supersheen and cover the piece with a couple of coats and let dry then you cover it with an antique paste/gel and wipe with a cloth. You want to keep the cloth as flat as possible. Wrap it around a flat edge of a board or something. Keeping it flat will wipe the antique off of the high spots and leave it in the low places.

If it's Italian then I would assume it's made like a Florence leather box. It's not actually seamless. The seams are hidden by burnishing and waxing. Here's a video of the making of a such a box. You can find more examples of the products of the process here. www.peronifirenze.it/

I would just purchase a pair of clamping forceps like these http://www.amazon.com/Forceps-Standard-Clamp-Needle-Tweezers/dp/B0012O59EA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1342281290&sr=8-4&keywords=forceps+clamp and then buy some cotton balls like these. http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Cotton-Balls-Jumbo-Size/dp/B004JYLHGO/ref=sr_1_4?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1342281321&sr=1-4 Instant dauber.

Oh haha I didn't see your response about it above. That was the first thing I thought of when I read "round bottom boiling flask". Awesome show. I've watched it all the way through as well. Fifth and final season starts this Sunday. The Walking Dead is another awesome AMC show. Very dark as well. Those flask covers look like a better way to make a leather bottle. Remove that glass and split that top piece to incorporate a neck. Probably easier than trying to stretch wet leather with barley.

Do you watch Breaking Bad by any chance? The Al Stohlman case making books have patterns for bowling ball bags that is essentially the same except larger.

You actually used the force of the expanding foam to mold the leather? Not only an awesome idea but you wind up with a A:B mold if you don't want to use the foam injection later. I used to work with the urethane marine foam when I worked at a fiberglass boat shop as a kid. I remember it being as hard as cement when fully cured. Is the spray can stuff the same way?

I can't speak to what quality the rewards will be. I'm not the person offering them. All I know is that the rewards are stated. If you want more information you'll have to contact her. The other stuff is all pretty much moot. What ever the circumstances are you can "what if" it death. What if Mia didn't even know what SEO was? What if Cheryl is far more dedicated and hocks her wares at 20% more locations? What if their clients prefer steampunk to cowboy gear? Who wins the lions share? Moot. Not helping someone simply because you don't like how they are asking for help is everyone's perogative. I, personally, can't see shooting someone down simply because they tried something new that I didn't understand. I say kudos to her. No one here is forced to support anyones effort. We do it out of kindness and that's the same reason people should support anyone in any endeavor they ask for help with. Giving her an earful about how disgusted you might be because you think she's a beggar is pointless and, in my opinion, a bit insulting.

I can't really speak to how Kickstarter approves their projects. But looking through her page it looks like she already had a business though and her project is to improve the quality and design of her products and improve the quality of her online store. You're right though, I see projects that are meant to be businesses all the time on Kickstarter. I don't think they care too much as long as it isn't blatent "GIVE ME MONEY FOR THIS FAKE THING I WANT TO TRY" bs. I'm pretty sure they know their site is about commerce. It's mentioned ALL OVER the thing. Perhaps you should bring the issue to them? Even a broken clock is right at least twice a day.

Well I wasn't exactly responding to you Cheryl but apparently you do care what she's doing though. I've never been angry or insulted by someone who am I not concerned about nor have I ever told someone whom I don't care about how their personal choices might have been made via bad advice. Who here is really truly afraid she's going to steal your customers? Raise your hand. If she does steal your customers do you all honestly think it's how she get there that caused them to bail on you or do you think it would be her products that made them switch? Seems to me that possible future client theft is a bogus point entirely.

I have read all of the posts Ferg. I'm not saying anyone here isn't helpful to others. There's no finger pointing in any of my posts. I don't really get where you see me saying people here aren't helpful. I respect your opinion but I've seen Kickstarter work exactly as intended just like this. I think you guys are only seeing the leather work and don't like that someone is trying to get up to speed faster than you all did. It's just not the same as asking for a handout. This is really no different than buying Girl Scout cookies from a girl scout. She's not begging for money. She's selling you overpriced cookies so she can go do what she wants and you don't buy Girl Scout cookies because you need them even if Thin Mints are as addicting as crack. You buy them because you feel like it and you know it's helping someone. Just because it took some of you 5+ years of work and waste to get a foot hold doesn't mean the rest of the world has to follow your business model. If this was a tech forum and it was some person trying to start a niche for their own rep-rap machine to help drive down the prices of home fab labs I don't think anyone would be dogging her about how she's operating at all. I was into the Maker scene before I started leatherworking so I tend towards encouraging progress in Maker related things rather than hindering it. The world changes all the time. The internet makes it change even faster. Gotta get used to it. The reed that does not bend in the wind eventually must break.

Every question you answer here has the same potential though. We all are literally teaching our possible future competition how to replace us here. Doesn't seem to bother anyone because we know they can only replace us if their work is better than ours or they're a better salesperson. So, only when cash is involved does it seem to actually matter and lets not pretend the goods for sale section here doesn't exist. Apparently plenty of people try to sell leather goods to other leatherworkers here. Where's the complaining on those posts? I agree that this is mostly the wrong audience for her but she's not really trying to sell us lanyards. She's trying to fund a start up. People who think she's trying to sell them leathergoods have simply missed the point. As long as the potential rewards are stated I have no problem with what level the rewards fall under. A service is a service even if all it does is give you the right to have the warm fuzzies. It's a fairly common practice on Kickstarter.

Who's fighting? I'm just pointing out that this is a way people start businesses. Even before Kickstarter this is how many people start businesses. And again.. She's not asking for a handout. She's not asking anyone to just give her money. She's offering promised goods and services in exchange for start up capital. Why beat her up for it? She already has 9 backers and will probably have a solid customer base if her plans go through and YOUR venture could be listed on her site for a couple bucks of kindness. Either you don't want to help her or you do. There's no need to give her an earful about why you don't like the way she's chosen to start her business. People who don't want to answer our questions here just don't answer them. Can you imagine how we'd feel if they sat us down and told us why each time?

Why would anybody want to help a fellow human being out? Gee I don't know... Why do people bother helping you? Oh wait.. It's called kindness.