1CJK

I made one of these for mine. I have the handle facing me when the foot is down. To lift the foot just pull down on the handle. I like it better this way cause its right there and no reaching though the machine.

I think this evening when I have some more time I'm going to start a new thread on how I built it so if others are searching for ideas on building one for them selves it will be easier to find and all about the construction.

Very true! I think it is going to be perfect. I think I was getting ahead of my self thinking I just had to have a dedicated clicker.

They are steel hot rolled. The piece that the jack sits on is 4" channel. I was thinking about my design and thinking the 20 ton jack is way over kill. I returned it this morning and got the 12 ton. Looking at all the clickers online the 12 ton should me more than plenty for what I'm doing with it. I also noticed the 12 ton almost twice as fast pushing the top plate down than the 20 ton. If you have a steel supplier near you it will be way cheaper than any of the online suppliers. I paid $130 for all the steel locally. Online it was going to be just over $200 plus shipping witch was about another $80.

I may move them inside the frame not sure yet. Here's how I will set the height.

My plates are 12x20. I wish I would have gone with a deeper plate like 15x20.

I will post more detailed pictures so you can see it better. I built it for wet forming but I think now I'm going to try it out as a clicker also and see how it does. Im almost finished with it then I'm going to take it part and powder coat it. I used 5/8" plates and added the 20 ton air/hydraulic jack. Since I'm going to try and use it as a clicker I want there to be a positive stop that I can adjust so I just don't crush dies deep in to the cutting board. I'm going to use (4) 1/2 fine thread bolts with a lock nut as positive stops. One at each corner. I'm going to tap them into the bottom plate and then use a height gauge and set them even and so that when the top plate touches them it's clicked through. That's my plan. I put some bolts on the bottom plate to give you an idea what I'm thinking.

I modified my Shop press for wet forming and it works great. The only problem I was thinking of is on some of the larger pices of hide I would have to cut them down smaller to fit between the uprights and could potentially create unnecessary waste. At the moment I don't have any dies because I'm constantly tweaking my patterns. Though I am getting close. I guess before I dish out the dough I will get some dies made and just see how things go. Thanks for your input.

I was thinking about getting a Weever 8 ton manual clicker. For about the same price though I could get a Tippman clicker 15 ton or a Cowboy hydraulic 10 ton. I can really can't find and info about how to determine the right ton clicker. I would assume it has to do with the amount of linear cutting inches in the die and the hardness of the material being cut. I'm looking for one to click the end and holes on belts and holster parts in leather up to about 10oz. So what ton is needed?

I was wondering is there other dye company's out there besides Feibings, Angelus, Tandy or hobby store stuff. What do the big commercial operations use in the leather goods industry or what dyes does say HO or W&C use on there hides?

What are some other dye company's available? On the commercial side of thing. Not the Tandy or hobby store stuff. What do the full blown big commercial operations use in the leather goods industry or what dyes does say HO or W&C use on there hides?

Last night I realized that these were not done with the Pro oil. I forgot that a few weeks ago while I was at Hobby Lobby that they had some Fiebings low voc on sale and I bought there saddle tan and dark brown. I had some pro oil walnut that I had been using with dobbers and just forgot and didn't pay any attention to the bottle labels when in mixed them with the denatured alcohol. Not sure if this could cause problems. I'm going to order these two colors in the pro oil line and there reducer to see if I have better success. At this point I'm not looking to save a few bucks I just don't want to keep ruining my pieces.

I tried dying before assembly once but when wet molding the color bled everywhere. I guess it's just part of the newbe learneing curve. Even though this was a HO hide it was a craftsman grade from Springfield Leather. I don't know if that matters or not. That is the reason I bought it to practice on. The only other leather I have used in my very new hobby was some import veg tan that I almost had to use a chainsaw to cut out my parts. Those I finished with Neatsfoot oil.

These were all dyed after final assembly and wet molding with 24hrs of drying.

This one was acutely perfect after I dipped it. Let it dry 24hrs and put a 50/50 water resolene. Then the dye bled and the over all color looks splotchy.

This one was dipped and came out two toned.

These holsters were all made from HO shoulders and dyed with Fiebings pro oil in dark brown and saddle tan reduced 3:1 DA/dye. After wet molding they were allowed to dry 48hrs. I have tried dobbers and just couldn't over come streaks unless I put so much on a light brown would be super dark brown. So after reading about dip dying I thought I would give it a try. Well as the pictures show it's not going so good. I'm new and lost at this point as to dying my work. Any help would be appreciated

I had a good experience with ordering from holstersmith. I had a few questions before ordering and they were really helpful. I placed my order and then about two hours later I remembered I had for got to order a G42 and G43. Called them back and they added them to my order and didn't charge me shipping on those two. They all went out that day and I got them the next.

Thanks I will check them out.

I ordered ten Ring's today from Holstersmith.com in Ga. 41.95 each plus 12 for shipping for all.

It's the minimum witch is going to keep me from buying directly from H/O. I just don't use that much at this point to buy that much at one time.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I called Wickett-Craig yesterday and talked to a gentleman there that was so helpful and very knowledgeable. He spent 15-20 mins on the phone with me explaining all the different leathers and cuts available. I got a price for there top grade back slit to 7/8 for around 185.00 + shipping. He is also sending me a bunch of samples in the mail. I had already ordered two single shoulders of a craftsman grade Hermann oak for not much less than what I was quoted for the top grade W-C side. I will definitely be ordering from them in the future.

Ok. I'm fairly new to the craft so don't really know what all the cuts are called. Are all "backs" considered in the industry as the side without the belly?

Where can you buy a Hermann Oak veg tan side with out the belly in a B grade 7/8oz with no minimums? I don't see them sold like this online at the common retailers but I see people talking about getting them that way. Is there also a term for this kind of cut? Im reposting in this section because I originally posted in another that I didn't think it really belongs.

Where can you buy a Hermann Oak veg tan side with out the belly in a B grade 7/8oz with no minimums? I don't see them sold like this online at the common retailers but I see people talking about getting them that way.