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Don’t forget to also look into Cmdachong. He is a one man operation out of mainland China. You can PM him directly on Instagram. Many happy customers. Seriously nice stuff from him. Extended lead time of 1-2 months+ $125 for the unit. $57 for the handle. $42 for each tip. Additional information: https://www.reddit.com/r/Leathercraft/comments/6e3bi4/electric_leather_creaser_from_cmdachong/?st=JERMV4BA&sh=d8827781

I think a full liner piece would be the way to go. This way the stitching is on the border rather than the middle of the piece. Many suppliers offers band splitting services that you can take advantage of or simply use pigskin or similar thin leather. You can also use a piece of fabric or canvas rather than leather. Maybe something like this split to 1mm, glued and then stitched up: https://districtleathersupply.com/collections/leather/products/conceria-walpier-buttero-burgundy-1

I have never heard that before but it would make sense that a primary coat of a dark but dissimilar color would produce a darker black than just black/black. In printing there is the term called “rich black” where one or more process colors are layed down before the black resulting in a deeper darker black. (Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_black) I believe the process would be the same for leather dying.

What type of awl/irons are you using? It may look better if you use a round dent or even just a scratch awl to make your stitching holes. Sometimes (especially with turned pieces) the angle of the stitch holes, when made with a European iron or Japanese diamond, make the turned stitch line a little wonky. But quite honestly, it looks good. Perhaps if you cut your triangles more consistently and spaced tighter it would make the curve more even. The addition of piping may visually even things out as well but it would change the look of it.

@JeannieH you might find this book of interest for inspiration/insight: https://fashionary.org/products/bag-design (Expensive but you may be available at a library if you’re lucky?)

Thanks Jeannie - I had found Simon’s number on an older post and purchased a few boards from him. He was quick but I just wished he took some form of e-payment. I really love this stuff. It sews up like thick veg tan and adds a nice stiffness. I purchased one piece each of 1/1.5/2 mm boards. Pretty reasonable too. What have you used it for? The bottoms of your bags?

I started with the same knife about a year ago. Does the job, cheap and the skills learned with it is transferable to any flat knife. For future reference, when you get the funds up, I highly recommend one of these made from Hitachi Aogami Super Blue steel. It truely is night and day. https://globalhighendtools.stores.jp/items/59a7ffdc3210d53a380001b2 Stainless will never get as sharp as carbon and the angle of the Chinese blade won’t allow you to use it upside down. 50 bucks (plus shipping) for a world class knife isn’t too bad either. Also available here: https://districtleathersupply.com/products/nobuyoshi-japanese-skiving-knife-36mm

May I ask what leather you purchased and from whom on Etsy?

Nothing wrong with just using a divider however some leathers require heat to crease. In that case you can either heat your divider over a flame or use a electric creaser. Where the electric creaser, or fileteuse really shines is shaping and smoothing your edge paint. The optimum heat necessary to efficiently smooth and shape edge paint has a very small window. Too hot and it burns; too cold and nothing happens. A manual creaser with a flame is too finicky and cools down too quickly. A recent thread had links to a few cheaper alternatives to Regad.

I think the problem is that you have developed an expensive taste in leather! Its difficult for District or any other vendor that typically sells by the sqft to offer nice European or Asian imports at larger sizes. After shipping costs, labor, customs duties and yield is taken into account, the margins start to get thin and it’s just more profitable to sell per square. There are some local shops in NYC that offer leathers that resembles shrunken calf (actually chrome cow/lower right). This the Navajo line at Global Leathers. Tempesti offers a line called St. Venere and St Gemini in a lot of colors with a nice pronounced grain. They will sell one or two shoulders for trial but after that the MOQ jumps up pretty high. Did you ask @nstarleather if he had anything like what you’re looking for? His prices are great and he will sell small quantities.

Vinymo thread is nice. Consistent, selection, versatility and best of all, cheap. It’s a twisted thread so it has a similar look as linen. Its surprisingly strong and because of the consistency, it actually looks thinner than comparable threads the same size. My only criticisms are: it’s shiny and it has a strange stretch to it. When hand sewing it has a tendency to stretch but it recovers. Bill is great and works hard to bring really interesting stuff in and his selection of per sq ft leathers can’t be beat and a great way to feel and work with leathers before committing to a full side.

Agreed. Wait 24 hours and see how it is. Naturally the porous edges will absorb more dye but it should even out. It will be even less noticeable after you hit it up with something to seal it up. Dying leather is a waiting game to get it right. What you save in money and gain in the ability to customize, you pay in time (sometimes a high cost). Leatherworking has taught me the importance of patience.

FYI - these were just released by CrimsonHide (in my opinion the best diamond chisel available): https://crimsonhides.com/collections/leathercraft-tools/products/crimson-irons-reverse

Do you have a tech data sheet for the lock or can you send me a link to the manufacturer? They look very nice and I am gearing up for a bag project. Thanks YinTx!

When finishing the edges on pieces that join dissimilar materials I always use edge paint. Suede is a bit troublesome because it wicks the paint so getting a crisp edge is difficult sometimes and excess paint is hard to clean off of suede. Just go slowly and don’t put too much paint on your applicator at one time.

I like what you did with the pliers. Beats hurting your thumbs. I’m going to give the edger idea a shot tonight! Thanks for sharing.

If it’s brass plated I wouldn’t do it. The gunk may be actually below the plating and abrasives may exacerbate an existing crack. If it won’t come off with a toothbrush, soap and hot water then let it go. TheBuckleGuy.com has quite a selection of watch buckles for a few bucks. If you’re going through the trouble of making a new strap then definitely worth the investment. If nothing else, warn the customer of what might happen in writing.

Nicely done. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

Where are you located? Can you direct me to a site that has the tech specs?

I can split veg tan down to 1-2oz (~1mm) on my American LS440 splitter IF the original thickness is > 5-7oz (~2-3mm). Any firm leather would work well on these crank-type splitters. If the pieces that you are working with is < 4 inches then I would recommend one. Anything wider and it gets dicey and unreliable even though the blade is 6inches wide. You may get lucky (as I did) and find a local cobbler that has a crank splitter to try it out before purchasing.

There are quite a number of diamond chisels available now. As you noted, the prices range from <20 to >100 . ($15-30) There really isn’t anything wrong with the cheaper ones though; they just need some prep time and they’ll work just fine. If you’re willing to put a little elbow grease into it, it’s definitely with the trouble. ($75-100) When it comes to diamond chisels, I always recommend CrimsonHide though. They are a small outfit in Hong Kong and the quality and design of their chisels are outstanding. ($100-200) KSBlades from S.Korea also offers diamond chisels now. I currently use their flat blade chisels but if the diamond chisels are anything like them then I’m sure that they’re incredible.

To help narrow the field: What is your budget? What type of thread do you use? Flat or Diamond holes?

Did someone say Thumble.... How about making one like Daisukenshin.

Curious, is this a replica of Bob’s design? I would tend to agree to support Bob with a purchase if it’s his design. It’s hard enough to find people making tools for leatherworkers let alone quality tools at that. If not, this tool seems well designed and reasonably priced. Just a note; standard shipping from China typically gets delivered in 20-30+ days. Expedited shipping is an extra 20 bucks (7-10 days) so that may eat up any savings that you may receive.

Yes. After I fiddled with it for a few days I was able to split veg tan easily and cleanly. After it was dialed in I was also able to split floppy chrome tan as well.