strathmoredesigns

Ok, so I'll admit it. Skiving is not my strong point and I haven't invested a ton of time in getting better at it, but I know I need to. I have invested a little money bouncing between tools/ideas though. So far I have Tandy's Super Skiver and their Saftey Beveler. I also have sandpaper disks for my dremel and a small trimming plane, but nothing's really clicked yet. I watch videos and people make it look easy and I attempt it and I'm either tearing up my project or like barely taking anything off. I was sort of most hopeful that I'd be able to master the Safety Beveler and so I brought it to a tooling class the other week. Well, imagine my surprise when the instructor told me I was using it the wrong way (I was skiving away from myself) and then gasped and said "Oh, you're left-handed!" No one told me the tool was right-handed and I never realized it! I spent the rest of the class trying to use it with my right-hand and cursing Tandy's lack of labeling. I came home determined to find a left-handed Safety Beveler. Needless to say, I've found some lovely metallic colored ones, but no left-handed versions. I did however see more videos of people using knives and other tools to effortlessly and perfectly skive their edges. So, I figured I'd ask you guys. If you were going to invest the time in mastering one skiving tool, what would your go to be?

@Frankqv any chance you could share some pictures of some of your cut wallets and/or pigskin or calfskin? I never like the charring the lasers leave on leather and I didn't know there was anyway to reduce it.

Thanks for putting this together. I wasn't aware of all of those channels. I watch some of those and I also find Harry Rodgers to be helpful. His channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUydSC4GgiVQbcpjQTR_zQw

No, I skipped over the oil (I'm out of practice). I did wipe it down with deglazer first, but that was the only prepping I did.

I heard about this partnership at Tandy and I've seen a couple of his videos, but I'm much more familiar with some of the other leatherworkers on YouTube. What does the "farm out all your leather work" comment mean?

I posted this in the middle of the night, so it might have been missed. Giving a little bump in hopes of getting some answers. I'm trying to finish these on the earlier side of today.

I've got a couple of dog collars I dyed with alcohol-based Angeles dyes. They're on the lighter side (purple and turquoise), so I'd like to find a finish that's both appropriate for an alcohol-based dye and that (hopefully) won't make them significantly darker. I've got pretty much every finish under the sun, I just don't remember which is best for this situation. Does anyone have any suggestions/experience? This is what I've got on my shelf: Aussie Leather Conditioner Fiebing's Saddle Lac Tokonole Eco-Flo Super Shene Eco-Flo Carnauba Creme Fiebing's Tan Kote Fiebing's Leather Baum with Atom Wax Fiebing's Resolene Dr. Jackson's Neatsfoot Oil

You might like something like this: https://www.tandyleather.com.au/en/product/stoned-oil-side. Hard to tell in the picture, but they have that same dusty sort of finish as the piece in your picture.

Good to know. Thanks everyone!

Thanks, do you think it would be any different or better than a Singer 201-2?

Can anybody tell what this Consew and on the back of that, any idea if it could do leather?

Glad you liked it. I didn't get to see any of the dies when I visited, but I might be interested in them if they go on sale sometime. I don't doubt that the press will work as advertised, I just think the swing arm lets you sneak in slightly larger dies than the press can accommodate in one pass more easily. That's what I was hoping for and thought we'd get as there are some already being manufactured that could be rebranded as Tandy. I also know a ton of folks here have arbor presses (not even counting the ones with shop presses) setup to click and I'm not sure that this press adds enough extra value to justify the extra cost.

Looks like the clicker press and some dies are starting to show up on the Tandy website: https://www.tandyleather.com/en/search/?sSearch=clicker

@matts $950 is a good price, which is why I was so disappointed by the outcome. The actual Tandy press look more box-like like the new tipping press, but because it has walls at either end, it's like it has the pillars in the one you shared. It would be good for like keychains, but you'd never be able to do anything very large on it. It lacks the swinging head that the Weaver, Lucris, and Cowboy have. As for a link, I don't think it's on their website yet. I know it arrived in my store last Monday and I didn't make it out there until Friday to check it out. When I saw it, it was out of the box on a table, but it didn't have it's handle on yet. Speaking of the Noya, has anybody ever seen a price on the one they have with the swinging head? I've come across it on a couple of Asian websites, but I've never actually seen anybody selling it. I've only seen the little one Matt shared for sale, sometimes branded as Noya.

I forgot about the tipping machine. I didn't pay too much attention to it as I don't do belts and I wasn't familiar with the machine. Your mention of it did inspire me to look it up though. Apparently it won a design award. It's coming out of Ivan Leathercraft in Taiwan and is the brainchild of an industrial designer named Erik DeMelo. If I had to guess, I'd say this guy probably also had something to do with Tandy's clicker press (he also did their Pro Hand Press). They claim they do market research on these products... I wish I'd been in that focus group. Anyway, including a link to the tipping machine here... it looks pretty similar to the new clicker minus the walls on either end. https://competition.adesignaward.com/design.php?ID=63637

I was just looking at ebay and these things are all over it when you search leather sewing machines. Some are as low as $130 with $5 shipping. Just throwing that out there....

Has anybody seen Tandy's new clicker press? When I first heard it was coming and going for around $950 with business pricing, I was really excited. But after going out to see it last week, I'm really disappointed. I figured they just put their name on something that was already being made and we'd end up with one in the same style as the Weaver Mighty Wonder or Cowboy's manual press. But that's not what they did at all. As best I can tell, they must be having this thing made just for them. I was so disheartened I didn't even bother to take a picture, but they're rolling out into stores nationwide, so it should be on the website shortly. If you haven't seen it yet... it looks kind of like the Tippman and the Weaver merged into one. It looks like it's about the same size as the small Tippman and, like the Tippman, it has a fixed and relatively short opening height, but it's not pneumatic. It's got a lever like the Weaver, but it lacks the Weaver's ability to swing side to side (it's best feature in my opinion). If that's not bad enough, it actually has walls on either side (the whole thing looks like it's about 8 inches wide), which seriously limits what you could ever use it for. I'm shocked Tandy chose this route actually. If there's one thing I've learned hanging out in these forums, it's how thrifty and resourceful this crowd is. I don't think I could do anymore with this press than I could with my Harbor Freight Arbor Press, so why would I pay $900 more for it?

@CowboyBob are you able to comment at all on how these will impact your business? I see Springfield is advertising a pre-tariff sale on their sewing machines. I can only assume all of the sellers will have to increase their prices at least a little. (Also, selfishly wondering if it makes sense to splurge on a big piece of metal before the new year).

I've seen tannery marks on some of their Craftsman Oak sides....

When they chime in, the sewing machine pros are going to ask you about the weight of what you're planning to do. Based on the pictures, I'm guessing it's going to be on the heavier side, but if you can share a specific range that'll help them give you a better recommendation sooner. As for the Tippmans, I've poked around with it a tiny bit at Tandy and while it seemed to work well, I would just never want to have to pull the leaver for each stitch. It was going to spend over a grand on a machine, I'd want something that did all of the work of the stitch. With a good machine and a servo motor you should be able to take the stitches pretty slowly. Just my two cents....

This is all really helpful. Thanks for sharing!

Good to know, thanks guys.

Does anybody know where to find white veg tan? I've seen it used in a few Etsy stores from the APAC region and Tandy does sell it in 9-10 oz bend and as belt blanks. I'm wondering if anyone knows where it is really coming from (like is it more common in a particular region) and if it is really just dyed white (as the Tandy site suggests) or is it tanned with different chemicals? Lastly, does anyone know if it is available in thinner thicknesses (like 3-4 and 5-6 oz) and where you'd find it? Here are a couple of examples of what I'm talking about. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/white-cowhide-bend-9-to-10-oz-3-6-to-4-0-mm

On the subject of work spaces, I'm looking for a new chair for my workbench. I'm thinking of a drafting-style chair. What's the general consensus on getting one with arms or one without?

Thanks for sharing your expertise Nigel, I'm looking forward to trying your out your series! I've got an idea for your list... blade sharpening.