rodneywt1180b

You have nothing to be ashamed of. That briefcase is beautiful! Nice chair too. Being American, I thought coffee at first. Either way, a great and fun design.

Did you learn this the hard way?

I sell canes on Etsy. I didn't bother with a business license or any of that for them. I don't sell enough to justify it. My wife and I sold antiques in the past. We had a business license then and there's a lot of paperwork for taxes involved though you do get breaks on sales tax and sometimes pricing if you have a license. If you do a lot of volume or plan to, it might be worth doing. Also, different states, different rules for each. As far as business names go, pick one and use it. Careful with the initials though. My shop name is "A Sturdy Stick". I can't use the initials for a logo.

Wow! Beautiful work!

That chart is for screw threads.

Frodo it looks like an interesting project. What are you working on? Decent edges on leather seems to be impossible for me. Definitely me, not the leather that is the problem. I just ordered a couple cheap sides of 5 oz oil tan from Springfield. $20 for the 9-13 ft sides, they have larger for $30. Well worth taking a chance on them at that price IMO. I'm hoping to use them for a messenger bag for myself. There'll be a lot of edges to practice on. I'll try the wood burning tip on the edges when it gets here.

i thought I was slow. I delayed a long time getting the nerve up to cut into your work. My stuff I can tear off and start over if I need to. I only had one shot with that. I'm very happy your dad likes it. Rodney

I say go for it. It's not that difficult, it just takes some time. Post some pictures here when you're done. Cechaflo's (sp?) videos on youtube are a great help for wrapping things.

The cane is finally done and on it's way to YinTx's dad. My stitching isn't perfect, not even close,and I really struggled with getting the areas where the seams meet to look ok. They're not perfect either but they'll work I think. The toughest part was forming the leather on the handle. The compound curves were tricky to mold and I didn't want to deform YinTx's work. I settled on painting water on the back side of the leather with a small paint brush just in the areas that needed a little help to form and slowly worked the leather down by hand. When I got the leather where I wanted it I clamped it in position to dry. Anyway, pictures.

Ireceived the leather pieces from YinTx a few days ago. They're even nicer in person. Working up the courage to get started...

I haven't been on in a while. YinTx contacted me by mail to check in with me. All I can say about the leather is Holy C**p! I really hope I don't screw this up....

Thanks for the additional pictures! You do some truly beautiful work!

Congrats on your move and new workshop!

Beautiful work and I'm another one who would love to see them on the horses.

What I was going to recommend. One of Springfield's bags of scrap. In my admittedly limited experience the best way to practice working with leather is with leather. I can't think of any other material that will behave the same.

I start punching/marking my holes from either end and hide the odd lengths in the middle.

I do too. I just sent them back yesterday afternoon. I'll find out in a couple days.

Thanks. The Chicago screw is inset enough that I don't think it'll be a problem. There's also brass bushings in the wood so the screws won't wear on the wood. I went that route because they need to pivot some. The customer's originals used copper rivets to attach the cuffs and she told me the wood was worn out there at the pivot points. I'm hoping this setup will be better. They should be able to be serviced if needed in the future.

This is my third attempt at getting these crutches right. The style was invented in the 1920s by a Sister Kenney IIRC. I don't think I've seen a pair in use or maybe just never noticed before. Not often seen a any rate and almost no one builds them any more. These were a custom request from a lady on the east coast. Her old set was worn out and the builder of her last set isn't around anymore. My first attempt was bent lamination on the wood. I had so many problems with the glue-up I ended up scrapping them. These are my second attempt at the wood portion. They're one-piece steam bent walnut. My first set of cuffs were too big. Built to the customer's supplied measurements but they didn't fit. The bottom line is the lady needs her crutches so I re-did the cuffs and re-bent the wood to fit them. I really don't mind. It gave me a chance to change a couple things I wasn't happy with the first time. If I do it again I'll pay the extra for thicker leather on the outers. This was just a little thin. I'm hoping they're right this time. They leave to their owner tomorrow. The cuffs are from a 7-8 oz shoulder from Springfield dyed with Angelus dye on the outside. The inner leather is black nubuck from Springfield and the insides are 16 gauge steel and 1/4" closed cell foam. They're stitched with 1mm Tiger thread. The lady requested smaller handles. They're more of the same shoulder leather stitched over wood cores. This was a fun and challenging project and a nice change of pace from my usual work. The first picture is one of the original cuffs from before I was done finishing the wood.

Karina: why the grooved handwheel on the 66? Is it for better power at low speeds? Just wondering. I haven't seen a domestic machine rigged like that before.

Really clean work! I love the plaid liner too.

Beautiful classic looking book.

What kind of fabric do you use? Also, thank you for your dedication to making them and for the link.

Compete on style and quality, not price. There's always someone who can and will make something cheaper.

I like the one with the belt loop better but that's just me. Both have their uses and your work is good.