TomWisc

I attend a leather tooling group at our local Senior Center and a lady brought in 2 cigar boxes of old leather tools that she found in her deceased husbands workshop. He never did leather working and she doesn't know where he got the stuff. Interestingly there is a receipt in the box for some supplies from a shop in Milwaukee dated 1921. There was some thread, rusty needles, misc. awls, and the item in the picture. Although it looks rough, it is not rusted badly and all the parts still move. There is no name or number stamped on this tool. The pictures are not great. There is a tiny spool on the tool holding thread which goes through the needle. Does anyone know what this is and what it would be used for? I have 2 other pictures. I will have to resize them and post in a little while...

I have been using kangaroo leather, about 1mm thick and I love it! I got a hide from Maverick Leather Supply and I think paid $120. It is about 6 or 7 sq ft.There is a tannery in Australia that sells for much less but then there is shipping and time to wait. I am no expert but I think kangaroo is the strongest leather for it thickness. Very easy to work with and no skiving.

Very nice! I was thinking of getting a mini desktop laser but have read some comments about toxic fumes using chrome tan leather. I see you used veg tan and burned the image before dying the leather. Your dye looks very evenly applied and I am assuming you applied the dye over the image and it wiped off? I have been using kangaroo leather for wallets and it works great but it is so thin I can't stamp my maker stamp on it because it cuts right through the leather. The laser might be a solution to my problem. What kind of laser did you get and what software are you using? Thanks in advance for any information you can share.

Thanks for the tip, Fred! I am downloading and printing a few books now. I resurrected an old black & white laser printer that has been gathering dust for 5 years and plugged it in and away we go!

I bought a Seiko machine from Industrial Sewing Systems in Janesville ,WI last year. I think the owner's name is Cody. He does sales and service in southern Wisc. and is very knowledgeable and was easy to work with. I live near Janesville so it was very convenient for me.

I am sure some folks with more experience will chime in but my guess is the TanKote before the antique caused the antique to not penetrate the leather and just sit on top causing it to flake off.

They look great! The tooling and coloring is very nice! Interesting designs. Wondering what price you are asking for the wallets. If you would rather not say I understand. I have been making some wallets using kangaroo and basically gifts for family and the local senior center fund raiser. Good luck at the show. I imagine prices & interest vary greatly depending on location. Some ladies like shoes, some boys like guns, the right guy would buy all of them!

Holy cow! That is a work of art! I would be afraid to ride it worrying to get it dirty! In order to complete the package, the rider must be dressed in some outlandish garb!

Thanks mikesc for your vote for goat! There are 2 Tandy stores within an hour so I have defaulted to their stuff.And I don't want to knock Tandy because they have helped me many times. However, I need to try other suppliers to compare their leather quality to Tandy.

Thanks LatigoAmigo I have not used goat before but I will check it out I have not tried Hermann Oak leather yet, NVLeatherWorx. From reading numerous posts on this forum it seems they are one of the most popular leather suppliers so I will try some of their leather. When using the 3 to 4 oz. do you do much skiving on the edges or just burnish the edges after assembling all the pieces of the wallet? Thanks for your suggestion.

I am a hobby leather worker. Been doing leather work for about 1 year. I have made belts, ladies totes, misc. stuff. I have been working on wallets recently. I don't have a splitter and can't afford/justify one. Trying to make a nice wallet has been a challenge with thick leather. I have mostly got my leather from Tandy although I got some from Acadia for ladies totes that I am happy with. I got some calf skin from Tandy and although it is thin, it is also very soft. Not firm enough to use on wallets. Recently I got a batch of kangaroo scraps from a member of this forum and I am very happy with the variety of kangaroo pieces that I got. It is about 1 mm. So I experimented with making a wallet and I am happy with how it turned out. Fast forward, I got a kangaroo hide from Maverick Leather and I am happy with the leather, about 1mm, and perfect for wallets. So, I am wondering if any of you in the US are using kangaroo for wallets or is there a better source for a thin leather like calf that is firm? I like the kangaroo hide I got from Maverick Leather but just looking to see if there are any other options.

I am no expert here so I hope others will chime in to correct me if I am wrong. I just started doing a couple of wallets and I see you have made stitching holes along one long side of the wallet. If you are stitching a liner to the outer piece then that is fine. But depending on the inside pieces used usually you don't stitch the middle for an inch, give or take, because the outside piece will have to be longer than the inside or the wallet will buckle when closed. If you look at pictures of wallets hopefully you will see what I mean. Lots of examples on this forum or Etsy. Tom

I don't have a dedicated work surface to use so I use my kitchen table, carefully! I spread newspaper, triple thickness across the table and tape it down with painters tape. I usually pour out a small amount of dye into disposable plastic cup 2 oz, like you get free food samples in at Sam's club, etc. Then I put the 2 oz cup in a small plastic tray like frozen meals come in. Finally, I use bed stain protector pads, like they use in the hospital under patients sheets to prevent the beds from getting wet. I also have used the disposable type. They have a leak proof plastic on one side and cotton on the other. I am only staining relatively small items like belts, wallets, etc. so I don't need a large area.

We all have our favorite knives and I kinda like this one. I paid $1.00 for it at a resale shop. It was covered in tar, probably used for scraping roofing tools or something. It was dull, no edge, just a cheap scraper. It called out to me, probably the price. After cleaning the tar off and sharpening it ,I thought it might work for something. The blade is a little curved at the edges and that makes it work well for cutting very thin leather since I can sort of roll it over the leather and not have to pull it to cut. I strop it often and it maintains a good cutting edge. Probably not great grade of steel but it works great for what I use it for. And for $1.00 I smile every time I use it!

My table is 20" deep, 48" wide, 30" high. Included is the light and 2 thread spool holders. Bobbin winder is attached to machine. I also purchased from Amazon a flexible magnetic LED light which works great when trying to see the needle. Light is not too good in the room I have the machine so this is a big help for my old eyes. I also got a basic T shaped guide for sewing a straight line on belts. I asked him for a 'zipper foot' for sewing zippers or close to the edge of belts or other items and I think he basically took 2 regular feet and cut the side off each one to give me a left and right 'zipper foot'.

Yes, I am referring to the pulley type speed reducer. The dealer I purchased from, Industrial Sewing Systems, can get them for you. If that is who gave you the quote, Cody can install it for you before you pick up your machine. I think they cost about $150 but not sure of installation cost. I think you have to move the servo motor slightly to install the speed reducer. I don't know if he stocks them so if you want one you probably need to tell him ahead of pickup. I will take a picture of my machine & table in a couple of hours so you can see what I got from him. I am very happy with the table & complete setup.

I have a Seiko STH-8BLD-3 machine that I purchased new about a year ago from a dealer in Janesville, WI. It has an Eagle servo motor. I have used it for belts, ladies tote bags, wallets and it works fine for those items. I have thought of adding a speed reducer and probably will at some point. Sometimes on thicker items I have to give it a little push on the wheel to get it going through thicker leather. I like the machine very well and having a local dealer to ask questions, etc. is very helpful. I don't know what the resale value would be a few years down the road but the dealer said there are not many good used machines on the market and expects it to be a desirable machine in the future, whatever that means. I would have to look up the price I paid but I think it was between $1300 - $1400.

I use a marble piece 1" thick and 12" square. It was a sample from a tile store that was discontinued and I paid $10 for it. I use it on my wooden kitchen table. On top of the marble slab I use one of those plastic (?) cutting boards so the punches don't contact the marble slab. Usually I also use a 12" square scrap of leather about 3mm. I usually punch leather thinner than 4mm but do not see a problem with that thickness. I also have a small anvil that I use on the marble slab when I need a small work surface. I think the leather scrap on the plastic cutting board helps deaden the noise a little bit but it's just me and the dog and she doesn't complain as long as she has her bone! Tom

I'll take lot 1. Send payment info. Thanks, Tom

Good story, Ferg. Thanks for sharing! Tom

Amazing attention to detail! I can't imagine how many hours this bag took! Very creative also, your design is over the top! Tom

I seem to remember a post several weeks ago discussing guitar strap and one of the people that commented was a musician who had very specific comments on making a comfortable guitar strap. You might check previous posts to see if you can find this one Tom

Very cool! I bet every time he puts the leather jacket on the dog , Pepper must go ballistic getting excited for another ride!

That looks like a good idea. I use a head lamp which helps but not great. Sure looks like your setup puts out plenty of light.

I just saw this video on sharpening woodworking chisels and thought some of his techniques apply to sharpening leather tools. I didn't check if someone already posted this video but I have not seen it before. Worth the watch!