mike02130

https://www.buckleguy.com/grommet-1-8-eyelet-0000-natural-brass-solid-brass-ll-100-sets-per-bag/

Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine. Ukrainian civilians give the Russian invaders sunflower seeds to put in their pockets. When the Russian soldiers are dead and rotting they become fertilizer for the seeds.

It's looks very Ukrainian.

Take a container and put in a box of baking soda with the leather. Maybe cover it loosely?

I don't know but Rocky mountain Leather charges $2.50 per sq foot and District Leather Supply charges a buck a minute.

Buckleguy.com sells eyelets and grommets. They also sell hand punches and press dies for them. I suggest you contact them, they're good at answering questions.

I'm late to the party but I'll try to fill in the blanks. I bought a pair of Sinabroks but I sold them. I own five sets of KS irons. I prefer them over the Sinabroks but both brands have their pros and cons. Like the guy said above, they make your hands smell like brass. KS have a flat shaft that tapers down to a round which makes them easier and more comfortable to grip when punching. Sinabroks are round and want to twirl in my hands. KS tips are slightly round allowing them to pierce the leather easier and to line them up on a stitch line. The Sina's are square across making it more difficult to center on a line. Some people scribe a line and then place the irons on one edge to punch. The Sina's I had were blunt and needed sharpening. The KS are sharper but they could still use some touching up. The Sinas are highly polished, like a mirror. They pull out of leather much easier than the KS irons. The KS irons need some work to make smooth. This is my experience. They're both great brands, I'm sure you'll be happy with them. Sinas teeth are replaceable but you need to buy the teeth and a jig to install them. KS need to be sent to South Korea for repair. Japanese style diamond chisels (irons) are called stitching chisels. Vergez Blanchard, Amy Roke and the like are traditional "pricking irons" (French style), meant to prick the leather followed up by an awl. Sinabroks and the like are hybrid pricking irons usually referred to as stitching irons that work like "chisels" punching through the leather. French and European style refer to non Japanese style. Irons are measured from center to center of the teeth. Chisels are measured by the space between the teeth. Therefore, a 4mm diamond chisel is wider than a 4mm iron. So I've heard. A one tooth iron is just an expensive awl. Two tooth is for curves. Your 4 tooth will be easier to punch through thicker leather than your 8 tooth.

When you stitch, are you pulling one side up and away from you while pulling the other side down and towards yourself to tighten? Looking at the back side, it looks like your stitches aren't seated properly.

If I understand your question, I would say that you need to lift the leather up from the knife.

Here are some rambling thoughts. Year after year things get cheaper and quality falls more and more by the wayside. One example is the wood fittings inside a newly built home versus 100 years ago. Same goes for shoes, clothing, tools and even candy bars. For all of us that think it's crap, new consumers come in to replace us without knowing or experiencing better. A large percentage of the population just don't know what good is. Then there is the recent popularity making leather goods. Many are not craftsman but makers, assemblers and the like. I read some shop's About sections and many describe their dissatisfaction in the corporate or I.T. world. They start an Etsy shop, do social media and then open a Shopify site. They lack the skills to make a quality product and lack the pride of doing excellent work. They judge themselves by their "likes" on social media and their income. Quality is not a barometer for their work. Making things cheaply and lack of quality is a great saver of time, thought and labor. There is no need to buy a bell skiver or splitter when one can buy off the shelf leather at varying thickness', machine sew a chunky wallet and throw it up on their website. All that's needed is a clicker press and a sewing machine. To go back to my thought that people don't know or care about quality, look at the items they do buy. Cheap Chinese products made out of leather from an unknown origin or designer products that lack some qualities but have a fancy label. I make and sell some items that are lined inside and out with fancy leather, but my competition has similar yet shoddy items for one quarter the price. Cheap usually wins out. Uniqueness loses.

You are turning the screws clockwise. Is that the correct way? Are they reverse threads?

Is that from an inside bend? For a wallet I use .5 to .8mm leather which I glue to a backing piece. I use a wooden form and glue it at 90 degrees. I do not glue the center other than the perimeter. That alleviates the problem for me.

How much are you taking off at a time? That first picture, it looks like a deep skive. Have you tried multiple passes? How thick is the leather and how thin are you going?

YKK are popular and come in many colors. They have an Excella line that is higher end that work well. The downside is the lack of variety for the pulls. Not really an issue if you're OK with basic designs. Riri are excellent and I think they are slightly better, but not by much. They have more choices for pulls. The Excella cloth is nicer having a pattern to the cloth and is shinier (maybe polyester or a blend?). The Riri cloth is more cotton looking and the color has more of a matt finish. They are sized my millimeters. Riri--M4, M6, M8 and so on. YKK--3, 5, 6 etc. I choose them by the size that looks best for the item. Small items I use a Riri M4, the YKK 3 is too small for me. Larger sizes I choose on a case by case basis according to the size of my work. You will need "top" and "bottom stops" and pulls for the specific size and brand. Some of the information and pictured examples can be confusing. They have "open end", "closed end" and a crap load of other variations as you can see here, https://www.riri.com/products/riri/executions/. Don't get confused and let that get you in a tither. What you want to do is simple. Buy a length of "single chain" zipper tape, plenty of top and bottom stops and some pulls. Rocky Mountain Leather carries YKK Excella and Buckleguy.com carries Riri. Buy the stuff then come back here for help figuring them out.

I suppose it would be possible but more difficult, or at least not as convenient(?).