mike02130

Yeah what he said. Take a rolling pin to it while it's wet. Compresses the leather making it denser

It looks like the bevel is on the top? Mine are on the bottom. Send it back. I strongly recommend Ron's tools or Barry King. It has quite the learning curve. It's a lot of wrist finesse. Hmm, I'm curious, where are you in MA? I'm in Boston.

SOLD Thank you

I mistakenly bought a pair of Sinabroks 3.38 irons. I received these today from Korea. It was a six week wait. I have a 10 and 2 tooth iron. I paid $160. and $40. plus $20 shipping, $220. These are brand new. I'm hoping to not loose too much money on these. I'm asking $180. for the pair including shipping in USA. I am in Boston MA if you want to check them out in person. PayPal is accepted. The reason I'm selling these is because I answered an ad for Vergez Blanchards but the guy said they were sold. After ordering the Sinabroks the guy contacted me saying the buyer backed out. I bought the VGs. Thank you.

Better and faster way is to google "bridle leather vs latigo". I just learned a boat load.

Weldwood contact cement. About 10 bucks a quart. If I have a choice between water or solvent based I'll always choose solvent.

Try it and then tell us if it works.

I find the smaller the spacing, the easier and less noticeable it is to cheat the spacing. On some work I start in the middle, that way my holes are evenly aligned.

If they had edge bevellers back then I would imagine some would've used them some would not. Just like today.

Hej, I use this for curves. I make handbags and use this knife for cutting gussets and other curves. It works great. How big are the pieces you're cutting? When I cut curves I have my piece on the table and cut with minimal wrist movement and turn with my body. That way when you transition from inside to outside I don't rock or twist my wrist resulting in an out of square cut. I also move the piece around to get the cut line in front of the knife. Similar to cutting a figure out of paper with a pair of scissors. One holds the scissors while moving the pattern.

Lamp shade. If selling, keep in mind certain folks wont touch pig skin. Nothing better than a smoked pork butt.

I've thought about using wax canvas for a few projects. Can it be saddle stitched like leather?

spend $10. on a Preval sprayer. You will be quite surprised and happy.

I buy poster board from my local drugstore.

I have a Barry King awl which I am pretty disappointed with. I have other BK tools which are great. Maybe it was a one off? It was so over polished that it lost its diamond shape. The spine is gone and the grind is uneven. It has quite the taper and in order for me to use it effectively I must pierce the leather and bottom the awl out rather than going a little bit in with my Vergez Blanchard. You can see the difference in the picture. The VB awl is not polished and does take a bit of work to get it there. As a tool user I don't mind the polishing. I am more bonded with the V.B.. When using KS Blades 3.85 irons and a small John James needle with .6 mm tiger thread or .55 mm Twisty (RML) the BK awl is useless. I own and like BK tools, its just that the awl I received sucked. Yes, I could've sent it back but I did not. Left is Vergez.

Exactly!!! Well said.

Yeah, the Real McCoy method!!

Spend the extra money and buy black leather and it'll save you in time and work. I used to buy undyed veg tanned shoulders. I've probably bought from more places than not. One time its good, the next I want to scream. I got tired of getting stuck with scarred up bug bitten leather; tanned god knows where in the world. For me, its worth spending a few bucks more to save time and frustration. I had the same problem with Angelus. I prefer Fieblings. I tried an airbrush but didn't like filling and refilling it and the air quality and all the prep work. When I do use dye I use a "Preval" sprayer. They work great and don't atomize the dye as much as an airbrush. I don't even bother with any protection. No clean up is necessary with the Preval. I have a few that I use for different colors. The sprayer even screws onto the Fieblings bottles (after snipping an 1/8th" off the tube.). I just leave and store the sprayer with the jar of dye and don't even bother cleaning it out. There's just no need with alcohol dye. Funny, I have some vinagroon in stock. I use it on oak to turn it black (ebonize)

You just gotta figure it out. I started with some garage sale rivets and an old boot. Now I’m making hand-sewn handbags.

One is too expensive and the other is too cheap. Maybe the internet works differently in the UK but in America I just googled Japanese leather knife UK and received a load of results.

I use a Vergez Blanchard. I paid 18 bucks but now I see them in the $22. range. It took a bit of work to polish it. I used stones and sandpaper. I bought a Barry King awl blade and carved a handle. I think I paid $25.00 for the blade. I was pretty disappointed and keep kicking myself for not returning it. It looks as if it was the same as the VB until someone over-polished it and made it thinner, narrower and less diamond shaped. The widest point--which is narrower than the VG--is at the base where it meets the handle. They make good tools but the awl I got sucks. Maybe it was just a one off? I never contacted them about it, but I'm sure they would've made it good. I have a Palo Santo flat awl that I use sometimes with KS blades' irons that works well for .45mm thread but not on anything thicker that is knotted in the needle. Rocky Mountain Leather has a few awls on their site that interest me. Let us know what you you end up getting.

Grandma's face cream? Ian said it was like spunk.

So are you now utterly confused? Zuludog gave you some good advice. Don't get all tweaky and spazmatic about thread. I recommend Tiger thread or the Twisty. It is professional thread. Get polyester. For a beginner I suggest the Tiger thread first. It is a flat thread and easier to thread a needle. Go to Rocky mountain with free shipping. Spend the six bucks and then come back and let us know what you think.

That's quite a bit of wondering.

Skill and handmade are two different things.