mike02130

Do you use Velodon or some sort of non stretch material between the layers?

The brand is fine if that's what you want. But there may be potential buyers that will not buy because of it. I'm on other forums of both makers and buyers and requests for unbranded items are not uncommon. Some makers oblige and those that don't lose a sale. In the end, it doesn't matter what anyone here here thinks--it's up to you and the buyer.

Some of you guys are confusing a clicker die with the word dye. A die cuts while dye colors.

https://www.rmleathersupply.com/collections/lining/products/salamander-salpa-reinforcement https://www.etsy.com/shop/NyleathersupplyShop?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1313820260

The T-pockets ought to be skived thinly to eliminate bulk. If you go with what you have drawn, your cards will teeter totter because it's so narrow. You'll still have a bulge but now only narrower. Skive is the way. You have some sort of V-pocket going on there which will make it bulkier. I suggest a T-pocket. It has "ears" which instead of overlapping, they sit flush with each other along the stitch line. You would still want to skive though.

For a good one there's Barry King and Ron's Tools. Both in USA.

I'm guessing you mean skive? Sure you can skive veg tan. I do it all the time.

Is the one on the right the front, and the other the back? With a saddle stitch, the front side is slanted from the 10 o:clock position to 4 o:clock. Your one on the left is opposite--8 to 2.

I've heard of some folks using double sided tape to hold it down. So I've "heard".

This is the pattern I use. The stitching spacing is at 3mm.

Are you familiar with Mascon and his YouTube? I think what the OP is coyly saying, is that Mascon is not all that he believes he is. He is quite the showman and a large portion of his followers are a younger Reddit crowd new to leather work and easily impressed. If one didn't know better, they may think that he invented the word bump jig, it's design and their use. I suggest you watch his hustle and you may be scratching your head less over the OP's post and scratching more over the Mascon's sale's pitch.

It's cool. Semper Fi

Yeah, you really do have a chip on your shoulder. If you looked at who I was responding to you would realize that I was defending what you have on your sheath. You may want to reread it with a more open mind.

You may not know but "NH" is the abbreviation for the state of New Hampshire. Live Free or Die is the state's motto. The original quote is "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils." That's why New England is part of America rather than England. It's estimated that there are over 3000 moose in New Hampshire. I guess it means something to the guy that got struck?

Buckleguy.com offers strap cutting. I think it's 25 bucks. I suppose you need to buy their leather?

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.