blackmad

Selling a couple of items I'm not getting much use out of Tandy / Crafttool strap cutter. Used a couple of times, turns out I prefer using a straight edge. Will try to find the spare blades. $20 https://www.amazon.com/Tandy-Leather-Craftool-Cutter-3080-00/dp/B0036UU0AG Craftool Pro Rotary Leather Punch - used rarely, turns out I prefer the feeling of the cheap plastic-y ones in my hand - $35 https://tandyleather.com/products/craftool-pro-rotary-leather-punch CS Osborne round knife - used ... once? This is too much knife for me. $40 - recently professionally sharpened, comes with an incredibly unattractive blade cover (I made it in a rush, please forgive me) https://www.amazon.com/C-S-Osborne-71-Head-Knife/dp/B00K8WVA54 Tandy pro edge beveler #1 - $40 - basically new. Turns out I prefer the bigger head shape of the crafttool pro bevelers https://tandyleather.com/collections/featured-products/products/edge-beveler Take it all for $125, shipping included

Hey all - I'm trying to sew a small bag out of relatively thick leather (~2mm - though reasonably soft/pliable) and having some issues. The biggest problem is that I'd like to have a zipper across the top, but the bag is so small and the leather so thick that when I tried to invert the bag after sewing the seams inside out, it put so much pressure on the zipper that the slider snapped off. Are there any tricks I could be doing to make this work in the current design? (I know that I shouldn't have run the zipper all the way to the edge of the bag - even without that I think it still would have snapped, also I added the inner rivets after inverting) The other is that I'm not happy with the consistency & look of the stitches I'm getting from my juki 553. Is this likely too much tension? not enough tension? something else entirely? Thanks for looking, -David

Hey all - I know this question gets asked all the time, so my apologies in advance if anyone is bored of answering people about how to burnish edges. I've tried to read a bunch and still found myself a bit stuck. I work with thick harness-style leathers and I'd like to get nice rounded burnished edges on them. I've never had great luck with burnishing by hand, so I thought I'd try a motorized burnisher. I bought this cocobolo burnisher: http://proedgeburnishers.com/index.html and put it on a 1/2hp motor from harbor freight that seemed to be commonly recommended https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-buffer-61557.html I took ~10oz leather, went over the edges with a #2 (I think) edge beveler - https://photos.app.goo.gl/uAs6X5AHpAomKu9y8 and then, trying a combination of different saddle soaps on the burnisher, tried to round the edges, but I ended up with a much more visible, lumpy, not smooth, not even especially round edge - https://photos.app.goo.gl/qs1qacQ1Wz6ptCsb8 I'm not happy with that edge. I've read a bunch about how to burnish and am still a little stumped. Reading over the pro-edge burnisher FAQ, I'm realizing that perhaps I did the wrong thing by putting the wax on the burnisher first rather than on the leather. I will try that next. Anyone have other suggestions of how to get a better edge? A related question is - is there some trick I'm missing to using an edge beveler? The best approach I've found for myself is to put a metal ruler over the piece I'm working on, close the edge, and try to use that as a guide for the beveler. Otherwise I find myself making waving lines that I can see in the finished product, or occasionally veering off entirely and taking a nasty bite out of the leather. Thanks, David

Picked these up in a set of tools but don't do any stamping. $40 for everything including shipping. Big stamps all say crafttool on the back. Don't have the handle that goes with them. Easier to contact me via email - "david at whizziwig dot com"

It seems like both machines say LU-563 on them, and the main difference is the stitch length + lack of reverse. I just bought a used 563 and am missing reverse more than I expected. I'm wondering if it's possible this is a 563 that just doesn't have the lever, or if it's a 563-3.

@battlemurky @sheilajeanna really helpful to know that only veg-tan will burnish. I've been backing some of my pieces with cheaper leather since it seems like such a waste of a good top finish to hide it. Attached are a few photos of the pieces that inspired these questions. On the thin ones, even with edge kote or acrylic paint (and sewing at ~1/8") if I play with the edges, the two pieces separate (I suppose I could also have been better with glue). The one that I backed with a piece of chromeexcel did burnish okay!

Hey all, I've been working with leather for a couple of months now and am finding a bunch of holes in my technique that I'd like to improve on. Cutting How do I cut a long straight line? / How do I keep my straight edge from shifting? -- I know this sounds silly, but I'm struggling with it. I use a rotary cutter and a long straight edge with some surgical tape on the back to make it a bit grippier. Often the ruler will move as I'm cutting so the end is narrower than the start. I'm trying to keep pressure on it as I go. Is there some trick that would make this easier? A heavier straight edge? Edging/Finishing/Bonding How do I put on Edge Kote without it getting on top of the leather? - I've tried daubers and also roller pens for edge finishing and I still end up getting the edge kote bleeding a bit onto the top of the leather. Which generally rubs off but I can still see where it's gotten into the grain and it drives me crazy. Is there some minimum thickness/stiffness to leather required to burnish the edges? - I love the look of a good rounded edge, but it seems like it only works when the leather is well above 3mm thick in total. And that it's stiff enough to stay stiff while rubbing it? which leads me to .. How to finish the edges of thinner leathers? - I find myself often gluing/stitching a thinner leather (because they have interesting patterns/textures) to a thicker piece and then wanting to make sure there's a nice edge that won't separate. I've had trouble finding something that works here. --> If the top leather is really thin, I can't get a clean cut with a leather edger (the material bunches/jumps too much) so there's nothing to burnish --> If I bond the leather flesh-to-grain (so that the soft flesh side of the thicker leather is touching the skin) then it seems like the grain side in the middle prevents burnishing from working - it won't melt into the top piece. Do I need to split thick leathers before using them like this? Thanks all, David

not sure if you're trying to be funny, but I am looking for faux/vegan/vinyl leather, as in, not from animals. I recognize this is a leather worker forum, and I primarily work in animal leathers - but I wanted to use the same techniques for someone who objects to wearing leather. That sadly doesn't give a sense of where to buy, or how to talk about the thickness of faux leathers

Emailed buckleguy and ohio travel bag and were told they didn't carry it and suggested I look on ebay :-/

Hey all, A friend asked for a few piece made out of vegan leather. I'm looking for something that's thick/stiff enough to work for straps (bracelets, collars, harnesses) without sewing/gluing. Anyone have a suggestion of where to look / what to look for? Thanks, David

I looked at both, didn't see anything that matched - no spring, no tongue, ~1/2inch wide

that's a brilliant suggestion, thank you! I've had tape take a bit of the finish off chromexcel, but the drum dyed stuff I'm using in the laser cutter should be fine.

Hey all - A buddy asked me to make him a camera strap like the one pictured, and I can't find a comparable slide anywhere. Any suggestions? Thanks, David

Hey all, I've recently started working in leather and playing with a laser cutter. I've found that engraving on the laser is really beautiful, but hard to see, especially on a black leather. I accidentally discovered that if I paint the leather with a sparkly/pearlescent acrylic paint, and then quickly wipe it off, I get a pretty nice effect where the engraved parts hold a lot of the paint and the rest of the leather ends up taking on a slightly sci-fi sparkly antique shine. But I'd like to figure out if there's a way to get paint in the engraved grooves without affecting the rest of the leather much. Any suggestions? The best technique I've come up with so far for this is to use fiebings acrylic white dye, and then quickly cleaning it off with Bacardi 151 (didn't have any rubbing alcohol last night when I was experimenting) You can see some of the experiments below - the piece with straps used blick pearlescent white acrylic paint, the one with all the moon phases at the very bottom was the fiebings, and everything else was experiments with Tarrago metallic 507 gold and different solvents. Thanks, David