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Those are the Belgian Jiffy rivets that Ohio Travel Bag sells.

I use one and am very happy with it. Ryan is very helpful and a pleasure to work with.

Regarding the 441 clones, I would confirm what Wizcrafts has written.

Good write up on these machines, Wizcrafts. Somewhere around here I posted pictures of what one of these machines with a Monster Wheel and modified feet can do with leather. Try a search for "Yamata".

I prefer the PC for all the reasons Madmax22 mentions.

Another nod for the compact spiral 6500k/daylight fluorescent bulbs. Another question is a good movable lamp to put the bulbs in that isn't going to lose its tensioning/positioning in six months. My favorite lamp is a Danray gooseneck. I enjoy using that Magnetic base lamp with aluminum hood from harbor freight, but there have been a few times where the magnet didn't hold as strongly as it should have. ed

If you want Coats bonded polyester in black and chestnut brown in sizes 277 and 346 I have a surplus of about 5 1-pound spools of each that I can send you at cost plus actual USPS shipping costs. Ed

Ohio Travel Bag has line 24 posts of varying lengths.

Thanks. The reincarnation with the daylight spiral fluorescent bulbs is working extremely well.

I think incorporating hand stitching in certain areas is important. I just saw a $1300 John Varvatos bag with horrible stitching and horrible hardware.

Nice work. Did you use thin nylon webbing between the strap layers?

great idea

I've found out that generic double-sided blades work just as well as the OEM blades, but not all blades are created equal. The cheapest blades that work very well are the Dorco-301 stainless steel $8/100. Vidyut Super-Max, which are easy to find at $.99-Stores in NYC are horrible.

I've got some surplus from a 5-gallon pail/box of Clearco. I can sell some off at around cost at $.25 per oz in minimums of 20 ounces (the Vitamin Water and Gatorade bottles. This should be less than half the price elsewhere. I should have about a gallon to spare. I think silicone thread lube does assist the thread running through the guides as well as the lock forming somewhere in the middle of the leather. It would be interesting to see the difference on very dry veg tan, with and without thread lube.

One method is to use some thin fabric to make a little hammock for all but the bottom slot.

Hi Ray, I did a quick waterproofing experiment a while back and posted pics somewhere around here. Sno-Seal performed well, but it seems heavy on petroleum and best suited for sports and hunting gear where the major focus is waterproofing and maybe not necessarily leather conditioning. Ed

Beiler's Manufacturing and Supply in Pennsylvania should have those buckles or something similar in either SS or SB. Ed

Anyone know where to get sheets of foam similar to that used on the rollers in Weaver's dye box? I think this foam would would work well in clips for the application of edge finishes. Ed

Anyone have experience with the following sharpener for razor blades? If it works well, it might be good for box cutting blades and the narrow blades for strap cutters and safety skivers. http://www.stropper.com/stropper_website/stropper_view_details.php?id=1125&shortname=Ruby&page=26&category=&select1=&select2=&select3=&select4=&select5=&select6= ed

LadyK, Well, I finally did get this machine and am actually quite surprised how well it works with 5/6oz veg tanned and chrome tanned leather. For best results I will have to go through quite a few blades. The OEM blades, while very sharp, are paper thin. Do you know if thicker standard blades are readily available? All I know is that I can get 100 generic blades for $19 from Talas here in Brooklyn. I'd also like to find a knife maker to make a few custom blades that could be sharpened, honed, and polished. I'd love to hear more about any tips for using this machine. Thanks for all your advice. Ed

I've finally seen the light, the eyebrows long since having grown back. Ed

Upon closer inspection the wiring fix both to integrate the wiring and make use of the two outlets at the base of the lamp was rather straight forward. It's now done, and I now have four additional grounded outlets around the workbench. Repairing two worklamps..... $14.95 Retrofitting two defunct worklamps.... $.75 Four additional grounded outlets around the workbench ... Priceless! The 22-watt circline lamp is dead. Long live the Lamp! Ed

It is with heavy heart that I inform you these 22-watt circline fluorescent lamps are no more. They stopped working. Because the poor light these bulbs produce have fallen out of favor with me, I have no desire to fix them (I believe I have to replace the starters again). I was very reluctant to throw out these lamps, as much of them, especially the springs and long arms, are of high quality and usability. And then I got the bright idea of salvaging the arms, magnifying glass, springs, handle, and screws. I had two of the hood/socket assemblies from the very poor quality $10 swing-arm lamps that no longer hold their positions after a few months. I managed to attach these hood/socket assemblies to the salvaged quality swing arms. I was about to shell out $120 for two Danray gooseneck lamps, which I absolutely love, a purchase which I can now save for a later date, as I now have two additional lamps that can take both incandescent and the effective 100-watt to 200-watt spiral compact fluorescent bulbs, which I have come to prefer. The 22-watt circline lamp is dead. Long live the Lamp! Ed

There's a tannery in Leon, Mexico, called Concurmex: sales@concurmex.com They ship leather for Justin, Tony Lama, Allen Edmonds, Florsheim, Coach, LL Bean, Johnston & Murphy, among others.......... Two oiled chrome tans they have are Cyclone (Pull up leather) and Apache (Crazy horse leather). I'll contact Paul Krause. Thanks, Ed

Perhaps you are thinking of something like a Scharf-fix 2000. http://apps.webcreate.com/ecom/catalog/product_specific.cfm?ClientID=15&ProductID=17482 Ed