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I had thought that oil might work, and I used crisco along with ivory soap and ajax. It all worked to some degree, but I thought there might be something better available. ed

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to get some of the ReDuRan. It's good to know about denatured alcohol, as I should have some on hand. ed

The best source to try in the U.S. is Ohio Travel Bag.

I spilled some spirit dye and got a good amount on my hands during clean-up. Is there a method or good soap to cleaning dye off human skin? Thanks, Ed

I'm also curious to know which light this is. My understanding is that it is this headlamp: http://www.qedisit.com/minitec.htm

I think I'll have to figure a way to make my own brass burrs. Anyone know if it's possible to use hand punches to punch out small discs from .025" thick 260 brass sheet? Thanks, ed

I've also wondered about their 5/6 oz veg tan. From the picture it looks smooth and buttery, but you never know what the quality is actually like from month to month. ed

Does it make sense that the hardness of the brass (industry terminology: harness of the wire) in solid brass escutcheon pins will vary from vendor to vendor. I'd like to find some #14 nickel plated solid brass escutcheon pins that are a bit more malleable than the ones I currently have. Ed

I never focused on the artistic. Everything was to be about function. The more I focused on function and thought about what stitching or riveting in a certain areas is supposed to do, the lines started coming together on their own. For example, some bag makers will have an extra line of stitching that is merely decorative and doesn't serve to hold anything together. Lack of such attention to real function, I think, plays out negatively in other areas of such bags as well, and leads to a nagging sense, though maybe not articulated, that something is off. ed

google kwikprint.

I also like to follow the mechanical and functional into the artistic. If stitching or riveting needs to exist and is done with thought and consideration, the outcome should most likely be artistic. Here's my latest bag. I'll call this one the Walden Diplomat. Prior to stitching, I'm like a slalom skier visualizing the course in my head, where I want to turn, how I want to incorporate the hand backstitching so that whatever is done on the right side is also done on the left, etc. ed

Thanks, Art.

Thanks, Luke. I got the Barge in today and have a few questions. 1. I'm now concerned about making sure I stir or shake cc well before using. It seems rather difficult to shake or stir anything in a gallon container but much easier in a quart container. I will be pouring from the gallon into quart containers. Should I just shake and slowly rotate the gallon container as best I can prior to pouring into the quart container. 2. Setting time: I'll be sure to test on some scrap, but the can reads to let the cc-coated leather sit for 5 minutes to 4 hours before placing both sides of the leather together. I usually like to wait no longer than 15 to 30 minutes before adhering both sides of leather to each other. What has been the experience with this New Formula Barge? Is 15 to 30 minutes workable? Have you been able to get by with just one coat of NF Barge on most leathers or are two coats demanded? One post I read in a musical instrument repair forum stated that two coats of the New Formula is required, but I wonder if this is the case when the NF is not stirred or shaken well prior to using. Thanks, Ed

I'm also not crazy about Ebay, but I have to use them from time to time for advertising. I just don't think Etsy.com has wide enough exposure, yet. I'd like to make my website look more professional and either have a link to Etsy for currently available items or have my own store. That said, Ebay has a new promotion or continuing policy -- don't know which -- that is difficult to resist. In a 30-day period,the first 5 items you list are free of listing fees. You will pay only 8.75 percent or $20, whichever is lower, of the final selling price. If this policy will be continuing, I will advertise with Ebay every 30-day period I'm beginning to think that a leather only site in an Etsy-like format might be worthwhile. Leather is something that people search for specifically. I think such a site would direct a lot of traffic. This is something that will exist eventually. Whose going to be the first to get it off the ground? We've had discussions before about the disadvantages of having such a site affiliated or connected with Leatherworker.net, which is probably a bad idea,so such a site would have to be independent. ed

Weaver now sells only the new formula Barge and they use it in their own production. Word from them today is that they have experienced no difference in quality. And they use the new formula in the same manner they used the old formula. Perhaps this should be taken with a grain of salt -- who knows. I tend to get rather lazy when it comes to stirring CC before using. Perhaps stirring is even more necessary with new formula Barge. Ed

The last time I put contact cement -- it may have been rubber cement -- in an opaque plastic bottle, the cement seemed to turn dark brown and thick prematurely. I did not make a special effort to store the bottle out of the light. This time I will have some thinner on hand, but I wonder if storing in a clear, translucent, or opaque bottle has an adverse effect on the integrity of the glue causing a shorter storage life. I'm getting in gallon containers of the new Barge and would like to give the soap bottle idea a try. Ed

I got in my mini bench grinder today and did a bit of grinding. No pictures of these mods yet. Here are some pictures taken of leather limitations with basic mods done a year or so ago. The Monster wheel slipped when the needle was trying to go through two layers of 5/7 thick-skinned latigo. Did the same with one layer of 10/12 bridle. Perhaps it is a good thing that the Monster wheel did slip, otherwise I think the needle would have busted and who knows what else in this little machine that may just try to take on more than she can handle. The Sailrite machines don't have the problem with the MW slipping because they have a pin that solidly and completely locks the MW onto the cam. Prior to this pin, Sailrite used just two allen head screws to hold the MW onto the cam, which is the method I use with my Yamata. If anyone has plans to buy presser feet and feeddogs for these machines from either yamata or consew, please let me know, as I'd like one more presser foot and two feeddogs with which to experiment with grinding down. These parts should be about $9 apiece and $9 total shipping. When I ordered these parts from Yamata, I received one malformed feeddog that was useless. I was a bit irate and didn't feel like paying to send the part back. Finally, today I made good and turned the sucker into a lt. side toe with my new Harbor Freight mini bench grinder. ed

I think I was searching for something about contact cement.

I came across this site with interesting bits of useful unconventional information: INTERESTING_TIBITS_INFORMATION_1_25227.html INTERESTING_TIBITS_INFORMATION_1_25227.html

Not good to hear, since I just put out for two gallons. I've yet to use Barge, so I don't know what to expect regarding fumes. If the new Barge has low fumes similar to the old Tandy CC and Duall 88 that will be one plus.I can't imagine it would underperform Duall 88. From what I hear, Weaver uses the new formula exclusively in its own production environment. I'll give them a call to get some pointers for how they've adjusted to the new formula. If I come up with anything useful I'll report back. Ed

I wasn't expecting those brushes to be so sturdy. Looks like I'll have to get a couple of those bottles with my next order with one of my suppliers. Thanks, Ed

Weaver told me today that the new Barge does not have this hazardous shipping requirement.

Bob, Do you know if the lids to these plastic bottles will fit the quart containers of contact cement? If they don't, that would be a good idea for someone to make and market. I hate it when the brush stem breaks off the underside of the cap to my quart containers when I still have a good deal of contact cement left in the container. Ed

Rick, Would you say that acetone could be used universally as a thinner for all brands of CC, or does it just happen that it works well with Masters? Is Masters a yellowish-tannish color like XL-8 and Weldwood or is it more opaque like Tandy and Duall-88? I'm beginning to wonder if the darker colored CCs are better. Ed

I thought I'd post here instead of starting a new thread. I'm running low on supply of Tandy CC and need to switch to using the gallons and thinner. I had wanted to switch to XL-8. Keith told me to get more familiar XL-8. I did and he was right. It's the only CC I've used that requires one coat, as stated on the container. To make a long story short, I needed a two-dollar item from Weaver so had to think up some other needed items. They have Barge at the same price for which I can get XL-8. I noticed that the Barge container also states one coat (Tandy and Duall 88 for me require two coats, which doubles the work time for glueing). I know many people aren't satisfied with Barge's new non-hazardous formula, but are you able to get by with using only one coat? Would you say that minimum wait time for assembly is 20 to 30 minutes? Ed