esantoro

If the post was too long, I used to make a leather washer. Now I nip off the tip, If I don't have the right sized rivet. I also have a little ritual in setting them. Two light taps of the cap onto the post. Then I turn the piece over and give two light taps of the post into the cap. Turn the piece over again and whack the cap flat with a smooth surface cobbler's hammer an a rivet hammer. I'll give the post side a whack too to flatten it. I'll post pics later. I like the flattened look and it does seem to give a stronger hold. ed

I'll have to post my signature method for stitching on these dees. Actually, if you want, you can go to www.waldenbags.com and read the section where I detail the shoulder strap dee construction.

You think with chrome tan, it would be good to go without a shoulder strap?

Just got off the phone with Artisan about their Linhanyl sale. They seem to rave about it and think it's equivalent to Rice, which they do have some of for about $30 a pound. I've been using Coats and Eddington but am curious to give Linhanyl a try. Does anyone really like it? ed

I have used tooling sides and am ready to get back to the tooling sides, 5/6/7 oz. The reason at least for going to the chrome tan is 1.) I got a pretty good price for about 20 sides; 2.) the market seems to go more for the softer leather; 3.) it is easier to store. I'm looking to get back to the veg tan and even start in on bridle leather, which is why I got into the various needle plates and presser feet. Here are some pics of my veg tan bags, Though the style I'm going with now is that of the pic I posted recently. Ed

i get the best set with those rivets when the post extends no more than about 1/16" past the surface of the leather. I had read and been told 1/8", which is too much, in my experience. ed

I just realized another issue. The inner blanket foot attaches with a screw that sticks out to the left, which may nix the whole idea of using a filed down inner blanket foot. Quick question: With your narrow feet from Artisan, can you remove the inner foot without first removing the outer feet? Ed

My inner blanket foot has the teeth or grooves filed off, so it's smooth. I'm trying to decide to either file the sides of that smooth inner blanket foot a smidgen or squeeze the artisan toes a bit to accommodate the narrow grooved inner foot I already have. I'll post pics later. Thanks, Art. Ed

Talked to Steve today. It's a new item they have and they're having people test it out. I don't have enough experiments to run, so they gave me this thread to try out. I'll post pics later. Ed

Hi Art, Yup, that's the one. I got that same double toed outer foot from artisan, though mine seem to have a wider spread. Steve at Artisan told me that many people bend those outer toes inward and snip off the ends of the toes to be able to stitch narrowre areas. Did you do any of that with yours. I asked for the pic because I wanted to get a visual of your setup, as I am uaing a non-artisan inner groover with my new artisan double toed foot. I'm sure we have the same blanket foot which is much wider, though I really like the inner blanket foot, for it holds the leather down nicely. I'm even thinking of slightly filing the edges of my inner blanket foot to work with this new artisan foot. Thanks for the pic. ed

Dave from Artisan, along with a wonderful new presser foot and much needed screws, has sent me a sample spool of size 4 flat braided thread. It looks pretty interesting. I'll try to take macro pics later, but just thought I'd ask if anyone has ever tried this thread and if it can be used in the heavy stitchers? This size 4 seems to be equivalent to 277 or 346. Ed

very nice!

I all reality, I only need this plate for two two-inched curved sections on the middle gusset of my bags. In a future bag model it will be double. These are gusset corners where I'm stitching together three layers of 5/6/7/ oz leather, two gussets and one flat panel. Because there are two gussets that come together with a third layer of leather around a narrow turn, the use of a flat needle plate causes the leather to be pushed away from the needle bar, making clean stitches very difficult. The use of a lt. side ft. or any double toed foot adds to the difficulty. This is not such a problem on the outer gusset stitch lines. One of the only ways I've gotten around this is to prepunch the holes around the corners in question with only one gusset layer and a flat panel layer,and then use an awl to punch through the added gusset layer later and hand stitch around the corner. Ed

I thought I recognized that stitching. ed

I would say for the bags, definitely get a flat slotted needle plate, rt. side presser foot, and raised stirrup plate, in addition to the standard stuff, which I think is the blanket foot and plate. ed

Hi Art, would it be possible for you to repost those pics of your double toed foot from artisan.? I got the same foot in today from artisan and thought it would work with my current center foot groover. I may have to get Artisans inner groover foot, but would like to get a look at the dimensions. Thanks, Ed

I really like the standard blanket center foot that came with my machine. It's much wider than my inner groover foot I use with my narrow double toed harness makers foot. Tonight , however I'm going to experiment with that wide inner foot ant the rt. side foot that works so well on gussets. It just might be the perfect combination. Ed

Artisan seems to have a large selection and good prices right now. ed

Hi Tiffany, I use 5/6 and 6/7 on most bags. Currently I'm using Coats and Eddington and am growing more fond of the latter. I was curious as to whether Kevlar thread would cut through the leather. I had toyed with the idea of using Kevlar at one time but felt it would have been more a novelty than anything else, unless I was making another bag for a soldier heading off for the Middle East. How heavy are your bags running with thick bridle leather? Ed

At least with bag gussets, if you're using a lt. side presser foot, which early logic told me to do, that presser foot is going to start forcing the needle off line. Bruce's idea to use the rt. side foot is a good one. When I do stitch these gussets I also have started using a raised needle plate. ed

Same tool, just bigger, your planer. It probably is better to use the $40 tool specifically for scuffing leather prior to gluing, but it's a good inexpensive tool for the job. ed

Hi Bruce, REmember a while back when we were discussing gussets. You mentioned that you use a rt. foot, which is what prompted me to get the one in the pic. By any chance, is that the foot you were writing about? Ed

Doug, I'm not sure of the bump you're talking about, but for stitching the gussets on my bags, I've found the combination in the attached pic works the best. I suppose a lot depends on what you're trying to stitch. Ed

I thought you had to buy a minimum of $49 for free shipping with them. ed

Which presser feet and needle plate are you using? Also, what are you trying to stitch? ed