Im only just getting into leather-working, and have dipped my toe into the very deep and expensive waters of crafting tools. Im also stepping right off the deep-end and designing a canvas and leather messenger bag as a first project. So far, ive found out that my best bet for the heavy leather and canvas ill be using are stitching chisels, as the speedy stitch awl i have makes horrendous looking holes on the back-side, though that might be that the test piece was a bit thinner than the leather i plan to use. i think i need the next size down needle as well. probably not a big deal if ive got canvas as the second layer, but leather to leather looks nasty. Also, that i need to considerably thin the fiebings tan die i got, because it comes out damn near burgundy brown straight out of the bottle, and clashes horribly with the light drab canvas i have. I probably wouldnt need to if i got some antelope brown oilskin, but at my budget, thats just not gonna happen, haha. I do like the somewhat mottled effect the dauber gives, both because it accents the scuffs and scars on the leather (monetary and aesthetics driven decision), and it fits the sort of "manly-mans heavy duty bag" aesthetic im going for. Can you use methylated spirits to thin, or does it need white-spirits or something? also, how do i clamp whats basically a fillet or lap join in a stitch-horse? i have many, many questions, and this forum seems like its about the right place to start.
