chuck123wapati

. lol that pack would look the same no matter how big I am or the owners before me. It's been a few hard miles with me, that's for sure. What's so cool about packs and backpacking is every person gets has to find out for themselves what works. I can't wait to see your work. Both my packs and what I pack have gotten a lot lighter over the years. Here are some from a few years back let me know if you would like some more

Thanks!! I love doing it; for some reason, file work is the most relaxing part of making blades for me.

welcome !!! Looks like a definite plan and a really cool project. But just because you're big doesn't mean you have to go overboard. You will be happier with a lighter leather weight, and your pack will last just as long, look better, and the straps will be 100 times more comfortable.. If you look at old world packs, they used about 5 oz. This is my baby (Swiss salt-and-pepper rucksack). If you need any pics of the construction methods, let me know; these are some of the best packs made IMO..

heck yeah, I have a few of them; here's one I rebuilt. The blade was broken and reground on a grinder so was ruined, so I made a new blade and put some curly maple on it. They do make decent helpers on the leather bench.

Thanks. Oh man, you should see it in some good lighting; that skin is unbelievable. Much prettier than prairie rattler. I used some dark blue before the black; I think it helps some. lol Thanks.

I figured I'd better post something, made this for my son's birthday. @Frodo sent me this chunk of rattler a while back, so I figured it would look good on this. See I haven't been totally lazy this summer. Sorry about the pic; my son took it and didn't notice the grass.

I like it!

Here's another way to do a small case or neck bag. Just sew it up and cut some fringe.

If I am correct, you want to know how much tension on both the top and bottom to make the stitch have the correct amount of tightness. And just how tight is right? That is a good question indeed. I have no idea, really. I set my fabric machine top tension to 5, which is midway, and then set the bobbin tension so it sews correctly. But like you i have no idea if the stitch is tight enough. My leather machines have no number system, but I try to set them about midway also. Sewing different-thickness threads with the same tension setting could also cause those differences you see. I am also waiting for an expert answer to this.

I thought paper covers rock.

You're getting better every time!!! Yeah, trim all the waste off that you can after sewing it up. Skiving also helps.

lol there may be a situation arise when you want it to tear loose. But yeah, a lighter thread stitched correctly down the sides imo.

I have a set that went down to 1mm. I threw about three or four of the smallest in a drawer.

nice work and a good idea!!

For a hole that small, a round awl does fine; a .5mm punch is a waste of time in leather.