chuck123wapati

Very interesting, great advice and logic and i agree with it completely. I think most folks fight that cost per piece problem because of a couple of reasons. Either they went to college and majored in business as i did and were taught that this is one of the first thing you need to find out if your business plan will work or they got online and tried to build a business plan from one the get rich sites or they read some of those articles you mentioned. Also when going to a bank for a loan that's about the first thing they want to know and your loan may depend on it accurate or not. It does scare a lot of folks simply because as you said there are plenty of variables and hidden costs associated with a product as well some don't understand depreciation of tools for example or how it is figured into cost per piece or how you are eating that cost at the beginning but making it back up in the end that is if your still in business lol.

I sharpen my awls different than Nigel. I sharpen a flat on the tip and polish the sides this way i dont have to sharpen all four sides but i can just run it across a piece of 2500 grit sand paper i have glued on my hammering stone. i do this by using one of the four edges as the tip then simply angle a bevel down to the opposite edge. I can then always see the leading edge put my finger on it and keep my holes running the same direction I polish or reshape the sides by holding my awl flat on the edge of the stone and use my small stone or a piece of sandpaper wrapped or glued to a flat steel polishing it. I find its easier for me to keep the edges parallel and straight by moving the paper or stone and keeping the awl steady, kind of like using a file on something. i dont know if i can load my picture the site is kind of jacked today and i have no attach button on this.

getting a site not secure problem today ( NET::ERR_SSL_OBSOLETE_VERSION) Some pictures wont open. Every time i click on something i get the message and have to override the warning. i can still get on obviously but its jacked up a bit.

it's all about math 8 spi for example one stitch = 1/8th inch so your stitching has to be measured in 1/8th inches. measure your stitch line then do the math if it doesn't come out correct then use a different spi that fits or lengthen or shorten your line. On this wallet it would be of little consequence to make it a few mm bigger or smaller to make your holes, chisels or punches come out even. That's what mock ups are about and patterns are for, getting the small stuff correct so it all goes together easily and quickly every time, doesn't matter what is making the holes. I also noticed on your wallet your holes on the sides are punched with your line on the sides of the holes on the bottom the line is in the center of the holes that little bit of difference will throw you off by half a stitch as will the rounded corner your corner holes are out of line so the stitch length will be affected

alot indeed especially for a great dane very nice looking and matching leash?

it appears the free stuff is back at least for me, i had to contact them to get my password back about a month ago and they set me up but the library wasn't there now it is all back. I will down load all the free stuff this time lol.

yes you can veg tan it but it still will be a thin leather so may still be to soft for your purpose. here is a link to some good info.https://braintan.com/barktan/1basics.htm

https://archive.org/details/leatherwork00wils/page/n3/mode/2up

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58293 this is on 18th century williamsburg this one has some interesting info on the laws in effect for leather work.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/48588/48588-h/48588-h.htm

https://b-ok.cc/book/5407613/192e68 main site =https://b-ok.cc/s/leather craft

https://archive.org/stream/cuirdorhangingsi00csel?ref=ol#page/24/mode/2up?ref=ol . Some cool stuff here although many books on leathercraft aren't shown its a great reference on the books out there that were written. https://openlibrary.org/search?subject=leatherwork

I like your personal style of tooling. Its very clean.

wow those are really nice! dont know how i missed this post.

great for a Rothschild family reunion lol. Awesome needle work and attention to detail!

buy good ones you wont be disappointed and you can resell them if you decide. I was given a set of the cheapo Chinese made ones and they bend or break off, and are not polished so are a real pain to get back out of heavy leather.

Have you looked online for denim vest patterns? I've never made one from leather but i don't know why the patterns would be to much different.

wow those are awesome! Beautiful in every way!

never posted from an I pad but I do know your picture cant be to big, I have to resize all mine smaller than 1.46 mb or they wont post

The original slings weren't that thick 1/4". They are just one layer of heavy veg tan leather. I have replaced the leather on a couple of them and they wont stretch unless you pull a truck or something with them maybe. I see someone has already given you the thickness of the originals. Just my thoughts on this project, the original 1907s were built to fit every body type and every rifle type so they were perforated with holes from one end to the other. If you really want to reduce the stretch then I would suggest building it with his custom length in mind, much fewer holes, and also you would be able to form the leather at the sling swivels this would do what he wants. Thicker leather will not bend tightly at the sling swivels and is the most common problem with these slings, they dry and break the leather from bending at the swivels and imo is where the "stretch" or actually slack comes from. you can see in the picture posted by Steven1 the leather at the front swivel is is bent as tight as it can get when not used but when a guy really gets the sling around his arm and ready for use he has to pull this slack out and keep it out while aiming that is where his "stretch " is. I have used these for years on all my rifles, my dad a wwII vet wouldn't use anything else and taught me the same lol they are the best again IMO. Good luck with your project and shoot use some pics!

The original slings weren't that thick 1/4". They are just one layer of heavy veg tan leather. I have replaced the leather on a couple of them and they wont stretch unless you pull a truck or something with them maybe.

Here is one of my favorites, I made this about 30 years ago and it was one of my first forging attempts also lol. Made from square stock it has no real temper and will bend if used wrong. I carried it for years in my possibles bag and made many things and repairs while in the woods with it. Not diamond shaped more square but sharper than heck and makes a nice hole for some sinew. I use it now mostly for enlarging/ stretching my punched holes when sewing. Funny thing when I decided to take the picture I got out my old bag to add to the pic and found two more spares I had completely forgotten about made at the same time but not finished. I guess its been pretty good as I have never had to use the replacements lol.

those are great lookin holsters! Great basket weave as well as the double stitching.

beautiful work! Where have I seen that belt design?...... now I remember Clint Eastwood! Great job!!

drill a small hole in the center of one end and screw into it a woodscrew, cut off the head of the screw and chuck it up in a hand drill. then spin the wood piece against a belt sander. spin it in the opposite direction of rotation than the sander.

A very interesting question! The different cultures also have to be taken into consideration, Life on the "frontier" was a myriad of peoples all with their own leather working processes, Indian, French, English, etc all had different techniques for working leather. As well stature played a part rich folks got imported leather goods poor folk made their own. I always use a character model when doing era related projects, was my guy a poor French trader, if so he may have some American Indian clothing as well as French, or an English aristocrat coming to find adventure who may have all new English made attire. As for finding the answer to burnishing I think you have to narrow down what cultures leather processes you intend to copy and look at museum pieces for your answers. BUT if the info is so hard to find then who will know if your wrong and burnishing is basically doing what time does to leather , wears the edges and makes it rounder and smoother.