chuck123wapati

sweeeet! indeed.

perfect IMO!! That's a working tool there.

that's a nice heavy duty rig for sure!!!! it looks awesome

probably not strong enough, just use plain white vinegar. i use 0000 washed steel wool but even old nails will work. it takes a while just leave it sit and check it weekly.

yup you cant tan hide without stretching it. When we tan( my son and I) we can almost double the size of a hide by stretching it on a frame and BTW that's what those funny square clamp marks are on the edges of hides you buy. They are stretching clamps!! The process known as tanning simply takes out the mucus and some of the natural glue and also replaces it with whatever the tanning chemicals used after which the hides must be stretched until dry or the natural glues remaining make it hard again, btw that's why your veg tan gets harder after wetting it!!! And that is where hide glue comes from, by slowly steeping raw hide in hot water!!! Then you add oils to soften the hides in the same manner as oil is used to remove gum from your kids hair, it breaks the bonds of the natural glues holding the fibers together. As for shrinking yes they shrink back to the original size some more than others depending on the stretching methods used. The hat brim i did the other day shrank about 1/4" all around after i finished it the other day even after tooling it and i used no dyes. Dyes aren't the culprit its a matter of how much the hide remained over stretched during tanning.

Good to hear your doing better, it is all about what you eat. My wife saw this doctor on you tube explaining how bad refined sugar really is, it is literally put in almost all processed foods we eat or drink here in the US. The sugar lobby has hid the reality of sugar by subsidizing studies that make fat to be the bad guy. She and the kids quit using anything with processed sugar three months ago, kept the fat in our diets in fact we switched to beef tallow for cooking instead of the processed vegetable oils, and she has lost 43 pounds my son 42. I've lost about 20 only because i didn't use extra sugar the way they did in coffee and juices. so now my diet advise is dump the sugar!!! at least as much of it as you can.

oh no i hope your feeling better and its not stones you have to pass. I wish you well friend i guess at least your home for now and have decent food again lol. I'm doing good following orders from the wife.. for now lol.

pretty much how i do it. i use cardboard templates. I trace around them onto the leather with a pencil so they last for years plus I trace one pristine out for my files and also scan them so i can print them out on plain paper if needed for drawing my tooling designs on. i get my card stock from old Christmas clothes boxes they are pretty and free too lol.

the debut lol.

2 grand and custom made tooling means a lot of straps to make it pay plus your at their mercy for cost of "custom tooling". but if you got the dime it looks pretty cool. does it require custom tooling plates for every thing you plan on punching? I mean what if you want 3/4" between holes instead of 1" is that a whole other custom tool?

sew heres my take on this 100 dollar piece of crap after a month( mostly awaiting on needles) I'm done tinkering, with the exception of building a nice bobbin stand and a bobbin winder. i changed to a system 135x16 needles which took only about ten minutes work. it will run t135 thread with 140 /22 or 130/21 needles flawlessly on leather under 3/8" thick. That's its max thread and needle and thickness IMO that it will sew reliably without pre punching holes or any other work arounds. I will use it with that needle thread combo or t90 and size 18 or 19 needles until its little wheels fall off and love every minute of it. Thanks to everyone who responded to me each of you helped me understand this machine, thread & needle combos and above all gave me the inspiration to try it out. My scrap pile is much smaller now lol.

with that machine shop he could build his own lol.

i like it ! you have lot of irons in the fire lately maybe tie some of those poems to some of your art.

your work is always an inspiration.!!

welcome!!! the search feature is you friend tons of answers to your questions already. I agree with the pastors recommendation, buy tools as you need them for projects then slowly expand as your abilities grow. "leather work" covers products from car seats to watch straps, wallets to armor. you need to decide what you are going to make, that will point you to the right tools and what your needs will be 1.i would suggest you start with hand sewing because you will at some point have to learn it plus it makes more of an impression for customers buying handmade stuff. Hand sewn (wow ) machine sewn (meh) no matter which is better one sounds better and more personal. PS machine sewing is an art also that needs training and experience and a learning curve easily as hard as hand sewing. you need to connect any leather together some how so sewing stuff is a must have, hand sewing is cheapest to start you don't need a 250 dollar chisel set you need two chisels a multi tooth and a double tooth what ever stitch length fits your project. rivets and snaps are a need. a maul or hammer, and a stitching pony. a sewing machine is a very large investment that leaves you in the red for quite a while, think how many wallets will it take to pay off, and no one machine can sew all leather, takes up permanent space in your shop. 2. stamping and tooling is optional you don't absolutely need them to make fine leather goods. So buy these as needed or when you decide to try tooling or stamping, which are kind of the same but different. I didn't tool or stamp at all for years after I started, just worked on the basic processes to make nice looking plain stuff which a lot of people prefer. I still make mostly plain holsters and belts. 3. you need finishing stuff glue, dyes, and sealers, conditioners. and a way to apply them. 4. cutting, you can get by with any number of cutting tools you probably already have in you home, knives and cutting boards etc. sharpening tools. But a strap cutter is a must imo doesn't have to be expensive but it saves tons of time as almost any project takes a strap or two it seems. 8. think outside the box when thinking about tools you can make many and probably have many good substitutes already laying around or you can pick them up at the local hardware store, flea market, yard sale, dollar store. Good luck and welcome, post your stuff for us to see!! and ask questions.

Thanks Bert!!

i cant help but ask if you know how maps were done why are you trying to do them differently? If for one of those reenactment things someone will surely call you on it.

here is another thread on the subject. with a picture.

you should consider some of the thinner hides that were traditionally used for writing and maps and such. sheepskin , goat skin, calf skin. Deer is another good supple leather that could be used.

Thanks Frodo , I don't think I'm ready for a motor yet lol I'm still going one turn a time. it definitely has a learning curve to get a straight stitch.

thank you!

I'm sure everyone has a little different minds eye definition when the word is said. i pretty much define the terms loosely through satirical comedies with no ill intent meant. Sort of old fashioned now a days and sure to piss someone off that doesn't remember a time when we could kid around with who we are without being offended. Everyone connects Sherlock Holmes to the hat style , wasn't he an English Gent? but in my case my minds eye sees the this English cartoon character from the old rocky and Bullwinkle show and now i cant remember his name. And my redneck is that get er done guy Larry. lol. you've seen my redneck bill the other would probably be a beautiful English pointer or red Deer. My disclaimer!!!!! if I offended anyone I'm sorry.

oh yea thats nice!!!!! I like that tooling.

lol i could do redneck on one and English gent on the other that way you could just turn it around depending on which pub or bar you were in . thank you!!

lol that would be awesome but what motif? i know redneck, thanks guys!!