Ashley55

Excellent, thank you for that!

That makes a lot of sense, thank you! I will try to pound the edges and see if that helps. How long of lace do you typically use at a time? I've read 6feet, but if does get thinner/softer from being pulled through the holes would it be better to use smaller pieces?

I just put together one of the old tandy handbag kits, the Western Classic 2, and I have a problem with it twisting. This is my first time making a "thick" leather bag, so I'm not sure what to expect. But as you can see in the pictures the front panel is twisted, and sort of pushed in- which makes it near impossible to close the clasp. I've worked it around a bit to try and shape it back where it should be, but it's being stubborn. How can I prevent this from happening in future bags? Is there a trick to keep everything shaped properly? Or could it just be that it's the original old stiff (even though I oiled the crap out of it) leather thats been in the box for however long? For now I've just wet the inside down and stuffed some items in it to try and push it into the correct shape.

Thanks to the referral to Japan Sewing, Chris hooked me up with a new motor. And I've got to say, it was definitely the right choice. The new motor is not only able to sew slower, but its much more powerful and much easier to control- and yet so much smaller, the old motor was this big honken thing. It did come with a 75mm pulley, but thanks to the tips I just swapped it out for the 45mm pulley from the old motor. It was pretty simple and straightforward to swap the new one in. Yes, it probably would have been cheaper in material cost to dyi a speed reducer pulley set- but the time it would take me to figure out what I need, where I can get the parts, and then install it would cost me far more in time than the new motor did. Time is money All in all, things are working just like I wanted now, so I'm happy!

I'm in a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere, Harriston. About 2 hours from Toronto. Thank you, I will check them out!

I watched a few diy videos of speed reducers, and decided I'd be better off buying something "premade." I'm just not handy like that unfortunately...

I'm in Ontario Canada

Thank you very much, I will be sure to check that!

Thank you for the fast replies! That one looks similar to the one I was looking at here https://www.techsew.com/en/techsew-550-servo-motor.html I think I'll give it a try and see how it goes

I bought a used Cowboy 2500 and it's just too fast for me to do much more then straight lines, I'd like to be able to slow down enough to do tighter corners/curves and details. I was looking at getting a speed reducer, but then noticed that new servo motors cost just about the same price. The motors claim they slow down enough to sew stitch by stitch- one in particular I looked at was the Techsew 550. So now I am wondering if the cost is the same, is it just simpler to replace the motor with one that will do a slower speed? Are servo motors like a "one size fits all" sort of thing, or are there specific ones that will only work with certain machines? The current servo motor on my machine is 400w 110v and there is 2 speed settings 0-3000 and 0-1500. I emailed a couple of the companies to ask about this, but haven't heard back from any so I figured someone here could offer some input.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Wish there was a solution I was missing, but at least I have an idea that it might just be the leather. It does tool and dye nicely, so maybe I'll just have to stick with antiquing if I want any definition to my tooling. Wish I hadn't bought a whole double shoulder, but I live so far from any stores so try and make it worth it when I travel there. I'd like to try some Herman Oak or Wickett- Craig, but nowhere around sells it so have to ship it in, will probably try for it once I'm done with this stuff. Those pieces in the picture were just done quickly so I could have something to show. But it looks the same no matter the moisture content. And I stamp on granite, so good and hard surface.

I've been using Tandy leather up until now, its been fine but I wanted to upgrade to something of better quality. I purchased some Belgian veg tanned double shoulder from a nearby store, its very nice BUT it doesn't give off any nice dark burnish when carving and stamping. I've tried several different casing methods (full 24hr in a bag, quick sponge, etc), stamping at different moisture levels, but I still get the same results. I don't know if there is something I need to do differently, or if this is just what I will get from this leather? This is the Tandy leather on top, and new leather below.

I do notice it does lift a bit of colour when applying. But I usually do my stitching after the finish so I haven't had any stitch discolouration happen.

Thanks for the replies. It is indeed the paste and not the gel. And it would seem like there is something wrong with it, it dried to a greenish colour... very strange.

I just got 2 new colours of fiebings antique, light brown and dark brown, and they both look....black? Is there any way to lighten them somehow? I basically now have 3 colours: black, darker black, and very dark black The light brown was also quite runny, not like the thick paste my other colours are. I'm wondering if there is something wrong with it? I mixed it around, but it was still quite liquidy and I could just pour it right out of the bottle. Seemed strange to me

Hmm ok thanks. I don't think it looks all that bad, might look kind of cool, I'll have to play around and see what it ends up looking like.

This may be a stupid question, but bear with me- I'm still learning. I purchased a new hide the other day, I had previously been using Tandy hides but got sick of them constantly having all kinds of marks and scars and whatnot. I found another leather supplier in the area that carries better quality hides (or so I'm told), being in all the covid craziness we cannot go into stores so I asked them to just pick a nice one for me. One thing I noticed is it has this pattern all over it, the darker lines running all through making it look like a desert/alligator. What is this? Is this normal? Will it fade away once I start working with the leather? Or will dying it just accentuate the lines?

Thank you! Very helpful!

Well there goes that thought LOL Today I was buffing some pieces I dyed yesterday. One had a single coat of saddle tan, and the other was black. I coloured up a whole rag with the saddle tan. The black, next to nothing coming off! I prepped them the same way, the only thing that was different was I cut the black piece from the other side of the hide. I'm going to try dying a piece from that side again tomorrow with the saddle tan and see what happens...

Me again! Have been doing all kinds of reading and YouTube watching lately and it seems like people either have the same problem or no problem at all (with lots of dye coming off when buffing). Which leads me to this question: Does the quality of the leather affect how the dye is absorbed and how much pigment gets left on the surface? I will admit, I am using Tandy leather, the cheapest Tandy leather... And with all my reading I've also learned that this is not the best kind of leather to use for most things. So could this also be contributing to my issue?

Thank you all for the excellent advice! I will absolutely try reducing the dye, I think perhaps I was putting it on too thick. I just finished a black piece, just the regular black not the USMC, and buffed and buffed and buffed until finally no dye was coming off. I didnt have any problem with rub off after resolene after that.

Well glad I'm not the only one lol I do use resolene after, but I find that its picking up dye, and even after drying I can rub with a cloth and colour will come off. From what I've read on here the problem is there is still pigment and its getting suspended in the resolene. I will definitely look into buffing mechanically somehow, because I plan to do more dyed pieces but at this rate it will take me forever!

Hi all! So maybe I just need to hit the gym more, or maybe I'm just not doing it right. But after dying a piece it seems like I could buff all day and still get some dye transfer? I use Fiebings pro dye, and let it dry a few days (I do things here and there whenever i get time). I rub with a soft cloth until my arm is on fire, and there is still dye coming off on the cloth. Am I buffing too hard and actually removing the dye and not just leftover pigment? Or maybe not hard enough and there is just a lot of pigment left over? I understand darker colours are trickier, and I am using black, dark brown and saddle tan. I have not tried reducing the dye, but from the sounds of it that might be a good idea. The amount of buffing I'm doing just seems excessive...

Hi all! I have been reading, and reading and reading some more, and I have come to the conclusion that there is no one right answer on how to finish projects! I'm just looking for some reassurance that I am on the right track. I am making nosebands and small saddle bags to hold cell phones. I'm currently using Tan-Kote and Aussie conditioner. Is this enough protection? I know these are not heavy use type items, and aren't intended to be used out in the rain- but could still get wet. So is the Tan-Kote and Aussie enough protection? I'm always worried about water spotting/dye running. I have used resolene in the past but I really dont like the shiny, plastic look. The dye I use is Feibings Pro dye, and also use Angelus acrylic paint.

Awesome, thank you for the suggestion!