Spyros

^ Yep, just like mine :D

Yeah it's definitely on of those black, cast iron ones, with the gold decals. All manual, it hails from about a century ago. It used to be my grandma's but unfortunately I wasn't able to locate it in my last trip to my parent's home. Must be in the attic.

Yeah I'm sure I would, 30 kilos ago LOL But here's a photo of my daughter in it

So the diagonal stitch in the bottom as you're looking at my photo above, that's the bobbin side, ie it was stitched from the backside of the apron. And that's what it looks like, all other stitches on the photo are the top side. Just to show you that it does look slightly different, but still plenty good enough. I could probably achieve a better lock in the last 4 stitches but that's just me.

I have the cb4500 with the above set up from RockyAussie, and I just made an apron with some thin and very soft upholstery leather. The machine did it like a champ, no issues whatsoever (other than my crappy technique for finishing stitching lines) It's pretty impressive watching this machine that is clearly NOT made for doing this kind of work, actually doing this type of work. And the next minute without any adjustments also going through 4 layers of thick saddle leather. I guess the next project for me is to make a big removable plywood bed for it, just for these types of projects, because it was a bit awkward feeding an apron over the cylinder arm. I didn't get the bigger add-on table that JLSleather is showing, the sent me a small square one instead that is only really good for up to wallet size projects.

Hey Frodo, can ANY old singer sewing machine be used for leather? Feels like there's a million of them out there, and I'm pretty sure we have a black one in my family in an attic somewhere (sadly in another country, I'd have to have it shipped over), but how do I know which ones are good for leather? By the way I can see in that video you have maker's fingers, when I meet people with fingers covered in dye and glue I know we're gonna be friends LOL

I find that this lady, Nitz, Sima, Philip from Leathercraft Masterclass a few others I can see online, they all produce work aesthetically similar to each other, following what I call "the Hermes aesthetic", which has a specific definition of luxury, that is defined by very thinly skived layers of leather, soft calf/goat or exotic exteriors, carefully painted or rolled edges, colourful linen thread that stands out, and because it stands out it results in a competition to achieve the most slanted stitching possible, and designs that revolve around the Kelly bag, the attache bag, the long wallet, the classic duffle, the lawyer's briefcase. And to be fair, these guys are at the top of the leatherworking game, this kind of result demands a phenomenal attention to detail and allows about zero margin for error. I paid one of them (Philip) and watched some of his instructional videos, and though they were great, they made me realise I just don't have an interest in that particular aesthetic :D I mean don't get me wrong, I love to sit back and marvel at something like Danne's wallets as much as the next guy, but at the end of the day an item like that is just not in my lifestyle. Personally I got sucked into leatherworking from looking at Swiss Army saddlebags from world war 2 and wondering why I can't find bags in the market that look like that and age like that, and how hard would it be to make it myself. Other people grew up admiring carefully carved Sheridan style leather items in the States, and to them that is the pinnacle of leatherworking. And so on, there's a few aesthetics out there. So was it a waste of money? No, I would absolutely do it again, there's just no way you can see those guys explaining their work and not find something that is relevant to you. I mean I made my money back simply because I was about to pay some stupid amount for "pattern weights", and then Peter saved me by introducing me to $3 door stops :D :D :D

oh man I'm guessing you recently started woodworking? Stick around a little longer and you'll soon find you can spend years and years just studying and installing proper dust extraction. There is a mindblowing amount of contradictive and confusing information out there to sort through just on dust extraction. Sharpening? Haha! There is a famous joke in woodworking that if you're ever lost in the wilderness and you need to be found, just take out your stone and start sharpening a chisel, someone will pop out of nowhere to tell you you're doing it wrong :D There's a woodworking forum I can point you to where people argue for decades about the correct use and maintenance of hand planes. Decades. And another one for finishing. Or just dovetails, people can argue forever which technique is faster or more correct. Bowl turners, pen makers, carpenters, cabinet makers, furniture makers, tool builders, epoxy specialists, unplugged puritans, tool collectors, brand fanatics, there's all sorts of sects and crazies out there permanently arguing, you ask the same question to 5 woodworkers you'll probably get 5 different answers. It-just-doesnt-end. Youtube? Yeah sure, there's some good stuff out there, but make no mistake... most of it is just wrong information.

Enjoy your journey Danne! And when you write your own book, I'll buy it

I guess it's cheaper than destroying leather with trial and error or spending hours trying to guess the secrets. Is there anything in those wallets that I don't see in yours Danne? Because if there is, I struggle to see it to be honest. Nice colours though.

It looks pretty accurate here (go to 8:40)

Yeah these are nice. And they make good gifts too, everybody wants one to throw their keys in when they enter the house. I made a couple of extra large ones for the workshop too, with the thickest leather I could find, and then I added a loop right in the middle to pick it up from. Makes a good tray to move my sewing kit or small tools around

Sweet, thanks for all that info I think I got an idea what you mean about the gluing but I'll probably line the outside panel with fabric. That shell cordovan is already about 1.6mm and I don't want to make it any thicker. I got some Looney Tunes fabric :D

Yeah the long stitching runs on belts straps and things like that is usually where people start to question the value of hand stitching...

One of those big cylinder arm machines they use for saddle stitching, the cowboy cb4500. I think it's essentially the same as the one you're looking at but with a longer arm.

If you want a handstitched look from your machine just make sure to get LR needles and some thick thread. Everybody in the machine stitching world will try to stir you to thinner and thinner thread (which makes sense for many technical reasons, bobbin lasts longer, cheaper machines, cheaper thread etc etc) but if you want your stitching to look similar to hand stitching, you have to go the opposite direction. Hand stitching on average is done with thread double the thickness of the average machine stitched item. And then you have to tune your machine just right to match the teeth of your chisels. Like I said it's bit fussy, but doable.

I'm (slowly) going in the opposite direction. I bought a sewing machine, and in all honesty I can't visually tell the machine stitching apart from my own hand stitching. And if I can't tell it apart then I'd struggle to convince anybody that it's better. I mean I could argue it's stronger but I'm using such thick thread that any extra strength due to the saddle stitching is probably irrelevant for most peoples' use. I don't see the point to hand stitching any more. I was watching a video by Hermes and it was showing how they machine stitch watch straps, but they finish the last three stitches by hand, both for finishing look and for strength purposes, and that makes sense to me and I've started doing the same. There will always be other handstitched areas, places I can't reach with the machine, and keeping the look of all stitching consistent on the same project is a bit of a struggle, but it is possible.

I think he mentioned in one of his videos that he can make 5-10 wallets an hour (not these particular ones but similar). He makes them machine stitched, clicker cut, no lining, no edge paint, simplest designs possible. That's how you make money from wallets, and to be fair most people don't want a hand stitched wallet or even understand why they might want one. They just want something that looks nice to put their stuff in. Personally I make handstitched wallets for myself and family only, I would never bother to try and sell one unless someone was prepared to pay a crazy price. I made one for my sister recently and it ended up being 17 pieces... I was battling 2 days to finish the damn thing

Hey Danne, you know I love your work so much I didn't even comment because I can't praise it enough any more :D It's just your attention to detail that blows me away every time. I have a nice piece of shell here and I want to make (yet another) wallet for myself, and I like this design, but I does it work well in practice? So there's really one big external panel (lined) and 2 internal panels (I assume they are also lined on the back) that hold the cards. If I understand correctly, the 2 internal panels that hold the cards are not connected to each other, right? I'm not sure if that feels safe enough for the money when you open it... have you used it?

TBH I thought it's just an effort to get your youtube off the ground with some extra views and comments from fellow leatherworkers, which is absolutely fine by me.

One thing I can tell you pretty positively: don't buy the buckleguy one. I've already emailed them, it's basically unusable.

There you go, $50 https://www.ivan.tw/collections/tools-machines/products/pro-strap-cutter Probably works for self defence as well LOL

I'd dip dye it in black alcohol based dye.

I'd keep it really simple. Write down everything that you buy on a spreadsheet (or directly in quickbooks), at the price that you paid. Then once a month do a quick stock count but only for expensive items, mainly leather. Everything you find on hand stays in the books as "stock on hand", everything you had in the previous month stock count or bought in the month and can't find on your shelves any more goes down to "cost of goods sold". By "down" I mean that your books (and any financial report) have a balance sheet that tells you what you have and what you own, and (typically underneath it) a profit and loss account that tells you how much profit you made in the month. Stock on hand goes on the balance sheet, cost of goods sold goes in the P/L and comes out of your profit. When you do a stock count you can break down the leather in as many detailed categories as you want by type/colour/thickness etc but it's probably more trouble than it's worth, I'd just keep a rolling balance of square feet on hand, that's it, all in one bucket. The equation is really simple: Leather on hand from last month's stock count PLUS purchases of leather in the month LESS stock on hand this month = Leather consumed in the month. That's your cost of sales as far as leather goes. For smaller value consumable items like thread and glue etc I wouldn't bother with monitoring stock levels at all. Too much trouble for no real benefit, I'd just record their cost straight into the P/L as you buy it at the value you paid for it and it all goes into cost of sales without cycling into inventory first. This means that for consumables other the leather you assume that whatever you buy in the month you also consume in the month. Even if that assumption is not always true, the difference in dollars is probably too immaterial to make any difference in your financial reporting. Machines, tools and other long life items go into the balance sheet in "fixed assets" as you buy them and stay there forever. You just take down to the P/L a percentage of the value as depreciation periodically based on tax rules, your accountant should be able to do that for you.

What part of the hide was it from? Chromexcel and some bridle leathers can look incredibly consistent and usable all the way to the belly, however belly is still belly (ie loose grain) and it will stretch much more under strain. And Chromexcel, as you mentioned, is not the greatest leather for straps and belts to begin with because it is at the end of the day partly chrome tan, ie soft and stretchy. Same for Dublin, Essex etc.