Spyros

I call all my bags "Mimby". Mimby#53, Mimby#62 etc. Only one person ever asked my where the name came from, I said "Made In My Back Yard".

What does that mean? Can we use tools? Machines? What if it's a man powered machine, like a press? I don't understand where is the cutoff point exactly. Is it the use of electricity? So if you make everything manually but then you do a crease with an electric creasing machine you're disqualified? If I use a pc & printer to print a pattern? Am I allowed to turn the lights on or does it have to be candlelight?

A human-powered machine is still a machine Webster said no machines Lol

I still don't understand you. Is this a website only for people who sell stuff? Does every discussion has to revolve around sales?

What do you mean mate, I don't follow... I wasn't trying to make a point, and not everybody cares about customers (I certainly dont), I just had a philosophical question that's all.

Too bad then. What a customer thinks does not change the truth.

Yeah, why not? The fact that an even more manual process exists (hand stitching), doesn't make running a sewing machine any less of a manual process that requires good hand-eye coordination, practice, knowledge and natural dexterity. Besides, stitching (whether manual or machine) is only one part of the process of making a bag or a wallet, there are many more as you know, and they are manual.

My point is, I can't think of any leathercraft item that is not handmade.

Handmade as opposed to what? Is there such a machine that you put leather in one end and bags come out of the other? If you go to a production line or factory there's a tonne of people working because pretty much everything is done manually. There's someone dying edges, punching holes, setting hardware, even a lot of the cutting is done by hand by the time they get dies for every new design. Even operating a sewing machine is far from automatic, in fact it's a bit of an art in itself. But if you do all that alone in a one man workshop then it's "handmade". Why?

Except me probably LOL I bought the KS Blades, absolutely nothing wrong with them, except I found in the end that cheap diamond chisels actually work better for my kind of stitching because the shape of the hole is simply more convenient. And for some bags where I need to count holes, or I don't want to worry if I end up with layers of leather with holes facing opposite directions, I use round chisels. Again fairly cheap because they're so easy to sharpen on a drill that's it's just not worth paying top dollar for top steel or pre-sharpened tools. I can see KS offer diamond shaped ones now, but not when I bought mine.

I agree sharpening is an essential skill, I sharpen all the time. But exactly because I sharpen all the time for woodworking and for the kitchen, I don't want to spend even more time sharpening unless I absolutely have to. And for leatherworking I just don't have to, it's really that simple. I sharpen the bevellers and a couple of skiving hand tools but very infrequently. Did you really cut a chicken with an Xacto knife?

Those stitching hole pliers that Fred mentioned are also great for another reason: it makes it 100% certain that the holes will be equal distance from the edge of the leather both on the top and the bottom. A lot of people have a problem with that (including me when the leather is above a certain thickness). I know a professional wallet maker who uses them exclusively for this reason. I'm actually considering getting a pair, just not sure if the shape/size/distance of the holes will work for me.

I have separated most leatherworking items into stuff that it's worth paying more, and stuff that it's not worth it. In my opinion. STUFF NOT WORTH BUYING EXPENSIVE Chisels. Those cheap diamond shaped chisels are pretty much the same everywhere. Look at Corter leather youtube, those ones. Some people return to them after they've spent hundreds on Sinabroks and KS Blades, simply because it's easier to pass a thread through a chunky diamond hole than a narrow slit. Just get the shiny cheap ones, shiny means they've been polished which means it's a little easier to pull out of the leather. Box cutters and Xacto knock offs are as good as it gets. Dedicated leatherworking knives work great and look great, but they require sharpening, and they require the purchase of another knife every time you need a different shape blade. Sharpening can easily turn into a sub-hobby within a hobby, anyone tells you they have a cheap/easy/quick method of sharpening are either lying or want to sell you something. There is very little that is cheap, easy or quick when it comes to shaping steel to exact angles with extreme accuracy, which is what sharpening is. Avoid sharpening whenever possible, replaceable box cutter/Xacto blades are a life saver. Cheap entry-level bevellers / edgers work just as well as expensive ones, it's a simple question of (you guessed it), sharpening. Better to have 3-4 sizes of cheap ones than 1 expensive one. Cheapest knock off dremel type tool is more than adequate for leatherworking applications. Edge slickers, rulers, bone folders etc, honestly just about anything will do, just use your imagination. Get some self adhesive rubbery tape, stick it under a ruler so it doesn't slide too much on the leather and you're good to go. Mauls. I have no idea why they exist. I have one, I made it and I love it, but if I'm honest with myself any kind of rubber or timber mallet from the hardware shop would do pretty much exactly the same job. Wool daubers. Why? You can (and should) apply your paint/glue/gum tranc or whatever it is you're applying with a huge variety of different household items, depending on the situation. Electric creasing machines. You can spend $1k or you can spend $200. In my experience you'll struggle to see a difference in every day use or in the end result. Stitching ponies. Super simple things, get a cheap one, and choose the big size. Big is much more useful than good. Again I spent a couple of days woodworking to make mine out of the best timber and brass, it's pretty much perfect, and it still does nothing more than a $80 one from ebay. Avoid anything with fancy shiny handles. If you find yourself afflicted with the fancy handle disease get a woodworking lathe and make your own. Trust me it will work out cheaper in the long term. Anvil. You need an anvil, but even the tiniest one that is bolted on a steady bench will do the trick 99% of the time. Anvils are expensive, get a tiny one. Peen hammer. Cheap is fine, all you need is a round steel thing to bang on soft copper. Hand press for rivets and various hardware. Cheap or expensive, they're all pretty much the same. I have the cheapest possible from Etsy and I couldn't be happier. One day I will get a proper free standing machine that allows to press a rivet in the middle of a bag, but currently I don't have the space for it. Glue. I've tried 10 different water based brands and honestly I can't tell the diff. Strap cutters: They're all the same. If you're cutting straps all day every day get a metal instead of the usual timber one, otherwise a cheap timber one is fine. Rollers, tiny japanese woodworking planes, other weird stuff: Redundant. STUFF WORTH BUYING EXPENSIVE - Cutting surface. If you can, buy a huge slab of soft plastic like HDPE and bolt it on a desk. It makes life much easier than permanently wondering if your cutting mat is actually still under your leather. - Punches of all shapes and sizes. Good punches are expensive and sooner or later you'll need a tonne of them. They don't necessarily need to be top of the line, but they need to be at least average or you'll simple end up constantly destroying and replacing them. Buy them as you need them, avoid the cheap ones. - Metal round rulers. Not cheap but very handy. - Silicone glue applicators, much easier to clean. - Ultimately it's all about the leather and hardware. Get the absolute best you can afford, dont waste your time with crap, never skimp on leather or hardware. - Patterns. Learn to make your own, but until then buy some good ones. Good designers generally dont sell their best patters, they keep those for themselves. But there are some good ones out there, and they do sell them more expensively. It's worth it, get the more expensive patters, a crappy design will destroy any kind of project doesn't matter how good the materials or the execution. - Get a good awl that matches the shape of your chisels. Avoid fancy handles. - Liquids. Finishes, dyes, conditioners, oils etc. Don't skimp, get the good stuff, it matters. A bad/cheap finish can destroy a whole project you've been working for days on, don't risk it. - Anything to do with stamping. Good stamps produce a different result, and it is visible.

By the way Scootch, don't be put off by the discussion and the apparent lack of clarity and the variety of opinions on pricing, it's perfectly normal. I do this professionally (pricing of products and services for a multinational organisation) and I can assure you it's exactly the same discussions over there as it is here. There are always people who say we should price things cost + margin and there are always others who say we should ignore costs and price them to match the market. Both opinions have their merits. It's good to listen to both but ultimately you will have to make your own decisions based on your particular business strategy, product and market. And keep in mind pricing is not an exact science, there's a bit of an art and a gut feel to it.

I use it as padding between layers for shoulder straps and laptop bags. I also use it for workshop items like tool pockets and pouches. Depending on the leather it can be good for other things like bag bottoms or insides of handles.

It probably is to be honest... the problem is we never really how it holds up until a few years later, so I'd rather not have to worry about it. It's psychological :D

Just my 2c. Same rule applies whether you're selling belts or mobile phones or potato chips: always, always, get as much as you can get, which is the market price. You have zero reasons to price your product less than the competition, and the customer has zero reasons to pay more than the competition because you calculated that your costs are high. Your costs are your problem and not the customer's. Try to figure out what is the customer's alternative options for an (excellent by the way) belt like this, and price it about there. That's my advice for building a sustainable and profitable business.

I don't know anything about book binding, I make bags. But when it comes to saddle stitching I found that although it looks like there are a million options, in practical terms there is only one combination that works for me and I use it for everything: 0.6mm Ritza polyester flat thread with the smallest needle I can fit it through. And it's the only combination that works because of these reasons: - If the thread is round instead of flat I simply can't pierce it to lock it. I just can't do it, not with my eyes and my fingers anyway. - If the thread is not polyester I can't just burn it to finish a stitch, I have to make tiny little knots with glue etc. Forget it, I don't always have the required access/room/visibility to fiddle with knots and glue where I'm stitching. With polyester thread I burn the ends with a lighter, done. - The thread has to be 0.6 because that is the thinnest flat polyester thread I can find. Anything thicker and I struggle unnecessarily to pass it through the stitching holes, especially when I'm doubling up to finish a stitch or if I have to go back to correct an error. I will use thicker thread when I start making safety equipment, which is probably never. Ritza 0.6mm polyester is plenty strong for everything else, I add rivets if it's a high stress area. - The needle also has to be as thin as possible, it makes life much easier for the same reasons as the thinner thread. I bought the whole range of James Jones needles and I use the smallest one 99% of the time. - The spacing of the holes is just an aesthetic decision, when I buy irons I look at their spacing range and I always choose the middle one. And it's always been fine.

Move your fingers along the ruler as you're cutting to follow the blade and make sure you're keeping the ruler firmly pressed down. Leather tends to flex and slip from under the ruler, even if the ruler has non slip tape or cork underneath. Keep your fingers pressing down close to the cutter at all times.

I never heard of that word "paraprosdokian" before... but I am Greek so it's easy to deconstruct it, it's a compound word which literally means "contrary to what you'd expect" which makes sense I guess.

Τhat's what I made my personal wallet from, I love the stuff. And you can get it embossed with pretty much anything you want (at least in Australia you can)

Thanks guys. It took me about an hour to figure out dimensions and a design I was happy with and choose the hardware etc, maybe an hour for cutting/bevelling/punching, a few minutes for a quick coat of black tokonole on the edges and burnishing, and about 3 hours for stitching. Stitching shouldn't take that long but some stitches were hard to approach from the angle I wanted so I had to get a bit creative with the clamping. Now that I have a pattern and I don't have to think I could probably make another in a couple of hours.

Pretty happy how this turned out, especially in terms of functionality, it's light, not bigger than it needs to be and very quick and easy to use. The leather is 1.8mm veg tan, dyed from the tannery, the strap is English bridle and the hardware is solid brass. The interior is coated with black tokonole.

Yep, looks about right for USPS I ordered some tips for my electric creaser recently and it took 3 months from Knoxville TN to Melbourne Australia. The map looked something like yours.

Yeah so not ordering from K Lee again. I paid on 7 November and today the tracking number still says "13 Nov 2020 15:16: Handed over to Forwarding Agent for Transit" Nothing against the guy but waiting a month or more is not something I'm willing to do. USPS & China Post is a no for me.