MtlBiker

Republic of NL?? Love it! I'd found conversion charts online that I've saved to my favorites on my phone photo app. It's pretty easy to bring that up and find the weight in ounces once I've measured the thickness in mm. But again, I really don't want to carry my vernier caliper along with me when I browse the remnant bin at a supplier. The dial gauge you showed from Tandy is a lot more convenient. My last purchases of leather have been of sides, but there's another supplier who has a huge room with shelves of different leather remnants that you browse through on your own. And the thicknesses aren't marked so if like me, with little experience, it's hard to tell one from another. Sure you can tell this one is thicker than that one, but how thick is it really? Yes, I'm probably crazy, but I think I'll be ordering that Tandy one for $50+ when I next order from them. Cheers!

I'm sure that if I had the experience that you and others here have, it would be easier to judge the leather without a proper gauge. Of course feel, stiffness etc. is something that a gauge wouldn't tell you. I've ordered leather online and have been very disappointed as from what I could tell, it wasn't the thickness I ordered. But I'm lucky now in that I did find a relatively local supplier with an incredible assortment of leathers and at good prices too. My vernier caliper is fine for when I'm in my workshop but it's really not convenient to carry around. Do you skive by hand? And back to the experience thing... at the leather suppliers I've so far encountered, when I have asked about the thickness of a particular leather they have always pulled out a gauge and measured the leather. So even those in the business very often use a gauge rather than relying on feel. Cheers!

It wouldn't be the first time that folks call me crazy! But remember, that ten bucks you mention really is about $100 Canadian, with exchange and shipping. You have a lot more experience with leather than I do, and it would really be handy to accurately measure leather when I'm skiving or rummaging through the remnants pile at a supplier. And I like the idea of a proper gauge rather than a piece of plastic with a "v" cut into it. Yup, crazy for sure.

You forgot to add the crazy high shipping charge of US$26 (the cheapest Buckleguy offers) which is via USPS. Rates go right up to $80!!! Anyway, at current exchange rates, it would come to $160, plus (most probably) some duty as it's surely not made in the USA. About $100 more than that Tandy Canada one.

Thank you. I found that myself early this morning and even though it's a lot cheaper than the one from Weaver Leather, it's still outrageously (imho) expensive. With shipping and exchange, it's still $100 more expensive than the Tandy one you mentioned. And that one too is a lot more than the gauges online (like Amazon, etc) that only read in mm and inches. I wonder if this is a case of you get what you pay for? I mean is it possible that the Tandy one is as good/accurate as the Buckleguy one? Hard to believe it could be as good for that difference. From the lack of recommendations here I wonder what you guys actually use. Just go by experience and feel? Surely you need to measure when/if you are skiving leather. I guess I'll take a chance on the Tandy one. Thank you all.

Thanks Tom, but geez, US$180??? That means by the time shipping is added and the dollar exchange to Canadian, it's over $275 cad!!!!! For that price, I'll stick to carrying my vernier caliper.

Thanks, but I was hoping to find a gauge like this but with a reading in ounces: What I have now looks like this, and obviously it doesn't fit in a pocket too well...

Only problem I have with using a caliper is that it doesn't fit in my pocket! But that certainly does work.

I've been using a typical caliper to measure the thickness of leather and it reads in inches or mm. Is there a pocket gauge that reads in ounces? I've been searching on Amazon and it seem all measure in mm or inches. Surely there's an accurate gauge that reads in ounces? Thanks

It's probably easier also to use fabric for the interior, especially the card slots. At least for the pattern I'm using (the NCW by Emmalinebags). Do you have a recommendation for the thickness of chrome tan leather to use if I want to make the above wallet using leather for the outside? I'm thinking that my 2 oz might be thick enough and wouldn't need skiving on the edges. The 4 oz I have would need skiving, so if I use that I'll have to wait until the bell skiver I ordered is ready for pickup (about a week). Thanks!

Yes, indeed it does help. Thank you. I watched a video that @zuludog linked to above and it showed very nicely how to use the french edger (I don't have one) and a Japanese skiving knife. I'd already tried skiving by hand with my round knife and I guess it wasn't sharp enough as all I managed to do was scrape the edge of the leather without slicing into it. But the knife was certainly sharp enough for me to cut myself quite badly in spite of having thought I was being careful. SIGH And that's when I placed the order for a bell skiver. I'd also ordered some Japanese skiving knifes, and they should be here on Tuesday. What you said about skiving chrome tan is what I've been told by others, but the bell skiver should work with that kind of leather quite well.

Great! I appreciate the info. As you know I'm a beginner when it comes to working with leather and I'm just feeling my way through. I wouldn't have known to check for sheep or goat leather. I'm getting quite a lot on my shopping list for the next time I visit the supplier. Cheers!

Thanks for clarifying. But please tell me, would you ever consider using 2 oz chrome tan leather for the outside of something like the wallet I showed above? I'd still use an interfaced cotton for the interior and credit card slots.

I'm not sure the LSZ-1 is the right machine in this case. (I have one, and love it, but...) There is no smooth presser foot available for it and the standard foot is very aggressive. I bought the optional smoother foot, but it's still not flat. And the machine is walking foot but has no needle feed. The requirement of a portable machine will make finding the right one quite difficult I think. Here's what the feet look like: The one on the left is the standard/included sawtooth foot and on the right is the optional knurled foot. If I have leather that marks easily I use either my RB206-5 or Techsew 2750 with a smooth bottom presser foot. @suhajko - The watch strap you showed is very nice! Mind saying what thickness of leather you used and how many layers? I've never tried (yet) to make a watch strap but I'd like to.

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand what you said/meant. Are you saying that 2 oz chrome tan is "lining" leather? Are you saying you don't skive 2 oz? What do you mean by not considering it "there"? Where?

Bubbles? It would really help if you posted a photo or video of what's happening. You're using a 135x16 needle, right?

I just watched the video you linked to... it's REALLY helpful! Thank you again. I've (a couple of days ago) ordered some Japanese skiving knifes in 3 sizes. And from the video I can see that a French Edger would also be very useful. Too bad I didn't know about it before I ordered from Japan. My knife order will supposedly arrive on Monday. It's already in North America. You're the second person to tell me that it's difficult to skive chrome tan by hand. But I was under the impression that using a bell skiver would work well with chrome tan and since that is what I'd probably use most of, that's the reason I ordered the machine. I've got a lot to learn and many skills to develop. Cheers!

Thanks for that link... I'll take a look. So far I have not had any success with hand skiving, which is why I ordered a bell skiver machine. And I was hoping to get some guidance about how much I should skive and whether or not to skive an already fairly thin 2oz chrome tan.

Thank you. And what's the thinnest leather you would do that with? Would you do it with 2oz? For the purse I've shown, the flap is sewn right sides together and then turned right side out through the base of the flap and then top stitched. Take the leather down to a half? I'm tempted to try this with my 2 +/- oz leather instead of the 4oz I have. If that is skived down to half, would it be so thin as to loose strength in the seam areas?

I'm getting myself a Techsew SK-4 skiver! Because they are "busy" it won't be ready for pickup for a week or longer. SIGH Anyway, in anticipation I want to cut out leather pieces for some bags I want to make. As a total newbie to skiving, how thin can/should you skive leather before it's too thin? Let's say I have 4oz chrome tan leather and I want the seam areas to be a lot less bulky... Do I skive it down to half the thickness? More? At what point is it too much? Do you (can you) also skive 2-3 oz leather? I want to make some women's wallets using leather that I'd made some before with interfaced cotton and some with vinyl. The vinyl ones are alright but still thicker at the seams than I like. Should I use my 4oz leather and skive it down or should I start with my thinner leather? Maybe skive that down too? At what point of thinness does the leather start to loose strength at the seams? Thanks for any advice. (Here's a photo of the last wallet I'd made with fake leather.)

No! Don't pay $350 for that servo!! Instead, call Chris at Japan Sewing at 905-764-0100. He has very good servo motors (I bought one from him) at a much more reasonable price. I suspect your "local shop" is doubling the price from their cost. When I bought one from Chris less than a year ago, I paid $168 cdn, including courier shipping to Montreal. Chris was recommended to me by another Canadian member on this board and I've now bought several things from him and have always been very happy.

Thanks to Covid (I guess) it's not possible to visit the Techsew showroom/offices, so trying before buying can't be done. But it would be a brand new machine. And the Consew is also brand new and would have to be set up in order to try it, and I doubt if that's going to happen. So I'm kinda relying on the manufacturers' websites for descriptions as well as YouTube videos and reviews/comments here. It seems that both are similarly equipped and may indeed be the same machine but with different branding. One of the dealers two days ago promised to call me back in half an hour with the best pricing. I'm still waiting. It looks like they don't really want my business. So very likely I will go with the other one, who's even offered to have his guys deliver it to me without charge. It's looking like my choice is made. I may have a new skiver by the weekend.

Both these machines (new) are available locally. Both are almost exactly the same price. Neither has a vacuum but I'm hoping to somehow connect my large ShopVac to either one. The Techsew has a much smaller table (which for me and my limited space is a real advantage) while the Consew has a large 20" x 48" table but also has a drawer for tools, a light, etc. Both machines are probably clones of the same (whatever) original machine. Anyone here have opinions on these machines? (I know Techsew is a site sponsor here, but I'm hoping for unbiased opinions.) Thanks

Great video! It really helps. Thank you!

I'm getting VERY CLOSE to buying a bell skiver. SIGH Like maybe in a week or so. I'm just getting too frustrated with the thickness of my leather around seams, etc. In the meantime, using a round knife, how do you skive leather? Do you slice or scrape? Maybe my knife isn't sharp enough but it seems that scraping works better. The leather I'm using for my current project is about 4oz chrome tan. And in some areas of the bag there would be 4 layers of leather plus an interfaced cotton for the lining. I have some leather that's a bit thinner (maybe 2oz) but the color doesn't quite match the rest of the leather. (What I'm trying to make now is the same bag as above, but instead of using an interfaced cotton for the flap, I'm using the same red leather on the outside of the flap as the body of the bag. The best solution to this would be to have a bell skiver, but I don't have one yet. Awfully close though.)