Warhauk

I am trying to add grommets to a 12oz toolbelt that I made and I'm having trouble finding the correct neck length. My belt should be about 3/16" thick and the longest 1/4" grommet I can find, also has a post length of 1/4". Is 1/16" post sticking out enough to set a grommet? If not, is there somewhere I can find a longer grommet that is also 1/4" diameter or do I need to completely size up?

Yeah I would have to melt them downa nd reform them, which leads to same problem as ingots.

Thanks for the heads up on potential legal issues I'll have to look into it. Unfortunately, it seems bismuth is quite a bit more expensive than lead. I'm not sure what you mean by diving ballast. When I looked it up on amazon, it was just a bunch of equipment or bags of lead shot.

I know this isn't strictly leatherworking related, but the purpose is to add a lead core to the handles for my leather floggers for balancing purposes. Does anybody happen to know how difficult it is to work with lead ingots/bars? I don't really want to get a full setup for melting and casting them. For other options, does anybody know the cheapest way to get smaller bits of lead? I know there is lead shot, fishing weights, etc. Just wondering if there are other ones that would work well. The idea is to basically pour small bits of lead into the drilled out core of the wood handle and then pour glue in to hold it in place.

I got some 1/4" grommets but turns out they are only 1/8" length. I'm trying to reinforce the notches on a 10oz belt. Would a size 0 grommet work for that? Additionally, if I got cs osborne grommets, would I also need to get their specific brand setter tool or would most grommets work with generic setters of the correct size?

Thank you for the link. The only real concern that I have (what I make is vegtan usually) is that someone looking at my stuff will see the "genuine leather" in my description and think back to all the times they got things that said genuine leather at like walmart, etc and think "Oh, I know that trick" and pass stuff off as crap quality.

But if you go to walmart and get a genuine leather wallet, it is technically leather, but it is low grade, weirdly processed leather. Just like If you go to the lumber store and buy plywood, technically it is wood, but it isn't the same as an oak board. My point was, the companies that make leather up to the bare minimum of leather standards claim genuine because it is technically true. I never realized that the term genuine is not just a claim saying hey, we are technically leather, but actually is associated with a quality/type of leather and I wouldn't want my stuff associated with that same quality.

I just read an article (followed by another article doing some follow-up) that says that "genuine leather" does not mean what I thought, namely, real leather as opposed to fake. Apparently genuine leather refers to a low quality leather that is basically made in the same manner as plywood and it falls in the spectrum of full-gain>top-grain>genuine. This was a surprise to me and I have listed all of my products as genuine leather, and just went back and edited all of them to remove that. This post was for 2 reasons. 1. Just to confirm this is a correct assessment and ask if it makes leather seem cheaper when people read that description. 2. If that is a correct assessment, to hopefully warn others of this, because I have seen a few other crafters out there that claim genuine leather, when I am pretty sure they are using good quality.

Yeah the $270 is including S&H. Without that, they are supposedly $23 for a 20swft hide. I don't actually intend to get it though because it seems a bit sketchy.

When searching for veg tan side, alibaba popped up, and one supplier, it would cost my $270 for 100sqft which seems to be a pretty good deal but I have to assume it is going to be super subpar quality and I was wondering if anybody has taken the risk on something like alibaba?

That is a pretty interesting tool.

That is a pretty nice idea. I will have to use something like that. My wife actually already has those thick hard plastic rulers with all the marking lines on them for her quilting and sewing which I forgot all about until you showed that. I was to the point of considering building a full wood jig where i would slot the strap in and just place my punch into the cut out slot, but that feels like a pretty large endeavor to get perfect since I'm not big on woodworking, and will probably take several attempts to make properly. Still on the table if I get enough orders to make it feel worth it.

I did give that a try and it seemed to work, but after a couple of punches, it rubbed off. I was using sharpie then letting it dry first. I've also started doing the slight impression and it is currently the method i've been using, to mixed success. And yeah I think part of my problem might also be directional lighting. I have 2 directional style desk lamps for my main lighting and the shadows definitely throw off what you would assume is the centerline of the punch. Yes they are parallel to the long axis.

Yes, but not for the buckle side oblong, the ones I'm more concerned about are the ones I punch as notches for the collars I make that use a locking tongue buckle.

Does anybody have some tips on punching a straight oblong? I spend way too much time trying to line it up and reline and so on, then I go to punch, is about 1/3 of the time, it is still a bit crooked. Are there really people out there that can just set it down, punch, and good? I usually use a wing divider to get my 2 center points, draw a line between them, then try to line my stamp with it. Maybe I am just spatially challenged and cant tell how to line things up.