BlackDragon

You know, I didn't even think about Patrick1's narrow presser foot set. I have the set and just took it out and sure enough I could've used that with a 23 needle, which I was using. I do very little hand sewing any more. My hands decided to rebel after working assembly lines for to many years lol.

Nice work!

Thanks this helps a lot! The reason I had for stitching away from the edge is the foot wouldn't have anything to walk on with out it falling off the edge. This happened a couple times on the practice piece. I suppose I could use either the stirrup plate or holster plate and sew it upside down.

Thanks!

This is my 2nd shot at making an English bridle. I took quite a bit of time on it going back and forth looking at posts here (Thanks @TomE for the inspiration!) and websites of custom bridles. As always I welcome critiques to help me improve. I used 9-10oz vegtan for the crown piece, along with 3-4oz burgundy English bridle for the lining and 1/8" Landau Foam for the padding. The brow band and nose band are 2 pieces of 4-5oz vegtan with a 10oz core, the lining/padding for the nose band is the same as for the crown. I used NFO, then Fiebing's black pro dye, then Fiebing's leather balm with atom wax. The crown, brow band, and nose band are machine sewn. The buckles and keepers are hand sewn. The keepers closest to the hardware are sewn in place. I also made a few loop sticks out of some hardwood I had laying around for the keepers. I think I'll need make several 5/8" if I going to make a lot of bridles. For the nose band I made a wedge on either side for better spacing.

It's not splotchiness, it's "character".

Nice work as always

It's going to depend on a few factors really. If the holes run vertically you are weakening the belt because of the direction of force applied to the belt. Like in Chuck's scenario of pulling on a piece of toilet paper. Horizontally, the force wont have as much as an impact on the holes because the force is distributed across more leather. When it comes to stitches that run diagonally it's going to depend on the size of the holes and the distance between the holes. If you have big or small holes close together you will have a weak belt. And of coarse it's going to depend on how much force is applied to the belt. A dress belt with small holes somewhat close together will be weak but if it's just for looks you arent going to tighten it very much.

You had me there for a second.

My thick belts, 12-14oz, are made as carry belts. They also have a thin reenforcement to prevent stretching from the weight of the firearm and extra magazine(s). My brother in law uses one of my belts to carry a firearm, mag, and a set of pliers. .21in/ 5.3mm

Nicely done!

My brother in law's cousin works for an auction. A woman in a similar situation wants to auction off her late husband's leather shop and he said there is just so much and the market is so small in this area that it'll be a huge undertaking for him for little return. He got a hold of me to see if I want some of it and to help decide what is the best way to sell what remains. I haven't seen what she has yet.

Doing a google image search with the SN# it comes back as a Consew 255RB-2.

Happy Thanksgivings! I hope you enjoy the holiday.

I wasn't able to track down Craftool that's similar so far. You can try this place. I've bought from them in the past and they have a few somewhat similar. https://proleathercarvers.com/collections/background-stamps/products/e481-background-matting

Is this the one https://www.ebay.com/itm/333575752337?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=b60briaxqgs&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Just to be clear don't draw on the leather where a person will see the marks. Draw on paper, tracing velum would be best, then align the paper where you want it and use something; a stylus or pencil, to trace the image onto the leather

Depending on the application I use either 7B-9B pencils, an awl, or a silver pen. The pencils I use on unfinished vegtan because like you I have difficulty seeing the mark with an awl An awl or silver pen on finished leather. Silver is easier to see on black. On the flesh side I use either an awl or silver pen

I worked on it a bit more

My shop went from a small corner of a garage. To a 16'x44' Amish build shed. One thing I like: space!!! One thing I don't like: still want more space! (I think I have a problem )

Thanks! I have an issue with going to hard handed in my pencil work so I tend to try to go easy with any beveling cause you cant erase a bevel as easily. LOL Another issue I have is I drag my tools instead of letting them bounce so I wind up digging in instead of having a smooth glide.

I'm trying to improve my figures and tooling in general. I'm watching yt videos such as Jim Linnel and I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Critiques and tips help me out a lot as I work so hit me with it!

I like it! The only change I would make would be to round off the corners so they don't dog ear.

Will something like this work? https://www.buckleguy.com/b9788-antique-brass-round-foot-zinc-multiple-sizes/

This looks a bit like your machine