Mablung

Welcome! Hope to see some shoemaking posts from you as well.

I haven't used the hair blade tool of any sort, but I will say that one of my pals at the local Tandy store doesn't care for the newer version of the hair blade tool. His complaint is that it's not as sharp as a previous version, requiring more pressure to get an impression but without removing some of the very top grain like he wanted in order to make the effect more pronounced. Just figured I'd throw that out there.

immiketoo gave you the solution. Last piece I lined flat got wrinkled as well. I haven’t had the patience lately to try to line stuff on the curve and have just accepted I’ll have some wrinkling.

Did you glue the lining with both pieces flat, or on the curve?

My first thought was, "Ooh! I like it!" Excellent work. Few more pics of the ends and the strap and handle designs?

Thanks! And good idea on bringing the stitching to a point---I attempted to make the end stitching curved to avoid some of those stressors, but didn't quite succeed. A point would be better than a curve anyway. My dog isn't too bad about pulling, now that I no longer walk her with a harness but with what is essentially a head halter for dogs; much smoother walks now. She's a fairly lightweight Siberian Husky/German Shepherd mix, so I don't have the enormous weight of a Newfoundland or similar animal to deal with.

Thanks! Yeah, just gotta find the time to make it. Got a lot of projects in mind, but also a lot of pressure at work right now. That braid looks very neat. How do you do it? Haven't gotten into braiding yet.

Fun fact, SB Foot is a subsidiary of Red Wing Shoes and Boots. The tannery produces fantastic leather, including their second-run utility sides. I've gone through a couple of those for a whole variety of uses.

The business certainly has an attention-demanding name.

The very light edges suggest it’s not bridle, at least based on the bridle I’ve seen photographed on here. I’d guess it’s a tough chrome tan, or a dyed veg tan that didn’t sit in the dye for very long. Latigo is a similar color but looks more waxy and is struck all the way through.

Gotta be careful stretching a frog skin—might ribbit in half.

For the tech people out there. Due to an unfortunate incident involving the collision of my laptop keyboard with neatsfoot oil, I have to replace my 2020 M1 MacBook Air. Trying to figure out if it makes sense for longevity to get an M3 Air over an M2. I don’t need to be able to lift heavy processing loads, as I don’t do video or photo editing or similarly processor-hungry tasks. Thoughts?

The blade itself is 10” long? I don’t think you’ll be sitting down with it IWB, whether at appendix position or at your side. At least not without the whole sheath riding up out of your pants. I would have enough trouble with my Glock 34-length pistol, let alone a 10”-blade knife.

Now I’m imagining the OP sitting down while carrying Crocodile Dundee’s knife IWB.

Fielder’s choice. Really just depends on whether you care deeply about keeping the finish of the blade pristine and unscratched. I assume you’re relying on friction for retention? As long as it’s molded properly and the welt is sized properly, flesh versus grain probably won’t make a big difference. It’ll be easier to cement the lining flesh side to flesh side.

@sharonsimpleshoemaker, I echo @Aven’s thanks. I’m wearing a pair of chukkas (or “vellies,” as you call them) that I made from one of your patterns I modified for my hogstomper men’s feet. I have great plans for better versions and other forms of shoes, too, using the foundation you give in that excellent little book. So, thanks from another happy user.

Far better than a nylon, that’s for dang sure. Nice and clean.

I’ve been eyeing those Jueschke ones. May have to pull the trigger on one, if I decide to go for the tapered head.

Fair point. I like the way my maul handles, for lack of a better way of describing it. But my mallet’s flat face does make certain aspects easier. I’ve made friends with the guys at my local Tandy, so I go in and work on projects while shooting the breeze with them on slow weekends. I think I’ll borrow one of their tapered mauls used in classes sometimes to compare how each one strikes, before dropping the coin on a new (possibly expensive) one. Gotta love being able to test-drive tools.

Lol. It sounds like my 10.6 “Blue Light Special” is in good company. I wouldn’t mind continuing to use it if the head didn’t slip easily if the strike isn’t perfectly square. That might not be so much the material as the angle (or lack thereof).

Not sure if this is better here or in the Leather Tools forum, but this is about discussion, not technicalities of tools. Anyway, looking for updated discussion of the various mauls available. I’ve read some threads about the differences among brands, but the threads I’ve found are several years old. Anyway, thinking about upgrading my striking tools. I got a cheapo maul on Amazon for $10.99 to test out the concept. It’s too light, at 10.6 ounces or so. Thinking about a 16-ounce or 20-ounce maul, possibly a tapered head. Barry King and Wayne Jueschke are top contenders, of course, but I’m also thinking about seeing if I can stick the Tandy Pro Tooling Maul replacement head on my current cheapo handle. Not sure about the Tandy Poly Maul, except maybe the heavy one for driving punches (my Bakelite mallet does the trick but takes several swings—the head diameter is nice for the purpose, though). The Tandy Pro and Owden ones look decent as well, with similar head materials and grooving. Thoughts? Trying to stay under $100, as that’s how much gift money I had socked away that I forgot about and rediscovered recently.

Thanks. I kept gravitating toward the antique brass, thought about doing something else just because I use the antique brass a lot, but am glad I went with my initial instincts. My dog needs a good collar as well; just haven’t gotten there yet. I’ll probably dye it with the mahogany gel antique I’ve got (as long as I can seal it adequately) to match the color (at least sort of).

Decided my dog needed a new lead, so I made her one out of a 3/4” latigo strap I found at Tandy. I think I was down a total of $20, give or take some cents, on the materials. It has some flaws, such as how I negotiated stitching the curve on the end of the handle loop, but overall I like it. Far classier than the nylon leash I had been using.

Yep. There are some threads (no pun intended) around here about making hand sewing wax.

Do you use a true cobbler’s hammer or something else? Best thing I have for pounding my glued pieces is a wooden mallet from a free kit I got. Mallet isn’t heavy, but I swing it pretty hard. The videos I’ve watched of people making shoes show them really pounding on things with a steel cobbler’s hammer, though.