Small Tricks For The Leatherworker

[club49]

a mallet? thats a bit violent isnt it? I find its easiest to flatten the waxed tip between my two thumbnails before threading..

Hi Lightningad,

I love your post, every time I thread a needle it comes to mind, can't help but laugh.I visualize this big guy slamming his mallet on the end of the tread, ya! that should do it.

Jim

[BeUnico]

Hi, brilliant thread so many great ideas, thank you!

I'm a newbie both to leather work and to the forum so I hope this isn't too silly. I've been using the tiny brushes from small, empty pots of nail varnish, to paint supersheen onto basket weave ( on the parts I want to resist before staining). They are the perfect width to fit one 'strip' of weave, so it helps me to not make a complete mess of my projects. I soak them in remover overnight first, then give them a good wash with mild soap before using.

Edited February 8, 2016 by BeUnico

[SmokeyPoint]

There's a guy about a mile from my home who does granite countertops from his garage. I stopped by one day and asked if he had any trash cutoff bits. He pointed to a large pile of cutoff ends, the pieces cut out from where the sink goes, etc, and said "Help yourself." An angle grinder to clean up the edges and I have a nearly free stamping base that is thicker and larger than anything I can buy at Tandy.

[Craftsman Made]

This is one of the best threads on this site. I would like to add my four pennies worth. A few years back a guy asked if I could do him a shed load of 60" straps which had to be edge stained. He was then going to cut them up and use them as strapping for chair seats. Long story short I thought about it and came up with this.

It is 6 feet in length and the thin strips are the same length but are cut 1/4" - 3/8" - 1/2" - 5/8" - 3/4" - 7/8" - 1". The strips can be used in any combination to make the strap sit proud of the block so it can be stained along it's length upto 72" in one easy go.

[Docott]

For centering holes, I punched a series of different sized holes in a thick scrap piece. I center the next largest size up from the size hole I want to punch on my project piece on my mark as a guide.