Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Cambrinus
Jan 3, 2007

The Duke of Beer
Lorica's are indeed mostly just strips, although I always construct a separate 'chest' piece, that goes over the shoulders and forms more of a cuirass look, than a lorica look. I've uploaded a few photo's of the armours I've made to this album: http://imgur.com/a/T7uDI#XnV6eLz. They're in chronological order and each one has taught me more about shaping armours and making them fit better. I've recently made an armour for a slightly sturdy friend of mine, but I haven't got any pictures of that one yet (and won't for a while, as I just moved to a different continent). I wish I had a few more close-up shots of all the tooling I've done on the second and fourth armour sets you see, but they're still on the other continent, so this'll have to do.

Just a few words on each set:
-The first armour was more 'fantasy' inspired (my friends called it a Batman armour) and was the first time I made a whole set. It didn't move very well (as I didn't allow room for the different plates to move much), the chains on the bottom piece weighed it down and the center front and back flaps were terrible for walking. It did look pretty good though, even though I couldn't pick up anything I dropped.
-The second set was a very large improvement on the first, with an opening in the front, for ease of use and lots (I mean lots) of tooling. It consists of a lorica with a so called 'hero belt' (inspired on celtic/germanic imagery) over it. I even tooled most of the edges you can't see (which I'll never do again). The veg tan leather was a little too thin in places, so the edges of the plates do curl up a little. I met the guy who makes these and he uses double layers of veg tan to make his armours, to fight bending/curling/creasing; I might do that when/if I get rich, cause that's a steep price to pay.
-The third set might be the simplest I've done and I made it for a friend. It's a basic three strip lorica, with the chest piece altered in the way I like to do it.
-The fourth set is my most recent work, it consists of alternating rows of tooled leather and metal lamellar, all bound with thinner leather to keep the edges nice and neat. It was a hell of a lot of work (the helmet alone, which has a bronze scalemail coif, took me about a month, cause I'd never made a helmet before. It only just fit). I later added legpieces, which still need to be stamped, but someone borrowed all my tools and hasn't returned them as of yet.

If you have any questions regarding any of them, just ask!

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Cambrinus posted:

Lorica's are indeed mostly just strips, although I always construct a separate 'chest' piece, that goes over the shoulders and forms more of a cuirass look, than a lorica look. I've uploaded a few photo's of the armours I've made to this album: http://imgur.com/a/T7uDI#XnV6eLz. They're in chronological order and each one has taught me more about shaping armours and making them fit better. I've recently made an armour for a slightly sturdy friend of mine, but I haven't got any pictures of that one yet (and won't for a while, as I just moved to a different continent). I wish I had a few more close-up shots of all the tooling I've done on the second and fourth armour sets you see, but they're still on the other continent, so this'll have to do.

Just a few words on each set:
-The first armour was more 'fantasy' inspired (my friends called it a Batman armour) and was the first time I made a whole set. It didn't move very well (as I didn't allow room for the different plates to move much), the chains on the bottom piece weighed it down and the center front and back flaps were terrible for walking. It did look pretty good though, even though I couldn't pick up anything I dropped.
-The second set was a very large improvement on the first, with an opening in the front, for ease of use and lots (I mean lots) of tooling. It consists of a lorica with a so called 'hero belt' (inspired on celtic/germanic imagery) over it. I even tooled most of the edges you can't see (which I'll never do again). The veg tan leather was a little too thin in places, so the edges of the plates do curl up a little. I met the guy who makes these and he uses double layers of veg tan to make his armours, to fight bending/curling/creasing; I might do that when/if I get rich, cause that's a steep price to pay.
-The third set might be the simplest I've done and I made it for a friend. It's a basic three strip lorica, with the chest piece altered in the way I like to do it.
-The fourth set is my most recent work, it consists of alternating rows of tooled leather and metal lamellar, all bound with thinner leather to keep the edges nice and neat. It was a hell of a lot of work (the helmet alone, which has a bronze scalemail coif, took me about a month, cause I'd never made a helmet before. It only just fit). I later added legpieces, which still need to be stamped, but someone borrowed all my tools and hasn't returned them as of yet.

If you have any questions regarding any of them, just ask!

Amazing work. Stuff like that is what got my into this hobby. I don't have the skill yet, but that's my goal. Any good tutorials or resources that helped you, or was it all experimentation and learning as you go?

Cambrinus
Jan 3, 2007

The Duke of Beer
Thanks for the compliments, it was a lot of hard work! I mostly went by feel, learning as I went along, although I had a few friends who could show me tricks every here and there. I don't think I found any proper tutorials, what I did do was look closely at a lot of armours other people made (both on- and offline) and to eye 'how they did it'. Some of it was guesswork on my part, othertimes I could get some solid tips. I think I started by looking up how people made lorica's (so I could get the shapes and such right, but also to learn about how to make your segmented plates be able to move). There's plenty of tutorials online for that. I also looked at places like andracor and the guys I mentioned earlier, just to see how several things like shoulderpieces and collars were constructed. Then I just winged it. If you don't want to waste leather, you can always make a mock-up in old vinyl flooring or linoleum. It's not as rigid, but it'll help you get the shapes right. Knowing the dimensions of your own body helps to get things mostly right, but you'll always do alterations when you try it on. Good luck!

Baron Fuzzlewhack
Sep 22, 2010

ALIVE ENOUGH TO DIE
I have kind of a silly question: is there any way to retain the natural, wonderful smell of veg-tan leather after you've dyed it and applied a finish?

The dyed journals I made earlier this year have retained a somewhat chemical smell (after using spirit-based dyes) that isn't all that pleasant, while the undyed/unfinished slip cover I recently made has a wonderful, heady leather smell (so much so that it's difficult to pick it up and use it without giving it a whiff every time).

It's not a deal-breaker for dyeing if I can't retain the smell, but it's a quality of the material that I think is important.

Baron Fuzzlewhack fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Sep 25, 2013

Akula Raskolnikova
May 12, 2013
I've decided to get into leather working as a hobby. I'm a machinist, and I like to make small electronics projects, but I've been looking at getting into more visceral crafting, like woodworking, black smithing, and leather working. However, I'm also in the navy, so I don't have a ton of space for my dream machine shop with woodworking tools, a smithy in the corner, and a motorcycle lift. I've got to make due with what I can fit in an apartment. I'm looking at one of the Tandy beginner kits, probably the cheapest one to see if I like it, but I noticed it doesn't come with stitching supplies. I was wondering if anyone had a lead on a more comprehensive beginners set that isn't $200+. Failing that, can anyone make a list of the absolute minimum tools I can have and still make things like a kindle sleeve, a tobacco pouch, holsters, things like that?

That brings me to my next point, I'd like to make a tobacco pouch. I want the first one to be plain, basically a thin walled, soft black bag with a drawstring closure top, kind of a small, coin purse type bag. If it's going to be carrying tobacco I'll be smoking, how should I finish it? I'd like it to be black, but aside from that, what should I treat the leather with to keep it from getting the oils or whatever on the tobacco inside?

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Akula Raskolnikova posted:

I've decided to get into leather working as a hobby. I'm a machinist, and I like to make small electronics projects, but I've been looking at getting into more visceral crafting, like woodworking, black smithing, and leather working. However, I'm also in the navy, so I don't have a ton of space for my dream machine shop with woodworking tools, a smithy in the corner, and a motorcycle lift. I've got to make due with what I can fit in an apartment. I'm looking at one of the Tandy beginner kits, probably the cheapest one to see if I like it, but I noticed it doesn't come with stitching supplies. I was wondering if anyone had a lead on a more comprehensive beginners set that isn't $200+. Failing that, can anyone make a list of the absolute minimum tools I can have and still make things like a kindle sleeve, a tobacco pouch, holsters, things like that?

That brings me to my next point, I'd like to make a tobacco pouch. I want the first one to be plain, basically a thin walled, soft black bag with a drawstring closure top, kind of a small, coin purse type bag. If it's going to be carrying tobacco I'll be smoking, how should I finish it? I'd like it to be black, but aside from that, what should I treat the leather with to keep it from getting the oils or whatever on the tobacco inside?

Stitching supplies are pretty cheap. You need, at a minimum, an awl, some needles, and some thread. The awl is going to be the most expensive part of that. Ideally, you'd also have a groover tool and a marking wheel.

For a coin purse type bag, I'd be looking at a thin garment type leather, not veg tan. Veg tan is the cream colored leather that's kinda stiff; you want something tanned with a different process so it's more flexible and thinner. Tandy sells all types of leather, so if there's a store near you, you should walk around and look at everything.

I would make your bag lined. Take two circles of leather, and glue them together so the finish side is facing out, and the flesh side is together. You might not even need to do any sewing, but I would consider doing a hem or seam at the outer edge of the circle. If you get a thin enough leather, a sewing machine might be able to handle this. Then, you could purchase (or make) a leather lacing, and thread it through holes punched in the outer layer of leather. Pull the lacing and now you've got a soft, flexible bag that will hold your tobacco.

The Tandy beginner kits are geared towards carving / tooling and putting fancy designs into the outside of your project. However, not all leatherwork needs that, and if that's not the way you want to go, you can skip the starter kits.

Atticus_1354
Dec 10, 2006

barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark
Has anyone tried tanning a hide? I can hunt deer and rabbits year round on my dads place and wanted to try doing something with the hides and get one step closer to the "Use the whole Buffalo" ideal. If I am successful would anyone be interested in some hair on hides? I would happily barter since I could potentially end up with a large amount of hide.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Atticus_1354 posted:

Has anyone tried tanning a hide? I can hunt deer and rabbits year round on my dads place and wanted to try doing something with the hides and get one step closer to the "Use the whole Buffalo" ideal. If I am successful would anyone be interested in some hair on hides? I would happily barter since I could potentially end up with a large amount of hide.

Start small! Start very small, like a squirrel. I had the genius idea, when I was about 16, of tanning my own hides. So I started with a full cow's hide from a local slaughterhouse. It started off well, but before I could finish cleaning the flesh and fat from the hide, it started to rot. Ever tried to get ride of a 50 lb massive chunk of decaying flesh, something the size of a carpet? I buried it, the dogs dug it up, ate it, and got sick. Tried burning it by throwing it on a bonfire; it just put out the bonfire, sent a disgusting smoke everywhere, and the dogs still tried to eat it. Finally I think we used some machinery to dig a hole deep enough that the dogs couldn't get to it.

So, yeah, start small.

Atticus_1354
Dec 10, 2006

barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark

Pagan posted:

Start small! Start very small, like a squirrel.

I was thinking rabbits and sections of deer hide since those would be manageable and I have no need for a huge contiguous piece.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



I tanned some small furbearer hides in my dorm room in college and it was fairly easy. Tanning kits from places like Van Dykes are a pretty cheap way to see if you like it before investing in pounds of potentially dangerous chemicals. Be sure to follow the directions that should come with any chemicals you get and it should work out fine. The hard part is softening the hide afterwards. It can take hours and hours of rubbing and stretching the hide to get it be flexible.

Akula Raskolnikova
May 12, 2013
Okay, I'm going to Tandy next weekend. It's a 250 mile drive, so I have to wait until I have time to visit my dad to make the trip. I'll be buying some leather there for the pouch. I have another question though: when I'm dyeing leather, do I dye the flesh side as well?

I also got a knife sheath kit from my local hobby lobby to tide me over until I get to tandy, and it's big enough to fit my mora in it, including the small blade guard. I want to wet form it, but should I do that before or after dyeing?

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Akula Raskolnikova posted:

Okay, I'm going to Tandy next weekend. It's a 250 mile drive, so I have to wait until I have time to visit my dad to make the trip. I'll be buying some leather there for the pouch. I have another question though: when I'm dyeing leather, do I dye the flesh side as well?

I also got a knife sheath kit from my local hobby lobby to tide me over until I get to tandy, and it's big enough to fit my mora in it, including the small blade guard. I want to wet form it, but should I do that before or after dyeing?

The flesh side is tricky. Depending on the use, you have a couple of options.

First, you can do nothing. This is ideal if no-one is ever going to see it. For example, the inside of a knife sheath might work, or if you're layering leather for armor or something, you can leave the flesh side untouched.

If you choose to dye it, be aware that it soaks up a lot more dye than the other side, and you'll go through dye more quickly than you anticipated. There is no need to dye it, though, aside for cosmetic reasons.

I like to add a wax to the flesh side. The product I linked is useful for all sorts of stuff : I also use it when treating the edges. If you apply enough friction, it becomes almost glossy, and makes a great protective coating. Put that on the flesh side and rub it vigorously with something smooth; horn is traditional but I use a well sanded piece of landscaping stake. If I were making a sheath, that's how I'd treat the inside.

You would do wet forming after dying. My workflow goes like this

Cut piece to shape.
Bevel edges and add decorative grooves.
Figure out any buckles, holes, lacing, etc, and punch them.
Determine design for carving, and carve (This involves wetting the leather, letting it almost dry, using a swivel knife, stamping, etc.)
Allow leather to dry completely
Clean or oil leather
Apply dye
Wash leather to remove dye
Polish and clean
Treat edges
Assemble into final product (add buckles / rivets / etc)
Wet mold
Final treatment (this includes everything from aging techniques to waterproof coatings, polishing)

Leather is a natural substance, and aside from suede, it gets wet with no problems. It can get moldy or mildewy if you leave it wet for a long time, but no harm will come to your leather if you wash it, wet mold it, wear it in the rain, or anything like that.

I just finished a massive cosplay project that used up almost all of my leather. I'm down to maybe a square foot of leather and a few scraps; I'm out of rivets, out of buckles... Once I get some pictures to do it justice, I'll be sharing.

Baron Fuzzlewhack
Sep 22, 2010

ALIVE ENOUGH TO DIE
Dumb question: what do you mean by "wash it"? Are we talking soap and water, basically under a faucet (or an equivalent amount of water anyway)?

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:

Dumb question: what do you mean by "wash it"? Are we talking soap and water, basically under a faucet (or an equivalent amount of water anyway)?

Yes. I've had dye rub off on clothes or skin, so I use some saddle soap and a sink full of water to clean a piece after I've dyed it.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Here's what I've been working on recently.



Not only is this my Halloween costume, but Providence RI has a big comic-con this weekend. This will be my first time attending a con at all, so I'm looking forward to it. This shot is from the first time I tried the whole thing on; I've added a little bit to it since then. The hood is detachable; I haven't decided if that was a good idea or not. It makes it look cleaner when you take the hood off, but it's a pain to put the hood on by myself. This whole thing is complicated; I understand why people had servants just to help them dress. It's also not stealthy at all.

For reference :






Almost all of it is made by me, and I'll go through the different parts and techniques.

First, the buckle. This was me tackling something completely new; I've never done resin casting.



Originally I tried to sculpt the buckle out of clay. After an entire day's worth of work, my pathetic attempt was too small, and looked pretty bad. I decided I'd be better off playing to my strengths; I've scratchbuilt models before, and I'm pretty good with styrene. I combined that with a casting I made of a Halloween decoration, and ended up with this buckle.



However, I couldn't figure out a good way to mount it, so I ended up just drilling holes in the back and attaching it to the belt that way.



The belt itself is the biggest single piece, but it was also the easiest.

Front :



Back :



The gun holsters are tricky, too. They aren't very big, and so even the lightweight plastic guns slide out pretty easily. I'll probably use small screws for that, too. It would be nice to be able to draw them, like the character does in the game, but I don't know if that'll work. I do have some small powerful magnets, but I can't think of a good way to mount them.

Below the bandolier, there are two belts





The heavy belt is also pretty simple. I got lucky; Tandy was getting rid of a bunch of their big buckles for cheap, so I grabbed a handful. I figured the celtic cross would work for an Englishman turned Pirate. The character in the game doesn't have a buckle, but I figured why not. The smaller pouches are what I call the money belt; they will hold a small selection of items.

Next, we've got the leather vambraces.



In the preview videos for the game, these were solid, featureless black. I wanted to make them more interesting, so I did a little carving and went with my favorite dye, Mahogany. The outer layer and the straps are veg tan, and I had some chrome tan garment leather in dark brown and that's what on the bottom.

Finally, the vest! This was, by far, the trickiest part.



It started out as an XL women's coat. I looked at the panels and decided I could take some parts off and it would probably be pretty close. I suck at sewing, so this was a challenge. Also, a lot of the vests strength came from the fabric liner. The crappy leather started to rip almost as soon as I pulled it apart. I've added thicker pieces in many places. The strips that go over the buttons are segments of the same garment leather I used on the vambraces.



Rubber cement / contact cement is amazing for leatherwork, btw. If you need something to hold pieces of leather together, it works like magic.

The shoulder pads are made by taking a thin piece of veg tan, then gluing the garment leather on top. I then took a small triangle shaped piece of thicker veg tan and carved the Assassin's logo into it. The straps are also veg tan. The whole thing was then riveted to the vest. Riveting things together is so much easier than sewing them.

The upper arm armor is made from this weird black chrome tan I had lying around; it's thick and almost spongy feeling. I took some of the domed rivets and added them. I also added snaps to the tunic so they stay in place.

I've been working on this whole thing for about a month. I had a professional tailor make the tunic, but I made the panels that run down the front and back. The pants are from Salvation Army, the boots are equestrian boots I bought a long time ago for a different costume, and the sword and poet's shirt are from a Ren Faire. I was also able to order some good toy guns on Amazon, although I do have an expensive replica that's real metal.

I still need to do some polishing on the leather, and I haven't even attempted the hidden blade portion. I've also got a cutlass on order from Amazon. I'm hoping to do a proper photoshoot once I have everything.

I wore it today to a lunch meeting and someone took this picture; I think it looks good.



All images hosted on my server.

Baron Fuzzlewhack
Sep 22, 2010

ALIVE ENOUGH TO DIE
Badass! I'm really impressed with the belts and vambraces in particular. They look great! I wish I could figure out how to get such a nice shade out of mahogany dye. Mine always just comes out purple or pink. The color on the vambraces is beautiful.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:

Badass! I'm really impressed with the belts and vambraces in particular. They look great! I wish I could figure out how to get such a nice shade out of mahogany dye. Mine always just comes out purple or pink. The color on the vambraces is beautiful.

Multiple layers of that atom wax. I apply a thin coat using the faux wool round things that Tandy sells, let it dry, then buff it with an old T-shirt. Repeat.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

My first con was a lot of fun.

18 Character Limit
Apr 6, 2007

Screw you, Abed;
I can fix this!
Nap Ghost
Tandy Leather is having a sale where everyone can get Gold Club pricing on November 8, 9.

For those like me who are just starting, that seems relevant.

jvick
Jun 24, 2008

WE ARE
PENN STATE
Hello Leather workers! Many of you are extremely talented - I am thoroughly impressed. Though I see much work with what I would term "heavier" leathers, such as wallets and belts, do any of you work with sheets of leather?

Essentially I am looking for an apron for woodworking (and some metal work), but I am having a hard time finding something I want off the internet for under $150. Is it possible to get something like this in the $50 - $80 range? Could I commission one of you talented Goons to make me such an item? Really all I want is a simple leather apron with maybe a high pocket or two that wont fill with sawdust/metal chips.

Uncle Enzo
Apr 28, 2008

I always wanted to be a Wizard

jvick posted:

Hello Leather workers! Many of you are extremely talented - I am thoroughly impressed. Though I see much work with what I would term "heavier" leathers, such as wallets and belts, do any of you work with sheets of leather?

Essentially I am looking for an apron for woodworking (and some metal work), but I am having a hard time finding something I want off the internet for under $150. Is it possible to get something like this in the $50 - $80 range? Could I commission one of you talented Goons to make me such an item? Really all I want is a simple leather apron with maybe a high pocket or two that wont fill with sawdust/metal chips.

I bought my leather apron from a welding supply store for like 25 bucks. The one in your link looks a million times cooler and stronger though. Amazon has any number of results for "leather apron" in that price range as well.

DrakeriderCa
Feb 3, 2005

But I'm a real cowboy!
Hey leather people, help me out. I'm working on a sling, and I cased the leather overnight. I filled a bowl with water and dipped the leather in until it stopped bubbling. Then I put the leather in a plastic bag and left it in the fridge overnight. Today when I started working on it, it took my first stamps fairly well but I was worried it was too wet. So I let it sit for an hour or so, and now when I scored it with a stylus, it looks dry on either side of the score. I tried basketweave tooling near the end of the sling as a test, and it barely took the "3D" part of the stamping. Is it too dry now?

It's still cool to the touch and feels a bit damp front and back.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

DrakeriderCa posted:

Hey leather people, help me out. I'm working on a sling, and I cased the leather overnight. I filled a bowl with water and dipped the leather in until it stopped bubbling. Then I put the leather in a plastic bag and left it in the fridge overnight. Today when I started working on it, it took my first stamps fairly well but I was worried it was too wet. So I let it sit for an hour or so, and now when I scored it with a stylus, it looks dry on either side of the score. I tried basketweave tooling near the end of the sling as a test, and it barely took the "3D" part of the stamping. Is it too dry now?

It's still cool to the touch and feels a bit damp front and back.

Hit it harder. Or put it on a sturdier surface. You have no idea how much a table absorbs the force of your impact until you put your leather on something like a concrete floor. If it feels cool and damp, it's probably just right.

DrakeriderCa
Feb 3, 2005

But I'm a real cowboy!
I ended up just letting it dry and then re-wetting it today. Better safe than sorry.

What about the "drying" beside the places I scored it? Is that normal?

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

So, I'm looking into buying a sewing machine for leather. Something that can handle around 1/2" of heavy duty leather, but hopefully it costs less than $1,000. Anyone here in the thread have a machine they use that they can talk about?

cloudy
Jul 3, 2007

Alive to the universe; dead to the world.
I've got a Juki-LU 563. It's old and has had some mechanical issues like all old machines, but it does its job. I got it on ebay for around $800 I believe.

I'd say searching e-bay for industrial sewing machines and looking up reviews for each will probably be your best bet!

Let me know if you have specific questions about the functionality or anything.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

cloudy posted:

I've got a Juki-LU 563. It's old and has had some mechanical issues like all old machines, but it does its job. I got it on ebay for around $800 I believe.

I'd say searching e-bay for industrial sewing machines and looking up reviews for each will probably be your best bet!

Let me know if you have specific questions about the functionality or anything.

That looks to be right in my price range. Do you have any samples of work you've done with it?

cloudy
Jul 3, 2007

Alive to the universe; dead to the world.
Yeah! I tried to find pictures of the thickest stuff I sew, which is probably 3 pieces of shell cordovan together. (I make wallets and stuff, so nothing too complicated).




These are of course not the best pictures ever, but you can kind of see the edge thickness. And actually on these wallets I go from 2 layers of leather to 3 layers without issue at all (after finding out your thread tension sweet spot).

I'd say the 3 pieces of shell could be about a quarter of an inch thick. I could test out a half inch for you on some scrap if you want!

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

I've done a little more research, and I'd like some thoughts.

I found one of these, used : http://shop.raphaelsewing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30_40&products_id=560

With shipping it's $1265. The downside to this, it has teeth on the bottom, which can mark veg tan. However, it's heavy duty and can handle what I need. With shipping, I can just barely cover it.

However... If I go up a few hundred, I can get this : http://www.tolindsewmach.com/cb3200.html

It's $1750, shipped. It has a walking foot so it won't mar the bottom. I think it's a better machine, but it's 50% over my budget. Any thoughts? Any thoughts on either of these machines in particular, or any thoughts on the concept of going up a little more than you can afford to get something better?

cloudy
Jul 3, 2007

Alive to the universe; dead to the world.
Hmmm, my first thought is that you will definitely want a walking foot. I think they provide better control and there's no reason to settle for something that's going to mar the bottom of your leather. However, don't jump into one that is way over your budget, because I'm pretty sure you could get something for a lot less if you take your time and scout everything out.

Emushka
Jul 5, 2007
Fellow leatherworker here, been doing stuff for about 2 years now.


98% of the time I do "european style fine leatherworking", which is a very different from what I see here. I also work with chrome tanned leather.





Love the wallets cloudy, very clean!

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

Eemo1 posted:

Fellow leatherworker here, been doing stuff for about 2 years now.


98% of the time I do "european style fine leatherworking", which is a very different from what I see here. I also work with chrome tanned leather.





Love the wallets cloudy, very clean!

Share some of your work, I'd like to see it.

I just watched this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Fl9oQn1uU and was very impressed to see how high quality leather goods are made. I'm also incredibly jealous of the giant shelf full of leather.

So far, almost all of my work has been in veg-tan with carving, but I've decided to branch out a little and try other things. Maybe a wallet or two first. So, I went to Tandy and bought a couple of different kinds of leather, like Latigo and oil-tan. I also had to restock supplies like dye, buckles, and rivets, so I spent quite a bit of money. But now I've got enough leather of every different type that I can experiment.

TheNothingNew
Nov 10, 2008

Pagan posted:

Share some of your work, I'd like to see it.

Likewise.

Veg-tan leather has a certain cache to it, which is I think why it draws new folks in. That, and the ability to color and carve it.

I haven't played with chrome-tan much, but it seems more like cloth in how it's handled. Also machine-sewable without spending tons of money on a specialist device.

Speaking of which,Pagan, you're looking for a leather-sewing machine. Mitchell Leather (http://www.mitchell-leather.com) are close to me and gave me a tour of their workshop, including multiple rows of sewing machines, mostly Pfaff & Singer I think. Not one was made after WW2 that I could see. So you might consider expanding your search, if you can find something older that fits your needs.

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

TheNothingNew posted:

Likewise.

Veg-tan leather has a certain cache to it, which is I think why it draws new folks in. That, and the ability to color and carve it.

I haven't played with chrome-tan much, but it seems more like cloth in how it's handled. Also machine-sewable without spending tons of money on a specialist device.

Speaking of which,Pagan, you're looking for a leather-sewing machine. Mitchell Leather (http://www.mitchell-leather.com) are close to me and gave me a tour of their workshop, including multiple rows of sewing machines, mostly Pfaff & Singer I think. Not one was made after WW2 that I could see. So you might consider expanding your search, if you can find something older that fits your needs.

I decided to go with the slightly more expensive machine. I figure it's pointless to quibble over a few hundred when I'm already spending well over a thousand, and I won't regret getting the better machine. Should be here in about 10 days, then I have to find a way to lug 250 lbs of cast iron up two flights of stairs. But once that happens, I will post pix and a video.

Power Khan
Aug 20, 2011

by Fritz the Horse
Hello leatherworking goons, first of all, great projects posted here so far. I recently had the idea that I need to make a quiver, but sadly that was before I found the thread or put much thought to the basic tools needed to do the job. (I do some woodworking and fletching, so most tools for cutting and sharpening are compatible anyway)

So, I managed to make this without losing too much blood (It's not finished yet, as I wait for a swivel knife, etc.):



Then there's a 2nd one where I wanted to fix a concho (?)



I'm puzzled how to do this, the piece came with these brass thingies:



How am I supposed to do this? I have the feeling that I could use a (wooden-)hammer for the job, but I thought it's smarter to ask first.

ReelBigLizard
Feb 27, 2003

Fallen Rib
See "Tubular Rivet Setter/Splash Tool " on this page: http://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/tools/tools.html

Power Khan
Aug 20, 2011

by Fritz the Horse
I'm in Europe, so shipping might be a bit too expensive from over there. How about this? I need a set for other rivet types too anyway.

http://www.tandyleather.eu/en-eur/home/department/tools/setters-anvils/rivet/8105-00.aspx

http://www.tandyleather.eu/en-eur/home/department/tools/setters-anvils/rivet/8099-00.aspx

ReelBigLizard
Feb 27, 2003

Fallen Rib
Ah, me too, I just assume everyone on here is 'murrican. Yeah that second punch should do the job. It's hard to tell if the first set includes something to do the job but that second punch is definitely the kind of thing you need.

Power Khan
Aug 20, 2011

by Fritz the Horse
So, I use the tubular tool to fix the rivet to the leather and after that fix the concho?

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Pagan
Jun 4, 2003

InspectorBloor posted:

So, I use the tubular tool to fix the rivet to the leather and after that fix the concho?

I can't quite tell what the little brass things are. The almost look like snaps, but snaps normally have 2 parts on each side.

If they're rivet caps, then you need to punch three holes in the leather, push the three posts on the concho through the leather, then put the cap on the post. Then use the tools ReelBigLizard linked you to, and hammer on the caps. That will hold it on.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply