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Thread: Leather working & tools
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26th October 2012, 06:54 PM #1Product designer retired
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Leather working & tools
Many years ago I took up leather working by first making myself a belt. This was inspired by finding dozens of harness buckles on an abandoned farm. The buckles were found in the ashes of a fire. Pretty soon I was making belts for friends, then taking orders. Leather shoulder bags, coin purses & card holders etc soon followed.
Back in those days, I sprayed the leather using a hand fly spray. Worked well, but now I use an air brush using Raven oil.
It was tedious slicing up the 3mm plain embossing hide with a steel rule and Stanley knife, so hand made a plough gauge or strap cutter.
The width of the strap is set by sliding the fence across to the correct width, then using one straight edge of the hide, just push it in and slice right down the hide. It cuts like a hot knife through butter.
The card holder consists of a front and back, dyed, glued and stitched together. While still damp, the leather is buffed to a high shine. The next step is into water, then a three piece former pushed inside and moulded to shape. An elastic bandage wrapped around keeps the shape whilst drying.
The sewing machine I have is an old Singer 29K13 boot patcher refurbed internally by myself. I'll cover the Singer in another post.
A final buff and Bob's your uncle.
A few pictures are worth a thousand words. These show the card holder, boot patcher & plough gauge.
Ken
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26th October 2012 06:54 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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26th October 2012, 07:05 PM #2Senior Member
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Very nice work, do you still do leather work. Love the singer sewing machine , do you know if they are still about or even similar units are available for sale.
Cheers Alby
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26th October 2012, 07:23 PM #3Product designer retired
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Singer 29K boot patcher
Alby,
Bad news, the old Singer boot patcher is as scarce as hens teeth, I waited twelve months before finding mine on eBay.
If you do find one, expect to pay around $800-$1000 for one in reasonable nick.
Singer no longer make them, but there are new Japanese copies available.
Just about every boot maker will have one, so if you know of a boot maker retiring, jump in quick.
Ken
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26th October 2012, 07:33 PM #4Senior Member
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Thanks ken, looks like I'm on the hunt for yet another tool for the shed. Perhaps I should sell some of the things that I no longer need.
Cheers Alby
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26th October 2012, 11:58 PM #5Product designer retired
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Singer 29K13 restoration article
For those interested in leather sewing machines, you may find the following article of interest.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/si...rticle-161038/
KenLast edited by neksmerj; 26th October 2012 at 11:59 PM. Reason: added photo
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1st November 2012, 10:26 PM #6China
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Ken did you sew the credit card pouch on the 29k? if so what foot did you use, if I use mine for top stiching all I get is teeth marks from the serations on the foot, naybe I need the grind the down
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4th November 2012, 10:54 AM #7Product designer retired
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Singer 29K13
Hi China,
Yes, I did use the Singer for stitching up the credit card holder. I only have one foot for my machine, and am not aware that other feet are available.
My foot is serrated underneath, and doesn't seem to mark the leather. Maybe you have too much downward pressure on your foot.
Ken
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5th November 2012, 10:16 PM #8China
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Thanks Ken,
I can see I will have to spend some time fine tuning it.
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3rd March 2013, 11:05 AM #9New Member
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- Sep 2007
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- warrnambool, Vic
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Singer boot patching machine & electric skiving machine.
I have just read above re the machine and other tools, I have a singer machine and also a skiving machine, both on their dont do any leather work these days, as much as I loved it, but costs beat meown stands etc. I also have a large number of stamping tools and other gear for leather working. I dont do it anymore as costs beat me, If anyone interested let me know.
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11th September 2013, 01:45 AM #10New Member
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- western Australia
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Hi ,did you end up getting rid of those tools.i do leatherwork myself as a hobby and have started collecting old tools as well.I have a singer 29k71, 45k25, 31k48 and a fortuna skiver, all in beautiful working condition.Also I have about 300 different stamps and various leather tools but am always looking for more of the old good quality tools.If you still have your tools,give me a yell and see what we can work out.Thanks
Peter.
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7th December 2018, 10:14 PM #11
That guy just blogs about leather fashion accessories as far as I can see. He doesn't seem to have any tools for sale.
https://www.leatherhouse.eu/products...leather-tools/
This place is in Denmark but I'm sure there are stores in Sweden that sell leather working tools.
Don't start with a guitar strap. Watch plenty of beginner videos on Youtube, buy some veg tanned leather and some basic tools. You will quickly learn what you need for a guitar strap.
Make some belts and key fobs to practice the basics and get the hang of stamping and carving.
If we have a Tandy here in Australia you will probably have one close to you. They have some ok quality beginners kits to get you started.
Looks like the UK store is the closest.Those were the droids I was looking for.
https://autoblastgates.com.au
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