miscellaneous tips, advice, and cautions

[tmattimore]

Jerry at artisan had a post machine at Sheridan which if I recall corectly had a 12 inch post. It sews great. Georgia boot uses an old pilgrim chain stitcher with an 18'' post to sew the back seam on their Engineer boots. Talk about a monster machine.

[dw]

I called him today also. I mentioned that someone had told me that he didn't answer email. He seemed surprised at that. Said he travels a lot and will usually answer his email in the evenings. He said he would answer my email tonight. But if I'm reading the website right, it hasn't been updated since this time last year. His email address may be different than what's on the site. So he may not have gotten my email at all--so far I haven't heard anything but it's early yet.

I thought he was a character also. He says he has lots more machines than are on the website.

As far as the German five-in-one, well, suit yourself, but it's hard to imagine that with such a simple machine, any improvements would be all that world shaking. If the price is right...get the best you can afford, that's what I say.

Mentioning prices...as long as it's not self-serving...is fine. If you stand to make a profit or are selling something yourself, that's where the problem comes. For instance, I can say that Okume 13 ply marine grade plywood is $58.00 for a 2'x4' sheet...because I'm not selling it and I'm not profiting.--ie., I have no connection with the source. I hope that clears things up.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[curtgillock]

DW, the e-mail from the site may go to the Tenn. wharehouse , if so I would suspect that to be the problem. The website is not current nor was it a year & a half ago when I dealt with him. And my understanding is he has tons of stuff.

Curt

[firefly]

All,

OK I do need to lean on you guys for one more question. Old Cowpoke did not recommend the Landis Handcrank splitter because he said that it would not split the finer leather like say splitting down a 3 oz for beading.

Any experiences or advice here?

Thanks,

Mark

[dw]

Mark,

I doubt any hand cranked splitter will do that. The hand cranked splitter relies on the leather having a certain "firmness" or it will ruck up. I've split 3 ounce cream cow with my Landis but it was uneven and I wouldn't want to rely on it.

To split upper leathers...where the concept of "hand" has some relevance...you need either a band splitter or a Fortuna type skiver. Either on of those would be the proper tool for the job. This is what I mean about the tools evolving...if the hand cranked splitter ever worked satisfactorily for lightweight leathers, there'd never have been either the impulse or the need to invent the skiving machine.

But bear in mind that when you split a leather like, say, a four ounce French calf, to two ounces in order to make top bead or side welt out of it, you decrease the tear strength well over 50%. I do it, especially with the French calf, but I always test the result before I put it into a boot. Far better to use a separate piece of kangaroo than risk the side welt or top bead falling apart.

For that matter, I have split heavy leathers for tongues in my packers and while it is a bit tricky the Fortuna can do that job over a fairly large area as long as you realize that it has to be done in two inch swathes and cleaned up afterward.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[firefly]

Thanks DW,

I guess I can cross that bridge when I get there. Anyway I am going to order some equipment from Cowpoke and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Thanks,

Mark

[tomo]

Hey Mark,

An ordinary saddler's bench splitter will split down any strapping type leather and IT WILL split strips of light leather for side seams, beading and welting, they're just not suitable for bigger pieces of leather like soles, but strips are OK.

4870.jpg

It just needs to be sharp, and the roller and blade need to be parrallel - some of the old ones get pretty worn and might need a new blade if you cant get the old one reground...

More power to y'awl
T.

[kadwart]

Sue needs help with a few basic "starter" things...

Hi folks - while I am at home sick I thought I would share the pain, at least to the extent of asking for a little help. I now have the lasts for my mocs so rather than just sit and admire them while waiting for other stuff I thought I would ask:

1. TLC for the slightly worn areas on plastic lasts, mostly scuffs and abrasions. Can I fill them in with crazy glue and sand them down or is this a big no-no?

2. (a) The original moccasins were made with bullhide and a boarhide sole. Neither of these are available locally (Western Canada). I know where to get bullhide from the US, but does anyone have leads on boarhide? (b)suggestions for alternatives to the above would be welcome. I know some of the big moccasin makers who shall remain nameless use some mythical really thick (chrome tanned?) cowhide, which is equally unavailable up here as far as I know (of course I have no idea what it is so that doesn't help), so if anyone has suggestions for appropriate upper and soling material and where to find it(preferably in Canada) I would really appreciate it.

3. Hand sewing. I am going to be doing a lot of hand sewing. I followed the discussions on both the stitch and coad and I think I understand what's going on with both. Outside of constant practice, do any of the fine people who hand sew have any suggestions, tips or tricks on how to improve one's stitching. Right for now I am keeping my ambitions modest. I would like to be able to stitch decently at 12 p.i. Would this require a finer than normal stitching awl and if so are these commercially produced? (Of course it might also help if I found out how to stitch in a straight line!!!, or evenly, or could keep my awl angle consistent...etc., etc., etc....)

OK - by now I think you have suffered enough, but if anyone does have any help or suggestions I would love to hear them, either on the board or you can p.m. me.

Hope all goes well,
Sue

[dw]

Sue,

I regret you are not getting a better response here but I'm not sure how many members are actually engaged in work that is similar to what you are doing.

1) Plastic lasts...if you mean areas that are ground down so as to alter the lines and/or measurements of the last, leather build ups will suit your purpose better than any other material that I know of. If you just mean areas that seem chopped up by previous tacks, etc., I doubt anything needs to be done. Certainly superglue will not answer. It is brittle and it doesn't stick all that well to the plastic in any event.

2) Not in Canada, so I can't help you much in terms of sources. As far as Boarhide goes...I might be interested myownself...but I don't know of a source.

3) Small sewing awls are available...as old stock or used but no one that I know of is as yet producing small awls on an on-going and reliable basis.

As for improving your technique...the first and best thing to do is jump in (the water's fine) and practice, practice, practice. Not having seen what you are currently doing and not relying on hand stitching to any degree, myself, I cannot help much.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[kadwart]

DW - thanks for the response. If I find sources for any of the stuff I was looking for I will let you know. In the meanwhile, I console myself with Dumas (one for all and all for awl?)and go back to practice...
Sue

[tomo]

Hi Sue,
I'm from New Zealand so I can't help directly with Canadian suppliers as far as leather goes, but Boarhide... traditionally pigskin has been used for (English) saddle seats but that's only like 1 - 1.5mm thick. I would think you'd need to look at a country in Eastern Europe, Germany maybe, somewhere like that. What about Siegels? http://www.siegelofca.com/ they sell leather's for moccasins etc.

Now your hand sewing, just do it, don't mess around with stitch markers or any of that milarky just practice doing it by eye, that's what I do and using a stitch wheel really slows me down. For fine work I do about 8 - 10 spi for bridles (maybe finer, it all depends on the item).

OK, The awl needs to be SERIOUSLY sharp! You can sharpen them with a fine file or a flat diamond hone, which is my preference now. When it's sharp, polish the faces with some jeweller's rouge on a piece of scrap leather. In fact if you get a copy of Al Stohlman's book on hand sewing - which I'd highly recommend, you'll be heading in the right direction (including learning to hold the 2 needles and awl at the same time).

As far as awl size goes, the shorter ones are usually finer but do need to be sharpened and shaped a little to the size you want.


Good luck.

More power to y'awl.
Tomo

[kadwart]

Hey Tomo - on a completely arbitrary note, after nearly 30 years in Canada my original London accent has broadened to the extent that people often ask me if I'm from New Zealand... Are you North or South Island, 'cos I have some friends from long ago out in Waikato at the uni.

International gossip aside, I have contacted a couple of GB leather suppliers just in case and Siegel's is on my list (I know they list a chrome tanned and an alum tanned if I remember correctly).

I have read the Stohlman book - did you know the Stohlman's had their retirement ranch in BC and the local Tandy still has people who come in who remember both of them fondly - and the old Valerie Michell (sp?) book also has a fairly good demo of hand sewing.

I confess it's too late for the warning about milarky, alas, but I promise faithfully to do my next lot of practice minus wheels. Once I can do things satisfactorily on a bigger stitch scale I plant to move to a smaller scale stitch (OK, don't laugh...), so I've been practicing on straight sides on some stuff I am doing for family. While I'd like to say it looks OK, right now it looks like a dog's dinner but I'm sure it will improve.

Next stop will be finding some smaller awls and getting them successfully sharp, which will be a whole separate discipline...Thanks for the advice, tho,
Sue

[admin]

moved here http://www.thehcc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1104&p=19965#p19965

[corvin]

Leather splitting question:

How would I go about splitting leather down that's too soft to go through my Landis? Is there some other type of leather splitter that works better on a softer leather like kid?

Thanks,
Craig

[dw]

Craig,

Others may be better qualified to answer this...but I just happen to be sitting in front of my computer designing a filigree collar pattern...

I say "better qualified" because I don't own a band splitter...and that's what you need.

You might be able to get away with a Fortuna type skiver if it is set up carefully but you'd have to split the leather in two inch swaths and on top of that, splitting kid skin with a skiver is touch and go.

But the real question is why do you want to split kid? It is about as thin, in its natural state, as I'd want any component to be; and you have to bear in mind that dry splitting any leather more than 30% is going to weaken it significantly. And kid ain't none too strong to begin with.

Just some thoughts...

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[corvin]

Band Splitter:

Thanks DW as always for attempting to answer my questions. It's much appreciated that you take the time to do so.

The reason for wanting to split the kid is for making some beaded edging and also to cover some heel blocks I've cast for a pair for ladies 2 1/2 inch heel shoes.

I saw elsewhere on the board that a Fortuna can be used for making the beaded edging, but un-Fortuna-itely I don't have one (anyone got a spare I can borrow?).

Hmmm, don't know what a Band Splitter is or what it looks like - Could someone who has one post a picture?

Thanks,
Craig

[dw]

Craig,

Tom O'Sullivan was looking at one some time back...he included a photo in his post.

http://www.thehcc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1386

about halfway down the page... Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 05:07


Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[jenny_fleishman]

Shoelace sources--I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but I am anticipating needing shoelaces that would look good with various metallic colored dance shoes--copper, gold, pewter.

I've been searching online for colored shoe laces, and the pickings are slim. I've found some that might work--however, they are often a longer size than needed. Is there a way to create a new end (vocabulary problem again!--what IS that clear-coated area called?) after cutting a lace to shorten it?

Or, does anyone know where one can buy metallic colored shoelaces in various lengths? Thanks.

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

Aglet or aiglet, it seems to be the same, just spelt differently.

sorry can't help with the laces.

Tim

[luckyduck]

Jenny,

I found this site, it seems to have all things shoe lace. Didn't look too hard for suppliers, but it seems like they should be there. It does have a section on end treatment.

http://www.shoelaceknot.com/

Happy Knotting,

Paul

[jenny_fleishman]

Thanks, Paul.

[jenny_fleishman]

Rob, or anyone who's done this...I decided I'm going to cut the heel stiffener down below the area of my "pump bumps" on my current pair of shoes. With the prior pairs of shoes I wet the heel stiffener and tacked it on the last to dry to pre-form it before lasting the upper.

With a dip in the stiffener around the back of the heel, how do you get it to conform tightly to the last as you don't have tension along the top of the stiffener to hold it tight? Thanks.

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

You say you are going to re-do the existing pair of shoes, does that mean that you are going to pull them to pieces to do this?

Do you have access to a pair of bunion pliers? You can use these to stretch the stiffener in the area of the bumps without pulling the shoe to pieces. Just wet the area thouroughly with a sponge so only the area to be stretched is affected and the stiffener is softer. If you can keep the shoe away from the bumps, will this fix the problem? It may save a lot of work.

Tim

[jenny_fleishman]

Tim, I'm not going to redo a finished pair of shoes. I have a pair in progress (just cut out the uppers in the past few days) that I want to try this with.

I did try a bunion stretcher yesterday on the previous pair. Even though I had skived the heel counter really thin over the sensitive area, and did not use press cement over that area, it still causes a problem!

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

Ok, that's a relief.

I see no real reason why you can't cut the stiffener down below the affected area to avoid the problem. After all there is quite often room above the stiffener and below the topline when making a shoe. Just make sure that the area has paste on it so the upper and lining can bond.

Tim