CJ Van

I do make wallets. Most of them are minimalist wallets that take about 4 cards and some notes like the once in the pic below. I am not a fan of the bifold wallet so I have not spend the time and effort to create a template for something like that yet. I have some ideas for different wallets. If you have something specific in mind drop me a pm and we can chat. Should not be to difficult to create a template and make a different wallet to someone's requirements. I recently received much finer thread and stitching irons so I could make something that looks a bit more refined as well.

Not 100% woodwork related but it does have a connection to woodworking. I recently made this bag for someone on here. In return I received all the wooden hardware for a leg vice and a moxon vice for a new workbench I still have to build. Unfortunately my workbench will not look like his when it is done. Anyway, hopefully my leather work looks better than my workbench will.

K@k man. Ek val nie so gereeld nie.

So I ended up buying the Makita cordless drill and impact driver, the normal brushed versions. This weekend I made a new gate to put up on the side of the house that leads to the backyard. Had to drill 16mm holes in the concrete. I always drill smaller holes first because in my experience the smaller holes does not tend to drift off coarse that easily in concrete. So fist an 8mm hole and then the 16mm hole. No problem for the cordless drill. That said, the house is build with cheese and not really a true test for the drill. Having the impact driver also makes life so much easier than before. No more changing of bits every time I drilled a pilot hole and needs to drive in the screw. It is a bit of a learning curve to control the speed with the trigger and not drive the screw through both pieces of wood but when you have that under control it is so much easier to drive it in to the correct depth that with the drill. My next tool is for sure a cordless orbital sander. Sanding stuff by hand is not a job for someone that does not get paid to do it. I think the sander might already be in my basket.....

I phoned them to ask for pricing on this combo kit but was told that they don't do the combo anymore. Not enough people wanted to buy the combo kits according to them. Would have been nice to get the Makpac case with the kit. I also asked them if they have any impact bit sets that I can order with the impact driver. Was told that they do not stock them but if I can send him the product number of what I want he can order it for me. Their price on the bit set I wanted was also the best I could find. I have this feeling that might just start ordering all my tool related stuff through them if it is as easy as giving them the part number and waiting an extra 2-3 days for them to get it. Hopefully I will have my new toys early next week.

I understand that a brushless motor will deliver more power and probably last longer but is it really worth the extra money when you are not a tradesman? There is a substantial difference in the price of a brushed motor vs a brushless motor. My corded hammer drill is a cheap Bosch green drill that I bought about 13years ago when I was still in university. It's got a mind of its own now and only works when I don't need it. Maybe another cheep hammer drill is an option but I seldom drill holes into concrete bigger than about 8mm. For bigger stuff I'll get my dads Sds drill.

I'm looking to buy a new cordless drill and impact driver. Currently I have the following in my basket at Strand Hardware. Could not get a better deal at Top Dog Tools or Power Tool Services here in Cape Town. Anybody here know of a better deal on these tools? Also, any recommendations on impact bits to get for the impact driver would be great. Thanks.

I would do a whitewash on that head board if you want a type of distressed look. Take a decent white paint like Plascon Velvaglo - Satin sheen and mix it with turpentine of paint thinners and paint it on. The grain of the wood will still show and you will get a nice effect. The reason I would go for the Satin sheen is that it is not a very glossy paint but not matt either. Test the ratios on a scrap piece until you get the result you like.

Nuwe chain ring het vandag hier aangekom. Ek join nou officially ook die bling bling club. Hopelik gaan my bike nou mooi stil wees.

That friend is very clever. Or maybe he just had a look at the instructions on how to setup the Eagle derailleur. SRAM made if very clear that the B-Gap tool should be used when the bike is at the desired sag position. Anyway, sort out that noise, I don't want to ride with someone this weekend with a noisy bike.

The only trail in Jonkers that is for MTB as well as for running and hiking is Irish. Only for MTB's going up, both directions for hikers and runners. None of the MTB single track down is dual direction and definitely not for hikers or runners. You could have gotten away with running up fire hut after the fires but the trees are now getting to tall and you cannot see someone coming down around the corners any more. Next time you encounter a hiker or runner on the trails please stop and kindly explain that they are putting your safety at risk by going up/down the trail. There is more than enough signage at the bottom of the single track showing no entry. Yelling and swearing at them does not help because for some odd reason a lot of them think that they have the right to be on that trail.

Still riding and enjoying my Following MB. She used to be called Olivia but I think I have change her name to Jessica. I eventually got the decals made for the head tube that I "designed" about 2 years ago. I stole the Evil/Deadpool design and did some entry level Photoshop of Jessica Rabbit on a WW2 bomb in there as well. Actually, my fiancée eventually got it made for me.

I’ve also made a few extra wallets. If anybody is in the market for a minimalist wallet let me know. They can take about 4-6 cards and one or two notes. I have orange thread as well that goes really good with the light brown leather.

So, I’ve finished another leather bag. This one I made for my mom for her 60th birthday. This is made of a soft chrome tan leather with a bit of a pull-up effect. The oils in the leather displaces when the leather folds creating if sort of destressed look. For the handles and straps I used a thicker more rigid leather so the it does not stretch over time. I’ve changed my design slightly from my previous bag and did not think everything through properly. Luckily everything worked out in the end. Next project is a bag for a well know hubber around here in exchange for something that I cannot make myself. I will have to ask him if he also wants flowers on the bag liner. Hopefully after that I can start with something for myself again. I think a laptop back is a good idea.

That ODI logo on the grips is not lined up. Who ever installed that grips needs to do a better job!

Behalwe vir daai 1 draatjie waar ons almal geval het.

I have thought about using a scaffolding leveling jack as the vice screw and attach the nut thingy that comes with it to the back of the leg for the for the screw to screw in. I am just worried that this setup will have to much pay because the leveling jack and nut thingy feels really loose. Anybody that have tried this before?

Nice! I like the idea for the hub, keeping the live edge on the branch. I would like to see how you turned the thread on the screw. I wanted to make a leg vice for my bench but I had no idea how to cut the threads for a wooden screw. Is that piece of live edge slab sneaking into the photos going to be the chop? Also, what wood are you going to use for the top?

Thanks. Yes, the patterns....... The wallets I made I developed the patterns myself. Once I had the design I wanted in my head I drew it om my technical drawings board I used in school I still have from 16 year ago. This was a bit of trail and error because one of the designs only use one piece of leather wrapped around itself and then stitched in place, the other one uses only 2 pieces also folding over itself. It is difficult to calculate the exact length because you do not know how much will be used for every time you fold it over. Also, if the piece of leather you use is slightly thicker that the previous piece the you need to cut it a bit longer because even more leather will be used when you fold it over. For the first bag I kind of winged it. I had an idea of what the bag should look like but it change here and there as I was making it. For the second bag I sketched out the design I wanted and then I drew the "ontvouing". I have no idea what "ontvouing" is in English. I did not draw a full size pattern, I just had the measurements I worked off. Someone wanted to buy some toiletry bags from me for fathers day so before I started with that I drew the exact templates in Adobe Illustrator. Print them over 2 A3 pages and glued that on to thick cardboard. I now have a nice template I can use to cut out the pattern for that. After I did the template for the toiletry bags I also drew a template on illustrator for the second bag I made because my mom said she also wants a bag like that, and that's the one person you cannot say no to. So I guess I will have to go buy some more leather. I cannot give you to much advice on this craft because I'm also fairly new to this. One thing I can say is that if you think what you have made can look better then do it again. Just focus a bit more on what you are doing and do not rush the project. I have scrapped some pieces because I got impatient and then screwed it up. The rest I learned at the university of YouTube.

The big hide I used for the first bag was about R1200 for the full hide. I had enough material for the bag, 4 toiletry bags, some test wallets and I still have a bit left. it was about 3.5 sq m. The leather for the second bag cost about R1200 for a side, half a hide. It is a thicker and stiffer leather. I had just enough for the bag and some offcuts big enough to make a few wallets. The total cost for the second bag was about R1500 for all the material and brass hardware. Not cheap but also not expensive for a bag that should last a very long time.

So, following my previous post on my leather craft journey, the big project I had in mind was to make myself a leather gym bag. Chrome tanned leather, the gentleman at Woodheads said they call it bag leather, because it is used to make……. bags. I did not know if he was talking nonsense or not, but I liked the look of the leather and the price, so I was happy. This bag took me the whole December and most of January to finish. There was a lot of mistakes and redoes but, it was my first leather bag I made, and I was happy with the result. It ended up being way to big for a gym bag, so it turned into my weekend bag. I used some old jeans for the lining..... And the finish project. There is much I would do different if I had to do it all over again, so I made my girlfriend a bag as well. This bag was actually my lockdown project and I was lucky to have bought all the stuff I needed for this just before lockdown stared. I change the entire design of the bag and the type of leather used for this. I used a chrome tanned leather that was veg re-tanned. This gives the leather much more rigidity but still soft and pliable. Some photos of the process. I had to do a makeshift setup to cut the excess leather off the handles and keep the cut 90degrees. I used an old wooden plane blade to make the cuts and i wedged the handle in between the cutting board and a piece of wood to keep it aligned. Finished handle. Obviously I had to add my branding...… And sometime during stage 5 of lockdown this ended up as the finished product.

I bought something like that a year or 2 ago, used it once and it now sits in my scrap bin. The one I got was a bit cheaper than this one, this one looks much more sturdy that the one I have. There was to much play in mine and the shaft of the chuck was not 100% straight. Maybe I should try my luck with this one. I still think a drill press from Adendorff will be a better investment. The next project I have that require perpendicular holes I will probably close my eyes and buy a 16mm bench drill press from them.

I use hand tools most of the time. It is cheaper to get into woodworking with hand tools and for me there is more satisfaction in completing a project using hand tools rather than power tools. If money was not a problem and I had to get stuff done quick, power tools are obviously more suited for that. But if you are your only customer then that customer can wait a bit longer for his project to be finished. Maybe if I had the money to buy a decent table saw, jointer, a dovetail jig and all that sort of stuff that makes live easier I might change my mind on hand tools. For now it is all I got. I do want to save up and buy a drill press. There is no way I am able to drill a straight hole in wood, I have tried and failed on numerous occasions.

Thanks. Do you think if I put them up on the classifieds and say they are "mint" I will get burned at the stake?

Thanks! That loiter bag did give me some issues the first time. The second one was only a little easier. I am busy with one now that someone wants to buy so I decided to make a decent template in Adobe illustrator and printed that out over 2 A3 sheets. I marked all the stitching lines and holes on the template so that I can punch them first before I put the liner in. As soon as the liner is in it makes it very difficult to mark and punch the holes. I will know tonight if all the holes lined up and if this made the process easier. My signature is a brass stamp that my girlfriend got for me some years back. The idea was to burn that into all my woodworking projects. I heated it up a bit but not to much, then I apply a lot of pressure down onto the piece of leather. It is a bit of a hit and a miss, if it is to hot then the leather burns and if it is to cold it does not leave a nice imprint. I still want to try and not heat it up but rather unscrew it from the handle and put it in the vice with the leather to get much more pressure. Maybe I should try that tonight as well. As for Woodheads, I think I can spend much more time in there than in a bike shop. I can at least afford some of the stuff in Woodheads and then sell the end product to make some money back.