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swivelsphinx

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About swivelsphinx

  • Rank
    Member
  • Birthday 12/22/1972

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    baphythegoat@hotmail.com
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Profile Information

  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Worcester, MA
  • Interests
    Wood carving, figure carving, metaphysics, herpetology & more

LW Info

  • Leatherwork Specialty
    Bags, molded leather, carving
  • Interested in learning about
    carving, bag construction
  • How did you find leatherworker.net?
    surfed in

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  1. I've been looking for a recommendation on hand-held sewing awls. Back in February, I called Campell & Randall's customer service, and asked for advice on which sewing awl might be appropriate for stitching with a CS Osbourne number 20 sewing needle. I own a "small" 1 5/8 diamond awl blade http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3319-05.aspx, and I wanted something smaller. The customer service rep recomened that I purchase a #44 in their catalog, which I did. Unfortunately, this piece was *not* smaller- it's not the same size, it's noticably larger than the one I have. Would it be possible to get a better recommendation on a choice of sewing awls? I need one that is smaller than the 1 5/8 diamond point made by CS Osborne. Thanks!
  2. You know, I've tried a variety of methods to get the chrome plating off of my pictorial stamps. I find that "weak acids" work well. While I can be impatient, slower is better- you can monitor the progress of the removal without having to worry about dissolving the softer metal underneath the chrome. I use straight white vinegar with ordinary salt at room temperature... about a teaspoon per half cup. Over night (that's 6-8 hours for me) I can see the chrome clearly peeled or in the process of peeling. I'll scrub the pieces down with a little baking soda or baking soda toothpaste. If I see real shiny spots, I rinse the tools off, and chuck 'em back in the solution. I've done this solution hot on the stove, and it works a little *too* fast- I worry about metal loss. Once I feel the chrome is removed, I rinse in baking soda and water, scrub in dish soap then air dry. I found that Rain-X was an excellent product to protect the stamps without interfering with my unfinished leathers.
  3. I do all my stamping by hand. Sometimes I rotate a pictoral stamp incorrectly, and I prefer to re-do rather than have a badly placed marking. On veg tan, I flood the area with water/casing solution. I use "Bee Natural" which i get from Weaver leather. Once the stamped area is wetted down, I wait until it is about 1/2 dry, and start rupping the area with bone and/or wood tools. I will sometimes bend the stamped area over a hard but curved surface similar to a fleshing beam or a banister- it helps "pop" the area out so I can rub out the impression or deep scratch. I find this method works for areas I'm going to *restamp* best on 6oz and higher weights. I've even "erased" markings on hand dyed pieces that sat on the shelf for a long time! I had to flood the back, and re-finish, but you can't see the old impression at all. I've used this method to get rid of edge marks and scratches I've made with my nails when they've been very long (nearly 2 inches of acrylic glory) for upcoming special occasions. On lower weight leathers, the new impression may not take because the fibers may get to compacted by the rubbing.
  4. Hi There! Thanks for the suggestion- I'm going to check that out! What I ended up doing was running the apholstry hides through a warm wash cycle with a cup or two of baking soda. I let the hides drip dry, then gave them a quick Saddle Soap treatment. This dulled the finishes significantly on all but one of the hides I washed, and the last one is still in good shape- still too stiff and shiny for my tastes. Best Wishes, The Swivelsphinx
  5. Hi There! I just bought a "mystery selection" of soft bag leathers. They are pretty nice- no holes, brandy new- nice suede and top grain. However, the grain side is *wayyyy* too shiny for my tastes. I've found that rubbing the shiny side on unfinished wood surfaces does soften the glaring shine, but this is *terribly* slow. So, I'm trying running it through a conventional washing machine to see if I can break up the surface a bit more and cut serious time off of the job. Does anyone have a way they break the finish on upholstry leathers?
  6. I actually did receive a reply... that they don't like to add categories but that they were willing to "take demand into account in the future". If they phase the category system out... I certainly wouldn't miss it much!
  7. Yeah... messenger bags or their ancestor "the Pony Express" bag are pretty cool! I first fell in love with "the possibles bag" and went half-nuts looking for patterns... until realizing that over half of the "rustic" purse patterns Tandy has sold over the years are variants on this historically manly bag! I now affectionately refer to it as "that f*cking bag" because it seems to be *everywhere* in shooting magazines, old copies of "The Craftsman" and of course, on Ebay disguised as *purse patterns*. -The Swivelsphinx Thank you for the encouragement... I certainly gave myself the short stick when I thought 175.00 was adequate for this "experimental project". Now I try doing web searching on "going rates" for these things before taking a stab at pricing.... The Swivelsphinx
  8. Tip on the outer pockets: - On the pockets, I have used the following options. I sew the gussets then the flaps on the outside of the bag *before* stitching on the fronts of the pockets. The fronts of these pockets can be sewn from mid-bottom *up* (middle to the left or middle to the right). I tend to hold everything in place with either Barge Cement or Testor's White Rubber cement. The other option I have used is to sew on your flaps and flare the gusset on your pre-assembled pocket *out* and sew it to the front of the bag facing *out* rather than tucking it in. If the pocket is wide enough, I can actually sew the flap on, assemble the pocket and then glue the seam of the assembled pocket so it does not show... to the front of the bag before *that* is attached to the main bag. That last option is how I did this one! The Swivelsphinx Yep... it's a kick to figure this stuff out... the kick in the *pants* is figuring out how much I *should* be charging! -The Swivelsphinx Well... I feel it's my *job* to be "my worst critic" rather than my customer! Best Wishes, The Swivelsphinx Arrgh... I'm embarrassed to say I charged 175.00 for this thing.... "next time" I would charge about $600.00 <br /><br Arrgh... I'm embarrassed to say I charged 175.00 for this thing.... "next time" I would charge about $600.00 <br /><br
  9. Just finished sorting the caps & stems to 2000 Rapid Rivets... realized after some minutes that tubular rivets only have *one* part! Wheee....

  10. You *are* right about tags... but really, I just feel that leatherwork deserves its own category... I mean sheeeeut.... knitting has one, and so does woodwork!
  11. Thank you! This was my first inverted carving... had Stohlman's Inverted Carving book open the whole time by the bench!
  12. Thank you. The background is a tan with yellow and a tiny bit of orange added. The white is layers of Fiebings white dye. I used a black acrylic antique to fill in the cuts.
  13. What beautiful, clean lettering! I wish I could get my straight lines as crisp...
  14. I work with a fair number of exotics. I primarily do costume collars. I have that edge problem as well. Here's a few things that seem to help: 1. Make sure to rough up *at least* the surface of whatever leather the scaled leather is going on. If its uber thin like snake, it's going to be difficult to impractical to rough up the exotic... however, when working with something a little thicker like carp, I'll go over the exotic with a l50-220 sand paper. 2. I use regular screaming death- yellow issue Barge cement too for my "first attempt at adherence". I try to remember to apply the skin on one edge then "roll it down" the rest of the surface- I'm fussy enough to trim off the excess with nail scissors or a cuticle cutter (looks like a really tiny light duty edger... good for lots of exotics I've used except stingray or shark.) I like to press it down with a heavy roller to avoid little air pockets. 3. If the edges still pop up and there's enough room to peel the layers back where they don't stick, I'll actually re-apply the barge as a contact cement. If there isn't even enough room to get a little brush with the thick goo in there, I like to use something more flexible... believe it or not, hide glue or even (DUN DUN DUN!)... Aileen's Tacky Glue. Then I clamp with heavy duty clothes pins with or without pads. Most of my projects end up flexing a lot while in use- if this was not the case, I'd use Gorilla's Super Glue. 4. When my shapes aren't sharply curved or highly irregular, I will cut the exotic in the right shape but purposely leave the edge a bit long- like a 1/2 inch or more on 6-8 oz leather. I glue everything down with barge, and muster the restraint to leave it alone overnight. Next day (or whenever I get back to the project) I get a nice soft paintbrush and wet the underside of the stick-out edge a little. I pull that over the entirety of the backing leather edge as tightly as it will go without separating the scales. After pressing all that into a smooth edge, I clip it all down with safety pins (usually with pads) and let that dry... with NO glue. Once it is dry, I'll gently peel that edge away enough to apply glue... since you sew your exotics on, you could leave enough of a "lip* *to sew through both the top and bottom edges. Sewn thusly- the edge is highly unlikely to pop up... ever.
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