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FoamerAce

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About FoamerAce

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    Member
  • Birthday 04/01/1964

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Goat Rope, Missouri

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  1. Hello Musa. The pockets are pretty straight forward. I used one piece of leather for each pocket. I cut it wide enough for an 'S' fold gusset on each side and stitched the sides down. Then just riveted the bottom corners and stitched across the bottom. The lining is cotton fabric. If I were to do it again, I'd have glued it down better. I was afraid if I used too much glue it would feel hard to the touch so most of it is floating with only the edges really glued down hard. I built the bag on commission, so I don't know how it's holding up today. But I did do a one year follow up, and the owner reported that he still used it every day and was in good shape.
  2. A third of the way across you reversed your tool. How'd manage that?
  3. I like the ouside pocket for convienence. You can throw a document or folder in there and grab it without having to open the case. I'd say if pigskin would have "rocketed up the price", you work too cheap. I'd be astonished if you had less than a hundred hours in that case. The tooling alone would have taken me a month. "Woody" is exactly how I'd describe that finish. I'm interested in the creases on the straps. Are they just creased? Cut? Grooved? Did you use oil dye on the straps as well? How did you keep it out of the creases. One thing, your edges look raw. I don't know if that's a look you're going for, but it rubs me wrong. All that work and just leave the edges unfinished. I was actually impressed with the thickness of the leather in Tandy's kit. Here's a video I made for the one I put together.
  4. Awesome work there. I really dig the color choices and dye technique. Very impressive tooiing. I recognize the pattern as Tandy's Expedition Briefcase. It looks like you cut your own leather on it, but you followed it almost exactly, down to the mismatched hardware on the sides. But I think you left out the center divider. How did you finish the inside? Did you add any pockets or lining? My experience with that bag is that the handle is a weak point. There's only one rivet holding it on there. Don't know if you'd want to throw a couple stitches on there at this point though. Again, really excellent work. That full coverage tooling is really impressive.
  5. That is master level work. I'll die happy if I ever make anything that good.
  6. I use Tandy's Eco-Flo dyes. They mix well and dilute with water. Applied with taklon artist brush you can pick up anywhere (I think I got mine at Walmart). I screwed up on the goldfinch. It was a brighter yellow, but when I applied the Super Shene finish, it picked up some of the black and made the yellow dingy. What I should have done, is done the black first, buffed it, then locked it in with a coat of finish before doing the yellow area. Painting with dye can be a bit tricky. Of course you need to work slow and careful to "stay inside the lines" but there are other things to keep in mind. I apply dye after tooling and before conditioning with any oils. At this point the leather is really "thirsty" and will soak up the dye well. Which is good because it colors the leather like you want it to, but it also has a tendency to bleed out. The dye simply refuses to recognize that line you cut and beveled and crosses right over. So you want your brush nearly dry when you get to the edges of where you want it. A bigger annoyance for me is when I make a brush stroke, as the brush comes off the leather the tips of the fibers will fling little drops of dye where you don't want it.
  7. Thanks MJ. I want my work to have distinctive look. The pic I posted looks too dark on this site. I adjusted the levels. See if this looks better
  8. Sorry I don't have better pics. Two pocket, creditcard sized, coin-purses. My dyeing technique is coming along.
  9. FoamerAce

    Axe Mask

    Eeeeep! You cut the groove with a swivel knife? You've got a steadier hand than I sir. A utility knife is a fine tool for cutting leather. I think a sharp blade and good technique will give you better results than a new knife. It's very impressive work for limited tools. With that kind of talent you could go full hobo using only tools you fabricated yourself from scrap. Not that I there's any reason you'd actually want to do that.
  10. Made from maple with brass hinges. The jaws slope away at a 45 because the table saw blade wouldn't tilt any farther. Mostly not a problem, but there have been instances I'd have liked a bit more room. Last minute modification, a second set of holes for the bolt that holds the arms together. One close to the jaws for more clamping power. The other near the base for larger pieces of leather. I've not seen muti-shaft-holes before, but anyone could drill another set or two on their pony if they wanted. Mostly I keep it in the lower holes because even if I don't need all that throat, I don't want to squeeze all that hard either. But there are times.
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