Chris Pass

I know this is older, but this popped up while I was looking for clicker press topics. Dealt with Texas Custom Dies for the first time a couple weeks ago and YES, Heather is incredible. Everyone I dealt with on the phone was extremely nice and they turned out my die crazy fast because of the pinch I was in. I can't say enough good things about them.

are you gluing flesh to flesh, grain to flesh, etc? are you roughing up the leather before applying? what type of adhesive are you using? -Chris

Purchased a few chips from Horween a while ago and am working with shell cordovan for the first time today. Noticed a big issue today while burnishing some edges. I'm burnishing with canvas heavily saturated with saddle soap and noticed my stitching was getting stained with the cordovan color (white thread). Took a dry cloth and rubbed the leather and found that it was bleeding on the cloth with very little rubbing. Am I missing something? Is there something I should have done to prepare the cordovan before working with it? Any thoughts on salvaging this without restitching? -Chris

Up until now I've been using an overstitch wheel and douglas awl for all my stitching. After reading a little more I'm starting to feel the need of some good pricking irons as well. My concern is from what I've read, a pricking iron will make marks too wide for a stitching groove. Is this true? I'm looking at the Vergez Blanchard irons and my only concern with using them is having them fit in a stitching groove because I use a groove in a lot of my work just because I like them aesthetically. Any input? -Chris

I have all the blades he offers and find myself only ever using the "slim" blade. Personally, I could still stand a smaller hole, but it does work for my needs. Hope this helps.