numbrow

I apologize for taking so long to express my thanks to you guys. I enrolled in a G.E.D. upgrade course the end of September setting up for college in the fall. The computer hasn't been on much since. I just wanted to say thank you for your responses. I tried it out on my belt and it turned out great. Again thank you very much guys!

Good day everyone! I hate to be a pest once again, but I have a question that I need to find an answer for. First, the other day I was dying a belt I had made for a customer, I had read that I should put a coat of Royal Blue before applying the black to get a "True Black". After letting the black dry, I rubbed off the left over pigment, and begasn to apply a coat of Kiwi "Parade Black" shoe polish. When I buffed the polish almost all of the black dye came with it. I didn't know what to use to remove the polish to re-apply the black, so I went to my local shoe repairer to see what he used. We discussed this and that about leather working, when he found out that I stamp and carve leather he wanted to send his customers that wanted stuff done on their belts and so forth. I called Tandy and asked if it is possible to do this sort of thing to store bought belts, they don't seem to think it is possible. I know this is the long way around to ask a question, but I thought I should lay out the particulars. This way any advice that you can share would have all the info needed. After seeing what I wrote here I guess I have two questions. Is it a bad idea to put shoe polish over black dye? and, Can store bought belts be tooled in any way? I only ask because it sounds like he has a lot of people that would like to have this sort of thing done. Which would be good for me if I can make it work. Especially with Christmas coming and all. Any advice anyone can share would be greatly and deeply apreciated. I want to thank everyone that can help me in this matter.

I would like to pose a question to our panel. How much of a bad idea is it to contact cement two pieces of 3-4 oz strips together to make a belt. The reason I ask is that the only leather I have is 3-4oz. I am unable to get any more leather at the present time, so that's all I've got to work with. I made a belt with just one layer for myself, and it turned out just fine. But I think it's a little thin to last. My line of thinking was running something like this: contact cement the two layers together. The area where it would be folded over for the buckle, it would be one layer so when it's folded for the buckle it would be two layers thick. It would be 1 1/2" belt narrowed down to fit the buckle that I have. I remember Greg mentioning that contact cement is used to attach shoe soles. That gave me the idea for gluing two layers together. I figure if it can hold soles on, it should bee able glue two layers together for a belt. Any suggestions that you folks can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

I would like to thank everyone for their input and advice. I have another project which requires the same treatment and I would like to run through the steps to make sure that I've got it right before I attempt it. It is a phone case with her initials on one side and a fully colored flower on the other. She wants the case royal blue, her initials red and the flower will have green leaves and red petals. So, what I would have to do is use a brush to dye the letters, the flower and the rest of the case, right? If that is the case I've got one more question, what sort of technique do I use to prevent brush stroke lines when I dye the blue? I just had a thought, could I use the brush to dye the blue around the letters and flower, then finish off with a dauber? Or will that just make a big mess of it? I don't mean to ask so many questions about the same thing. But I tried a few things and I'm not getting any closer to a working solution. Again thanks for everything you guys have shared thus far, I really do appreciate it!

I hope somebody can help me! My question is how do I prevent the dye that I use to color the entire project from bleeding into whatever I tool which is dyed a different color? I tried to do a flame job on a lighter case. I dyed the flames red, and wanted to dye the entire case black, minus the flames. My "local" tandy store manager that's 800 miles away, told me to coat the flame part with Super Sheen and let it cure over night. But I let it dry 24 hours and it still bled through. As this is the only finish that I have access to, I had hoped it would work. Will Super Sheen work in this instance, or do I need to try something else? Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize Holly, how I got an "M" from an "H" is beyond me. Thank you for your comment about my cover. After I finished it off and stood back and looked at it, the corners seem too plain now, but I'm happy about the results.I've got some others I'm going to try to cover, and I'll post them. What kind of oz weight are you using on your boxes?

Hey everyone, I took a hint from Molly, picked up a box for a dollar and tried my hand at making a box top. There probably major copyright infringment involved but I made it for my wife, so I think I'll be safe. She owns a 1966 Triumph T100 motorcycle. She is curently in Minnesota taking care of a long time friend. The top is 9 inches by 6 inches with the outline of the state of Minnesota where she grew up. Dave

Holly, I don't know if this will help any or not. But, the first thing I thought was if there was a way to find out if his ship or battle group had their own logo on their ships. Kinda like the Pilots did, along the same lines the bomber "Memphis Belle". Maybe incorporate that with the navy coat of arms and cross like you said. It's just a thought.

Shirley, your seats are amazing! The other members were right when they said that Paul Cox has nothing on you. I am going to be opening a motorcycle repair shop in the next year or so and I got into leathercrafting for the purpose of making custom seats to have something to do during the winter months. Without giving away too many secrets can you give me some pointers on some things? Such as what kind of foam, what type and weight of leather, and which type of lacing style you use. I was looking at the seam on the"Randy Fat Boy" seat, it looks like the side is under the top piece, are there two rows of holes on the side pieces with one row matching up with the top holes or just one row each? Any advice you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the info Blake. Went and checked and I found a can of urethane varnish. Just so I understand the process correctly. I first tool a complete mirror image of the pattern, let dry. Then I figure cut roughly to shape and apply the varnish. Let that cure. Case my project, place the tap off in place, a couple of hits with mallet. Then carve as normal. Your idea of a clinic sounds like a great idea. If you could post a picture of one, so I know what to shoot for that would be greatly appreciated. Well, I have to go give this a try now. Thanks again Blake.

As I was reading through the various posts the other night, I saw mention of tap off's. I have never heard the term before. What exactly is a tap off and what is it used for?

This is a cell phone holster that I made from my cell phone. It made from 3-4oz leather with a mission grain pig skin lining. Both layers were contact cemented together before lacing. The finish is mahogany stain with two coats of Kiwi shoe wax. I have only been doing this for three months and would like to hear from you guys about the combinations that I used. If they are a good idea or I should do something diffrent. I finished it this weekend, so I don't know how it will stand up to constant use. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everybody, my name is Dave Belliveau and I live in New Brunswick, Canada. I began working with leather at the end of March this year. According to family and friends I have made alot of progress in this short period of time but I've still got a long way to go. As of yet I have not started to sell any of my work, but have given small items away to family and friends. I would just like to thank the adminitration of this forum for inviting me to join. From what I've seen posted so far there the members have a lot of information to contribute. I don't have a website so I can't post any pictures. If anybody knows how I can, please let me know. I would like to have some feedback about my leather work from fellow leather crafters.