Micah

thx electrathon. I'll give the brushing a try anyone have ideas on my other 2 questions??

I bought a couple of cobra skins from snakeskin.us and they arrived today. one is a monacled cobra with the head that is going on a strap I'm making for a friend, the other is an orange-dyed spitting cobra skin w/o the head that will go on my own strap. mine (the orange one) seems pretty smooth, can't feel the edges of the scales, but the other one feels like the scales are raised a little and may flake off over time without some sort of protection. I read in another post to use Leather Balm with Atom Wax or Carnuba Cream. It also says to use Neat Lac, which I have. But will the Neat Lac remain flexible enough over time to use on a guitar strap? I've only been using it for a couple of months on non-flexing items, so obviously not enough time to know how it wears over the long haul. Another question on the snake head... it has been stuffed and still has the tongue, which I'd like to reshape to look as though it's flicking, not lopsided and curled up like it is now. any pointers on what to soften it up with to do that? is water suitable or does it need something stronger or better for the tissue? EDIT: also, is there a way that the skin can be "bleached" or have it's hue changed a little bit? it has kind of a muddy brown tint, which is ok and I guess expected for the species, but I'd like to at least lighten up the whiter areas if not reduce the brown. any help is much appreciated

that's just awesome!! how can you not stay positive with support like that? and being able to leathercraft while in rehab will surely be a huge help in his recovery!

Oh man! Terrible news but very glad to hear he's keeping optimistic! I will as well. Pullin' for you bro, hang in there!

thank you all! the color really loves to play in the light (made it a real trick to take its picture, too). Indoors under ambient light, it is very dark maroon, but put a light on it and it springs to life! Regis, all dye work was done by hand using wool daubers (and a toothbrush/needle for the spattering). I wish I had an airbrush, the shading would have gone a lot faster! Instead I built it up gradually from the edges with a lot of rubbing, but you have to give the dye in the dauber a few days to dry out first or else it goes on too heavy.

he already knows the risk of the buckle, and he uses straplocks, but those are good points to mention (I wasn't aware of those problem areas in the beginning). I jammed around on it with my $1500 all maple/ebony (heavy!) guitar for an hour, serious, hardcore jamming and the strap performed great. I wanted to make sure it would handle some abuse (with my most prized possession!) before I would feel comfortable sending it to him. I was concerned about the beefiness of it until I tried it out, I love it w/o a doubt now. He had also complained about the flimsy leather straps most places are selling these days, so I think he'll like this :D thx for the compliments and feedback guys! I learned a lot from this project that will make my next one better

This weekend I finished the guitar strap I've been making for a good friend. I now have 3 more to make and think I will keep one of those aside for myself, given how pleased I am with the results of this first one! This was surely an educational process and I'm gonna miss this strap after it ships Tuesday. Anyway, the low-down... ~8oz veg lined with 1.5oz velvet pigsuede dyed red (Fiebing's pro oil dye) with black borders, Chinese writing ("fire horse"), and spattering, then shaded with more black Artist signature done with a Sharpie neatsfooted (new verb?) grooved, thonged, and handstitched slicked, dyed, and burnished edges sealed/finished with Resolene hand-distressed zinc/nickle roller buckle hand-brushed nickle/steel rivets black latigo lace for acoustic guitar tie adjustable between 38"-53"

Hey! I resemble that remark!

not sure I follow. I already had the digital images (gif and jpg, which I resized in PS) so a scanner would serve no purpose. a printer on the other hand would be a faster alternative to tracing it on the flat screen. oh wait, maybe that was meant for Dragons Pearl... yes, if he has a scanner and a graphics editor (most scanners come with some sort of editor) he could definitely do it that way... scan that page of the book and resize the image in the editor, then print or trace.

here's something I just did an hour ago. a friend sent me some images he wants for the design on his strap. I don't have a printer/copier or a pantograph, but I do have photoshop and a flat panel LCD monitor (the Dell finally came in handy for something, LOL). So... 1. Open the images in photoshop (any graphics editor with a zoom feature will work). 2. Zoom the images to the right scale (use a ruler, layed on the screen, to verify). Side note: if you can specify an exact zoom amount, like 122%, all the better. 3. lay some tracing film over the screen. The screen has some natural static electricity to it which helps hold the film in place while you grab your painter's tape to secure it down. 4. use a standard pencil (not an eversharp) and LIGHTLY trace the pattern. If you can see rippling on the screen where you are drawing, you are pressing too hard and could damage the display. use several lighter strokes to build up your lines, rather than one or two heavy ones. 5. remove the tape/film... presto! It also helps a great deal if you can tilt the screen back. the more horizontal the better I'd thought of doing this for a couple months now and finally had reason to put it to the test. works great!

I hate it when people make things look easy, LOL! Did you notice how easily (and evenly) the dyes and acrylics brushed on?? guess I just need more experience wonder what sealer she was using.

Ok, so I have this guitar strap I'm making for a friend and he has requested I put my signature on it, specifically for it to be part of the strap. I have informed him my autograph looks like total chicken scratch, but he still insists, LOL. I've been brainstorming ideas for doing this... carving it in, burning it in (with a woodburning or soldering iron, or even just a hot needle), painting it on with dye, or writing it on with a permanent marker. My first reaction to any option OTHER than writing it is that it becomes less personal or "valuable" to the owner. I might as well use a rubber stamp like some politicians have done, much to the dislike of the recipients. So, my first question is... are there any long-term ramifications to using a Sharpie? FWIW, the leather at that point would be dyed, but not neatsfooted or sealed. Just wondering about fading and/or discoloring. I didn't notice any bleeding or strange behavior when scribbling on a test piece today. I tried the burning option, but it doesn't look (or smell) so great. Nice effect but hard to control. Think of trying to write with a pencil by holding it at the eraser... while it's on fire, LOL! The painting on with dye option seems to be the safest bet, though it involves a couple extra steps (tracing over the best-looking signature I can write, and transfering it onto the leather, then painting over it), but seems kind of "cold". I also don't want it to look more important or catchy than the other designs that are going on the strap. It's not about me Anyway, please share any thoughts you might have, thx!

thx for all the thought you're putting into this. maybe it was just an isolated incident? I will have to try it out on a different piece of leather, it might have just been the one I was using. Either way, I'm interested in checking out these Ceramcoats, for the price and selection if nothing else! here's the finished fob, btw. removed the red acrylic (which turned out more orange anyway), and brushed on the black oil dye in its place. on the flip side, which is lined with black velvet pigsuede, there's a little pocket for a guitar pick. side note, you can see the makings of my friend's guitar strap in the background (the extension/adjustment pieces). I took this pic to show him how the black on red/black would look. certainly looks a lot better than the red acrylic did, LOL!

cool! I just had a friend ask me if laser-engraving worked on leather. I went out on a limb and told him I'm sure it would, glad to know I wasn't wrong

nice work, Dale! in answer to your question, no I have not yet had any difficulties with this piece of hide. but... like I said I have only done some small work on it with the acrylic, lines less than or around 1/16" wide. the calligraphy lines were to be as much as 1/4" in some places. no issues at all, on any scale, with the oil dyes or finishes either. Also, I have not applied any waxes or finishes to the leather yet, and I cleaned the surface with rubbing alcohol prior to dying but no deglazer or anything. the bottles of acrylic say "rendered useless upon freezing". could that have been it? could they have been stored improperly at the supplier or in transit to them? I ordered them during the summer so no cold weather in sight.