JDFred

I had a wild hair and tried cooking spray on a key chain I made. I was curious if anybody else has tried this? I got nice even coverage and it got down into the tooling really well. This was a canola spray because it’s what I had but I know there is olive oil cooking sprays. I know that this is not the most cost effective way of oiling; however it didn’t leave a darker spot where you apply the oil that you have to let even out so it may be a good idea for the first coat. Then I got to thinking maybe a guy could spray oil through an air brush? But maybe oil is too heavy to flow through an airbrush. I don’t have one so I can’t try it. The other thing I’m not sure about with cooking spray is will the propellant in it cause any problems with dyes or antiques or finishes. Any thoughts or comments on the subject would be appreciated.

They look good. You’ll have to post a picture when you’re done.

As long as what you are using isn’t damaging your work or causing injury to you and it is doing the job it’s probably just fine. But always look to improve your process with better tools don’t fall into the I’ve always done it this way rut.

I got to thinking about rounding the edges of the tool so it is more like a regular beveler then it would not be so tedious to use on longer lines.

Very nice work. Was there a reason for not having 6 cartridge loops?

Until you said it I didn’t think about the edges of the tool being square and not rounded. That would account for the marks. You may be on to something it being a figure carving or floral tool instead of a beveler for a long straight line. I was going to try some quilted patterning and I thought this would save some time in the beveling but perhaps it’s the wrong tool and I should look at a push beveler.

Could you send me three or four.

I just purchased a B997 double beveler, I’m not sure if I’m using it right or if I just need more practice. I get ALOT of tool marks when using it. I get fewer if I have the point of the stamp pointed toward me and work pushing away from me, but there is still quite a few tool marks. I can sorta smooth them out if I push it along the line after stamping. Is this the correct way to use the thing or is there a better way? Any help would be appreciated.

Pancake or other style knife sheaths would be a good small item to add to this list.

The only way I see that being a bad deal is if you didn’t have the $500.

Turned out really nice. The ride along was neat.

I had the same problem with some spur straps I tooled. I used a glass slicker with water and glycerin saddle soap and it did not affect the tooling and it worked well. It was 9-10 oz leather so there is that difference. However I cut the straps from the belly so when I slicked it I got a lot of compression of the leather and it still did’t affect the tooling as far as I could see.

If you hold the knife blade down handle up and tap the end of the handle with a mallet it will pull every thing back together. Then you can stake the ferrule of epoxy it or both. Or if there is enough room between the tang and the handle you can try to put a toothpick in there and draw it up with the tang as your tapping the end of the handle, and it will act as a wedge and keep things tight. I’ve used this on everything from 16 lb hammers to pitch forks to sharpening steels. But use good judgement when taping on the end of your handle if you have a fancy wood so you don’t mar it. Hope this makes sense.

Cuffs I don’t know. Spur straps you’ll need to measure from stud to stud across the bridge of the foot for a true custom strap. No kidding I know. Most patterns for straps are universal fit wise. The youth pattern I built for my 9 year old are in the middle hole. The adult pattern I made for my 6 year old is the last hole. They fit about the same. But… they are different styles. The dove wing style I made for me are in the first hole while the bib type they replaced were in the middle hole. So that is my long way of saying unless someone has an exceptionally large or small foot standard patterns will work. Focus on the tooling for the custom spur straps.

I’ve not tried to print anything from Tandy, but reading their instructions for printing it seems there are many print options for sizing. So you may just have to experiment with it to get the right size. Some of their patterns are larger than 8 1/2 x 11 and need to be printed at a print shop. Not sure if this is one of them or not.

Thank you. I hand stitch them, I’m not cool enough to have a machine. Time will tell if the stitches hold. I used the handle of a stamp to pack them.

Thank you

Always good to know stuff like that. Thanks for the tip.

I finally finished them. Here’s a picture.

Thank you. I know you said you wanted acrylic templates; but Springfield Leather has a pretty cool pattern pack. I have it as well but they are paper patterns. Tandy also has some paper patterns that I also use.

I’ve used the pattern from tacktemplates.com they have the pattern in acrylic templates also. They have an inlay window in them if you want to that. Here is a picture of a pair I made with their pattern.

They look sharp. There’s nothing wrong being loaded for bear.

Wet would compact better. It would also dry a little bit stiff. Did you ever have trouble with mold or mildew while they were drying? Or have staining problems on the leather from the wool being wet at the time of stuffing?

I have the big one didn’t look to see if it was leather rated when I bought it. I don’t use it a lot mainly for cutting long fringe. The blade that came in it worked quite well even in heavier leather. I bought some titanium blades for it but never tried them as I don’t use it much it still has the original blade. They only cut straight lines you can kinda get away with a very gentle sweeping curve but I noticed you get a little undercut so your edge isn’t square. But that is fixable when you finish your edges. All that to say I don’t really think getting a small one for precise cuts is necessary since you’ll need another knife for corners and curves. I would recommend the bigger one so you don’t limit yourself on leather thickness.

There is a company called Rumber they recycle tires into trailer flooring. We redecked a couple trailer at work and I brought home a couple of the drop-offs that is what I use for punching. Maybe you’ve goat a place that works on trailers close to you that may use the stuff and have some scraps. As far as cutting I use a self healing cutting board.