Yukonrookie

Thank you very much for the advice @Helenn. Did you use Tokopro by chance? I’ll be ordering some Tokonole but it’ll take a little while until I have it here. I use micro mesh pads, for the fine stuff, to get that shine. I’ll try using them wet now. Anyway, thanks again for your help. Much appreciated.

Good to know. I’ll be placing an order for some right away. When I bought the Tokopro I was told Tokonole wasn’t available anymore and the it was the same thing. I now know I was wrongly informed. Thanks again for your help. Oh and happy Easter!

Yup, I’ll place an order right away. Thank you! Happy Easter!

That’s great to know. Thank you. I’ll check it out.

@PastorBob I forgot to add that I’m thinking of sanding it down again and start over with my previous method of glycerin and saddle soap. It actually turns out alright. The only reason I switched was cause I was to and read that Tokonole would stand up to abuse better. What do you think? Thanks again.

Thanks for your input @Chipster99 and @SUP. I appreciate it a lot. It’s a great help. I was told it’s the “new” Tokonole. It sounds like I was misinformed. Makes sense now. Maybe I’ll stick to glycerin soap and yellow saddle soap for now. Until I can get some real Tokonole. So much work for nothing. Good thing I enjoy doing this stuff. Unfortunately I can only do a little at a time lately. Anyway, I guess I’ll sand it down as good as possible and start over with the glycerin and saddle soap. What do you think?

Thank you very much for that video and all your tips. It’s a big help and greatly appreciated! It also sounds like Tokopro isn’t the same as Tokonole.

Thanks @PastorBob and @rleather. That’s how I’ve been doing it as well. I sanded and beveled, applied Tokopro and burnished with wood followed by canvas. I actually kept progressively sanding and reapplying up to 2k grit. Excessive but nice and shiny. Anyway, I must’ve done something wrong though. Can’t remember explain otherwise why it feels like fibres are still sticking out in the odd spot. Anyway, thanks again!

Hi there, after being out of commission for a while, I’m finally able to get back to do a bit of leatherwork again. So I made a belt and am not quite satisfied with the edges. You see I tried some Tokonole (Tokopro) this time, since I read it may hold up better to abuse. Anyway, while it looks good, there are a few spots that feel like some fibres may be sticking out still. I think when I applied the first layer of tokopro I didn’t get it in deep enough and got the fibres down properly. I really thought I did since I kept checking as I kept sanding finer and reapplying Tokonole. I must not have properly “massaged” it into the edge well enough. Anyhow, I’m worried that if I sand it all the way down again and start over I will also sand some of the dye away and, since there will still be remnants of Tokopro in there, won’t be able to reapply dye. I applied the Tokonole a bunch of times as I kept sanding finer. Any suggestions on what best to do here? Up until now I used glycerin and saddle soap and it worked well for me. I just wanted to give this tokopro/tokonole stuff a try since I read that it holds up better to abuse. Plus for projects where I want that really shiny edge this stuff seems to work well, I guess. Looks super shiny anyways. Thanks in advance.

Sounds great! Thanks again.

Sounds great! Thanks for all your replies. I think I got my list together. My heaviest Maul is 24oz so I might add one of your 32oz WJ Mauls to it. Thanks again for your advice.

That’s beautiful work there @bruce johnson ! Thank for posting those pictures! I’m putting together an order with you in the near future. I won’t be back home for another 3 - 4 weeks so I gotta wait at least another couple weeks before I’ll actually place it. You see, too often in the past have I forgone proper research before placing an order for stamps. This time I’m trying to do it better and try to gather as much research as possible, so that the tools I order actually fit each specific job while still looking nice to my eye. Where I live it’s keep the tool you ordered because shipping back would be on my dime and a hassle. Anyhow, that’s why I’m asking so many (annoying) questions. I narrowed my choices down to WJ230, WJ245, WJ90 and WJ221. Those are all 1/4”. They should fit perfectly with my 1/4” wide basket stamps (I.e. BK#3). Would you say they should still fit well with my 3/16” (I.e. BK #2) wide basket stamps? Last question (promise ): WJ245 and 246 should be placed tightly together, right? Leaving no gaps. Meaning it wouldn’t work so well on curves, corners, bends etc. Better for more or less straight borders. Or am I missing something? Thanks in advance for your patience!

Thanks for explaining that. Yeah, I still have some craftool or craft Japan stamps, but I stay away from them as much as possible. So far it’s been mostly BK, Sergey, Texas leather tools, I think I’ll give those Jueschke stamps of yours a try next though. Thanks for that picture. That helps for someone that’s still a bit of a newb like myself and can only order online with deciding. You see I’m not exactly sure which camo or border stamps I want. Just that I want to try out something else. What does that rope border you mentioned look like? At the risk of becoming annoying, would you happen to have a picture handy?

Just to clarify for dummies (I obviously don’t mean myself )….. If we take a BK “rope” size 3 (1/4”x7/16 or 6.35x11.11mm) as an example….. By the “Golden Rule” you mentioned, the width of my border stamp shouldn’t be wider than approx. 1/4” or 6.35mm, correct? Would you consider a C425 (7x6mm) on the big side the BK #3? I think I may have been using bigger camo stamps than I should’ve.

Thanks for the reply and picture Bruce. Looks great! Yup, I’m sure now. The wagon wheel will definitely be one of the 3 or 4 camo tools I’ll be getting this time around.

Hi folks, I‘m in need of some decent camo tools. But just in combination with basket stamping. So right now, I’m just interested in camo stamp alternatives that work well with basket stamping, yet are different than these ones I already own: C425, C431, C709, N305, N720…. For other jobs I got a decent array of border/camo tools. For basket stamping I only got a few Craft Japan starburst? or clam? style camo stamps- mentioned above. They are alright but not the cleanest imprint and a bit boring to me, by now. Some examples of camo tools I searched around for online I found on Bruce Johnson’s page. Like Wayne Jueschke 219, 220, 221, WJ 228, 229 and WJ 246, 248. Does anyone own one or some of them? If yes, some pictures would be a huge help in deciding which to try next.. Sometimes seeing pictures of finished or partially finished projects can really help with choosing. Now those were some examples to give you guys an idea. Any other makes and models you know of would be very helpful too though. I know even Sergey has some nice camo stamps, a couple of which I even own myself, but they all seem too large for the size basket stamps I use. Basket stamps I own that see the most use are Barry King rope and single bar sizes #2 and #3. I haven’t yet had a project where #3 looked too small. So, to summarize I’m just looking to hear what camo tools some of you guys/gals use for basket jobs that are different than the typical clam/sunburst Camo tools, like listed above. Any ideas would be great to help me pinpoint and shrink down to 2 or 3 stamps to order next. Thanks a bunch in advance!

Now that sounds very cool, beehive! Do you have any pictures?

Yeah, I hear ya. I never realized how long some of these jobs could take. At this stage any project I make takes me ages to finish. I don’t mind though. I’m still new enough at this that I enjoy every aspect of it. Even the sewing, although to a lesser degree then mostly anything else I actually made 1 Ranger belt thus far and it took me more like 60+ hours lol. I stamped some of the main strap with a small hollow box diamond stamp too though. So that took me about 6 -7 or so hours. I’m trying to be pretty meticulous.

Do you make a lot of those?

Well, I had to put this project on the back burner for a while. I’ll definitely reporting back on it once I made progress. Apart from a lot of unrelated crap that I have to pay attention to I also had to squeeze in a belt and a simple pancake sheath for pocket knife. I’m hoping to get those done this weekend though.

That’s what I find the most intriguing. To make the tool that works best with whatever project you’re working on.

All great and important suggestions. Thanks a bunch guys. Lots to think about before making my exact plan of attack

I got a question to you guys and gals out there that use an airbrush. What type filter do yous all use? I’m using mostly Fiebing Pro dye and Angelus Alcohol dye. I read that for solvent based dyes one should wear at least an A1, but there is acetone in some of them so I thought I best ask here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Will do. Probably won’t be pretty by most people’s standards but I’m slowly getting a handle on this;)

I’m guessing not too many people making sheaths like this? I’m hoping to start on it this week. Still putting finishing touches to the blade and gotta attach handles still. Gonna try and put stone sheep horn grips on it from a sheep I shot a few years back.