AEBL

The "nice tool" factor I get. Some things I use just make me smile when I pick them up. I'm still learning the art of burnishing, so I imagine that today I could make just as bad-looking of an edge with an expensive tool as I could with a cheap one . I'm going to keep trying though, and there's a leatherworker near me who makes glass-like edges. I'm going to see if I can trade him a six-pack for some in-person training.

It looks like a very nice tool. Is there something special about what it is made of - or can I just use a chainsaw file and a block of scrap hardwood to make one?

For belts: try "Chicago" screws. If the unscrew themselves ... I will put a drop of loctite on them (Loctite BLUE, not RED - you will never get them off if you use red.) https://www.buckleguy.com/chicago-screws/

I had a stamp that I was having a hard time identifying. Originally, I thought it was an R244 ... but it is a B244. A round, smooth-faced beveling tool. I'm having trouble understanding why I couldn't just use a regular (rectangular-ish) bevel. To save someone having to look the tool up, here's a link: https://proleathercarvers.com/products/smooth-round-beveler-set

A lot of "how to" guides on saddle soap say that you should condition your leather after using the saddle soap. I looked around on the internet a bit and found a website that indicated what Hermes recommended for shoe care: Hermes-approved leather cleaner (such as Saphir Medaille d’Or Renovateur) Leather conditioner (such as Hermes Leather Balm) I'm not sure what Saphir Medaille d'Or Renovateur is, but it sounds like it is similar to Mink Oil (The Saphir stuff is also available on Amazon). You might try to grab a container of that stuff and try it out. If you can't get it, maybe try Mink Oil (since the Saphir stuff says "Mink Oil based"). Here is where I found the information: https://thedutchladydesigns.com/how-do-you-clean-hermes-leather/

Neat!

Ok - I'm also fairly new compared to a lot of the more seasoned folks here, but this guy explained it in a way that made sense to me. I have been stamping and tooling leather using his advice and it has turned out sorta good. I think that "casing" leather was originally leaving it in a tray of water for a while (a case) overnight, or "a while" and then taking it out and letting it dry "to the right consistency." Joe Meling wipes on water with a sponge and watches how quickly the water is absorbed. You may decide you like a different way, and it may turn out to work great for you, but definitely get out in the shop and see what works.

I know some leather hat makers use wire on the brim, you might consider that also. I do like the shape though, very classy.

Well, she's a first-rate woodworker for sure!

Not sure about the actual post you are looking for - but I found a few with a search: The consensus seems to be "use Angelus paints." Obviously, it is a bit more complicated than that, but Angelus seems to work well for many people. ~ nn

I wish I could claim that work as mine - I grabbed that image off of Google image search ...

KeepassXC is a good, free, password manager. It also has support for TOTP (time-based one-time passwords ... the things that they want you to download Authy for and stuff like that). I believe that it also supports hardware tokens like YubiKey as well. https://keepassxc.org/

Those look nicer than mine Leatherworking is such a varied and interesting art medium. I had picked up some of those in an estate tool, and it took me a while to figure out what they were. The more I learn, the more I realize that I'll never be able to focus enough effort into learning all of the different ways of working leather.

Unrelated ... but .... aaaaaaa! Your phone is almost out of battery!

Previous thread here mentions that brand, some of the regulars have posted on there ... Uwe mentions some documentation at the Smithsonian, in image form, not PDF, but here that is also in this link. Uwe also mentioned a website for Puritan, but it is a dead link now. (http://www.puritanindustries.net <-- dead)

So - in the case of your icon, I'm pretty sure nobody is going to come look for you. Simple search online leads you to this site: https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/swimming?word=swimming&craft=1 There is a selection box in the lower left-hand corner that says "icons licensed for merchandise" which when hovered over says that you can use the icon as the main element of your item. There's one on the page that looks exactly like yours. If you were doing some logo, like IBM's ... they might come looking for you, but stuff that appears on signs, that you are doing artistic renderings of ... probably fine. Especially if you can point to an icon site and say "I copied that one, licensed for merchandise."

What is this style of leatherworking called? Are there many people doing / interested in this sort of work? I believe it is done with shaped leather punches ...

I like cheap as much as the next guy, and to be honest, I have a lot of cheap Chinese tools ... but I'd feel sort of bad buying an *expensive* Chinese tool.

Basket stamping looks great to me. If you would like to feel better about your stamping, I can post some pictures of the basket stamp I did last week. I'm going to blame the stamp, that stamp was no good, couldn't have had anything to do with how I was using it ...

He has some good advice there. This old dog has had to learn some new tricks in the last few years, and one thing that I had learned a while back was that if someone wants to get better at something, they have to be prepared to stink at it first. Part of the reason we all love leather carving is that it is beautiful, and we know that it requires great skill and lots of practice. Keeping a notebook helps as well, because you might not be aware of how you are improving until you can compare your present sketching with sketches you did a month ago.

What comes on you quicker than you'd think? (just kidding)

My desire to carve far exceeds my skill at carving. I've watched a few videos on how to use a beveler (most helpful was Jim Linnell's series on the Colorado State 4H site). He bevels like a sewing machine, precise and fast. Most other videos have people showing how to bevel of a similar skill level. I bevel like one tap every two seconds, and it is *awkward* - I am aiming for even strikes and moving the beveler half a tool width. Jim recommends "hovering" the tool just barely over the leather surface and using a finger to spring the tool back for faster motion ... I realize that is a pro-tip, but I don't want to learn bad habits that are hard to un-learn. Am I doing the skill-level appropriate thing with just "tap ... ... tap ... ... tap" ? I'm not aiming for speed - I'm aiming for correct ...

Perhaps a silly question - but how would you clean a container like that? Just water? Seems like even hot water would be iffy ...

Where are you located at, @ChesterHasAProblem? Someone here might be able to point you to a store for used tools ...

Oh man, I have to get that book too ... I have Bob Park's book.