HallisChalmers

Have a friend that needs 50 or so lock pick cases made in the Austin, TX area. Will consider outsourcing if affordable. Contact via DM for additional information.

Thanks very much for all your help everyone. This really gives me many options. What a great community!

Thank you all for the suggestions. I do use a cutting board and have tried the rotary cutter, but the one I have is wobbly. I'll look at Olfa and see if that helps.

I recently retired and have more time to devote to leathercraft. Unfortunately, at my age, I'm suffering from weak hand strength and am basically wheelchair bound. So here's my problem: I have a lot of problems when trying to use a template to cut out my pieces to make credit card wallets. I scribe my pattern lines, but when I go to lay a stainless ruler to cut my lines, the leather seems to "roll" under the blade and I end up with a piece of leather that is not square. It usually happens when I use lightweight leather (less than 6 oz). Heavier leather like 6 to 8oz is a bit easier but my cuts are sill wobbly from time to time. I can cut a fairly decent line, but every time I get towards the end as I draw the blade to me from top to bottom, the blade wavers a bit at the end. I've tried different types of blades (box cutter, X-Acto, head knife, Olfa, etc. ) but at the very end the blade wavers 1/16 to 1/8th inch at the final end of the cutting stroke. I'm only doing very small pieces, as I don't have a large table or bench to work on. Any suggestions to improve my cutting ability - or is it just a matter of practice, practice? Thank you for your time.

Oh yeah...go ahead and sugar coat everything. Why don't you tell us how you REALLY feel? Nice work...

Very nicely done...

Thank you, Timothy! Greatly appreciated....

Excellent!

I work in a totally unrelated field (telecom), but jerks seem to grow like weeds - no matter the industry. I thought it might be intersting to try this: Next time you have a prospect that wants some particular type of work done on their custom order - get out the video camera. Tell them that you want to be sure that your work matches their exact requirements and specifications, because you truly value them as a customer and want to make sure they are 100% satisfied. Do it in a friendly matter-of-fact way with the camera in a corner and start recording. Get them engaged in the specs and details - act professional (not adversarial) and they'll forget about the camera (hopefully). I know this sounds Big Brother 1984-ish, but nowdays there are a lot of scammers and double-talkers that are really in it for the $$$$ and want to screw you out of your hard work. The unblinking eye keeps most people honest. Anyway, just a thought - I may be totally off base.

Beautiful work.

I found this website Animated Knots by Grog that shows how to tie just about any kind of knot there is - with animations to help guide you. They have a decorative knot section that can help you visualize better. Hope this helps someone. HC

I have a brand new copy of Bruce Grant's "Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Brading" that I would like to trade for similar illustrative or educational books on brading and knotting topics, leather engraving, etc. Please send me a PM and let me know what you have to trade. Thanks! HC

So I should apply the correct tension from the beginning - instead of progressively building up tension as I make the rotation? Ok, I'll try that next time. BTW - I do try to keep all the laces lined up and properly spaced, but chasing that lace round and round as I tighten leaves me with a headache and crossed eyes. It's all pretty new to me so I know I need to practice. I try tying a knot every night for "relaxation" but I end up getting so fixated I don't want to stop. OCD I guess.

I tried paracord and it was ok, but I kept burying the fid in the woven fiber of the cord, and left punchy holes and tears in the fabric. But you are right, for practice, this is probabvly a better option - leather can get expensive. Thanks for the suggestion, Mega.

I just learned how to tie a turk's head knot - but by the time I get done, it looks like a wad of chewed bubblegum. I try to tighten the knot using consistent tension as I go along the lace with the fid. Once I reach my starting point and start making my next rotation of tightening, the shape starts to meander. By the time I've taken out most of the slack though, the lacing pattern is not as consistent as I would like it. Granted this is only the 4th turk's head I've made - I just can't seem to get it down consistently. I know I need more practice, but I'm just not happy with my progress. Anyone have some advice?

If any of you folks are looking for a site that offers FREE letter fonts of various types, go to dafont.com There you can find hundreds of free fonts that you can download to your PC, install in your font folder - and then use in your drawing programs to create a stencil. Hope this helps! HC

"It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same." Thomas Paine :soapbox:

Thanks Troy, this will go in my reference files!

Thanks Johanna, I just did. I really appreciate everyone's help. HC

Thank you Hilly! I'll be sure and take a look at it. HC

Hi folks. I'm a total noob to leathercrafting and there is so much to learn. I was wondering what video (DVD, YouTube, etc) or text source would you recommend for someone that is just starting out - for braiding? Specifically, I'm interested in learning how to braid coverings for tool handles such a whips, blackjacks, etc. Any recommendations or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Very nice work. I have a few questions, so PM sent.

Leerwerker: I need to play with this program a bit more - this is the first time I've been exposed to Inkscape so let me work on it a bit. If I find anything that needs clarification or streamlining, I'll send you a PM. Your tutorial actually came just in time as I was trying to figure out a way to copy an illustration without tracing it by hand. I figure that with this program I'll be able to trace "cleaner" lines and then print the image on clear acetate on my laser printer. Anybody know of a good brand of acetate sheets to use on a laser printer - or are they all basically the same?

Everyone nowdays is in the "quick fix" game. In other words, what will give them the maximum amount of dollars - for minimal effort on their part. I think that's why the newer generation of kids and college grads all want to be stockbrokers, lawyers, or computer geeks. God forbid they should have to do "manual" labor and - WORK for a living! Of course given the current state of the economy - many a delicate genius will find himself recycling Red Bull cans from the trash dumpster.

Coming from a background of using Microsoft VISIO for my architectural and mechanical drawings at work, I found the Inkscape program pretty simple and intuitive to use. Your instructions are icing on the cake and will really help those folks that don't use drawing programs on a regular basis. Thank you!