Bryan

Very very nice!

QUARAWOL, those are really great! I've never seen any that nice. I'll be telling my dad & brother about them as we all carry Surefire. Most think we're just crazy to spend that much on a flashlight but... well, you know. Again, great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

These guys have some high tech equipment & can pretty much make any size stamp you want. Mine is 1/2" wide. I was told they could make something as small as 1/16". They were very helpful & very profesional. Cost was a bit under $170.00, but it can be higher or lower depending on what you want. Not cheap, but top quaility all around.

Just got my stamp from Infinity & man is it nice! Even with it's simple design, this is top quality work & heavy duty. Fast shipment too! They told me 2-3 weeks but I think it was about a week & a hlaf. I have my Mom to thank for this. No matter how old or far away, I'm feelin pretty spoiled right now. I haven't advanced enough to create such works of art as I see here from scratch yet, but even the kits I've tooled, I put everything I've got in to, almost always creating my own patterns each time. I know some here may look down on tooling kits, but I still think it's important to mark your work.

With all this I should be able to make some pretty big improvements! I can't say thanks enough! I love this place! -Bryan

Man, some really great info here! Thanks guys! So, it sounds like time is really not a factor as much as a proper & consistant moisture content. Is that right? With my work schedule I may not get back to tooling for a whole week. So that's o-k as long as I pay attention & re-wet when needed? Also David, when you refer to compressing the leather with a "glassing" method, is that the same as "slicking"? Thats another topic I'm very interested in. Never heard of it till I came here. Thanks again guys, really great!

I don't quite understand how the fridge deal works myself, just from reading here seems to be a good method. As far as keeping the leather cased I've just wet the piece once more after I finished tooling for the day & placed in a ziplock bag (used plastic wrap on a larger piece). It made quite a difference on my last project. By the way; Thanks Tim & Aaron for the info!

Still getting the hang of this forum. I'm re-posting my question here cuz I posted in a thread thats to old I guess. So my question is; How long can you keep a piece leather cased before you ruin it or it is no longer good to tool? I haven't tried keeping it in the fridge yet, so I'm sure that will help. I recently found out that letting your piece dry between tooling sessions will cause the tooled areas to raise when you re-wet to start tooling again! So my next project I kept cased till I was finished & it turned out way better. My latest project was much more involved & I worked on it for 3-4 days. I was starting to stress that I may ruin the leather before I finished tooling. I may have just kept it to wet though. I'm really not sure. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Tim, thanks a lot for the info on your finish. Very interesting!

Very very nice!

Looks beautiful! If you don't mind me asking; what is the purpose of the lengthy finish process? I don't know much at all about finishes & am just curious why all the different products, especialy the olive oil & the sun. I would have guessed the oil would keep the other finishes from penetrating the leather. Or that may be exactly the point.? What ever the reason, it turned out great!

Yes, much better! I'll look it up. Thanks!

Thanks guys. That pretty much answers my question. Before I do any ordering sounds like I'll need to get specs from the makers.

Damn, thats really to bad. Guess I'll have to save up & take a vacation. Thanks

I've been reading everything I can here on the subject of swivel knives & have really learned a lot! The one thing that I haven't found any info on is interchanging blades. What blades from what manufacturers will fit in which knives? Like can I put a Henley blade in a Craftool knife & such? Obviously, the Leather Wrangler blades are specific to their knives, but most others look to have the cylindrical peg (opposite the blade end) that fits in to the knife. Are these all a uniform diameter & fit any knife, or are only a few interchangable? Thanks, Bryan

Thanks again guys! Anyone know of any trade shows here on the western front???

Man, I've been reading & researching here for the past couple of days & I really can't belive the amount of resources & info available! When I started looking for suppliers & such I was really disappointed. I've really had the feeling this was a dying art, but here it is thriving! As Mater would say "I'm happier thn'a tornado n a trailer park"! I get a bit over exited about finding new toys!

Lots of great info here! I've got another question to add to the subject. How long can you keep your leather "cased"? I haven't tried keeping it in the fridge yet, so I'm sure that will help, but how long till it's just no good? -Thanks

Thanks for the kind words. Anne, I'm in Benicia, Ca. (East Bay Area). What area is Reseda? Near L.A. isn't it? I know thats where The Karate Kid lived!

Hi all. Glad to have found you here. I've already found a bunch of great info. Any way, I've just been getting back in to the craft after MANY years & I just keep thinking to myself 'Why did I ever stop?'. I learned from my Grandma when I was a kid & had fun, but I sure didn't have the appreciation for it that I do now. Well, on top of learning such a great skill, I was fortunate enough to inherit Grandma's tools. I've been working leather again for a few months now & have only been picking up pace! I've been reading everything I can on the subject that I can get my hands on & would love to learn from some more experienced folks. Hopefully later on I can pass along some knowledge to others who want to learn. Here's a shot of a current project for my Mom. I took it just after I finished tooling last night, so it's still a bit wet, but you get the idea.