TexasLady

Hi Alex. I just stumbled upon your post. I contemplated it for a couple of minutes and then almost started to laugh. I think you got 'took'. I hope the front sides of the conchos are pretty enough to be worth all the work you'll probably have to put into salvaging them and making them usable. I found this website online where they talk about soldering pins or wires to the back of conchos. http://www.riorondo.com/hardware/conchos.html

Admin- please remove this duplicate post for me?

Robert- I saw your fabulous work on your website this morning. Thanks for the greeting. I'm in the DFW. I was hit by a car on I-30 at Cockrell Hill Rd. Troy- I'm glad for you that you've been able to reclaim so much of your life. I'd always mowed and weed-eatered (weed ate?) my own yard, and I had an herb garden. Lately, I've been wondering if somehow I might still be able to use the weed-eater. I only have an electric push mower, left over from before the accident. What kind of riding mower do you have? I have to take issue with 'don't put limits on yourself' however. Every paraplegic's injury is unique. I received additional internal injuries, besides losing the leg and getting my back broken, when the car hit me. Any straining aggravates the damage from the internal injuries I received and sends me running (figure of speech) to the nurse for pain medication. I do put limits on myself. Yes, it's so sad not to be able to reach things that are up high. Only ten years ago I cut down a hackberry tree in my backyard using a 14 foot ladder and a chain saw. When I was young I did ballet, tap, jazz, and acrobatics. Later, as a teenager, I had a wonderful summer with a square dance group. I'm so glad that I had all those experiences. Some people are born with disabilities and infirmities, so that they never got to do any of those things. It was great to hear from both of you. Leatherworking was always fun for me. Now it will be even more important. PS. I'm still in a nursing home, but will be returing home soon.

Dwight- Thanks for the story about your cousin and your encouragement. I love dogs and used to raise wire-haired terriers, but I hadn't thought of selling collars at/for dog shows. Good idea! Winterbear- That Power Mallet video was amazing. If I could get one of those, I think I could make fabulous things. It would save me from back pain. And since I can use both of my hands, I wouldn't even need modifications on the equipment. Everybody should watch that video. The man who made it is a great craftsman and teacher. Having a piece of equipment like that could change the life of a talented, motivated person with a disability. Both of these posts were a happy gift to me this morning.

I already have tools for many kinds of leatherwork. But last year a car hit me, leaving me paraplegic. I want to keep doing leatherwork, but with my back broken at T9, I'm guessing that some actions, like swinging a mallet repeatedly (for stamping) or trying to make really large items, will be too strenuous for me. I want to find a few things that I'll be able to do long-term, and well, without harming myself. I lost my left leg in the wreck, and with the paralysis, the stump kicks uncontrollably,...though other times it inexplicably just stays put and minds it's own business. The kicking/spasms of the stump tend to throw my upper body off balance a little. BTW, I'm happy to say that my hands are steady with good strength, and my eyesight is good (with glasses). Are there other paraplegics here on this forum? Have you invented ways to keep on leatherworking despite the obstacles? Could we perhaps form a loosely-knit 'guild' focused on making leather specialty items (inventions) that would aid handicapped individuals?

I already have tools for many kinds of leatherwork. But last year a car hit me, leaving me paraplegic. I want to keep doing leatherwork, but with my back broken at T9, I'm guessing that some actions, like swinging a mallet repeatedly (for stamping) or trying to make really large items, will be too strenuous for me. I want to find a few things that I'll be able to do long-term, and well, without harming myself. I lost my left leg in the wreck, and with the paralysis, the stump kicks uncontrolably,...though other times it inexplicably just stays put and minds it's own business. The kicking/spasms of the stump tend to throw my upper body off balance a little. BTW,I'm happy to say that my hands are steady with good strength, and my eyesight is good (with glasses). Are there other paraplegics here on this forum? Have you invented ways to keep on leatherworking despite the obstacles? Could we perhaps form a loosely-knit 'guild' focused on making leather specialty items (inventions) that would aid handicapped individuals?

Hi Ako, I would love to be able to make a handle like that. Thanks for the video. TexasLady

This isn't the site I was looking for, but it talks about making the fish skins soft and supple, and it gives the process, so I'll paste it here. TexasLady http://www.ehow.com/how_2306721_make-fish-leather.html#page=0 And, oh, look, look! A site with jillions of chemicals for tanning specialties. The super solve degreaser mentions fish. http://www.knoblochs.com/chemicals.html

Cgleathercraft, Your work is also beautiful. And I want to find that fish tanning info site for you, too. Thanks for your condolences. The broken back will limit me in swinging a mallet for tooling leather, so it's a good thing that I also love tanning, patterns and lacing.

Monica, You work is spectacular and the quality amazing. I hope you'll have some fun tanning fish skins, too. I read an Australian advertisement recently that says each type of fish skin has some optimal way of being tanned for strength, elasticity, satin finish, etc. I'll try to find that link for you. I hadn't been too picky. Mine all came out stiff. I was just grateful to be able to tan them at all.

Biglew, Hope the restaurant will give you a bag of big fish skins. Please freeze them until you can get the tanning chemicals.

One more thing,...I'm pretty sure I put a coat or two of clear acrylic sealant on the fish skin. Maybe some thinned-down shelac would have been better. But I do believe it's a good idea to put some kind of sealant. TexasLady

Oh, one caveat,...i glued (using light colored contact cement) a thin piece of white fabric to the back of my fish skin before cutting it out. Also, I cut out that wallet cover with an extra margin of fish leather sticking out around the edges so I wouldn't come up short when finalizing fitting it against the rest of the wallet. It may be that the fish skin doesn't stretch quite as much as leather would have stretched when folding the wallet closed. Also, as I recall, I reinforced the salmon skin around the edges, on the viewable top side by gluing on a thin strip of seam binding. I did this before doing the edge lacing. The lacing then covered up the seam binding almost completely. I did this to prevent any weak spots around the edges of the wallet cover from pulling loose at the punched holes. I don't remember now whether I punched the holes first or glued on the seam binding first. I probably punched the holes first. Sorry. That was two surgeries and lots of pain killers ago. And I gave away the wallet, so I can't go back now to see just how I did it. TexasLady

...Here are photos of that one wallet I got to make out of my tanned salmon skin. I saved these images in September 2013, six months before my life changing accident. One photo shows the wallet open, with the edge lacing incomplete, another closed, and one close-up. There are no scales left on the leather. That's just the texture of the tanned fish skin you are seeing.

Fantastic. I'm delighted to return to the forum and find such kind and inspiring comments about my tanned fish skins. Yes, removing the scales is one of the steps before tanning. I went on to make a really pretty billfold from salmon skin. I used a standard Tandy Leather kit to save time. I just traced around the nice piece of leather that would have been the outside of the wallet, but used my fish skin instead. I do have some bad news. About seven months after starting this Thread, after a fender bender, while calling in the accident on my cellphone, I was hit by a car on the freeway. I'm now an amputee and paralyzed. Yep. But my hands and eyes are still good and steady. And guess what I've been wanting to get home to do? ...finish making wallets out of the rest of my tanned fish skins! Just thought I'd let you all in on the fact that nearly dying doesn't change who we are as much as one might think. What we make with our own hands and ingenuity is part of what gives meaning to life. I'll hunt for my photos of that salmon leather billfold and post it later. For now, here's a link to one of those "nine-in-the-world" places where they make tanned fish skins. (I think I should get to 'count' as the tenth place in the world that makes it!) http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2013/08/05/3818592.htm Texas Lady

8/23/13 At a local Asian grocery store, I bought some fish,... striped sea bass, farm-raised in California, they tell me. I bought the Tandy tanning lotion and followed instructions. The fish skins are tough and only smell like leather, not fish, so I figure that's a good sign. I bought a Fossil wallet that I liked, so that I could use it as a pattern, or at least as a 'size reference'. I'll post the photos of what I made. Since then, I've taken out the zipper and started over on it. I'm going to widen the zipper this time. I was just tickled that I could make something all the way from tanning it through sewing it. I'd probably rather just have kudos than a critique for now, so please forgive me for not asking for 'help'. Thanks. - TexasLady

6/25/12 Thank you for that feedback, Chief31794. I've seen the porcelain blades for sale at my local Tandy, but didn't know if the advantage would be worth the price. I've gotten to the point now, though, that saving myself physical exertion is becoming more and more valuable. I'll get my strope ready for its new porcelain blade. While I've got you here, what does a diamond sharpening stone look like? Where'd you get it? - TexasLady

6/22/12 Thanks for the input on what 'thin' fabric to use for the interior, stanly and electrathon. There will always be 'trade-offs', won't there? Brown taffeta would be for something cheap when giving a 'kids class', then. But Tyvek sounds very interesting for my own future projects. I found this site. http://www.materialconcepts.com/store/categories/0100 4" x 200 yard tyvek 10G Price: $28.00 I've also got some black pigskin and some (almost ) orange pigskin, very thin. I wonder though if it may not stretch out too quickly in the card holder spots. And I'm only a year late in gettng back to you to thank you. Sorry. - TexasLady

6/22/12 I got tired of using cloth bags that weren't sturdy enough for my heavy tools. Went to Home Depot and bought several of their 12 inch red and black canvas tool bags ($9.00), and several of their 18 inch bags ($17.00). Two or three I allocated to my leather tools and scraps, and others to my carpentry tools, clay tools, and acrylic paints. What a relief. Now, even though I have to dig through the bag to find what I need, it's just great to be able to pick the whole thing up and transport it without worrying about a small pair of scissors falling out through the corner. At least I know that everything I put into the bag will still be 'in' the bag the next time I need it. - TexasLady

6/22/12 Going back to the 'swivel knife' theme, but with a question of my own,... I took an Advanced Clay class last semester in college. All the while, I wondered if anyone here has ever tried to 'make ' a porcelain blade for a swivel knife, and if so, with any degree of success? I know how to make a mold with latex medium at home. Also, my college's clay studio had the special materials (similar to plaster of paris) for making a mold. The professor had been willing to help me make a mold of whatever I'd wanted to make. I just didn't think of the little porcelain blades in time to ask him before the course ended. Another question,... any tips on how to sharpen a porcelain swivel knife blade? (I don't have one yet.) - TexasLady

6/22/12 Hi Annonymouse, I'm glad that people who see my Thread are still sending me help. On sanitizing the bone, I think the idea is that ants will clean up any tiny bits of flesh and that UV rays will bleach out the bone,... you know, like the old cow skeletons that sometimes appear in Western Movies? Maggots have sometimes been used by doctors to clean up rotten flesh from live humans with infections in tricky, dangerous spots. They will only eat 'dead' flesh, not 'live' flesh, while even the best doctor's scaple can't differenciate at that microscopic level. So, I do see the logic in letting insects clean up the bones. For now though, I've just concentrated on carving the bones that were already 'pure bone', not the ones with pink, stinky, spots on them. I'm in two Summer classes, and pretty much overwhelmed for now with that. It's been heart-warming to hear back from folks when I felt lonely with my urge to make bone tools. - TexasLady

6/3/12 WildRose! A girl after my own heart! Today, thinking that I was Christopher Columbus, I discovered that I could use the plastic bag that holds cereal, inside the cereal box as my 'tracing film'. So far, so good. I drew out a copy of a checkbook wallet on one 'page' the size of copy paper. I used the rest of it to copy a pattern for a cell phone cover. This was 'oversized',... larger than the size of a piece of copy paper. What I really liked was that the plastic accepted ink from my fine lined permanent marker. And, its plastic, so moisture from the leather shouldn't hurt it. What I'd like to know from you is, how re-usable is it? Will going over the design with my stylus cause it to have more of a groove than would occur with the Tandy Tracing Film? To all purests here, let me assure you that I do have a whole role of Tandy Tracing Film which I love to use. It's great. But, I'm trying to put together a leatherworking class and to make materials as cheap for my students as possible. I'm delighted to find that, by saving some plastic bags from cereal, we can all make a few small patterns for leatherworking. - TexasLady

6/3/12 Hi robertmeco, Thanks for that suggestion and link. Yes, the bone awl looks very nice. I would like to make something like that myself. The baskets on that link are beautiful, too. I'm really glad to have this link, as I hadn't known that there was any 'one spot' on the internet where I would be able to find so much information on 'basket-making'. I took a 'required' 3-D Design class a couple of years ago at a community college. When I got there, it turned out to be a 'combined' class. Half of the students were taking 3-D Design and the other half were taking 'Fibers'. Fibers was mostly 'basket weaving'. I soon realized that the teacher's heart was in the Fibers half of her class, not in the 3-D half. She was really good at basket-weaving. I watched as much of it as I was able, while still keeping up with what I was there to accomplish. However, help me with something. There's no way to find out the prices of anything without registering on that site, right? But, again, thanks for the link. I'll probably go back to it when I get ready to learn basket making. – Texas Lady 6/3/12 Hi again, WinterBear. Peroxide. Okay. Yes, I have some right by the sink. Food grade. I brush my teeth with it. I'll try that if the sun doesn't work. Right now, my round steak bones (the ones with any pinkness to them) have found their way into that new, shiny, and as yet unused rat trap that I bought at a Chinese grocery store a few years ago. I don't want to put it out in the yard until I've purchased either some strong wire or else a small chain to tie it down with. The whole thing doesn't weigh very much, and a determined dog could easily walk off with the whole kit 'n kaboodle if it isn't tied down. My back yard isn't dog proof,… nor people proof for that matter. I'll wrap the chain around a railroad tie or a tree to secure the rat trap and leave those bones out in the hot Texas sun for a few days. I'm reluctant to tie it to a tree near the house, as I don't want to encourage the ants to come any closer to my habitat than necessary. Thanks for all your suggestions. Oh, no,… I've got lots of files, rasps, and sandpaper. But you're right. Even the little emery boards for manicures can be very useful. A friend who used to have a 'framing' store used those emery boards with a foam center for her touch up work. – Texas Lady 6/3/12 Hi Randy Scott, Those were such good links on that Google search that you sent me. I looked into the first five of them and have learned a lot already. Also, your idea of going to Rockler for some exotic wood was a great idea. I have a Rockler within my 'stomping ground' limits, too. I went there day before yesterday and bought several beautiful pieces of mahogany (about 18" x 2" x 8") for a dollar apiece. I have the illusion of making leatherworking tools out of it as you have done. Thanks for those helpful ideas. – Texas Lady

5/30/12 I worked on one of my round steak bones this morning,... with limited successs. Yes, the chisel did remove some of the larger chunks of spongy-bone material, WinterBear, but it was too coarse for finishing the job. I used the largest gouge of my linoleum cutting tool set, and that got me very close to what I was trying to accomplish. Still, I'll need to find a way to file it smooth on the inside surface. The problem is that when a bone has even a touch of pink color to it, it stinks terribly,... like a carcas, of course. I don't think that this will go away any time soon. That bone I worked on is now soaking in water with borax. I hope that the smell will diminish. The good news is that some of my round steak bones were perfectly white, with no spongy-bone material inside at all. I was able to make a slicker from one of them. Here's are two views of the same bone slicker. I'm sorry that the photos are so large. I tried to reduce them, but wasn't able. Thanks to everyone on this Thread for your help. - Texas Lady

5/23/12 Borax. Good idea. I'd forgotten about Borax. I have a box of it on hand. Thanks. - TexasLady