TexasLady

5/23/12 Thanks, WinterBear. Every little bit helps. Eye protection - check. Vise - check. Wooden (or nylon, or rawhide) mallet - check. Padding for the bone - check. I have a skinny wood chisel. But that's not what you mean, is it? You mean like this, don't you? >> http://www.amazon.co.uk/VISA-Tools-Small-Steel-Chisel/dp/B004NC4S3Q Okay. But the half-round or round file,... I would use that after washing out all of the grease that I could get off of the bone, wouldn't I? Otherwise, it wouldn't 'file'. It would just get all gummed up with the grease, right? - TexasLady

5/23/12 Hi, northmount. Yes, I've been slowly coming to that conclusion myself. Now, keep in mind that the bone is already cut smoothly. It's the insides of it that I've been asking for help on. Shaping the outside will be the 'fun' and relatively easy part of the process. So, not that I don't need advice on that, too, but I hadn't started asking for help on that yet. What I 'have' finally begun to conclude is that I should use a very fine coping saw,... even a jeweler's saw,... to remove the marrow and boney/spongy material from the inside of the bone. I should insert the blade through the hole in the bone. Then, I should attach the blade to the hacksaw. The irregularities of the inside of the bone should keep me well entertained while sawing. - TexasLady Here's what my beef bones look like: http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/02/17/roasted-marrow-bones/ And as a 'free public service', I also found this link, with the right vocabulary for what I'm saying that I need to remove from my beef bones. Maybe 'too much information' (TMI)? http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/92222/cancellous-bone "cancellous bone, also called trabecular bone or spongy bone, ... light, porous bone enclosing numerous large spaces that give a honeycombed or spongy appearance. The bone matrix, or framework, is organized into a three-dimensional latticework of bony processes, called trabeculae, arranged along lines of stress. The spaces between are often filled with marrow."

5/23/12 Thanks, lightningad. Good ol' beeswax. Yes, being a hardword would surely be the reason that it's a good slicker. That you used a belt sander,... does that mean that you made it smooth and flat,... like a letter opener? Would you be able to upload a photo of it? With my little ring-shaped steak bones, I'm thinking of making something with grooves for slicking the edges of my leather. Here's the link to the Tandy version. - TexasLady http://www.tandyleat...keyword=slicker

5/23/12 chiefjason, Good for you for using all parts of the deer. I'd been through south Texas one year when there was a drought and too many deer for the available resources. Still, I love animals and hate that people kill them just for sport. I don't have any antlers on hand, but that slicker sounds like a good use for them. Antlers fall off and grow back, don't they? As for the ribs (indicating the demise of this particular animal), I hope they were good eatin'. Barbequed? But, no, I don't think that the ribs would make a good slicker. (Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.) The ribs would have too much marrow in them and too little thickness of actual 'bone' on their outter rim. They would look ugly. The bone that I got from the specialty grocery store is all white on the outside, with about a quarter inch of nice white bone on the rim, before moving to the marrow in the center. The butcher cut off the ends of the bone for me, so that the cartiledge is gone, and the hole to the marrow is open. lightningad, The Black Walnut slicker sounds very nice. Did you stain the wood or is it 'au natural'? I've got some pieces of Walnut wood at home, but it isn't Black Walnut. That's a very hard wood to work with. And, yes, 'no ants required'. Thanks to both of you for the suggestions. - TexasLady

5/22/12 I'll check out that site tomorrow, Biggundoctor. Thanks for telling me about it. Yes, I think I see what you mean about cutting out the area and then using that same piece of wood to wedge the blade tight into the thin space that was removed. Sounds like a good time to wear my goggles. iforgeiron I'll look for it soon. Late now. See all of you tomorrow. Thanks for the help. - TexasLady

5/22/12 Thanks, TwinOaks. Yes, I could do that with my saw blade. I've got a jigsaw,... though the bandsaw or the scrollsaw would do a much smoother job. We had a scrollsaw in that college sculpture course that I took. I really miss it. And, you made me learn more words again. "dead blow hammer" That's useful to know about. I'll get myself one of those at Home Depot or Lowe's. I wonder how thick of leather that kind of a die would cut? I can't help myself. This is off-topic, but I'm going to post a photo of my little oriental tree sculpture that I cut free-hand with a scrollsaw last summer in a college sculpture class. My only regret is that when my instructor took this photo with his camera, I couldn't get him to rotate the tree-trunk pedastal to coincide with the 'back' and the 'front' views of the tree. - TexasLady

5/22/12 Thanks, northmount. Yes, that's a great Thread. 2007? Maybe he just can't wear out those dies, and doesn't want to report back to us prematurely? This gives me hope of being able to someday mass produce some part of my leatherwork. I don't have a press, so I wonder how else I could get a die to work for me. I've already forgotten what it was that the author of that other Thread said he was using. - TexasLady

5/22/12 Biggundoctor, "Steel rule dies", huh? At first I thought, "Why do you insist on making me increase my vocabulary?" So, I Googled 'steel rule dies',... and wow! What a great idea! I love it. I found this site: http://www.die-cut.net/steel_rule_dies.htm I've got plywood and carving tools,... no router though. But I think that I could make my own die. I could use it for clay or for leather. And, the work at Jim's site www.atar.com is just amazing. Such precision. Beautiful work on those knives. So, tell me, do common folks ever make a die and use it to cut out leather shapes successfully? - TexasLady

5/22/12 Oh, that's so funny. Thanks, Sylvia. - TexasLady

5/22/12 Thanks to you both. Those were really good answers. Biggundoctor, I'll be able to get some measurements off of my blade. But, I'll have to hunt down the maintenance man (who is actually one of the teachers) to find out the composition of the blade. You put me to work, using the term "billets of pattern welded steel". I had to Google it. And that's how I found the gorgeous work done by Robert P. Shyan-Norwalt. See his photos: http://www.octavia.net/anglosaxon/theCreationOfAPatternWeldedBlade2.htm Believe it or not, the college sculpture class that I took included 'welding'. We had several types of welding machines. The welding job that I did in attaching my heavy metal pieces together took on a life of its own. Every time I'd try to 'even it up', I'd make yet another drip. You get the picture. Still, without having tried it, I couldn't have had my present appreciation for the skill it takes to do a neat welding job. TexasJack, I'm so glad for those warnings on the difficulties that will be encountered if I persist in this madness. I'd taken a college Jewelry-Making class in which my copper jewelry would get too hot to hold while grinding, or even buffing, it. I used a gas torch to anneal copper, but we didn't work with steel. I'm glad that you were able to finish that knife for your friend. Wow! and a sheath for it too? And I'm sorry she lost her father. But, I hope it's not too politically incorrect, under the circumstances, to now say how very amused I am at the idea of charging all of my artist friends with finishing my houseful of unfinished art projects in case of my own demise,... and telling them that it's their obligation to figure out how to finish them. Stuff that even I couldn't figure out how to finish. :-) As to what to make out of my bandsaw blade that would further my leatherwork,... maybe there isn't anything to make with it. If it wouldn't rust, I could use it as a clay tool. Again, thanks. - TexasLady

5/22/12 Thank you both so very much for your suggestions. I don't have a bandsaw, dirtclod,... but I'd like to have one. I got to use one when I took the college sculpture class. Those are lots of fun and make quick work of jobs that are otherwise nearly impossible. Barbed Wire Leather, Texas has some vicious little ants,... quite warlike, even when unprovoked,... who would doubtless take on the challege of cleaning my beef bone. Actually, they've attempted to clean my own bones when I've walked through their territory while out cutting my grass. However, I fear that the cats, rats, and the occasional coyote might do a little re-shaping of any bone I would put outdoors. Oh! I've got an idea! I'd bought a rat trap at a Chinese grocery store a couple of years ago. Never used it. But I might try putting a bone inside the rat trap and staking the rat trap down out in the back yard. The metal grid is about a half inch square, and the wire is substantially heavy. And 'Lighten' with what? - TexasLady

5/20/12 I took a sculpture class in college last summer. After the class ended, I found the big, long, saw blade from our bandsaw in the wastebasket. It had worn out and maintenance had replaced it. Of course, I couldn't keep my hands off of it, so now it's in a box in my house, waiting for its next purpose in life. I've read here on this forum stories of folks who've made wonderful tools,... knives and such,... out of pieces of random metal they have found. Sometimes their creations are super-effective. But sometimes, I've read comments from highly knowledgeable forum members (who really know their metallurgy), saying that the composition of such-and-such was too brittle (or too flexible, or too hard, or too soft, etc.) to make a such-and-such (a knife?) out of it. I'm hoping to avoid putting a lot of work into something that has no chance of success. But here I am with this great band saw,... not really worn out,... just not sharp enough to use for another semester in a college sculpture class,... and I'd lke to know what I might make out of it that could further my leatherwork. Thanks. - TexasLady

5/20/12 The butcher at a specialty grocery store gave me a big beef bone for free. I want to make a 'slicker' out of it. I've read that you shouldn't boil a bone that will be used as a tool, because this is supposed to make it splinter. But how do you sanitize it? And how do you remove all the spongy-looking 'insides' of the bone?... the boney part that's got bone, fat, and marrow mixed together. I've also been saving some round, ring-shaped, pieces of bone from recent steaks that I've fried. So, these have been cooked, and I've eaten the marrow from them. But now they are all washed and clean. They are air-dryed. I'm keeping them in a plastic container with a net over them, so that they don't mold. Has anyone here made any nice bone tools for leatherwork from this type of bone? Thanks. - TexasLady

7/10/11 Thanks, sheridanman. I was needing to see something just like this. I know that I might need a few different tools, depending on the type of projects that I do, but I've been wanting to see how other people, who have more experience 'organize' their tools. In my case, I've gathered up my tools and materials and gone to the homes of a couple of different friends, to teach them double loop lacing. I needed to take 'two of each' so that I could work on something of my own while they were working on the small project that I brought for them. It would be too heavy to bring 'all' of my tools, and yet, I don't want to get there and be missing something. And carrying things in plastic bags has just got to stop, too. I'll be making some portable kits soon, probably out of leather, because the leather feels so comfortable.. - TexasLady

7/8/11 Electron, you've gone 'above and beyond'. Thanks for your explanation. I've got some pigskin for my (soon to be) wallet's interior, and I haven't worked with leather enough to have learned the 'weights' jargon yet, anyway. I pulled out that Tandy Premier Wallet kit that I bought to copy. I wanted to 'make sure' before saying anything. The 'already assembled' interior on the Tandy model has fabric glued to the leather, replacing part of the leather, and making it lighter weight. The lower interior card holder is leather. But the next one behind it is different. Rather than being all leather, it has about 3/4" of leather showing, but then has a light brown taffeta glued to the back of that top edge of leather. It's the taffeta that goes all the way down to the bottom, not the leather. The third slot is the same, in it's front,... a strip of leather at the top edge, but taffeta continuing to the bottom. The front three slots continue on down to the bottom. But the back one (the third,... the 'tallest' one), has a fold of fabric on it's back side, and that fold does not go to the bottom. Rather, it dips down into a fold, and loops back up, being then attached to the 'straight', and final, bottom edge of leather behind it. Each strip of leather folds it's top edge backwards over the taffeta, making a nice finished, rolled, edge. The overall effect is to 'look like' it's all made out of leather, but really, about half of the leather is replaced with taffeta fabric. Also, there is an extra, length-wise divider in the bill compartment, made of taffeta, but with a leather strip on its upper edge. Tandy probably uses some special fabric which is heavy-duty, or more longer lasting than what I'm describing as 'taffeta'. I just wanted to add this to the Thread as a 'possibility' for others to look into, for making a lighter-weight, thinner, wallet. Disclaimer: I've never made a wallet. <smiles> - TexasLady

7/7/11 I've had that happen to me on some 'legal' sites, johnggrg. It's very disconcerting. And I'd also posted it on a forum, the time it happened to me. One lawyer on that forum found the info a different (better) way, and posted a more permanent link for everyone. He said something about there being some sites that change their links daily. Anyway, I'm going to re-paste your above link, which is working great at the moment, in a way so that it's all 'visible'. Then, if it stops working, some clever person might still find a way to make it work, even if it's through Googling the components of the link and finding an 'archived' copy. - TexasLady http(colon)//www.classicbells(dot)com/verlane/projects/Walletpatterns(dot)pdf

7/6/11 I'm tickled to death to see this Thread. I'm needing to make a bag for my tools, too. By posting here, I'll be able to Search My Content from my profile and find the Thread again. Such good ideas. Thanks to everyone. - TexasLady

7/5/11 Hi electrathon! I wasn't one of the original ones requesting a pattern, but the title of this Thread got my attention. I just now took a closer look at your pattern and I see that the numbers all add up nicely. It looks like it should work just fine. I've 'made things' all my life, so even though there aren't any indications of whether an edge is raw or is folded under, I realize that there are just personal ways that someone might put the wallet together. But, yes, maybe a few lines on 'how to assemble' and 'how many to cut' would reassure someone wanting to try out your pattern. Thanks for giving it to us. I bought a Tandy Premier Wallet a month ago for precisely this purpose. I wanted to draw around it on film, so that I can make myself another one exactly like it. I did find that since the interior is already sewn together, making an exact copy of that will be a little tricky. There is a center area that intentionally doesn't lay flat, but rather will encourage the wallet to bend in the right place after it is assembled. I'm looking forward to figuring this out, as this is something that interests me. - TexasLady P.S. Hi flyingcuda! You posted while I was still writing my post.

7/5/11 I always love to hear the stories of people who share their knowledge with others to help people. I'm at school right now and can't chat more. - TexasLady

7/4/11 Hi candyleather, I don't see your name on either of the Threads at these two links you've given. I wanted to see your Stamps. But then, I see on your profile that you haven't posted since 2008. Do you ever come around any more? Thanks. - TexasLady

7/4/11 That's good that you could get into a field that 'pays'. I'm working on a BA in Art, knowing full well how slim the pickin's will be for getting a job. 'Numbers' are difficult for me, and most jobs that 'pay' aren't of the artsy-craftsy sort,... unless the person is entrepreneurial, and I'm not. But, you've kept your love for 'nature' alive, while paying the bills with a 'real job'? - TexasLady

7/4/11 Hello again, Young Gun. A forum member kindly sent me a PM yesterday, suggesting that I refresh my memory by viewing the Tandy Instructional Videos. Ten minutes of video brought it all back! Here's what I watched. I hope you'll like it, too. - TexasLady Basic Leather Craft Video – 10:18 min. Tandy Leather Factory presents Basic Leather Carving with George Hurst http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/infoandservices/Leathercraft-Videos/Basic-Carving-Leather-Craft-Vide/Basic-Carving-Leather-Craft-Vide.aspx

7/3/11 This was the first time that I hadn't used the search function before posting a question. I see that this is Young Gun's first post, though, so maybe he actually hadn't noticed the 'search field' yet. I have a learning disability and post frequently on a forum for persons who have only recently come to find out that they have my same disability. Many of these people are not 'tech saavy' enough to know how to search for the information they need. So, I do find myself answering the same questions over and over. I don't want them to be discouraged from posting, especially when they may be reaching out for human contact as much as for an answer to their question. - TexasLady

7/3/11 Congradulations on making it as far as 'graduate work', and on choosing a field that's close to nature. - TexasLady

7/1/11 Hi Young Gun, I've only taken the basic Tandy classes, and that was over a year ago. Since I've forgotten some of the things that I learned, I was recently trying to remember exactly these questions that you've raised here. I'm so glad to see that you've posted, as you are not the only one who is 'new to leather crafting', but wanting to get off to a better start than just using the 'trial and error' method. So, I hope that someone experienced will talk to us about moisture content for using the swivel knife. Also, I've seen sandpaper mentione in regard to the edges, and I'd like to hear more about this. - TexasLady