Somawas

Wood push rod. Hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the suggestions. I think it will be a lot of help.

I had pretty much decided to try sewing it hair on the inside, then turn it inside out plan. Not too sure what I can turn it inside out with. Thee feet 9 inches is a long tube to turn that way. Coathanger? I'm not terribly concerned that the hair will fall off. At my Tandy store there is a cowhide rug glued to the floor in front of the entrance door. Been there for four years that I know of. Day in and out foot traffic for four years. Coming loose from the floor in a couple of places, but still has a full head of hair.

I believe that what you are describing is described in this book: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/search/searchresults/61937-00.aspx?feature=Product_1&kw=project+book

Four days, 33 reads, no replies. So here's the deal: So far I've cut the pieces and sewed the gusset to one side. It's coming along. When its finished, I'm posting my hairy cow shopping bag to the Show Off forum. Then you guys are going to ooh and aah over my hairy cow bag. Then somebody will say, "Gee, I could sell a ton of those! Kill a cow and Save a Tree!" Why I'll bet I could sell 50 of em at a screening of "An Inconvenitnet Truth." Those guys hate cows and love trees. Then somebody will ask about a tutorial. And I'll just have to say that I'll post one if I should ever decide to make another hairy cow bag.

Really nice. I admire the basketweave stamping, too.

I've cut out all the parts for a tote bag to be made from hair on cowhide. I have a piece cut out about 4" wide and 3' 9" long that I thought would work for the shoulder strap. How do I had sew it? Sew down one side, hair side out? Sew down the flesh side and then try to turn it hair side out? Lap the edges on the back and sew through three layers? What is the best way of sewing this strap?

Probably a good plan. Avoids the death energy that somebody was worried about. Maybe I'll go ahead and order mine, too. That way, if you don't pay for yours, I'll go get it and use it to tool. I won't pay for mine and you can go get mine and tool on it. We'll just hold for each other and both get a good deal, courtesy of the repo man that way.

Since it is to be as permanent as possible, I have two more suggestions: Real epoxy (not the five minute stuff, boatbuilder's epoxy) or gorilla glue. I've used all sorts of materials with real epoxy, and you bond almost anything to almost anything for almost ever with it. It's downside is that it is not the easiest stuff to work with, you MUST wear rubber gloves to work with it, and it is expensive. You're probably better off using a good contact cement. But epoxy will be pretty much perpetual.

How permanent do you want the bond to be?

It's a sorry human being who won't pay for a grave marker.

Nice looking case.

Thanks for the suggestions. I agree that no bounce is best, but just a little, maybe, has seemed to make my bevelling a little smoother. So does tool walking. I bought the Deluxe Tandy starter kit for the class. So I have that medium sized plastic hammer. I also have one of their 12 x 12 x 1 1/2 granite slabs.

I took my little tooling class at my local Tandy store. It would be a shame that a cow would die for some of the stuff I've made, so I've done a fair amount with scraps small enough to scab over. And my tooling gets a little better the more little scraps I beat on. Even when I beat on bigger scraps, the cow did not die in vain--at least I have less desire to smack a cow orker. So they told me to make my bever bounce just a little. And when its a little bouncy, my bevelling is smoother. So last night I was beating on a little scab over scrap with my basketweave. Always seems to be something a little off when I use a basketweave. Either I don't get very deep impressions, or the lines don't line up quite where I want them. I noticed that the tool bounced just like the beveler. (Use one of those high tech plastic hammers.) If it didn't bounce, I might be able to hit it a sceond time in the same place and get a deeper impression. How do I get my impressions deeper? How do I keep my basketweave or geometric stamp from bouncing around?

I love that sound! Nothing says "brand new, real leather" quite like it.

How much super shene did you use? To get that level of resist, I've had to use 4 or 5 coats of Super Shene with Eco Flo gel antique. I get about that much resist using two coats of block out.

I've been using some lightweight cow suede to line my eyeglass cases. The eyeglass cases are from 3-4 oz and the sued is probably 2-3. Still a long way from heavy.

Storm, you've inspired me. I've made a couple, three eyeglass cases since you started posting these. I've lined mine with some cow suede. Do you line yours? What do you use?

Since that is a cover for the lid instead of the seat, I am inspired. Want to break out the dividers and the French curve. See what I can do to design the Archie Bunker/Al Bundy Memorial Trophy Saddle.

Wouldn't it be more PC to refer to those as "Chinese Americans"? (Did not see a "duck and cover" emoticon. Imagine one here.)

About what size is the file case? I'm thinking that something like that would make a cool needle case.

The guy is a stone carver, right? Ask if he has the drawings for azny of the tombstones for any of the cows. That would help to date it.

Try this

If you want it I have a graphic of a seahorse, a dolphin and a fish with celtic knot bodies. Send me a PM here or an email.

Thanks, Storm. I have soemthing I'm piddling with that I want to lace. That could be the stuff I need. The shiny, thin stuff is not what I want for it.

What kind of lace did you use? I like the way it looks.