ClayB

That's really nice Bobocat! Incorporating the shape of a saddle into the design of the bag is a neat idea. Your work is amazing as always.

Peter Main just put out this flyer for the Dimensions in Leather 2011 conference and asked that I post it here on Leatherworker.net. Check out the website for more information. It would be great if anyone here is able to attend.

Most any brand of acrylic paint will work on leather. I've used Delta Ceramcoat, Liquitex and a few others. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the new Eco Flow Cova Colors from Tandy and will be trying them out soon.

That's WAY COOL Billy!!!!!!

That's really neat!

Really thankful that you are okay!

I think that' a great idea Bert. I'm surprised and a little disappointed that you haven't gotten any more response to this (and hoping maybe people are responding privately). I have enjoyed the projects I've worked on with other people and hope to do more of them in the future.

My short barreled Barry King knife and my SK3 both adjust down to 2 3/4 tall from the tip of the blade to the top of the yoke at the shortest adjustment if that helps you out at all.

Barry King makes a knife that is short with a narrow shaft. It works well for people with small hands.

When Russ told me about this yesterday I thought it was a great idea. I'm glad they came up with it and got it going. I've got quite a few things I need to practice working on in the next few months and this one was just the right size. So here's my coaster.

I try to get my background as deep as I can to get the relief you mentioned. It's really up to you how deep you want to go and what effect you are going for. The pear shading is to give the scrolls, leaves or flowers shape and depth. There is a tutorial here on how I carve oak leaves (not sure how it got put into the figure carving section) Roses are something I've never gotten that good at but there are some great examples of how they are done well here on the forum. Look at the work of Bobocat and Tina here on the forum for a couple that come to mind. Also, check out Paul Burnett's Painting Cow website and sign up for his free tutorials. Paul goes into detail and really explains some things that anyone learning how to carve should read and study.

I wouldn't put any sort of conditioner on before you are done with the tooling. If it's too dry to work, dampen it slightly with a sponge or spray it lightly with a mist of water (or whatever casing solution you use). Once you put a conditioner on it, it may be very difficult to do any more tooling/modeling work.

If Rick doesn't take it, I'd be interested too.

There are ways to smooth the flesh side some, but you aren't going to get it as smooth as the grain side. If you want both sides to be smooth, your best bet would be to glue a lining leather to the back side.

The SK3 blade wont fit Barry's knife, both Paul and Barry use their own size and shape so the blades only fit their knives. You should call Paul anyway because it seems like he was offering an adapter so his blades would fit other knives.

I'll be third for the Sk-3 from Paul.

That's sad to hear. RIP Phil.

These are pages scanned from a catalog from 1953. I re-sized them so not sure how well they will show up here.

Any time you are going to try new coloring or finishing products you should try them out on scrap first. Different brands of dyes and paints might work differently. They might also work differently on different pieces of leather, so the scrap you try them on should be from the same hide of leather your project is from if possible. I haven't tried the eco flow cova colors so I don't know how they work but I wouldn't expect them to act as a resist for dye (but it could be interesting if they do). If I was going to use dye and paint on the same project, I think I'd dye it first, then do the painting over it. There is a chance that if you use paint over oil dye, the paint may not adhere to the leather really well. I think if I was going to do this, I'd dye up next to the dice with a brush. Then dye the rest of the belt with a dauber or however you usually do it (unless you dip the whole thing in dye). Then I'd paint the dice with the acrylic paint. Then I'd apply a sealer to the whole thing. If you want to add antique on top of that, you can. Then seal it again. Use up your scraps and see what works and what doesn't. Good luck!

Hi Dave, The Tanner's Bond rubber cement made by Barge for Tandy is the stuff that I had problems with in my class. If you can find it, Barge makes their own version of rubber cement and it works a lot differently when mixed as putty. I'm not sure who all sells it, but I've been getting it at Montana Leather in Billings, MT. I'll print out your pictures and take them to Jan the next time I head out that way. He's really interested in seeing how everyone does with these lessons. I'll be looking forward to seeing pictures of your next project too.