olds cool

Lucky indeed. The closest shop I know of is about 45 min from me. I'd sure like to have someone local just for the advice alone.

Nice work. Did you do the grips too or can you buy them that way? I'm not really familiar with that brand.

I can't begin to imagine how many hours are in that

Masks aren't really my thing but they sure are neat. Nice forming and coloring is about all I can say since I haven't really looked at very many other to compare. On the pouch, I really like the way you used another layer around the buckle. It really adds some dimension and life to the piece and makes it stand out from an ordinary bag.

I've never seen an arm guard like this before. I've been looking for a bow so I can get back into archery again. This will make a nice piece for me since I tend to get a lot of string slap due to the way my arms twist when holding the bow out in front of me. Thanks for sharing!

If that's a first try, I'd love to see what you come up with after a few under your belt! I like 'em

Simple & clean, I like it. Looks like it will last for years to come.

I realize this thread is a month old but did you ever get the tool replaced? Was it any better? I just ordered the same thing from SLC and got one with the exact same problems. I got it to cut one nice groove on some scrap but it had a lot of drag. I assumed the blade just needed stropped a bit so wasn't too concerned with that part. I noticed the set screw problem right away though. The allen wrench doesn't fit it correctly...meh whatever, I've got plenty of allen wrenches. What struck me though was that the set screw isn't parallel with the guide arm, making whatever insert you use in it, all caddywompus. Wouldn't be a big deal if the inserts were round but they're square. Calling this a "Pro" tool is a pretty far stretch if you ask me.

I use manila file folders to make test pieces during design. It's easy to cut & fold yet sturdy enough to not tear easily.

Outstanding work! I've never enjoyed watching someone stitch so much.

Hey guys, after about a year hiatis I'm back to leatherworking again. I bought one of the scrap bags of exotics from Springfield and I'm having some trouble identifying a lot of the pieces. I easily picked out the piece of elephant and the snake skin. The rest though I'm unsure of. I'm betting a lot of it is ostrich leg and maybe a piece or two of frog but I just don't know. Is there a site somewhere, with good quality pictures and such, that can help identify these pieces? I see a lot of identity requests in this part of the forum and a page like this could really help us newbies without having to post a pic of every scrap.

Deb, Thanks so much for the effort in converting them for the masses who don't have the luxury of engineering software. Would you happen to have a zip file that contains the original dxf files for those of us who do have the required software?

Thanks Jim! I know a few people that would be real happy to receive one of these as a gift

Great video and fantastic pieces of work. Thanks for sharing.

Nice combination of materials on that one. I'm usually more for the tooled wallets but I'd be proud to whip that one out in a store.

Very nice work. I especially like the coloring done on the koi

I don't know anything about fencing helmets but that looks fantastic.

That's gotta be it, my leather is too wet. I'm still working out the right amout of wetness. Thanks! You guys saved me a huge learning curve.

Every time I pick up a tool, I learn something new. One thing that hasn't clicked for me yet is backgrounding in an even manner. I've studied pictures from various skilled leatherworkers and the background always looks so even and uniform. No hint of tool edges, patterns always looking just right. Mine just looks like slop. I know practice makes perfect and believe me I'll be doing lots of practice. I was hoping that some of you could share that magical ahh haa moment when you figured it out and what you do. Like I said, I don't mind practicing but I hate wasting leather. Any tips at all would be helpful.

Thanks for the welcomes. I'm happy to be here and have already learned a ton from browsing the old posts. Kate, check out the seat I started over in the show off section.

Incredible work. I'd be proud to drive around in something that looks that good!

Hi Everybody! (Hi, Dr Nick!) OK, now that I got that out of my system, let me introduce myself. My name is Ed. I'm 29 and Live near Erie Pa. I'm just getting into leatherworking and I've been referred to this site by numerous people. I've been trolling along through old posts for about 2 months now so I guess it's about time I introduce myself and start taking part. In addition to leatherworking, I also enjoy building bikes, building cigar box guitars, and I'm a Cub Scout leader for about 16 very active 2nd graders. I've got 2 boys, age 8, that I hope to get involved in leather someday as well. I already gave them my fist 2 projects and they are always excited to see what I'm working on. I posted some of my latest work in the showoff section. Anyways, enough babble from me...

Decided to get started on a seat this weekend. I jump around on projects a lot so I can't say whether this is my 3rd, 4th, or 5th project but it's somewhere around there. Open for constructive criticism, especially from the experienced leatherworkers around here. There will be more pics as I fit it to the pan, lace it, etc. I'll shut up now and let the pictures do the talking.