Jazznow

and i always thought you are all forming youre holsters bye hand around the guns... : ) But using a press i faster, i guess^^

Hi, i had a course on dyeing in February and we talked about acrylic finishes, too (we used Resolene, but I think the use should be similar). We were told to make two coats of finish. The first is made with a quiet dry applicator and the resulting coat is quiet thin. But when its dry, it prevents the dye from coming of, when you do the second coat where the applicator holds enough finish to fill the tooled impressions but still as dry as possible. A third coat is only made, if the item will face the elements very often (I did 3 coats on the logbook of my father for example). Maybe you want to try this method on some craps to see if it works for you. Dumb as I am I forgot what we have been told on the course almost instantly^^ You just made me remember So I have no further experience with this method and have to try it, too. Greetings, Jonathan P.S. @bkingery: I always thought that I do finish before dyeing/antiquing only when I want to make some parts of the item resist the dye. Could you explain, why you are doing it your way?

Hope, you can regrind your groover. If not, go to a tandy store and take a look, if their replacement blades fit into yur groover. The ones from Tandy come ready to go out of the box usually I found another Youtube vid, that shows, how to use a groover. Take a look. Greetings, Jonathan

Hi, i'm not owning a lathe, so what i write is only theory, so far^^ 1.) You have to lathe recesses into the zylinder i think. Just look at the wooden hand burnishing tool, that Tandy is selling, then you should get an idea. 2.) somebody (I think it was Bob) wrote, that he fastened the cloth with tape (double sided tape i guess), which was originally only for trying it out, but it seems to work pretty good. Hope that helps, Jonathan

that looks great, did you antique it? I tried that several times with a dremel, but the engraved lines were not clean enough. They were kind of rough... That was the reason why i got into carving When seeing yours, i want to try it again Greetings, Jonathan

i had problems with finishing edges, too. At my last series of bags i had some success with gum tragacanth. i aplied it with a brush (only a thin coat) and let it dry for 1 minute. Than i rubbed the edge with a piece of an old cotton belt (pressure and speed). I repeated that for several times until the edge was nice and smooth. Maybe that helps a little... Jonathan

very interesting link. thank you very much!

I think you did a good start. I like the sheath, but i would be afraid that the blade of the knife becomes dull because of the studs. I know that force that makes little voices in my head whisper " buy more tools, buy more tools!" I'm just glad, that i don't have enough money to folllow this voices^^ Greetings Jazznow

I'm no art expert, but i like the idea Thank you for sharing, Ray. Greetinngs, Jonathan

amazing! The designs are all great and i love your colouring.

good news are going on I applied for a apprenticeship at a local orthopaedic shoemaker store and they just called me. The want mee to do visit them some days, to look, how i'm working and if i fit into the team. If everything goes well, i could star my apprenticeship in august Without this great forum, i would never have tried to get into this professionally. Many Greetings, Jonathan

Well i think it's time that somebody says something other than "amazing", "beautiful work" or "stunning"... Alway read the same must be boring... It'S the worst piece i have seen in the last uhm... 1 1/2 minutes. But since it is the only piece i have seen in that time, it's the best, too Now i stop joking and become serious (it's hard to me, but i'll try): I'd like to be as good as you! I've got only respect and admiration for your skills and your work. Keep on Carving! Jonathan

The idea is interesting. But (sorry if this is not what you want to hear) you worte: "The life of the print is minimum 2 years, I guarantee it for upto 1 year." What will hapen after the 2 years? Will it just get a patina or darken a bit like any other leather or will it start to look bad (fading colours or something). If a piece will lose its beauty, i would not use you technique, sice i try to make my products last as long as possible and look good as long as possible too. Thats a goal that i don't reach always. But thats my fault and not the fault of a technique, from which i know it will never last 20 Years and more. Sorry for beeing mistrustfully Jonathan

i wonder if you could tell us a website or something with chinese leather machinery I have some experience with R/C equipment for model planes from china. I'm very happy with it. In the most cases it lasts as long as german products and if not, i can buy two or three new motors/servos/batteries/whatever and would still nto have reached the german price But that is experience with products that only cost some bucks. I would be more careful, if i have to spend 900$ Greetings Jazznow

I think you've done a good job on the tooling. I know from experience, that it is damn difficult to tool celtic knotwork in that size. Thumbs up! Jazznow

i would wet it with hot water (around 45°C i think) and form it above an tennis ball or something light that. Then let it dry and cut it to shape. Just an idea...

that's awesome, thanks! Jonathan

I'm now working with leather for 4 years and am still learning Sometimes i'm doing things for other people, but i'm always honest about my skills and do charge only cost for materials and a little bonus. Thats my way of getting some of the money back, i'm spending for my hobby. @topic: You should avoid Newspaper paper since it could stain the leather. You could use tissue paper, which tailors use for copying their patterns. Greetings, Jazznow

Thank you all for your suggestions. I think i will check them out both. I found an digital journal, which seems to be for free. It's called RawHide Gazette. Looks good to me, too. Many Greetings, Jonathan

hello folks, I did a forum search but found nothing, so i start a new topic I would like to collect Journals or Magazines about our topic in this Thread. So what jpurnals do you know? Which one is your favourit, which one do you subscribe? I found the Leather Crafters and Saddlers journal on the internet and think about subscribing to it, but don't know, if there are better journals out there. Greetings, Jazznow

Hallo Lutz, ich schreib mal auf englisch, damit alle das verstehen A very awesome Bag! I like it very much. Do you have much experience (i'd guess) or are you just starting? I'm doing leatherwork now for 4 years or so, but your bag looks better than my best piece I have the same problem with german veg-tan. Do you have a good supplier for better leather (in Germany or in the EU)? Many Greetings from Dortmund Jonathan

really nice carving, i espeially like the third one. That rocks!

beautiful pieces, thank you for showing! Greetings, Jonathan

maybe sending out a newsletter or something like this (if you have email-adresses from your customers) and offer a new years sale (5-10% or so) to everybody who already bought something for you. That can only work of course, when you still make money with that discount. I Know that my Dad send out Greeting Cards with special offers to his customers in January (i was the one who had to put the letters into the envelop^^), because people throw away all the cards and special offers, the get for xmas. But in January, they may be willing to buy something. Many Greetings, Jonathan

well it was some kind of "all together" (too much Western movies, too much Karl-May-Festivals (a german phenomena, i think) and too much reenactment and medieval markets). I always liked the cool leather stuff, people had but never had the money (and courage) to start with it myself. Some day i bought a bag of scrap pieces and just started to make a little belt pouch and a wristband. It was fun, so i started to buy more tools and more leather and now i am an hobbiest, who is on artisan markets occasionally, when my girlfriend tries to sell her patchwork and quilting stuff i place some of my bags on the table and sometimes sell one or two (I'm almost always working while waiting. The tocktocktock of the mallet makes people take a closer look) I now hope to become a apprentice saddle- or shoemaker next year, when i finish university, but it's hard to find a saddlemaker, who takes apprentices in germany (but i will get a 3-week-course in GB, which makes me very happy). hehe, i wrote too much again Best regards, Jonathan