terrymac

Get some wool ,, if you are using rags or paper towels, I'll will guarantee you are not getting all of the residue. Tandy sells some synthetic wool that works great. At this time on your project, use the wool and reapply the Tankote, and work into the leather. I'm afraid the oil you applied may hinder the excess residue. I always apply oil before the paste and I personally will use only Bees Natural Oil. I threw the underfoot oil away a long time ago. Bees will not darken your leather. Hope this helps, Terry

My SOP is to apply Bees Natural oil (will not darken leather) and after dried, apply Clear lac. Never have had any rub off. Might add Clear lac and saddle lac are two completely different products. Terry

Try Bee 's Natural Saddle Oil. Has no smell and does not darken leather. Hop e this helps Terry

I could tell it was split as the thickness was uniform on the entire side. Ain't going to happen without splitting. Terry

They charge a small amount if you want the leather "pasted" back. You can't tell it was ever split. Good people Terry

Is this number correct? Cannot get text to go thru Terry

Clear lac can be applied directly over antique paste with no waiting time. Been doing it for over 50 yrs. If you are not using wool to remove excess, you are not getting it all. Terry

Sent you PM Terry

TanKnote is no way, no how ever intended to be a resist. In fact, it can be added to antique paste if it starts drying, or to lighten up the antique color . It also works great when you have splotchy areas from the antique, and it will remove most of the "splotch". The only product that really works is Clearlac or Wyosheen sold by Barry King ( both the same product). Must say I have not used Bee's new product so can't comment on it although their saddle oil is the best on the market. You get into Tandy's antiques, and you can take everything I have said and throw it out the window. Resolene does not work very well either. Terry

Use wool pads to remove excess antique paste. It is the only way I have found to get the paste out cuts and tooling marks. My resist is Clearlac, same thing Bob is using. Terry

Barry King sells a packet of belt patterns done by Bill Gardner, one of the godfathers of the Sheridan style carving. Well worth the money. They were are tooled by Clinton Fay, and include a complete list of the Barry King tools used. Good luck Terry

Great improvement!! Small suggestion is to continue veiner work around complete scroll. Do this prior to beveling and then when you bevel the border, most of it disappears, yet appears that these marks were part of the complete scroll. Keep it up Terry

Whole lot better. Next order of business is smoothing out your beveling. You don't want to see individual tool marks as around the top of your petals. Someone will tell you to use a modeling spoon to smooth, but that doesn't work when you use a checked beveler, as I do 90 percent of the time. Just keep practicing, and you will get it. The other area to work is uniform spacing of the veiner marks around the scroll. I cheat, I got some old prickng wheels and use those to mark individual tool marks placement. Hope this helps, Terry

Biggest problem I can see your swivel cuts are not deep enough to show any relief after beveling. Your cut depths should be at least thirty percent of the thickness of the leather, preferably more. Hope this helps, Terry

Bruce, Have you tried this thing, and if you have, what is your impression? Would it work on a Heritage with a straight bevel? Thanks, Terry

Try some 3M bi-directional filament tape, and if you get it stuck well, you can tool some pretty thin leather with no stretching. Home Depot is handling it now, used to have to get from Amazon. I double it on the leather, and the stuff really sticks. Apply before you do any casing. This tape isn't cheap, but well worth the cost. Hope this help, Terry

Bikermutte, throw that Neatsfoot oil in the trash and get yourself some Bee's Natural Saddle Oil. Won't darken your leather at all. I quit using that other stuff years ago. Didn't like what it did to my leather. Terry

Not sure what you are calling a stitching Chinese. If you are referring to a stitching iron, you can punch numerous holes at once and they will be in a straight line and it is easier to maintain a straight vertical hole Keeping a straight line on the front is easy, the real skill comes is keeping that straight line on the backside. If you are referring to a pricking iron, then an awl is still needed to go all the way through the leather, the pricking iron gives you the hole placement. If you watch the good guys, they are using an awl and are stitching as each hole is punched, thus the reason for a stitching pony or horse. If you have punched the holes prior to stitching, the pony or horse holds the leather, leaving your two hands free to use the needles. It just makes the sewing a lot faster and efficient. I've tried just using my hands, and there is no way you can do it as fast without using a clamp of some kind. Watch the Nigel Armitage videos, you will learn a lot on correct saddle stitching and how to make the front and back of the stitch look the same. Terry

Barry King would be my source. He makes his bevelers in some awfully small sizes which is what you need. They are also steeper angled which means you will not be affecting surrounding areas. Look at his round bevelers, I can see several areas, especially in the mane, where they would really work well. I would also look at making it a inverse figure, that is beveling to the inside of the figures. Would make dying a whole lot easier. Hope this helps, Terry

Get hold of Bob Park (Hidepounder). He is handling some edge markers that you put your own dye, and he is also handling a product called Edge Magic that you treat the edges with before burnish. You can contact him at Hidepounder@gmail.com Hope this helps, Terry

IMHO, finest knife on the market.

The poundo board will grab your knife or whatever you are cutting with. You want something slick so your knife will just glide over. Poundo boards are great for using punches on. Hope this helps, Terry

One additional source for Sedgewick in USA is Booth and Co located in Boston (I think) Top of the line and good service. Quite the leather. I had a scrap piece that I just threw out on a table outside and left for six weeks and left fully exposed to the summer elements and full sun. I then put a little of Booth's bridle leather conditioner on it, and was dang near like out of the box. I can't imagine what a different leather would have looked like. It isn't cheap but well worth the cost. Ken at Booth is a check of a nice guy and easy s y to work with. Terry

If you are attempting to antique dyed leather, it isn't going to work. It is only going to work on natural leather. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but if you are trying to highlight tooling that has been dyed, there are probably other products out there that are better suited for that purpose. I will routinely dye the background areas and leave the remainder of the tooling undyed, and those are the areas that the antique does its thing. Also, if your pear shaded areas are not burnished(darkened) from the tool, the antique is not going to going to take the place of proper tooling techniques unless you are using a lined or checkered tool that can grab small amounts of the paste. Slick leather can't do that. You really have to match your product to what you are trying to accomplish.

You do not want to leave it in the lettering and the borders. Excess paste is not what gets your highlights. When you apply the paste you get all of the coloring you are going to get. One of the reasons checked bevelers and lined thumbprint are so popular is the checking and lines grab small amounts of the paste and you cannot get it out. Your paper towels will never work except to remove the bulk of the paste. They will never pull the excess of of the tooling and swivel cuts as will the wool pads. Don't leave any excess anywhere. If you do, it will look like a mud pie. If you noticed in the Keith Valley video, he works hard at getting it out. I agree with Nevada that you don't ever want to let the paste dry. It is hard enough to get when it is wet. I can only imagine the nightmare you will have with dried paste and the resulting mess. Keep working at it Terry