terrymac

Another thing you may want to look at is the angle or tilt of your swivel knife. If you lean it one way or the other, you will get a "sliver" where the cut line is not straight up and down. When you do that, it is almost impossible to get a decent bevel as the top of the cut is extending out over your bevel area. Hope this makes some sense. It is just extremely important to hold your knife straight up and down. As far as the necessity of using a knife, it is the means of defining your subject. About the only place where you wouldn't use a knife is in tooling certain kind of landscapes or in tooling clouds for example. You use different kinds of bevelers. Terry

Wayne, What kind of dye were you using that was smearing with the Neatlac? This has got me curious. Terry

Check out Barry King tools, especially the stamps. He is an advertiser on this forum, The tools are probably three times higher than Tandy, but I will guarantee they are a quality tool. You just have to decide how serious you are and willing to go with the good stuff to start out with. I understand your concerns. Terry

w Waybe, Have you tried the saddle oil from Bee's? It really adds a Golden hue to the leather and doesn't darken as neatsfoot or funny colors with EVo. Are you still using the Fiebing's antique. I have never had a problem with the dye and neatlac smearing, but I have always let the dye dry for at least a day and then buffed before applying the resist. It looks like the RTC works as well as netlac, never thought I would be saying that. Seems like I read where Barry King was recommending the RTC. Never too old to learn. By the way, belt looks great. Terry

Stir it up and it will be fine, just don't faint when you smear it all over the leather, looks like hell. Just wipe it off and life will be good. I have found to use a resist before the antique as it helps even thing out. I'm old fashioned and still good old pour on Neatlac (Clearlac). Good luck. Terry

Check with Kevin and the gang at Springfield Leather (advertisers on this forum) He can give some good advice with no pressure to buy anything. Terry

Neatlac, now known as Clearlac or Wyosheen, is an old standby that has stood the test of time. I wish I had a dollar for every saddle that was finished with Neatlac and then used for years. When I speaking of Neatlac I am referring to the liquid, not the spray. The only time it cracks is when someone goops it on. If applied with a piece of wool and worked into the leather, it is as good, or better, than any product on the market. Having said all that, it has been my experience that Eco Flo and Neatlac are not compatible. I use Neatlac as a resist, and when I applied the EcoFlo, I ended up with ugliest bunch of colors you can imagine. It works great for the Fiebing antiques and dyes. Hope this helps as far as your resist question goes. I am not an Ecoflo fan as I am sure you can tell, but there seem to be a number of people have good luck with them. If you want to see excellent examples of using Neatlac and the Fiebing products, look at Hidepounders work. Terry

If I am not mistaking, Fiebing's Spirit dyes are alcohol based while the Pro oil dyes are oil based. In either case, there is not much odor to either one, and I really don't believe you will need a gas mask. Can't answer the part about kids chewing, all I know is my kids were raised around dyed leather, and they seemed to have turned out fine with kids of their own. That was back before there was anything such as water based dyes for leather. Terry

Hey gang, hate to be the dummie, but what is "mossed flesh"? That is a new one on me Thanks, Terry

If you are serious about learning this type of tooling, you need to get q copy of the "Sheridan Style Carving" book written by Clinton Fey and Bob Likewise, and study, study, study. It will become real obvious of what you are doing and how it is to be done. I have got to get another copy, have used it so much, the pages are falling out. Hope this helps, Terry

Get some clear 3M packing tape and attach directly to the back of the leather. Will not leave a residue on leather as the cheaper brands are prone to do. This will normally stop the stretching. On different type of pieces, you can apply the rubber cement to the packing tape and glue to some type of packing. I personally like to use plexiglass, just hard to do with belts or straps. Concerning your moisture question, a general rule is the closer you get back to the original color, the better your impressions and burnishing will be. Takes patience and practice to get it right, but it is critical to good tooling. Checkout Bob Park's tutorial on casning leather in the "How do I Do This" section of the forum. Hope this helps. Terry

You can't ever stop turning the knife, regardless how gradual the curve is, or you will end up with a straight edge in the curve. I have to concentrate on contiuous turing as it is awfully easy to quit and ending up with the dreaded straight edge. Terry

Pear shaders, thumbprints---different names, same tool. Lots of differnet sizes. Terry

The depth relief is outstanding. What weight leather did you use? Terry

Chris, I agree with you totally concerning the SK3. Paul made me a 3/8' angle blade with a little more thickness that his standard, and it really performs. I can't imagine any other knife and blade that will outperform it. I am old school in that if it isn't broken, don't mess with it, so that is all I will use unless someone comes out with a miracle blade. I am not going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Terry

3M clear packing tape is pretty good at not coming off. You can then apply rubber cement to the tape and back with plexiglass. About the only thing I have found too large to back is a belt. I got a large piece of plexiglass and then cut it into various sizes for different sized pieces. It stops the stretching. Terry

Bar grounders are a particular kind of tool used to background. mainly seen in Sheridan style tooling. Terry

Have to agree with Pete, Bee's Natural Saddle Oil is the best I have ever used. Doesn't darken at all, if anything it will give the leather a golden "hue". Try it and you won't use anything else. Terry

Take the awl chuck out of the wooden handle and use in a drill press as Aaron suggests. You get the best of two worlds, straight holes and being punched with a diamond awl at the proper angle. Terry

3M packing tape will not leave residue, not so with other brands. I have found out the hard way. Terry

Try Barry King Tools, he has both. The great thing about his bevelers is they have a steeper angle which really helps in beleveling in tight areas. You don't get as much "collateral" damage with the steeper angle. Hope this helps, Terry

I had purchased a third blank a little over a year ago that was the same thing. As our kids were about to return to Germany, I went ahead and finished it, and after antiquing, etc., it looked presentable, but not what I like. I just assumed I had gotten a bad piece, but the new ones were the same. Why return them when I would end up some more of the same? I just got me a new side of Herman Oak, so problem is solved. Maybe I am too picky, but with the time invested, the cost of the leather is the cheapest part of the project. Terry

Sorry to disagree Ferg, but Tandy belt blanks are horrible. I bought a couple not too long ago, and I defy anyone to get a proper burnish on these blanks. I don't know what the problem is or what they are doing in tanning, but the dang things look chaulky when they dry and the flesh looks like some kind of powder has been added. I do know how to case leather and get a pretty good burnish, but not with these things. I threw them in the trash. Terry

Neatlac will not serve as an acceptable resist for EcoFlo products. I learned the hard way, and got some of the worst looking colors I have ever seen. I have used Neatlac as a finish after using some Ecoflo stains with good results, but I have since thrown all the Ecoflo stuff away and will only use Fiebings dyes and Antique Paste. Sorry for the mishap. Terry

Just an idea, but recently I bought some Quik Slik from Sheridan Leather to use rather than glycerine and saddle soap. What I have found is I can great edge coverage with one coat rather than two or three. I'm using good old fashion spirit dye in dark brown, and without a lot of rubbing with a cloth, no residue. I also use Neatlac to finish. Terry