WyomingSlick

Actually there is no such thing since geometric tools, by design, produce a uniform consistant pattern; while whicker is a non uniform pattern made up of elements of varying thicknesses and texture. Your best bet to reproduce something that looks like whicker, would be to tool it in by hand with a swivel knife and beveling so as to get the varying appearance. It would be easier to do than you might think, since you wouldn't need to concentrate so much on maintaing a strict uniformity in the pattern.

His wife would have straightened up his tie given the chance

So that's what happened to that old brindle dog that used to hang around here? A little cowboy humor there that probably won't get past the namby-pamby moderators here! LOL !

You are skiving the end of the lace that fits in the needle aren't you?

That is going to be a hard pattern to find. What does the other half look like? There were several pattern companies offering bilfold kits with already pre-cut filigree leather in the catalogs of the 50s. Some of them were already embossed or tooled; all the buyer did, was assemble the billfold. Actually, that is what this one looks like to me. In any case; it is a very simple pattern and should not be too difficult to reproduce by making a good scan of it, and fiddling with the conrast in a photoediting program until you get a picture that you can make a good tracing from. I have to wonder why the customer wants to have this rather dull and simplistic pattern. Have you suggested other designs to them? There are several better designs, with scrolls for a name, that are more readily available.

I am sure your grandpa would not have wanted an axe cover that looked like this. Waterstains are simply the mineral, dirt,, and leather oil deposits left behind from wet leatther drying out gradually. Much like the mineral deposits along the shore of a dried up lake. To get rid of them, simply soak the leather in hot water which will dissolve the deposits - you might use pure distilled water for this. Gently rub the stains and flush with water until they are gone, There are several products made for removal of salt stains on shoes/boots which will also remove such stains. If you wish to preserve the name, then just be careful there and do not rub it. You may want to do a small test on it first to check whether it was an ink based, or water based Sharpie. Once the leather has a uniform appearance, then you will want to dry it out evenly so as to not cause more water stains to appear. If you see some showing up, use a damp sponge to lightly re-wet the area and spread the deposits out so that the leather dries to a uniform appearance. Once your cover is dry and has a uniform appearance, then you will want to treat it with some type of leather conditioner to replace the oils that have been lost due to the fact that water and time will cause any unprotected leather to eventually dry out, that is, lose the volatile and water soluble oils in the leather from the tanning process. Some of these products will cause a darkening effect. Read the product labels carefully before buying so you will know what to expect.

" You frequantly hear of leather being "full" or "top" grain. This means leather made from hides or skins with no surface blemishes. These are usually from skins of younger animals with firmer fiber structure and whose surface shows a "pure" or natural grain. This is the best-grade leather. " from the article: "The Wondorous World of Leather" by William A. Rossi in the March 1988 issue of THE LEATHER CRAFTSMAN and, " NO ! " Vegetable tanned leather is NOT full grain period, because the term refers only to the method of tanning, nothing else ! The leather that is split off of the bottom can still be designated as vegetable tanned leather if it is tanned by using any of the vegetable methods versus the mineral salts method.

I would think that the pocket on the back of the cover would make an uneven writing surface for the paper on top of it

Wood would work well if you checkered it like found on a fine gun stock. It shouldn't be too difficult to make a tool holder for your lathe that will allow you to use conventional wood checker tools

I would say that if you are doing actual "Sheridan" style carving, then grit your teeth and pay the premium price. It should help to keep in mind that because BKs are regarded as the best when it comes to Sheridan style stamping tools that are readily available, they will increase in value over the years. I am reminded of the fact that more than a few old timers I know, regret that they didn't pay the extra money for Ray Hackbarth's stainless steel stamps back when he made tools in the 1950's.

I recently had an extended correspondance with Tandy/LF concerning Crataids and the decline in the quality of them. My concern was that while the older Craftaids are nearly perfectly transparent and easy to use because you could easily see which lines had transferred, and ..... if you missed some; they were easy to reregister. The newer Craftaids are merely translucent at best and not nealy as good in these respects. The Tandy/LF spokesman stated the following: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You are correct on the difference between transparency and translucent. I agree that the older transparent plastic Craftaids were much easier to use. We are still working through processes to return to the transparent Craftaid. The last surviving ORIGINAL Craftaid machine is soon to be assisted with a brand new machine. The machine needs four things to work perfect to make a good transparent Craftaid. 1.) correct and consistent heat. 2.) correct and constant pressure. 3.) a good smooth engraved plate. 4.) the right kind of plastic. The new machine will stabilize the first two. The plastic has been the issue for at least the past 10 years. Since children use our Craftaids, the plastic MUST be phthalate free. It has been a struggle to locate a government compliant plastic that meets the requirements for the Craftaid machine and still be somewhat translucent. We are still working on making a better Craftaid. We hope to have everything resolved by this summer." _________________________________________________________________ Still holdin' my breath !

Not too shabby! In fact, that is a lot better than some of the work you see posted on line for sale. The only suggestion I might make it to matt more around your cental figure to make it stand out more from the background. And you might mute down the bright colors some to go with the tone of the rest of it.

You can sharpen a gouge? And this is giving you trouble?

I appreciate that you are trying to determine what went wrong here. The answers above about simply chucking the piece are worthless. Like the old Roman said, Those who do not learn from their mistakes, are bound to repeat them." Learning from your mistakes and shortcomings, and striving to improve, are not only important in becoming a better leather craftsman, it is an attitude that will serve you well in all aspects of life. You say that the "spot" did not take the resolene. Are you judging that strictly by the final appearance? Resolene is supposed to be a more or less waterproof finish. Did you test to see if the area was waterproof afterward? Or scrape the surface to see if there actually was resolene on it? If there actually was no resolene deposited; then it seems likely that there was something already on the leather that prevented the resolene from adhering to the leather. From the looks of it, the area is on the edge, so it should extend into the piece that you cut your part from. Have you taken a good look at that piece? Anything on it? Does part of it look differant from the rest? If you determine that there actually is a resolene coating on the "lack luster" area, then you are looking at either an application problem, or, a problem inherant in the leather itself. Leather, being a natural byproduct from an animal, is not a totally uniform and consistant material. Which is exactly why leather is selected and graded for quality. It is possible that there was a blemish there due to the animal suffering an abrasion or burn there which resulted in an area differing in pore structure and/or surface texture. Such a fault may result in an area that does not look the same with finish due to differances in refraction and reflection, much the same way that a rough board will not exhibit the same final appearance as a finely sanded/scraped board, when both are varnished the same, You may even want to repeat your dyeing and finishing steps on the leather scrap that was adjacent to the bad area, and see what you can learn from that. .

If you live anywhere near to a large urban area, I suggest you check out a used office equipment store for a quality built office chair. They often will have vey high quality chairs that are not only built to be comfortable for extended sitting, but are fully adjustable, and are built to last unlike most of the cheapo imports you see at conventional stores like those mentioned. You may be able to pick up a 3-400 dollar chair for under a hundred bucks just because it has some cosmetic damage that made it unsuitable for some fancy-pants lawyer or executive

Something that might work is to use one of the printer pens like this one on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-quality-Authentic-3D-Stereoscopic-pen-printer-3D-Drawing-Printer-Pen-3D-Pen-/321525984921?pt=COMP_Printers&hash=item4adc712e99#ht_7952wt_1821 to make raised lines on a compatable sheet of clear plastic

Do you suppose there is a good reason why you don't see many items laced with rawhide? If I had a customer who wanted rawhide lacing on something like a portfolio, I know that I would have to ask him just why he thinks rawhide lacing would be desirable, and find out what kind of misconception he is under. If it is a matter of color, as your last question hints at; there are many types of natural undyed lace available. If he is wanting some kind of "rustic" look, then perhaps a latigo or buckstitching lace would work. The thing is, rawhide lacing is going to dry, and then be hard and stiff, and probably break at the fold in the portfolio, later, if not sooner! Yes, you could work some oil, or other conditioner into it..... but then, you no longer have "rawhide", do you

Definately the thread is your problem. Stitching awls like the Awl-for-all, and Speedy Stitcher, are designed to be used without having to pre-punch the holes. What do you mean by the "spool catching" ?

I don't care for the discordant note caused by the gearing behind the owl and inside the circle not matching the gearing outside the circle. Also, as someone with an engineering background, I believe your depiction of gears leaves much to be desired. Conceptually though, this is a nice alternative to other carving styles, and is an attractive item,and I am sure your GF will be proud of it

Since this is a stylized drawing rather than a realistic depiction, just a good beveling job like done on the banner should be suitable. You might give considerable thought on how deep you wish to bevel the various elements..... perhaps a deeper beveling on the outline and lighter beveling on the interior elements

do a google search on "bleaching leather" and you will find a multitude of advice and products to do just that, just keep in mind that such products and techniques will remove some, or all, of the oils, resins, tannins, etc that are introduced into the leather during the processing that makes leather from raw hides if you remove all of those, then you are back to the start, which is of course rawhide Suggest you do sample runs and tests and see what will work for you, that is - what will lighten the leather to where you want it, and still keep it suitable for whatever purpose you have in mind

I should have mentioned that I don't like the idea of using clips like that in a toolbox that you carry around, one good bump, or drop, and they will fall out of the clips, Clips are fine on a tool wall, or in a stationary cabinet, but not in a toolbox

lol ! Now I had just the opposite reaction I like the looks of it on the holster better, but then; I am just judging by pictures By the way, damn fine looking holster !

You need to pay closer attention It is $8,60 for 5 of them

Sorry Stevie, but no, there isn't anything very valuable in this bunch The Craftools are mostly of post 1963 manufacture (the ones with letter prefixes) and one is lucky to get 5 bucks for any of them The Basic tools may do a bit better, but not much The "gold" coating you are referring to is just a zinc coating and is not a very durable finish to start with I was surprised to see the broken large Basic stamps, but then on reflection, not so surprised, since people do mistreat/misuse tools all the time