WyomingSlick

Sew it on. Use a fine needle and thread and make fine stitches with appropriate colored thread. A good thread to use would be a kevlar thread or one of the other super strong threads they have nowdays. There should be no problem making small stitches in between the beads such that they are barely noticable.

Figure Carving Finesse Book & Pattern Pack by Al Stolman Retail Cost at store.........about 45 bucks for both Give away price on eBay...... $5.95 + s&h...about 12 bucks

OOPS ! Forgot to attach diagram

Does Deep Stamping Hurt The Leather? Its a good thing you modified your title question in your post, or I would have to tell you how my leather weeps for hours during/after stamping. LOL But seriously......of course, stamping/carving weakens leather. Ask any experianced leather worker which 2 inch strap he would choose to hang from over a 100 foot fall.....two straps cut from the same hide, side by side.......... one strap being tooled...and the other untooled? That is why, except for fancy show saddles, you do not see tooling on a saddle's crucial parts that are heavily stressed. The jockeys, the fork, the seat, cantle, skirts,and fenders may all be heavily tooled, but the latigos, cinch straps and the stirrup leathers will not be tooled at all. The same applies for belts. Tooled leather belts are for holding up your pants, and showing off.......untooled and perhaps reinforced belts for utility use like lineman belts, climbing belts, tool belts, etc. The fact is that most stamps cut the leather and weaken it to some degree, and of course a swivel knife cut definately does. The sharper the edges are on the stamp, the more it will cut the leather. Toolers like to talk about the "crispness" certain stamp makers tools have,but the fact is that such tools cut the leather more than a less crisp, that is, a blunter stamp. Does that matter in most applications? No, it doesn't since the remaining strength of the leather is sufficient in most situations. What may be of concern is tooling in areas that endure a lot of flexing and movement during use. For example, a good carving or stamping design for a billfold, or wallet, will have a minimum, or no tooling, in the fold area. And of course, it is very desirable to avoid cuts that run in the direction of the fold as these may well open up more, or even split entirely in time. Knowledgeable belt makers do not tool the bend for the buckle on a belt for the same reason. Now as hopefully illustrated by the attached diagram, any fold, or even curve in the leather, creates a situation where the outer part is in tension, that is the fibers are being pulled apart.......while the inner part is in compression, the fibers are being pushed together. Any cuts, or stamp impressions,on the outside are going to spread apart....the degree of which depends on the severity of the curve or fold........ as well as the nature of the tooling. Now, coming around to your sheath. As discussed above, rewetting of your tooled leather is going to diminish your tooling. This is even more problematic when you are bending, or moulding the leather. Remember....the outer surface is in tension on any curve,.....so not only is the tooling going to loose definition on the curve around the knife.....but also to some extent anywhere that you create a curve during your moulding process. You might be wondering by now.....how do saddlemakers deal with this problem when it comes to saddles, particularly the very rounded areas of the swells? They do this by molding the leather to fit the swells first and then tool the leather in place. In one of of Al Stohlmans books on making cases, he shows this same technique used in making custom fitted rifle cases. Can you use the same technique in making knife sheathes or gun holsters? Well sure, but it would have its own difficulties. That is why you don't see excessively moulded holsters with tooling very often.

Nice. Looks very professional ! Question - What is the little dongle on the handle for?

A quick tip for you, Kid. If you want to make sure someone sees your comment.....or compliments.....reply with the "quote" option and then they should receive notification that someone replied to their post. And you are absolutely correct. Someone should have replied earlier to this because these are very good for a first effort. But the fact is that sometimes things get lost in the shuffle. I think there are more people who come here on the weekend than the other days........so those looking for help should have more results by posting then.

It says right there in the web page: "Please click on the thumbnail pictures to see them in a larger view and the written descriptions and prices." If you don't have "pop ups" blocked , just putting your cursor over most pictures brings up a box with the stock#, name, and price. A left click will bring up a thumbnail of pic with all of the info also. If you have pop-ups blocked, the a right click and selecting "open in new tab" only brings up picture w/o price. If you do have "pop-ups" blocked on your computer, there should be a way to disable that for specific websites that you wish to allow them. The procedure will depend on the blocker program you are using.

Mission pigskin is actually one of the most extensively used leathers around. It is less expensive than regular natural pigskin because it is made of pigskins that have too many flaws and/or blemishes to sell as natural. They emboss it with the grain pattern in order to conceal the flaws. For the leatherworker this has the added advantage that the leather is then better at not showing any scars, or marks, that may occur not only during fabrication, but also during the normal everyday use of the product. Therefore....it is used from everything from book binding to linings, wallet and purse insides, as well as being used for the complete construction of many smaller lightweight products like wallets, coin purses, notebook covers, card holders, etc. I ,myself, have no idea how many hides i have used over the years. Too many to remember, that's for sure.

LOL Next lesson: Really now! I guess the knowledge hasn't filtered down to the Barheads yet, or perhaps you are also a creationist, since you also seem to have the silly idea of "Creation" in your noggin. Obviously the egg came first......... since dinosaurs laid eggs........and chickens evolved from dinosaurs after many millions of years of egg laying. That is called "science".......... just as geography is the knowledge of locations whereby a person may know the differance between Montana and Wyoming.

1st tool is for keeping your mother-in-law at bay ! 2nd tool looks like a tool for making the crimped edges like you see on stovepipe in order to allow one section to fit into the next. 3rd tool is for setting the angle on saw teeth. Before the power saw came along, most people used hand saws and it is a necessary operation to keep the teeth on crosscut saws set at the proper angle to keep the saw from binding in the cut. 4th tool is a hand grip for holding hides/leather while stretching or whatever. I believe the jaws are serrated to provide a firm grip.

Yes, I certainly do believe that is what I have been looking for. Everything about it is just what I would expect to see. As to posting photos, this is the procedure I use. See attachment.

Nice looking rigs.......but I'm not too sure how I feel about the use of the chicago screws. I can see how they would allow for adjustment of the belt as to waist size.....but one that has the tongue and billet stitched on, looks more traditional and classy......particularly if the stitching is semi-concealed on the tooling side of a border.

I have observed that some members have recommended using a sheet of lead as a base to drive hole, and other punches into. I strongly advise against this......and reccomended getting all of the lead out of your shop ! If you do some research on the toxicity of lead and the results from lead poisoning, you will find: From Wikipedia: "No safe threshold for lead exposure has been discovered that is, there is no known sufficiently small amount of lead that will not cause harm to the body." Now...bearing that in mind...that any amount of lead is toxic and harmful to a body.....don't you think you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and your customers to eliminate any possibility of your leather items being contaminated, even minutely, with lead. For those of you who can not see the connection.....let me point out to you that lead oxidizes. That is why fresh cut lead is shiny, while lead exposed to the atmosphere for a time is dull gray. And, that dull outer layer is easily scraped, or abraded off, and can end up as a residue on you, your workbench, your tools, AND the leather products you make. So, say you make a dog toy which you punched some holes in using a lead sheet to drive the punch into. Congratulations ! You have just poisoned your dog !

Sure it is. I have known how to do this since I was a kid. I actually am very surprised that Al Stohlman didnt illustrate this in his great book "Leathercraft Tools". That is one of the first books,if not the very first book ! that every leatherworker should have and study. Give me a little time and I will work up a tutorial with photos on how to do it.

I vote a big NO on using lead to punch into. The fact is: "No safe threshold for lead exposure has been discovered—that is, there is no known sufficiently small amount of lead that will not cause harm to the body." So why use lead when an old phonebook, a softwood block, or soft plastic will do the job ?

Same stitch.......one picture of one side.......one picture of the other side

Frankly, your bull story is just that,.........a bunch of bull! The hide on a cow, or any animal is a self renewing, self-repairing, living part of that animal, AND the cells in in are in a process of continually being replaced till that animal dies. That is the reason that you are not the same person that you once were. Nearly every cell in your body is replaced many times over your lifespan. Leather, on the other hand is DEAD ! From the moment, an animal dies, there is no renewal or healing happening, thus it begins a process of decomposition. Leave the dead animal out in the weather, and the hide will decompose in a matter of months in some climates. It will be attacked not only by insects. but also by microrganisms that will hasten the process. The best we can do is slow down the process. All methods of preserving leather are a trade off. You wish to preserve the leather, but at the same time you need the leather to be suitable for it's intended purpose. A carved leather picture that hangs on a wall will call for a differant method of preservation than a leather jacket that you are going to wear often. A pulling harness for an elephant will call for a differant dressing than a purse that some lady carries on her arm. Think ........ BEAR GREASE....good for some items, not so good for others ! Some dressings that are applied to leather do actually damage the leather in the long run, but meanwhile they keep the leather supple, or tough, or shiny, or perform whatever desired function....for an acceptable life of the item. A leather worker needs to fit the finishing process to fit the demands of the intended use. A fancy carved belt worn for "dress up" may well call for a different finish than a utility work belt that will be exposed to harsher conditions and stresses. It is a fact that museums who are most concerned with preserving old leather items for historical purposes use much differant methods from leatherworkers to keep the items from decomposition.

Sure you can add weight. Just drill some good pilot holes and put as many woodscrews as you want in there. Would probably be a good idea to do it in sets and try to keep the mallet balanced. Strips of lead secured to the head should work fine also.

It is a chain stitch and it is made by a machiine. Unusual to see it on something like this bicycle seat. The thing with the chain stitch is that if you pull one end, the whole thing just comes undone. This is why it commonly is used to sew up one end of sacks containing material one wished easy access to like flour, sugar, etc... and stuff like feed for livestock..

LOL You should hope they don't take you up on your offer to teach them............that will often involve a great deal more time than actually doing the job yourself. My position is that I will often do things for others......one time. Then depending on how they act.....whether they reciprocate, offer payment, or some other compensation, there may be a next time. Of course this doesn't apply to children, or old ladies......they usually get a free ride.

Several options.......weighted rawhide mallet, brass or lead face hammer, or the one I like best....one of the dead blow hammers available from various tool souces. Some inexpensive ones are offered by Harbour Freight.

Yes, they have a term for tools used along a border to fill, or make a transition. They call them "border stamps", and the term can refer to any type of stamp used for that function, and can include anything from foxtails..... to pinetrees....to dot flares....to basically whatever you wish to use for that function......including camouflages. If any of those stamp names are unfamiliar to you, it is because they have fallen out of general use. They are all names that were used in the southwest around the middle of the last century, and were used on a very early 1950s Craftool chart. Ray Hackbarth, the notable toolmaker of that era, apparently did not favor the term "camouflage" because he used the name "sunburst" instead (see attachment of section of Ray's Tool Brochure from that time) You might notice that Ray didn't like the more commonly used names for veiners or crowners either! But the camouflage name seems to have stuck and nearly everybody, except for the present Hackbarth maker, uses the term. I suppose the homogeneity of most stamp names today is due to the dominance of Tandy/Craftool in the leather stamp market the last 60 plus years. When they started that business of using letter prefixes on their stamping tools; quite a few names slipped into near oblivion. For example, there used to be veiners, wigglers, barkers, and shell tools. Now they are all commonly referred to as veiners because that is the way Tandy/Craftool marketed them. People commonly use the term pear shader for all shaders (except for the Sheridan crowd), and if you go back far enough you can find the term "bruiser" used for shaders. Actually, I am also interested in finding more about the actual roots of the names "veiner" and "barker" also. I suspect that they are also derived from originally French terms, which may, or may not, be related to veins and bark.

LOL Must be time for some more Tandy bashing ! You know there are reasons why people pay more for the high quality tooling leather. All leather is not grown the same. Leather from range cattle, or an old dairy cow is differant from leather that comes off of a feedlot fattened steer. Then, the tanning process used can make a lot of differance. There are tanneries that use a cheaper, faster process than the premium tanneries and consequently their product is generally going to be inferior and cost less. I am guessing that the leather you bought is from South America, and perhaps it is like many foreign products.....doesn't sell at home so they export it to where it will sell.

Yes, that was the meaning I always got previously. Since you are French, perhaps you could research the derivation of the word much better than a non-Francais speaking fellow like me. I should think that the French have something like the equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary, which explains more the derivation of words with their history and root meanings. One of the early English usages of the word suggested that the word simply meant a "cover" which fits the camel hump cover origin. The piece I was reading suggested that the "camou" part was semetic in origin and came from the use of the word in Algeria, and among the people of Northern Africa. as I described. It mentioned several other semetic words with the same "Camou" root, but I don't remember any of them. It also said the word, camouflage, came into general usage, from a Parisian slang usage around the time of World War I.

Hmmmm, I dont know why it printed your quote twice ? Anyway.......Do you have some good pictures of the toolface and the shaft that you can post? And what is stamped on the shaft? Just the number? CRAFTOOL CO ??