TomG

I had wondered about it before I started turning. But the square pieces got out of alignment when I glues and clamped, so I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get a hole straight down the center. I should have made my squares a bit larger to allow waste during turning and done the center dowel. I'd still have the problem of attaching it to the lathe. I don't have a 3-jaw chuck and I'm not sure if the spur bit on the head spindle would hold a dowel of the size I want to use for the center bolt. But now that I have it turned down to a cylinder, I can probably square it up enough to drill a center hole straight and try the dowel. Fingers crossed... And I may just stick to wood <g>

What Tandy patter kit is it from?

Yup. There is always a metal rod or bolt that runs the length of it. The leather itself will never support the torque and flexion of a handle like that. I finally slowed down enough that I'm planning on heading the garage later to work on it.

Hi Dwight. That was my first thought as well... until I took a second piece of the same leather and dipped it in the other vat of dye and no splotching. I'm going to have to do some tests tomorrow and try to isolate it. 2 different pieces in 2 or 3 different tubs of dye and see. I may try to take a picture and post.. But it's almost like the dyestuffs on it are just sitting on top and not absorbing.. But no ruboff. Puzzling...

No core. I thought about it, but haven't done lathe work in a long time and never on leather. I wasn't sure of what to use. Like I mentioned. With only a live center and a spur, all I could think of was a wooden dowel glued in, but then, I'd have to drill that out for the mounting bolt on the maul. What would you suggest?

I have been dip dying some of my straps and belts for a while now, but just ran into a problem. I usually use Fiebings Dark Brown and dilute is anywhere from 1:1 to 4:1 Denatured Alcohol to dye for different shades. I just made a new batch from a new bottle of dye for my medium brown, but when I dipped the latest strap, it came out blotchy and uneven. I could swear that I diluted this batch about 3:1 for a medium brown. A second strap in a different batch for medium came out OK. Has anyone every heard of bad dye out of the bottle? It's all I can think of since the other batches used other dyes. Could I have somehow gotten it too thin? Would this cause the blotchy look? Any ideas? Thanks

I am making a new maul and decided to try making a leather handle like on my Tandy Stohlman maul. I glued up a bunch of 3" squares using contact cement and clamps and then mounted in my wood lathe. So.. I have a few questions for any of you who have done this. 1) Is leather harder on the tools than wood? I seem to be having to sharpen my roughing gouge frequently. 2) I do not have a chuck - only the spur and live centers that came with the lathe... How do I taper it down thin at the end of the handle. I have about a 2.5" cylinder now and can already see it flexing as I cut it. Thanks

What is it? I've never heard of this...

What dye? What color? How are you applying it? Are you diluting the Resolene 50/50 with water? Are you putting it on in 2-3 VERY thin coats and allowing to try for several hours between coats (preferably overnight)

What tip size? .010 or bigger?

Dwight.. Do you remember what size/type of bit you used on the engraver. I have one and have been playing with it but still not 100% satisfied with the results.

I use denatured.

Sorry you're almost bling <g> Did you try Rio Grande? Tom

Does anyone have a source for Stainless snap swivels in 1"? Thanks

Note the key words... 50/50 Resolene... Same with the Mop-N-Glo.... 50/50 with water. And several thin coats, letting them dry between.

Get some double ended foam makeup applicator sticks from a beauty supply place. Easy to control and if you clean them, can be reused 5+ times on each end.

Has anyone heard of Coblers leather Shoe Dye? Is it suitable for Veg-tan? Pros/Cons?

When airbrushing fine or small items like this lettering, how do you hit the inside of the letter and not outside?

I've got the Fiebings Black, Green, Red, Royal, Saddle and a few others in oil, and the Light Blue, Medium Brown, Red, Green, Purple, Navy, Yellow, and a few others in regular spirit dye. I have never had any one of them dye leather those colors straight out of the bottle. They are always darker, whether I use a sponge, dauber, or dip dye on the leather. I'm a bit swamped right now, or I'd make you some swatch strips. If no one else helps you with them in the next week or so, PM me and we can see where I stand time-wise. Tom

Or straight up if resisting. Or 100% Resolene. Or 100% Leather Balm with Atom Wax.

Here are a few other samples. I stretched it out to about 10" long and 1-3/4" tall. Using the Small rivets (7.3mm) for the first one. Still looks bad, especially when I remove the black lettering. That's the second photo. The M is the main problem I set it for a standard rhinestone pattern using SS6 (2.3mm) stones and center line.. Same problem but not as bad.. Still not usable.. The last one, is SS6 stones using outline. Looks nice. But unless you can find some extra small rivets, you may just have to use the graph paper idea that Billy suggested once you see the actual rivet size.

I used CorelDraw X6 with a Macro called DrawStone3. We mainly use it in our Embroidery/Screen Printing business. I have thought of heat pressing some rhinestones onto a belt, but haven't gotten time to do it yet. One of these days....

Well, I ran it through my programs and the issue is the rivet size. Figuring a 1" tall x 7" long name, using the Tandy Small rivets, they just don't fit. The heads are a tad over 7mm. Most rhinestones are in the 2-3mm range. Here's what it comes up with. Even moving and adding rivets, you still have spots that they just don't fit. Now, you could use the small crystal rivets, or even heat press stones and manually place the stones on the adhesive transfer paper. I have done that before and it's OK for 1 or 2 items of small to moderate size.

There are a number of programs and/or macros to programs that do that. Primarily used for Rhinestones or LED's. The primary drawback is the cost. $200 and up. The Macros go into things like CorelDraw and start around $50. You would have to measure the particular rivet heads that you wanted to use and pick an appropriate crystal size.

Yes. Thin with water. Tandy's online catalog has directions and stuff on the product pages for the Eco-Flo dyes.