Bob Blea

Very nice. I like the tulips and those stems. Very different. Bob

Are you talking Eco-Flo dye or antique? If your dealing with a dye you will want to buff it (a lot) to remove the leftover surface pigments before you seal it. With the antique you are kind of buffing it when you rub off the excess to get the highlighting, and obviously you don't want to remove all of it. I've used the Atom wax with the antique, and I didn't have problems with that piece streaking or removing the antique, and I've never had rub off problems after I put it on. However, I don't have much experience with Atom wax as a finish and the project (my checkbook) I used it on does have a pretty good shine to it. However, it is holding up very well. I still use Eco-Flo antiques a lot but these days I finish everything with a spray on acrylic. I have some resolene and want to try it over the antique (maybe this weekend!) just to see how it looks. I have Wyosheen and I like what it does to the leather (thin coats don't come out glossy) but to put it over the antique I would want to spray it on and I don't have an airbrush. I think brushing or rubbing it on would smear the Eco-flo products, but I don't know that for sure. Bob

Love the design and the carving. That was a great idea to put the carving on the straps and leaving the rest a natural surface. It really makes this unique! Bob

Thanks! I'll going to be making my first wallet soon and I'm trying to learn what a good finish would be. I really like how your wallet turned out. Bob

Hey Chavez, what did you use for your finish on this? Bob

That's incredible! WOW! Bob

Thanks Rick! I think I have everything you list on hand except the Tan Kote. Bob

I think your lacing looks really good especially for a first time. Whenever I do a basket weave stamp I use a guide line to line up the stamps and make a base row. I take care to make this row as straight and even as possible, and I usually make this line as close to the center of the area to be stamped as possible. Then I work off that line and spread the stamps out to fill the area. It still can drift a bit as you go along, and it's just a matter of experience to keep everything lined up. The basket weave you were trying is a bit more complicated. For this basket weave there was an article about a year ago in the Lether Crafters and Saddlers Journal by Chan Geer that described how to do the type of basket weave you were doing on the spine. Basically, you draw a reference line down the length of the spine area you are basket stamping. You then lightly stamp the stamp at an angle with the upper right leg just above the line and the lower left leg just below it. Then move the stamp down the line and try to line up the leg in the first impression but with the upper right leg still lining up along the line. You may need to adjust that first stamp to get the angle right. The end result is to get the centers of the basket stamp running in a straight line down the spine but the legs of the stamps going at an angle. It looks great but takes more practice. I wish I had some pictures of this (because that would probably make it much more clear) but I don't at the moment. Hopefully this makes some sense. Bob

Congratulations! From what I can see of it under all those ribbons it looks great! Bob

Thanks, this is very helpful! Bob

Very clean work, very nice. Bob

As I think more about it now, I do notice that my leather feels stiffer once I let it dry completely after tooling. However, I just assumed that was due to wetting the leather. I think I've read here that the casing and tooling process normally leaves the leather a little stiffer than it was because it's removing a little of the oils in the leather, hence you want to oil afterwords to restore some of those moisturizers. Maybe the refrigerator makes that problem a little worse? I oil everything with neatsfoot oil after carving and it defintely seems more supple after that step. Bob

I've been using a thin plastic that is sold at craft and sewing stores for use in making quilting templates. I don't know the brand name as I havent' bought any for a little while, but it's kept with the cutting mattes and cutters at my local JoAnne's fabrics and Hobby Lobby. However I like TwinOaks idea and I may have to check that out. I also use cardstock (sometimes just stuff that comes in my junk mail) to make up templates before I'm sure I want to make a more permanent template. Bob

I've heard of casing boxes too, but I had never heard anyone say that the leather felt different than it does if you keep it in the refrigerator. I use the plastic bag and refrigerator method because I rarely start and finish a project on the same day, so sometime they need to be stored for several days. I assume the fridge keeps the mold from developing. I would be interested to hear if anyone else feels the same way as Jack about refrigeration making the leather feel more like cardboard? I might need to try letting it stay at room temp for a notebook project just to see if it feels different. Bob

This seems like a good question and I'd like to know the answer too. Bob

Really like your work! Bob

Really nice work! Welcome to the forum. Bob

Hey CountryStyle, nice work on the beveler. Your well on your way to becomming a tool maker! Bob

You should be proud! The overall look of that wallet is clean and professional. Good job. Bob

I really like the case! Nice and clean, and really neat hardware. I hope to work up to making something like this someday. Bob

Hi CountryStyle, If you have a drawing compass in the house (say the kids old school supplies) you could replace the pencil part of it with a nail or something similar and use it the same way. I have a metal divider I got at Harbor Freight that I often use to scribe border lines. Bob

I still think your work is outstanding! I do like that border. I may have to try something like that on one of my upcomming notebooks. Bob

HI Jesse, I was just looking for this earlier because of a staining problem I have on some leather. I think this is what you are looking for: http://leatherworker...=1 I don't have a suggestion on your finish question though. Maybe someone else can help on that. Bob

I've never used Saddle Lac, but Resolene, which Tandy does sell, is an acrylic sealant. If you put a couple of coats on it will make your leather glossy. I would expect the SuperShene would make it pretty glossy too.