Bob Blea

Hi Amanda, I recommend a book that Tandy sells called 'Leatherwork Manual'. It was written by Al Stohlman and two others, and was designed as a class textbook for basic leatherwork. It starts off with casing leather, works through the basic tools for stamping and carving, and even takes you through several basic projects. It was the book I first stared with and it really teaches you a lot. It's not very expensive and will give you a good start in leather working. Hope this helps, Bob

Hello, I've been told by a couple of professional leather workers that lemon juice will remove mold and some stains from cased veg tan leather. I've had a chance to try it with cased leather that picked up a stain from my fingers. I applied a light coating of lemon juice to the stain and it did fade after a bit. I assume it's the citric acid that is doing the work. I thnk the recommendation was just for small amounts of mold forming on cased leather. I don't know how it would work if there was a large area of mold or if the mold had deep penetration into the fibers of the leather. Bob

Thanks Pete! Maybe other people had figured this out but it's a first for me. This never would have occurred to me. Thank you for sharing.

I agree about the dye or antiquing on this. It's very eye catching. If you care to share how it was done I would be glad to know. Thanks for posting. Bob

Hello, Looking at the picture it's a little hard to tell the dimensions. It looks like it's recommending a 3/8" border beyond the edge of the binder, is that correct? Also, I see it recommends some extra allowance (maybe 1/8 inch) on each side of the spine for the gouge lines? I'm assuming this is to allow for the thickness of the leather? Am I reading that correct? Thanks for posting this! Bob

Thanks, this is a great idea. I have tried stamping out test designs but have never found I like my first effort. This is a great way to play around with the tools till I like the result. And I even have the modeling clay you show in your picture at home! Bob