Beaverslayer

Hey Tom, I realy like that tribal dragons head, it is very distinct. Keep up the great work. Ken

Welcome Jordan, it's good to have you here on the forum. We would all love to see pics of some of your work. You will also find this place full of very helpful people, that are more than willing to answer any questions you may have. Ken

Welcome Tom, it's good to have you back among us. I'd also like to see more of your work. Ken

Paul, Here's a bit of info that might come in handy for you. Tankless Water Heater Selection Ken

Paul, Back in the day when I designed and engineered carwash systems, the tankless waterheater was in it's infancy. I imported 6 from a supplier in Europe (as they are very popular over there). They worked exceptionally well for supplying hot water on demand, and staying up to pace with the ammount of cars being washed. Over the years I have known quite a few people who have put them in their homes to replace the tank style, and not one has ever looked back. They are VERY efficient and you can let your daughter shower for 30 hours and there will still be hot water for you to have that normal 5 minute shower of yours. With a tank heater you are constantly heating the water, even at 2 in the morning when all are sleeping. The tankless heater will only heat on demand. I would say that the 6.9 gpm is the one to go with, as the larger volume will make it possible to shower, and also fill a sink full of hot water at the same time to wash dishes. If you were to purchase a smaller one, you may find that the tenperature of the heated water isn't quite what you like. As the average house has a water supply in the nieghborhood of 5 gpm, this one should work out just fine. Ken

Welcome Rick, It's real nice too see all the sheathmakers showing up here, it will add a lot of talent and expertice to the forum. Great looking work there. Ken

Welcome to the forum Paul. We are always happy to see new faces, and are always happier when they post pics...lol. I'm sure you will be an added benifit with your years of expereince. I have noticed an abundance of sheath makers showing up in the past few days. Ken

Welcome to the forum Dave. Very nice work on the sheaths, I especialy like the inlayed Python and Diamondback snakeskins. Ken

Welcome to the forum Lars. Very nice work you do there, I realy like the way the sheath is formed to the handle and blade. And you make some very nice looking knives as well. Ken

Clay, That is about the nicest oakleaf I've every seen. You'r ework amazes me every time I look at it. Thanks for the look see and the tutorial. Ken

Ed, I picked up my desklamp from a local drafting supply store. If you can't find one of them try Ikea, they have a good selection of desk lamps with very heavy bases. Ken

Welcome back Matt, I love the flame work you do, that's extremely vivid and realistic. Good to see you came back as well. Ken

Brandon, That is very fine work you do, it is clean and well done. Keep up doing what you're doing. Ken

Michael, I haven't seen them, but would a normal pop rivet work? Ken

Very nice work Elton. That briefcase just POPS out at you, I love the design. Ken

Art, I buy the contact cement I use in the gallon can, that way it lasts for a LONG time. I just put it into a small sqeeze bottle for ease of use. As for Home Depot, the only thing that is easy to find there is an orange bib. Ken

Well, in a past life that I've left behind me, I was a resident of the Canadian Penal System. Club Fed we call it. They had a very well equiped hobby shop that I hung out in doing woodwork, making jewelry boxes and such for the guards. The fellow inmate that was in charge of the hobby shop tools was a leathercrafter, and on days when I did't feel like getting all dusty I would sit and watch him tool leather or lace things together. One day the hobby shop manager had gotten an order of leather in from Tandy that had a full hide of garment leather. He called Tandy and asked why they had shipped it to the Institution, and they said it was a mistake and just to keep it they would not charge him for it. I asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said "Ah give me $20 for it. Well now I have a piece of leather about 50 sq. ft. and no idea of what to do with it. So I took the hat I wore and cut it all apart to get the shape of each piece and made a pattern out of it. Then over the next month or so, I kept asking the hobby shop tool guy if he would teach me how to lace. This took a lot of doing as "Inside" every one is afraid that if they teach you something, you will end up "Cutting thier grass" and start selling stuff that they would have been able to sell. Very competitive place. Anyways, after expressing myself that I would not be cutting his grass, that I would only make hats for myself and not others, he taught me how. Once his sentence was over, I took over the job as "Hobby Shop" worker, and was able to make and sell the hats to whomever I wanted without repercussions. As it was against the rules to sell to another inmate, I would have them purchase a garment hide from the hobby shop manager in which I would make them a hat, and keep the rest of the leather for myself...Rule Bending...This way I increased my inventory of leather for my own projects without cost. One day I took a shirt apart and made a pattern for a vest. This took a bit of doing to re-design a shirt to look like a vest, but after a bit of work..well you've all seen my vests. I finished my first one, and it all started from there. I would have inmates asking all the time to make a vest for them. Again some rule bending, and there was within a year quite a few people wearing my vests inside. I even made and sold them to the guards. There was a "Lifer" that was transfered into our instittuion one day that when he finally got all his hobby stuff sent in and inventoried (you can only have things that are allowed and registered on your "Property Card") I was amazed at all the tools he had...19 BIG boxes. He owned EVERY tool that you see in the Tandy cataloque. I instantly became friends with him. He, at that time had been in for 29 years, and took up tooling and carving when he first came in. I asked, and he wholy agreed to teach me how to tool and carve. We would spend hours in the hobby shop, and either of our cells till all hours of the morning teaching me. (In Club Fed) we were allowed to do what we wanted at night on our own units, we even had keys to our own cell doors, YES our own cell door keys. Anyways thats how I started leatherworking. I spent 3 years as the hobby shop guy, and over those 3 years learned everything that I know today. When I was released, I had saved enough money from sales that I made to the guards, and I also had "Sent Out" a lot of stuff that the guy that taught me how to lace, would sell for me in a store in a small city in northern Alberta. I also had an "Outside Job" as a drywall taper for my last 2 months of incarceration that payed me very well for being out on "Work Release". With this money that I had saved up, I started Beaverslayer Custom Leather upon my release. I aproached all the Harley shops here in Calgary, and also the Custom Bike builders. Through these contacts I have been able to not only keep busy, but also make enough to survive and away from the "Past Life". Well that's my story. Other than, like alot of people here on Leatherworkers, I spent countless hours on the net, trying to find out more about leatherworking, and after almost a year of looking I found this place. My MANY hats are off to not only Johanna, but everyone that participates. The comraderie I have found here is second to none, and I appreciate all the people more than you could ever imagine for helping each other out the way you do. No one here is afraid of having thier "Grass Cut" so to speak, and is more than willing to help out thier fellow leatherworker. Ken

Very nice looking work Roo. Does the amsk have a liner of any kind in it? Ken

I use a water soluable arborite contact cement. It is blue in color, and works very well on either the flesh or grain side of leather, you just have to sand a bit on the flesh side for it to adhere. Even if it comes into contact with the most expensive of deerskin or snakeskin, you can just let it dry and it will rub off very easily. I buy it from "Home Hardware" which unfortunately is a Canadian hardware store. I have never been able to find the same kind of glue at Home Depot. Ken

Patrice, The lace shown on that page is for repairing baseball gloves, it is a very heavy hard to work with type of lace. I would use one of these laces from the same supplier. Lace #1 Lace #2 Lace #3 These are a much better lace for doing this kind of work, and much more affordable. The Goatskin Lace is a very soft lace that I use a lot of to make my hats with. Hope this helps. Ken

Welcome Alessandro, Good to have you her on the forum. Always wanted to go to Switzerlabd, just never got the chance yet. As far as "sealing" before dying, what you're actualy doing is opening the pores to accept the dye better and deeper. The sealing comes afterwards, once the dye has dried. By the way, can you whip up a batch of that rabbit à la moutarde, and send it over? or post a recipe in the new thread on recipes. Ken

Welcome to the forum Clair. Australia is just booming with new leatherworkers lately. Well it's always good to have new people here. You are lucky to have gotten the tools for free, as they can set you back quite a bit. Anyways, looking forward to seeing some of your work, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask, someone here has done it and knows the right way. Ken

Patrice, I would go with the Tejas Florentine, seeing as you say your not going into production work, making your own would not be feasible. I myself use so much that I buy hides just to make lace with. The other day I purchased a Kangaroo hide for 70.00 CDN. and made a bit over 330 ft of 3/16" lace from it. Where if I would have purchased the 1/8" pre-made lace, this would have cost in the neighborhood of $240.00 CDN. Also, for purse lace, you would have to use about 1 or 2 oz. veg tan leather, most likely use a calf skin for that. Good Luck Ken

Welcome to the forum Roo, There seems to be a fair ammount of people from down under that are quite accomplished in the leather trade. Great looking work there. Ken

Bienvenue Patrice, Is that a sniffer of Brandy I see? Good to know another Canadian is here on the forum. Ken