dragonspit

wow! thats all I got. wow!!

beautiful piece of work.

Lost my first try at t his post. I hate when that happens. so I just finished this Bible cover for a friend. thought I would post what I liked and didnt and anyone can add comments. I liked the color, it was close to what I was looking for. it has an antiquish look, which I hoped for. I liked the lacing and although it was my first attempt, I did some sections, multiple times, one waaaay to many times. it could be better, but I learned a lot doing it. as this was my first figure carving, I was pretty happy with the outcome. a simple design I know, but still, not to bad. I really like my designs on the flap. the round part is really more round than it looks in the picture, I dont know why it looks like that. added the metal crucifix was a cool idea. the braiding for page marker was also my first at that., looks decent. I didnt like some of the staining process. I have some wipe marks I could rid of. a couple of real dark spots. I dunno. its ok, but not super good. I didnt realize I got some of the seal outside of the halo on the aft cover. it made it look sloppy over all which was disappointing seeing I liked the actual figure. the braiding could be tighter. i had a real pain with the liner. I wasnt going to put one, changed my mind, used some kind of glue that was not going away. so I had to pull the liner off, the glue was really hard and I couldnt get it all off so it made the new liner a little rougher than I would have liked. so those are my personal notes. anyone is free to comment. just thought Id share.

sweet. love the old time wore look. the hardware added to that effect. nice clean piece.

I like your gear. From the pictures, it all looks very strong, meaning, lasting. I like your lacework and all the details of the work, including rugged looking hardware. i also like on the smaller tool bags where you dyed more than on color, the subtle colors look good. If I had anything negative to say, it would be I would be vey careful about using the logo you have on those bags. I dont know if without the HD lettering this absolves you from copyright infringement, but I question it and you should to. especially if your advertising for sell. Bob

I dont know hardly anything about saddles, but I really like the color and I like all the little design details. very cool.

I used to do a lot of pen and inkwork. I belonged to a free site called WetCanvas. its one of the largest general art sites I have ever seen. there are forums, like here, but many of them. there is a specific forum with liars, I mean lawyers often answering. its free to sign up, no pop ups. You can go there. I have read quite a bit, I believe you will be disappointed. but here is the link http://www.wetcanvas.com/ you dont have to sign up to look around, but you do have to sign up to post, thats pretty normal to. Hope that helps. Bob

very very nice. love the design and its suck a clean look. sorry you had to got back but I bet it was worth it to ya.

Very clean, and very nice. Not only is your work good, its kind of you to let us hear your process as well. Just nice stuff. Bob

thanks for the info guys. well, today you cant smell it from the leather side, yesterday very much so. so its disapating rapidly. I think Im still going to pull the liner off, scrape off what I can and redo the liner. the lining material was not expensive and I have plenty. as long the leather doesnt hold the smell, and it doesnt seem to be, then I think its all salvageable and I can move on. Lesson learned, and I aint opening that can again.

As I was purchasing my supplies for my latest project which is a Bible cover. In lieu of the normal contact glue that you get with your tandy kit lets say. I bought a can of rubber cement. I didnt see the normal stuff on the shelf and its not that I didnt want to ask, I just didnt think it would matter much. So I bought this can of Tandy, (tanners bond) rubber cement. I didnt note the words tanner bond, or would have ask the store guy. so I have cut all my leather, I did all my tooling and before I punched for the lacing Im going to do, I decided to glue in a liner, so I could trim it the next day and punch all the holes all the way through. so I get home really late, and I run the glue process. I note during this that odor of this particular glue, is rather strong. I was a little unprepared. so I finished the job (keep in mind, I work away from home so Im just renting a room and do all my work in there), I notice the odor is lingering quite a bit, so I open the windows more, turn on a fan and end up moving my piece outside to a covered porch. By morning my room is ok, and I figure hmm, hope that odor doesnt stay with the piece or i just ruined a piece of leather. the work time I didnt mind, its just more practice, but I hate ruining a good piece of leather. so at this point I can still smell a fairly strong glue odor when holding the leather and liner close to me, really sniffing it. My question, will this go away or do I just scrap this before I waste my lace on it at as well. I mean, it wasnt that much glue but it sure is strong of odor. I have a few other details I can take care of so I can let it sit another day, but after that, I need to make a decision to go forward, or scrap it. does anyone have comments on this that has run into it before? thanks for any comments. Bob

I really like the desing of the matching parts. I was gonna ask how you attached them, then I read the WHOLE post. interesting.

very clean looking. what kind of lace did you use? bob

I still like your work but gotta disagree with ya on the hardtail thing. had one, rode it for a year and half...years ago and I still remember. no thanks lol. bob

interesting idea. I see pens attached to lanyards all the time and wonder how many end up as fod. using a nail sure sound to be the hard way, an awl would work better. I dont know your looking for critiqs or not. but if you want your project to look better, I would invest a couple of dollars on a book by al stohman for handsewing. all the little details will help a ton. bob

Nice work Tim. I like the color on the Bible cover a bit more than the antiquing on the photo journal item. I am also partial to designs like the corner of the Bible cover that are non symmetrical. However, I am not sure I care for that back grounding. but thats just a personal taste issue and I have little of that so, take that with a grain o salt. Bob

I like it. the colors are great and I like the way the different colored lacing sets it off. the design is clean and appealing. that the most cushion I ever saw on hard tail. but then, its a hard tail.

amazing work. I would not let that bad boy out of my sight for a moment. IM not so sure I couldnt stop just peeking at it.

Geez Dave, you make it look so simple. Just amazing work you do.

Thanks for the info guys. after reading my "how-to" book, I thought I would try that next, but probably after this project as I need to get going on it. but I may have time and try it prior and if I like doing it, may switch. its all new to me and looks better than what I could have previously done. thanks, Bob

well I can definetely see using 6-8 at most at a time. its just way to easy to tangle or get reversed if not careful. I would say my practice/training was a success of sorts. I did about 4", then around a corner, then another 4 or 5 inches. the corner was tough. I struggled with it quite bit but I think I understand. this all doing double loop. Its almost to complicated/busy for my project. I think I will try single loop tomorrow to see if that works al ittle better. but the double loop didnt look horrible, it just didnt look professional either.

wow.

That is outstanding. I had not heard of a rope bag, so I didnt know what to expect. the work is just top shelf. I would have like to see a top view so I could understand what a rope bag is. I suppose I could not be so lazy and look it up. think Ill do just that. very very nice.

reclaimed lealther, wow, it looks brand new. very very clean work.

Hi Ray, Im a noob, but Im gettin the hang of it. I am assuming when you say chisel, you mean awl. a stitching awl, and a lacing awl are a little bit different. a stitching awl looks more round and pointy. from what I understand, a diamond one is a better quality. I have the standard tandy one, its done me fine so far, but thats only been a few pieces. yes a stitch groover although not necessary will give a more proffessional look as it will let the thread lie down inside the groove. unless you plan on doing a heck of a lot of measuring, you would use an overstitch wheel. you can also get that at tandy or most places. its a tool that has a handle, and a wheel with little points on it, that you run down your groove that marks where the holes will be. it keeps the measurement consistent. there are different wheels depending on the look you want, and the thread size you plan on using. and after your done, you use the over stitch wheel to run over your stitching to get it to set into the groove. of course you need some needles and thread. you will hear folks say it again and again on here, even if you do it on line, get the Al Stohman stitching hand book. its invaluable. it was to me, it would be to anyone starting. and pay attention, at the beginning he tells you read it and pay attention, dont just over read it. he was right......again.....still. hope that helps some. Bob