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About five years ago, I switched from contact cement to white glue to escape the hazardous fumes. (Plus, contact cement is twice the work, since you need to apply it to both pieces of leather to be joined.) I've done lots of adhesion tests with both veg-tan and chrome-tan leathers, and found that once white glue is fully set -- about 24 hours -- it's very nearly as strong as the best contact cement. My favorite white glue is Leather Weld from Tandy. Hope this information helps, -Alex

Nicely done -- both the video and the belt! It's always fascinating to watch how others work to see similarities and differences in techniques, etc.

Thanks for weighing in, fellas. I also sent a message through Tandy's website and will let you know when I hear back.

Last week, I visited my local Tandy store and noticed there was a greatly reduced selection of colors for Eco-Flo Leather Dye. There used to be 16 colors. Now, even online, there are only 7 colors available (and no browns or tans). Did I miss some sort of announcement? I'm wondering if Tandy is trying to steer customers toward the newer Eco-Flo Professional Waterstains. Or another possibility -- I did notice new bottles for the dyes they had in stock -- maybe they're simply switching to a new vendor? Any insight would be appreciated. Regards, -Alex

Superb craftsmanship. I'm sure your friends will be delighted.

Great designs and fabulous attention to detail. Really, really nice.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to try Inkscape, as well. Is the SVG file format a fairly common format? (ie, Can this file type be opened in Illustrator and other programs, or exported to PDF, etc?)

Lots of wisdom in these few words. Most leatherworkers spend far too much time on technique, and far too little on brand positioning. Clearly, you're way ahead of the pack not just because of your leather skills, but also your business acumen.

Craig, the Delta paints are vivid out of the bottle, and are fine to apply on wristbands, wallets or other items that flex. At this point, I'd recommend simply buying a small bottle (I think they're a dollar or two) and doing some testing. Delta is good stuff with a wide variety of colors, all of which can be mixed to obtain other shades, if desired. Good luck!

I'd recommend doing exactly that. In regards to your question about longevity, the acrylic paint should last forever. When I was first thinking about adding painted accents to my items, I stamped a large acrylic image onto my personal wallet. Years later, that image still looks as good as the day I put it there, despite the wallet riding in my back pocket (with all the associated friction and abrasion).

I believe you can use acrylic paints over top of any type of dye. However, I'd apply the leather finish before painting to avoid stripping off color. (Acrylic paints are quite durable and don't require any sort of top-coat.) As always, test out on scrap before trying new techniques on a finished product. Good luck!

I'm by no means an expert on acrylic paints, but when I was looking for a brand, Delta Ceramcoat seemed to be well-respected by members of this forum (and inexpensive, to boot). Now that I've used it for a while, I can definitely tell the difference when I try other brands. (I still prefer Delta.) Here's some more reading material, if interested: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:leatherworker.net+delta+ceramcoat&oq=site:leatherworker.net+delta+ceramcoat Good luck! -A.

Spectacular attention to detail. Very, very nice!

You should be proud. Very nice work!

Very nice. Congrats.

Super job. Kudos!

Very, very nice. Kudos!

Dave, I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through your web site. (I think my favorite item is your pipe rollup bag.) Keep up the fine work, and welcome!

Looks great. Excellent job on the stitching.

Glad it worked out!

Glad you didn't hurt anything other than your jacket! To clean it up, I think I'd use a wet sponge to very gently moisten, and then remove, as much dirt as possible. Obviously, the dirt/mud is abrasive, so work slowly and rinse off the sponge often. Thereafter, I'd use some sort of cleanser to get anything really worked in. I'd probably opt for either Lexol PH leather cleaner (orange bottle) or saddle soap. Once done, I'd definitely re-condition the leather with Lexol Conditioner (brown bottle). Good luck!

Thanks for the kind comments. They're much appreciated!

Here are a few images of a wallet I recently finished up. The exterior is 4-5 oz. veg-tan; the interior is mission-grain pigskin. Eco-Flo dye, Satin Shene finish, and hand-stitched. Wallets are always a bit of a pain... Glad this one turned out as desired. Thanks for looking, -Alex

It's smart to carry a good example of your current work, if you can. When folks ask what kind of leatherwork you do, no one wants to see you pull out a beat-up, years-old wallet! Glad you got to keep this one. It's a beauty!

Natalie, you're receiving good advice above. I've used Super Shene and Eco-Flo for years. As Chief said, all dyes will have some rub-off, so the trick that Wishful posted is probably the best bet -- use a spray-type finish so you don't have to rub the surface. Also, as someone who has ruined good projects on a regular basis, be sure to test all new dyes, finishes, processes or techniques on scrap first! That helps avoid the pain of throwing away an item with hours of work invested. Good luck!