Gregory B. Moody

Alex is correct on several levels...Bruce, feel free to use my name when you are talking about something I have said... and I have always suggested that people try out suggestions themselves... even good suggestions should be tried out on a practice piece before applying it to some project which has a bunch of money and labor already invested in it... Bruce, you have changed what I said and you have assumed things due to your opposition to my statement which are not true. I am not talking about pictures hanging on a wall when I say I have 45 year old examples of projects which look new. I am talking about things like wooden chairs which were covered with carved leather....and a Bible cover... which has gotten lots of handling over the years because it is the most severe example of embossing from the backside which I have ever seen... it was made by my father in 1961 and given to me... so the example is something which has been in the hands of lots of people and has a fold ... two criteria which I expect a good finish to be able to withstand with minimum impact. The newer people are to leathercrafting the more important warnings are... it does not take many messed up projects to take the wind out of a new crafter... If someone is warned then it is their job to proceed with caution... or not.... but to fail to warn when there is a known risk is not fair to others. I will post a longer answer to both your posts about this later... but here is something for people to think about....and which influences my choice of actions in situations with variable physics at stake... Hides are skin. When the skin of a cow is on the animal small amounts of oil are constantly being provided from underneath... the skin is not drenched with a very heavy oil once a year... like an application of Neatsfoot Oil would be... it gets oil which is expelled at the same rate it is bing added all year long. I believe that an application of a lighter oil ... like Lexol, Carnauba cream, lanolin ( in the form of neutral shoe polish) on a REGULAR basis most closely resembles what nature was providing to that skin while it was on the animal... and has the added advantage of minimizing the risk of the leather in its new configuration and use (belt,saddle,etc) imparting unwanted oil to other items like clothes in the local vicinity. Concerning white leather... I hate that look also.... which is another reason I like to use the Carnauba cream/Fiebings medium brown antique/neutral shoe polish on my carved objects.... it gives it a warm brown look... is not a finish which is prone to rubbing off and the neutral shoe polish is also the long term preventative action which is repeated to keep lanolin available for the fibers... later, Greg

Actually I was wanting the moving Gif as avatar on the Old Diesel Forum ....

No problem , I will send HQ closeups of what I do.... Thanks, Greg

NOW WE ARE COOKING WITH GAS !!! Will try to make pictures of the flower and send to you... Thanks, Greg

I can't take much credit for the claim that Neatsfoot oil will move around... in a Stohlman book he uses the term " migrate"... which to me means ' go further than you wished it to go'.. like you put it on the outside of a boot...and months later you find that you get it on your socks when you wear those boots....( had this happen to me )... About 1960 .... after my father telling me it did not dry very fast... I took a feather and dipped it into some Neatsfoot oil....and stood it upright on a shelf in the leather shop... 6 months later it was still wet to the touch... For horse gear used outdoors it is great stuff ( but still would not put it where a rider would contact it with clothes...) Greg

No, when I read your post was the first time I knew there was a category like that... LOL Any suggestions as to which is the best buy ? Greg

My father did a nifty flower using only a camo tool... maybe 12 or 16 strokes... image resolution can be adjusted after the fact if it is too big a file... but what are the steps ... I assume jpeg is ok for the original ?

It looks like a series of pictures just like a movie... why could we not put a stationary camera above a flower in the process of being made... then accumulate them to a GIF file ? I see other things like that on forums ... people make their own GIF signatures...

LOL, I did not express my question well... What equipment would I have to have here at my house in order to provide a demonstration ? I don't think anyone will be able to see what I am going with no digital imagining device attached to my computer/ISP... or are you saying that if I place the wet leather on my keyboard when I am stamping that you ... many states away, can ' interpret' those inputs for others to see what I am doing ? And, How long will this plastic keyboard last with me using a mallet on it ? LOL... if yes, we can make a lot of money because you are clearly in the realm of supernatural computer Tech... LOL, Greg I have a digital camer... but not a digital video recorder ....can that be used as input device ? please delete this after you see it... LOL

I would like to know what the technical requirements are to do something like that. Would being on a dial up preclude providing that ? I spent two weeks at a Horseshoeing/Blacksmithing course in 1987 in Mineral Wells where Bill Epps from that iForge site was assisting the aging owner of the school... and showed us those cool decorative items like the longhorn on the end of a horseshoe... Greg

His name should be on it to keep it from getting stolen. Sad but true... I have several aunts in nursing homes.... and things without names don't last long... some is staff, some crazy other residents... at least if the name is on it someone else may realize whatever it is did not belong to them and return it...

I never use Neatsfoot oil myself. My father only used it on saddles where the darkening effect was not a concern...( preservation at the Camp Mabry Military Museum as Austin Texas where his Horse Cavalry unit ...the 112th Cavalry has their relics ). The warning about it ' moving around' was from an Al Stohlman book. Once someone gets too much of it in something it would take extrodinary means to reduce its content. Most people do not apply Neatlac with sheepskin.. they spray it from the can....and in that case if they put enough on to give them a ' shine' then in places like purse lids that bend there is considerable chance for the tiny cracking called crazing ( often several months later ) ... which just gives it a foggy look in that bend area... my father did it do my sister's purse when she was about 12... it is also possible to apply Neatlac at too cold a temperature or too high a humidity and it remain looking like it had fog in it. Added to the health risks if not sprayed outdoors and you staying upwind ... and the cheap glossy look if applied like so many do.. I just avoid it. Neutral Shoe Polish does not have those drawbacks. Some of these things... once you are warned about them... it is a matter of " Do I want to take the chance on my project ? " But since I have good looking projects 50 years old which still look nice.. using only semi regular application of Neutral Shoe Polish... some of the with NO signs of darkening over that period... the question is " What advantage do you think you are getting from that Neatsfoot Oil ? I can see it being used on working equipment in contact with horses... which will also require regular use of saddle soap and thus the replacement of the oils compromised by that process... But aside from that I suggest that Neatsfoot oil is way overkill for regular projects...and certainly has that darkening effect over the long haul... which takes away the contrast any carving and stamping might have had to start with... thus decreasing the visual effect of all that labor and effort...

I will tell you why it goes against most instructions on sewing leather .... because the people writing the books often were working for a company which either made a stitching gouge ... or sold them... You can not ignore the commercial pressure which existed in the old books.... I am sure that is the only reason a barseeder backgrounder was ever used in a Stohlman book... If you use an Overstitch Wheel ( and you should ) then it will accomplish exactly what Bob used his modeler for...and more... a properly made Overstitch Wheel first shows you where to put your holes....then after you have sewn makes it look like it was machine sewn... and presses it down also....even more so if you sew with your leather wet. In fact... if you glue your leather together ( which you should anytime you sew or lace ) then you really don't have to sew it in all instances... because the Overstitch Wheel will make it look like it is sewn..... try it if you don't belive me... but you need one with good wide scallops like in the old days.. Greg

As long as the previous coat is dry you can do the next one... lets say 15 minutes on spirit dye... with Neutral Shoe polish you put one coat on.... gently brush it with a clean shoe brush in all directions until it shines ....then apply the next coat and do the same thing... Greg

I would not suggest Neatsfoot oil on anything which will be in contact with skin or clothes.. PERIOD... way too greasy and will keep moving around in the leather ... If I am forced to make something black I use two coats of Dark Blue spirit dye, two coats of Black spirit dye , let dry and rub well with cotton cloth and then put several coats of NEUTRAL SHOE POLISH on it... but basically you are attacking something which can not be gauranteed. It is always best to try to talk people out of things being black OR make them out of Finished leather which is already black.... Greg