jinrui73

When you guys make armor, is it raw leather or do you actually harden it? I understand that re-enactment stuff doesn't need to protect from live blades as much as blunt weapons, just curious though. -jerry

When you guys make armor, is it raw leather or do you actually harden it? I understand that re-enactment stuff doesn't need to protect from live blades as much as blunt weapons, just curious though.

Thank you very much! In my 7 year old mind I was superman! I was worried it would turn out worse than it did, but I tried it twice on scrap first and with the exception of the layout line being too deep and the occasional spots where the stamps don't connect I think it came out ok. My next one will be alot better I think. I learned a lot from this!

Man those are really great! I love the spur straps! Really beautiful work! -jerry

Thanks Chris!

My first leather project in almost 30 years, lol. Definitely not the last. I really enjoyed making this, I know I've got a long way to go before I'm even half as good as most of you, but I will get there! All critique is welcome. Thanks for taking the time to look! Sorry if the pictures aren't clear enough let me know I'll try to retake them. All I have is a built in web cam for now.

It worked great! My knife is now alot sharper than it was brand new! You just gotta really focus on keeping it even against the stone. Took me a couple tries.

Thanks Chris!

Those are beautiful! Do you teach? I'm gonna be moving back to Phoenix soon and I have family in Cottonwood. I would love to be able to stop by sometime and maybe get a lesson or two!

Man that looks really awesome! I can't wait to learn how to do that!!

Really beautiful work Ed!!

Hi all! I was trying to figure out a way to sharpen my knife but all I have is a Smith precision sharpening kit. I can't afford a new stone or sharpening jig till payday (and maybe not even then, lol) so I was staring at my knife and kit wracking my brain trying to figure out what I was gonna do. The clamp for the guides doesn't accomodate the round shaft of the swivel knife blade, and the stones wouldn't be big enough to use with a jig anyway. I tried freehanding it and I actually dulled the blade. Then it hit me! I'm not sure you could do this with a non adjustable knife but it worked pretty well as a temporary solution to my problem. Just wanted to share!

That is out-freakin-standing!!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! It is an honor to be among the talent i see in the postings! I hope I will be as good one day, till then I'll just have to keep butchering cow hides!!

Thank you all very much for the advice, I am going to try everyones suggestions and see which ones work best for me.

Hi everyone! I'm new to this whole thing, including posting any threads online so please bear with me. I made a wallet once in boy scouts about 25 years ago and for some reason lately my mind has really been nagging me to get involved with leatherworking again. (sometimes the voices can't be ignored, lol). So I started googleing (?) and found this site and a few other websites (mostly suppliers) and Paul Burnetts' website. I bought Tandys' deluxe leatherworking starter kit and a pound of scraps, have had it about a week and there is nothing I don't like about it. In fact I sat for like 3 and a half hours the other day just practicing cutting scrolls! I didn't even realize it. I felt really good about it. I even went to work yesterday without practicing and felt bad, so I sat for another couple of hours when I got home. I haven't started any of the projects in the kit because I don't want to ruin the perfectly good pieces there so I am going to continue to practice until I'm satisfied with my progress. My goal is to be able to put whatever I can picture in my head onto a piece of leather for wallets, bags, cases, anything that will accept tooling and to be able to make shoes/ boots and jackets, and possibly leather armor. I do have to ask, is it possible to cut a smooth, evenly spaced scroll with the standard square blade swivel knife in the tandy kit or do i need an angled blade? Maybe the knife just isn't sharp enough? I used the jewelers' rouge on a piece of the scrap leather and polished the crap out of the blade, it seems to cut pretty smoothly (not alot of drag). And how do you keep the leather from moving while walking a stamp? I got the technique of holding the stamp slightly off the piece and not moving the whole width of the stamp but trying to hold the leather still with my pinky or the side of my hand is proving most difficult. Maybe I just need to practice more? And any suggestions you folks have on technique, learning websites, etc. is greatly appreciated.I hope I haven't bored anyone away, sorry I tend to be a bit long winded. I appreciate any input anyone can offer. Thank you for your time and for this awesome website!!