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Hey All, Just thought I might ask those that are attending the show at Sheridan how it is going. For those of us less fortunate to be able to attend this year it would lift our spirits to hear reports about the classes, people and the overall great time there. Thanks.

Thanks for the tip Pete. That worked so I have lots of reading to do haha. Thanks again very much.

Good Morning Folks, I am somwhat frustrated with how the leather finishing process works. I have read a book or two on leather finishing but they all seem to assume that you know the basics. What I mean by the basics is as follows. I have carved a rose pattern in a piece of leather and am done tooling it. I painted the carved rose on the leather with eco-flow paints but now what? If I dye the area around the rose, do I seal the dyed part before putting some kind of sealer on the whole thing? Do I use a sealer or do I use an antique dye over the entire piece of leather and get the same results? Will using some products make the paint pull up from the rose carved in the leather? I guess what I'm asking is when do you use the various products and to do what at what time? When do I use a resist? Before I paint or after? When do you use Neat-Lac or is there better products to use as I read here that it is subject to cracking over time? When would these be applied and where? These all probably sound like things that should be obvious probably and I realize these are alot of questions but if anyone could provide some help, it would be so very much appreciated. I just want to do the right steps at the right time with the right products. I am looking to primarily do belts once I can figure out how all this works and get my carving and tooling to where it should be. Thanks again to all that may be willing to provide some help with all this.

Good Morning, Do any of you folks know of a chart or other media that explains what the differernt rivets, snaps, etc are and their application? I haven't seen anything like that anywhere but maybe I haven't checked the right places either. Thanks.

Your comments ring true along with the others posted here. Thanks to all who responded. Ferg, I got alot of encourgement from you as you are one busy dude and you STILL find time to do your leather work. I just need to stick with it and the level of quality will come. I am very fortunate that I have tons of support at home for whatever I choose to do and that includes the time to do it. As long as there are folks like those on this site, I will get my encourgement and draw to keep on keeping on. Thanks to all. Have a blessed day.

Good Morning All, I am really new to this wonderful yet sometimes frustrating craft we call leathercrafting. I find myself lacking the motivation at times to either start a project I wanted to do or complete one that I already started. I think part of my issue is that I feel that I should be doing better than I am. I see so-o-o-o many beautiful and creative works on this site. I just wonder if I will ever reach that level of proficiency and quality for the work I do. I have been learning off and on for about 6 months but my life is very busy with work, family and just life in general so that could be part of the problem too. I cannot devote the time I feel I need to allow me to spend the time to practice, practice, practice!! Any thoughts? Would love to hear if anyone else hits those walls and what you do to get over them. Do you have anything you do to allow yourself to free up more time? I also want to say a very huge thanks to the folks here that are so willing to share their thoughts, techniques and processes. It really helps those of us that are new and struggling. Thanks.

My thoughts exactly. Thanks for the reply Mike. Have a great day.

Hi All, I have finished painting the piece I have been working on. In talking to the folks at the local Tandy store, they said my next step would be to spray it with super sheene and then apply a paste conditioner they sell called Mr. ?. It comes in a can similar to any other paste would. I'm sorry I don't recall the name right now. IAnyway, I'm a bit confused. If the super sheene seals the leather, how can any paste conditioner be absorbed into the leather? Do they have these steps backwards? Any help would be appreciated.

Great suggestion. Thanks dirtclod.

Good afternoon, I was in the local Tandy store a few days ago and noticed that they had a leather burning kit for sale. I asked the clerk if I could use my woodburning tool for leather and she said that the one for woodworking gets hotter that the leather one. My question would be whether this true or not? Has anyone used an iron of this type for their leather work and what should one look out for besides burning myself lol? The box said that the leather burning iron got to 600 degrees. Thanks.

Awesomw. Thanks very much for the response John. That helps alot. i'll check out the other thread too. Thanks again.

Hello All, I have completed the carving and stamping of a project. I want to paint the flowers and leaves and "dye" the rest of it. I want a light finish, not dark, as I think that will off-set the floral design well. My question is can I achieve this by just using Neatlac? What about a Antique gel stain? I want to seal the leather after applying any finish product so what do you all use? I am guessing that the painting of the design is the very last step after sealing or should it be sealed along with the rest of the leather piece? I am very new to all this and have never used product like neatlac, dyes, gels, etc. Is there a general process that is usually followed to finish leather to be stained, dyed, painted and/or sealed? The materials I have read do not provide much as to how this process should look like. Thanks very much for taking the time to help out a newbie with a first time project.

Great. That does help. Thanks Chirs. If I could ask another question. what would you recommend to seal the leather before I paint? Thanks again for the quick response.

Good Morning Folks. I am currently carving a rose for a birthday gift. The finish product will have a border, lettering and of course the rose. Now that the carving and stamping is done, I would like to paint the rose and related stems and leaves. After that I would like to stain the entire piece. So, I have several questions. Do I stain all of the leather including over the paint? Do I apply the paint as the last step after staining? How should this process work? I have revewed several books I have and none seen to address this, only staining. Any advise you can provide me would be great. Once I figure out how to post ictures, I'll post a few of the final piece. Thanks to all in advance for any responses.

Thanks for the tips guys. Time to dig into the books. I think I will follow the process you provide Wareagle until I am more comfortable with the tools. Thanks again.

Hello Folks, I have been reading up the tooling of leather and observing this site and would like to ask the following question. Is there a correct sequence of using the stamping tools or it really up to the individual to figure out what tool to stamp with next? I just bought the Al Stolhman book on leathercrafting so that may help too. Just haven't had a chance to get into that book yet. Thanks in advance for any suggestion or advise you all can offer.

Thanks all very much for the replys. Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Good Morning all, I was looking through the latest Skiver mag from Tandy and I see they are selling a new swivel knife that is more ergomoically correct. The price isn't too bad at 18.00. I wanted to see if anyone has used on of these new knives yet and what are your impression of it. Thanks.

Thanks all for your help on this. I think I will make my decision to purchase an Osborne beveler I think. They seem to get really good reviews on this web site and others. Thanks again for all you advise.

Hey Folks. I am new to leatherworking and am looking to add more tools to my bench as I get more into it. I have been looking at bevelers and see that Tandy offers their versions and ones called the "Old 126". They are essentially the same in price. Can someone tell me what the difference is? Is there another manufacturer that may offer a better variety of bevelers? Thanks for you help on this.

Thats what I needed. Thanks to you both for the responses. Have a great new years.

Hi All, I am starting the process of making belts for my boys. I think I have most of what I want to do as far as patterns, tooling etc. figured out. My dilemma is on the lettering that I want to put on the back of the belts to show their names. How do I figure out where center will be so the lettering is centered in the back between the lopps? Any advise would be approciated. What and awesome forum. Thanks to all of the "seasoned" members that are so willing to help newbies like me.

Thanks for the input. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday to all..

Good Morning all, I am fairly new to the leathercrafting world and am slowly purchasing materials as I go. Over the weekend I purchased a 2' X 2' polished granite cutoff from a local countertop dealer for $10.00. In reading this forum, I have seen various recommendations for this type of material as to thickness, size, etc. The cutoff I purchsed is only 1 1/4 inch thick. My concern is whether this will hold up to the pounding from stamping and if there a way to reinforce the slab from the backside to help provide strength to the slab for stamping work and the kind if it's even a concern. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for sharing. This is a great forum to learn from.