lazybum

I had a batch that hadn't been toucher for about 1 year. It didn't even turn the leather grey.

No prob! For best results use a round core. And its usually better to size the pattern a bit smaller than larger. At least if its tight the leather can stretch. If theres too much material it tends to bunch up in areas which spoils the round shape.

Hey just wanted to say thanks for the pattern. It didn't end up perfectly round and I realised it was because the pattern wasn't very symetrical. So I tweaked it with photoshop to make it symmetrical for rounder results.Below is what I ended up with, using spongy stress balls as the core. Wouldn't have done it without the original pattern though. Thanks! Thought id share my pattern in case anyone needs it. Its sized for a stress ball, about the size of a real basball, can't remember the exact measurements though. You may have to tweak the size to fit your core.

Yeah I considered leaving some allowance. But I can't figure out how much allowance to give. Due to the shape trimming cleanly after wet forming is going to be difficult. Of course I can do some trial and error but because this is more of a one off project I don't really want to waste too much leather on it.

Hi I've been trying to make a wet formed phone case recently and been encountering the problem of unwanted shrinking. What happens is after wet forming the length tends to shrink resulting in the case becoming too short to cover the entire phone. I was wondering if preshrinking the leather by soaking it in warm water and then allowing it to dry before trying to wet form it might prevent it from shrinking after wet forming? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for the advices! I was considering using some glue to hold them down, but because of the smooth surface contact cement can't be used which will mean that I will have to use superglue which is pretty risky in case of spills. I'm planning to use them as flat inlays, its just that some of the scales pop up just a little bit even when flat. But that might be enough to pose a potential problem. I'm a bit sceptical of the extent that numerous coats of finishes will hold the scales down, but ill experiment with some resolene anyway.

What leather are you using? The quality of the leather makes a huge difference. I used to have the same problem with those cheaper "imported" leather. Solved it by switching to W&C leather. I simply brush the oil on and the colour will even itself out after some minutes. In fact the final colour is pretty close to the original

Well this is not my photo but something I got from the web. You see the big scales on left around the bend of the wallet popping out? That's about what i'm getting. Won't the scales get caught onto something and eventually get torn off as you take this wallet in and out of your pocket?

I got a couple of ostrich leg leather from springfield some time ago and noticed that the scales on about a quarter of each piece had part of them sticking out. Is this common among ostrich leg leather? From most photos of ostrich leg stuff the scales are pretty flat against the leather. Am I supposed to glue them down or just work around them? I'm worried that if I use those parts the scale might get hooked onto something and pull off eventually.

Never tried their leather, but from my experience with leather in general the shoulders are usually stiffer than the backs. You can also try J & FJ baker. They are in UK and i've heard nothing but good things about them.

Roger that. Will grab a can of thinner on my next visit to the hardware store.

Brake fluid sounds interesting. Anyone with experience with both thinner and brake fluid? I would love to own a rock tumbler, but I don't think it will be cheap and readily available where I live.

Will it? I've been reading around and it seems that this method will require additional scrubbing which is going to be troublesome for the small hardware that I am concerned about. I was thinking it probably won't be as strong as soaking in acetone for a few days, which I why I did not try it. So lacquer thinner is likely to do a better job than acetone? Right time to buy some to try.

Hi Anyone has any good ideas on how to remove lacquer from solid brass hardware? The hardware that I wish to work on has quite a lot of not easily reachable places, so if possible i'm looking for a chemical that will easily remove the lacquer when the hardware are soaked in it. I've tried acetone but the results were not stellar. I soaked a bunch of stuff in it for about 3 days, and while it completely removed the lacquer on some, the acetone only partially stripped the lacquer finish on the rest. I even tried shaking the acetone when they were being soaked every now and then but that was still not enough to do the trick. Is there a stronger chemical out there that is easily available? Will lacquer thinner or paint remover work better?

Anyone ordered from buckle guy recently? Somehow I keep getting "transaction denied" at the payment stage. Sent them an email and its been almost 3 days without reply. Wonder if they got hit by the snow and haven't recovered yet or something.