GlenH

Where'd you buy the press? And was it absolutely necessary to modify it?

The guild's domain is sclcg.com, not org. And the .com one isn't working right now because the domain name expired and we're working on getting that ironed out. Glen

Here's how I did my wife's nook cover... I'm getting ready to make one for myself, but I think I'm going to do it a little differently.

I've been doing leatherwork for about a year now, and I'm still learning knife control. I recently switched to the knife my dad used back in the 70s from the one that came in the Tandy kit. I finally realized that neither knife was really sharp enough, so once I got the knife sharp, that helped a LOT. One other thing I had to do was put a drop of oil in the swivel in my dad's knife. That made it swivel a lot better. Glen

The guide can be removed completely... so you can put it back in however you want. Glen

Sounds like what you want to do is block dye it. The tool impressions will still be the natural color. Take care when you finish it though. I did a belt (actually my own belt) and I block dyed it, and it came out great. Then I brushed on super shene, and the super shene picked up the color and filled in the tool impressions. I use the spray on super shene now and that works fine.

It looks like they're made with different metal (obviously a softer metal) than the ones you buy by themselves. Even the patterns are slightly different.

You might try Nikwax (www.nikwax.com). They specialize in waterproofing products.

I also started with the Tandy Deluxe kit about a year ago (plus some stamps and tools that my dad used back in the 70's). I've had to replace three of the stamps that came with the kit because they started bending (the camo, the basketweave, and the backgrounder). The ones I replaced are a lot better anyway, and the patterns are more what you see in the pictures. Glen