whinewine

You may want to use deglazer on the areas you want to do the cova, just to make sure it is bonding to the leather rather than to (or not to) the antique, neatlac or whatever finish(es) you are using. On small areas, use deglazer with some Q-tips. TRY ON SCRAP FIRST!!! This may work, or it may not, depending what operations you are doing.

As a side note, it is now illegal to leave an upholstered couch on the streets of Morgantown, WV. The reason is that couch-burning has become a regional sport after WVU football games.

I think these are jewelry clamps, to hold rings & things in place while doing various operations (filing, finishing, insetting stones,etc). There would be a wedge shaped piece driven in at one end to hold the item in place while working (the wedges are missing). Others might think that they are stretchers, but the jaws are limited in width (although I guess that they could be used as limited-distance stretchers in an emergency). I have one, although in plastic, that I used to hold rings while I inset gemstones.

Hi: The ethyl acetate is sold as Fiebings Deglazer. Concerning the water-based finish, my own preference would have been for a lacquer based finish (neatlac or Clearlac), followed by something like Pecards or perhaps Aussie Conditioner. For the most water-based finish, I prefer Pecards. Many people here who build motorcycle seats (I've only built 1 myself, so I'm NOT an expert, btw) swear by Pecards.

Adding to what was said, I wouldn't have applied neatsfoot BEFORE dyeing- it would have been after, & if needed, IMO. Spirit black, no matter the brand, is ALWAYS a bitch- you need to buff & buff & buff (advice= use a mechanical devise to remove as much pigment as possible). As for deglazing, I don't know how well an 'acetone/xylene/ketone' mixture would work vs standard deglazer (which is ethyl acetate, made for leather, [with NONE of the above listed ingredients, btw]) ; sometime mixtures of things are less effective than their individual parts, (example: the mixture of 2 very strong glues that ultimately resulted in Post-It notes), sometimes more toxic (example: bleach + toilet bowl cleaner). I also am leery about using a water-based substance (acrylic) on an item that could conceivably by subject to a great deal of water on a regular basis...

It's a SCAM! I see a lot of similar crap on facebook & other places. The wording tends to be similar & they just want to help YOU without any remuneration for themselves blah blah blah. Daily I receive probably 5 or 6, sometimes more, emails from doctors, lawyers, Presidents & Heads of Countries, Diplomats & so on, trying to help me by helping them spirit Very BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ out of their countries- all they need is simple access to my bank account. This doesn't include the foreign lotteries that I've won- all I need to do is contact them to give them a simple access to my account info so they can send me the BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$; or sometimes all I need to do is simply pay a 'small processing fee' in order for them to release my winnings... yeah Don't respond: DELETE IMMEDIATELY!

If there is no AC Moore, try Michaels, or Hobby Lobby, or just google Xacto. Also, there are art supply stores online that should have those utility-type blades by Xacto. (And I mis-typed 'craft store'- it only has 1 "a", not 2.)

John: if you go into an AC Moore craaft store, in among the Xacto knives & assorted Xacto thingies, Xacto has the very same sized blades as are used in the Jerry Stripper (cheaper & easier to find, also). They are the correct size - the common Stanley & generic utility blades from the hardware store/Walmart are way too long- as you've already discovered.

Lutz: CLEARLAC (from Springfield Leather- one of the advertisers here) or WYOSHEEN (from Sheridan Leather Outfitters [-I think- anybody- please- correct me if I'm wrong]. The product is manufactured by the original manufacturers= LCI- just with different names. If you contact Kevin (the owner) of Springfield, I'm sure he can fix you up. Springfield is WONDERFUL to deal with & their staff is VERY knowledgeable.

Fantastic!

There's one on ebay right now (don't know what the shipping would be, BUT- there is one out for bidding.

Actually, it CAN be tooled, very carefully & not very deeply- I've done it. The problem is it doesn't want to hold the tooling if it gets wet too thoroughly (think of a genuine chamois- limp & mushy). It's also very easy to punch through when beveling. Better to use heavier leathers...

In rapid rivets, Tandy carries 2 sizes of extra small rivets & the setter for them. If you're looking for solid rivets that small, I can't help you on that.

I like him a lot Very much Karloff!

Beautiful work! Stunning!

Very nice! I love how the designs flow & how the designs are part of the outer 'sculpture' of the piece.

I think, if I'm not mistaken, that BEAVERSLAYER, one of our members, did (or has) a tutorial right here on this site on making a kepi. It's been several years & I haven't seen him post for a good while, but if it survived the crash, it should still be here somewhere..

Oh- and I forgot to mention- Prorodeooriginals' dies are full welded, (NOT just steel rule dies inset into wood).

I've dealt with http://www.prorodeooriginals.com & they produced a quite complex die for me that was way under a competetor's $ quote (the competetor also basically said it was too complex to make, but they would try if I paid them $$$$). There was one minor thing that was missed on my die, but it was rectified immediately at no additional cost to me. They worked with me throughout the entire process. Very professional people!

Most likely it was either Emma or J'ne that you dealt with. Both excellent, both know their product (unlike many people in retail today), and both go to great lengths (over & above the norm) to help their customers. Springfield is one of my 2 favorite suppliers .

I have one of the original ones, from back in the '80s. It's all I use. A wonderful, simple cutter that does a fantastic job for the very few dollars it costs.

Not at all. Great job!

Whoa! Very cool, Prince! . Question(s): one piece, or multiples? if multiple pieces, how are they fastened together? weight (oz)? Very definitely a cool piece, man!