whinewine

Schno: absolutely beautiful! BTW,I did get the stencil cutter at AC Moore today- used one of their 50%-off coupons, & paid a grand total of $8.47 [incl PA state sales tax]. Basically I bought it for the 2 tips, as my other 2 wood/leatherburners don't have as fine of tips as the tips on this unit. Again, beautiful work, guy! russ

Bobby- call them- 800-668-8518. It's a free call, it's much quicker than email, and they don't bite . There are lots of things not listed on their site. They have specials & things & tools not listed, so all you need to do is ask: "do you have ..." russ

Springfield Leather was selling them - call Kevin Hopkins.The numbers are PA003, PA004 & PA005 russ

Kate, Springfield sells it. russ

Thank you. I appreciate the comments. I took a purse that we had been carrying around for a number of years that had a Western/floral design that simply wasn't selling. This is not a 'horsey/Western' area & we had reduced the price several times to as low as $40- still no takers. So I tore off the back [which I still have & may re-use in some other way in the future] & cut a new piece & tooled the dragon for the Celtic Classic. (It's called an 'ambush' purse because the dragon is hiding behind the strap.) This did draw people into our booth which in turn promoted conversation which led to increased sales & custom orders, both at that event & the next one, our last of the season. Here is another view- a closeup that I couldn't get into my last post because the image was over the allowable file limit. russ

Just trying something different. Drew the people into our booth at Celtic Classic with an 'OMG' factor. russ

When Tandy was discontinuing their line of screw-on inlay conchos, I picked up a bunch at a very good price. Instead of using the veg-tan inserts that came with them, they are put to good use by utilizing (otherwise) useless, small scraps of genuine exotic leathers. However, this is neither a 'horsey' area, nor does it have any great Western or cowboy influences, so I'm kinda stumped when people ask "what can they be used for?" I tell them that they can be put on hats or on hatbands (very little in Stetson or Western-type hatwear around here) & I tell them some people put them into a spare belt hole (I don't make belts, other than a few specialty belts, and those belts don't use conchos, btw)... Other than that, I'm stumped! What else can they be used for? They are very thick in comparison to other screw-on conchos, so they don't lie as flush with a surface as regular screw-on conchos & wouldn't do well on a notebook; they don't stand out like an all metal concho on a purse flap... I'm just all out of ideas. Any suggestions?

Although the legislators in many states, mine included, are attempting to have sales tax collected wherever & whatever state you've made an internet sale to. And that sucks.

I too, would like to hook up with some wooden clog bottoms, but I don't want to buy a large quantity. I have patterns, but nothing to use them on, & I haven't ever noticed any showing up on ebay. russ

Love it- Clever as all getout!!! russ

Good one, Tim! russ

I have the tandy 3 wheel+ embossers set also. What I do NOT like about it is that it too thick for my needs & too cumbersome, also. I prefer my older tandy set of 3 separate overstitchers- the 5, the 6 & the 7 ppi overstitchers. Unfortunately I lost my old 5 ppi one, so I bought a newer single 5 tool at tandy (mostly I use the 5 ppi for handsewing, and almost never use the 6 or 7). It's thin enough for getting into the tight areas to mark them for sewing, whereas the tandy all purpose 3 wheel+ embossing wheel set doesn't work for me- too clunky, too thick, isn't sharp enough on the points, & takes too much time to change to a different wheel (if I need a different size, I can grab a different tool in seconds, rather than fiddle around with the other parts in the set).

Gr: the barbs are pulled through the inside of the loops so they are tightened & can't come loose. I know I'm not making myself clear, but if you've ever built your own fishing rod from scratch & wrapped the rod guides, it's the exact same process. I guess if you google 'building your own fishing rod' you'll come up with directions on how to do the guides. russ

I'm sorry, but the directory listing is denied.???? :wtf: what is going on? russ

Sal, I have no Crown tools, so I'm probably talking stupidly & blindly about this, but, since Siegel's is trying to get rid of their entire inventory, I would venture a guess that perhaps the tools are not all that great (poorly finished, lousy metal that bends, whatever?)- if you look at the impressions, some look rather crude. The only advantage I could see is that some of the tools can be had in either coarse checkering or fine checkering. The Ellis Barnes lines of tools that Siegels sells are, on the other hand, superb; however they are rather pricey. As a rudimentary beginner line of tools, they're probably ok, but I would wonder why a Company would try to get rid of the inventory if they are at least as good as (perhaps better than) Craftools. At least Craftools are replaceable if they fail- I don't know about Crown. Just my speculation, just my 2 cents worth. As an addendum- the CraftJapan tools sold by Hidecrafter & Springfield are, for the most part, really quite nice & in many cases, are nicer than Craftool- at the worst, they are equal to Craftool. I just got a B936 beveler, a triweave & a crazylegs tool, all CraftJapan, & the impressions of the 936 & the crazylegs are crisper, clearer & more detailed than the same Craftools that I already own. russ

I promised to make my wife a mystery braid belt, now that our last show is done. However, right now I can't for the life of me locate/find the formula for the proper length to start with, so that it comes out to the correct waist size when all braided. This would be for the 3-braid, NOT the 5-braid belt. Can anyone help me? This would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. russ

I don't really have a 'formula'. What I look for are: what other things are there in addition to leather(1), then I look to see what things are really selling well [plastic canvas, plastic jewelry, doilies, twig wreaths, crappy yard stake decorations, etc, vs leather](2), I also go up to other leathercrafters, feign interest in their stuff & ask how THEY are doing... If the leather is decent but not selling well but the twig stuff is, then I know that either this is not the market for me, OR, there is a niche that definitely needs to be filled. Others here might have a formula, but I look at my market & try to assess whether it's worth it to do a particular venue. I think you're trying to use probability theory when that really doesn't (or can't) apply at this stage. russ

I don't wish to sound facetious, but you need all the inventory to cover your sales. By that, I mean, first(1), you need to identify your market, then, secondly(2), find your niche... and then make LOTS & LOTS of stuff to fill it- and then some... (1) You're not going to sell hand carved purses at a place where plastic canvas is king. There are many events at which I wouldn't set up, simply because the creatures that attend them wouldn't spend $150 for a carved purse that wil last for at least 25 years, but would readily spend $49.99 every 8 or 9 months for a purse at WallyWorld because their plastic purse only lasts that long... (2) If every other leathercrafter at an event is making stamped belts, wallets & keyfobs, you're NOT going to stand out & your sales will be relatively (or absolutely) dismal, because you have nothing to set you apart from the others. (3) Kits are ok for patterns & templates to develop into other (& better) items. Kits are expensive. The thread & the lacing tend to be of poorer quality. Nothing says amateur more than a display of off-the-shelf kits. (4) Some events are primarily retail (they allow any & everything in that is made in foreign countries & imported to undercut US markets- examples are knockoff sunglasses, watches & purses...)- you can't compete there- see the wallyworld creatures featured in (#1) above. Best of luck, guys. Do your research. russ

Henleys are great blades- I have 3 of them, in addition to a few old ruby blades.

And greyhound, too.

ClayB, I concur with the 198 & 701 bevelers. The 2 I have, I would NEVER give up, and they are also the 2 I reach for first. Mine are early '70s & they are wonderful. The 936 I have is also from that time period, but I just don't like it- it is too squared off & won't follow the sharp curves easily. I just recently got a procrafter 936 from Hidecrafter & it is a great deal better for the sharper curves. I still am looking for a relatively inexpensive set of checkered round bevelers that Craftool used to make. I have the smooth set, but I prefer checkered over the smooth. (If anyone has an extra set, btw, of the round checkered bevelers, that they'd like to get rid of, please PM me. Thanks.) russ

Spence: I'm sorry, I made a mistake- the post: Just for fun, Leather mache (under fabrication: leather tools), was made by Panther, not Rawhide (although that's how I found the original post- through his posts). I stand corrected. russ

I know you're trying to make dust from your leather scraps, but... if you need dust to use as filler, use sawdust instead. That's what I was taught years ago & it's all that I use & it's a lot more inexpensive ($0.00 per pound). Or, do like Rawhide does, use up the scraps to make handles for scalples (sp?). He's got a post somewhere on how to do it. All you need is scraps, not dust. russ

What about using the product called "Febreeze"? It tends to kill lots of odors easily. (That's assuming that there IS no mold/mildew- just the smell) russ

I got the last 2 bottles that Michaels had in our local store. They were reduced in price & they haven't been reordered. if I do run out, I may need to order online. russ