whinewine

(1) Johanna: you just need to be sick & tired of of being sick & tired ... You just need to have that ultimate determination to do it. Drugs help. Lifestyle change... that's most important. If you go back to the same old , same old, lifestyle, same old patterns of behavior, same old 'whatever', you're gonna fail. pure & simple. you have to do, rather than 'want' to do... wanting & doing are two VASTLY different things... (2) don't believe the nancy reagan schtick of "just say no". It's not a habit: (habits are for weak willed people & monks- you are neither. ...YOU ARE AN ADDICT!- addicts are helpless in the face of addiction. Addicts will lie, cheat, steal, make excuses- in other words, so whatever it takes to feed that addiction. You will lie (make excuses, etc) to your mother, to your children, swear on your mother's/father's grave= whatever it takes: just so long as you can continue your addiction! Accept that. Roll with that. If you can accept that, you have the power to change (if you can't accept that, you don't have any power to change what you are.- AND you ARE AN ADDICT) (3) Don't. See #2 above

Has anyone ever used clear Krylon as a finish on leather, AND WHAT ARE THE RESULTS (good, bad, or whatever)? I have been experimenting with an imitation gold leaf in liquid form to color the raised carved areas. It's a mineral-spirits based fluid recommended NOT to be sprayed, only brushed on. It's a nice, bright, gold-leaf looking finish, but I'm looking to coat it with a clear finish (for obvious reasons). I did a sample & sprayed it with spray neatlac, also did another sample & sprayed it with super shene (Fiebing's version of it in the spray can). I wasn't satisfied with either result: the gold tended to run in a very few areas while, overall, the drum-dyed leather showed through underneath the gold. I was curious if the Krylon clear finish (essentially a plastic finish) would give me better results. All help & input is appreciated. Thanks. russ

Pip: try hydrogen peroxide- it may dissolve the blood stain (or it may not- but it's worth a try). 276ccm: IMHO, if you're trying to produce an item to sell, the tool is an 'ok' tool to use if you have no other alternative. It's a last resort-type of tool & it does serve a purpose, but it's something you don't really want to rely upon- if, for example, you don't keep the stitches even, or keep the tension tight & even, as cem mentioned, especially on long runs of stitching, the stitches tend to look kind of amateurish. Out of a thousand items I would handsew, I would use the tool maybe... once, perhaps twice...(?) [And I have two different tools of this type]. I consider it a tool for emergency repairs only, & for that, it does an admirable job. Just my 2 cents worth. russ

Begosh & begorrah, looks fine, Ian! Keep it up. (Last night, my son, his fiancee & I went to see a performance of Gaelic Storm... Good, good performance. If you like contemporary Celtic music, they're a band to see.[they were apparently featured in the movie, Titanic]) russ

alcohol-based dyes [alcohol= spirits]

I have used latex on tooled, raised areas as a resist & then sprayed spirit dye over top, but the problem is that the spirit dye tends to creep under those latexed areas. The result is less than satisfactory. If the latex were used in the depressed areas, it might be different.

Holly, did you check with your local manager? - tandy has a computer interface that can locate any item in any store. I have my local manager check when I really need something & they can obtain it from whatever store that still has it. Just a thought- check them first.

Murse, here's another idea- you may want to try to bleach the stained leather using oxalic acid... Tandy used to sell it years ago, but discontinued it. It can be found elsewhere (hardware stores, etc) under "wood bleach". Again, what you're attempting to do is minimize the stain & make it less noticeable. russ

Murse: I would definitely use a spirit dye. You don't want to take any chance of the colors running (a seat covers a very large area, compared to something like, say a coaster which can easily be sealed on all sides with neatlac). As far as colors, maybe a medium or dark brown or a mahogany ... You might try rewetting the entire top again to try to even-out/minimize the stain, or try rewetting the center area out to the edges of the stain. What you're trying to is to make the stain less visible by taking down the contrast. Good luck. russ

Back in the '80s, my friend & I would shoot (photographically) sled dog races in PA & sell prints to the owners & sponsors. It's too warm now in this area & mostly, not enough snow. russ

These 2 have been removed from tandy's lineup- they were removed several months ago, precisely because of this problem. Their entire stock of these colors was sold at a greatly reduced price & people were told why (at least at my local store, anyway). I don't know if the colors have been reformulated yet.

As rdb said, there's no crocking. If you've ever used tandy/fiebings/omega/whatever dye, the aggrevation of buffing till your arms/hands/fingers ache (& still having the damn stuff rub off) isn't there. I'll take the vinegar smell anytime. the ecoflo black is the closest i've come to lack of crocking, but it will run unless well sealed. the vinegaroon doesn't run & doesn't crock & goes virtually the whole way through

Thank you. Is there a website? All I could come up with were several reviews about them, 1 very good & 1 very bad. But no website. ??? russ

Really looks good, Steve! russ

Rob: I'm assuming that chantix is an oral drug? I've heard it mentioned here. That's great! I used to chew pencils & pens (not toothpicks, though), & hold them like cigarettes, because I had a hand that no longer held a cigarette so I had to substitute something for it. There is so much involved in the process of smoking, beyond getting it into the lungs- there is the ritual- getting the cigarette out, putting it between the fingers, then between the lips, the anticipation of the hit, lighting it, then the 'bam!' as it is drawn deeply into the lungs & gives the jolt... when you do finally quit, you will do a complete lifestyle change, a complete behavioral change, that includes things like: "what the hell will I do with my hand now that I no longer need to hold a cigarette"... years after I quit, I was walking across a field to watch my younger son practice football, & I happened to look down & saw a pack of cigarettes that someone had dropped. I started to bend down to pick them up, thinking, "OOH, free ciga...", caught myself, straightened up & kept on walking. Nicotine addiction is one horrible bad trip. Keep at it, Johanna. I've been clean 15 years now. I have emphysema from all those bad years, but I did earn it honestly, so I can't complain. And I am the healthiest I have been in years.

Take off the nut & washer. Using a flat screwdriver or a sturdy tack/staple remover, begin prying the leather handle away from the poly head. It may be easier, (& necessary) to take a sharp knife & go between the leather washers, loosening & removing 2" or 2-1/2" sections at a time (they can be reglued & reassembled after the new head is on). Btw, Tandy has some real dopes working in 'cursetomer service'.

Thanks, Mike. Actually they're 2 layers of 6-7oz laminated (rather than 3-4 oz [which would have made the job a lot easier, btw]), with the 3 rows of stitching. And yes, I am well pleased with the final result. russ

Watching someone appreciating your work by wearing (or using) something you've made, & showing it off to their friends. My son & I sold at a small renfaire this past weekend & got many, many complements on our work (there were 2 other leathercrafters there besides us). The neatest was a pair of snake bracers I sold to a young lady & she wore them the entire weekend. Watching her wear & enjoy then & show them off was worth all the effort I put into their construction.

One of the hardest things I've ever done! Had smoked since I was 14 (yeah, it makes you cool, especially smoking unfiltered camels- yeah, right!- suddenly you realize [even though you don't want to admit it] that you're an addict). I smoked for over 40+ years & finally broke it. My last cigarette was in March '93, but the drug dreams went for several years after. I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking "Oh, no, I blew it I blew it dammit"- & then realize that it was just a dream & I was wide awake & soaked in perspiration by then & besides, I didn't want to go back to sleep again because the dream might repeat... That was the worst- especially the 5 or so years after, when, even in your dreams, you knew you had put in those 5 years of hard time staying clean, & the damn dream would come on again. I tried everything including the gum (I would end up chewing the gum AND smoking to get a bigger buzz...) What worked for me ultimately was the patch, plus I didn't want to be hooked up in that anymore, spending the $3/day for 2 packs a day, every day (yeah, I know, that was a LONG time ago). The patch got me over the rough parts- you're essentially mainlining nicotine 24 hours a day, but you don't get the 'kick' that you do when you inhale deeply & draw that into your lungs, but you're still getting your drug into you. As I said, the patch got me over the rough parts, but the motivation to quit was what got me over it. I was ready. If you're NOT ready, you won't quit. Pure & simple. During my prison career, many heroin addicts have told me it's easier to give up heroin than it is to give up smoking. I don't know.

Mike, as with any "all-in-one" product (either eco-flo, or otherwise), it is suggested to use a sealing coat of some sort. I tend to use neatlac, but supershene (sprayed, preferably, so the product doesn't blotch/splotch/run) adds to a nicer finish overall. Especially, any product that is water-based that will be used in an enviroment that could get wet & run (i.e., coasters, leather covered tankard outsides, etc), should be water-proofed)... For reins, Pecards would work better (probably) than neatlac or supershene...

If you're going to do turquoise in leather in some sort of a flexible setting, like a bracelet, (because turquoise tends to be a soft stone with variable hardnesses within the stone itself) it is suggested that you epoxy a stiff backing to the stone itself if you're using a flat, thin stone. In a jewelry setting, like a bracelet, the metal itself provides the rigidity... a leather bracelet by itself is too flexible to provide rigidity for a thin stone.

God bless you & yours! May he stay out of harm's way, now & in the future! russ

Joe, I have to agree with Murse. I was an English major in college, but I try not to correct others in their speech and/or writings. However, when one is in business, proper use of the language is necessary for 1) communication, and, 2) for legitimacy. Communication needs no clarification, but... Legitimacy is that quality that allows people to trust in purchasing from you, simply because of how you speak & how you write & how you express yourself. If you sound like you just got off the boat or just left the swamp or just got out of the ghetto, people are very much less likely to become purchasers of your products, just because they don't feel you have that quality of trust to give you money. "Iffn ya kain't speek ore rite reall gud, hain't no won gonna giv yoo there kredit cardz, kauz yoo gots knoww legitimacee azz a bizzness men, U no...". Please don't take this the wrong way. I don't mean to offend, but most computers come with a spell check function that can be used quickly to clean up many (but not all) language errors.

Tim, no, unfortunately, I don't have a source for rubies. I bought my first back in the '70s & the second I got on ebay along with 3 knives & 2 (nicely sharpened) steel blades. IF, perchance, the ruby should fall out, I'm sure a jewler could align it perfectly & epoxy it back in. Btw, I only have angle rubies- I've never tried the ruby straight. Do your mining for rubies (the blades, that is,) on ebay. russ

Sorry, I don't like the ceramic blades at all- I feel they have too much drag for my tastes. My own preference is an angle ruby blade, but I just got 2 henleys the other day & I must say, they are superb blades. You will find that some blades will work better in a certain piece of leather & the same blades may will work worse in another. It's all about matching what blade goes in best in a particular piece of leather. Having said that, I still don't care for ceramics. I have a beader (2 line) ceramic blade & also have used various other ceramics... IMHO, they still suck because of their inherent drag. (Plus, if, btw, you happen to drop a ceramic, you've just thrown away $30- they're very brittle & will break easily).