billsreef

I've been using Neat Lac about 10 years less than Bobby, and I've had the same observations. Haven't had any problems with it when using it as a final sealer over Fiebings Antique gel. Makes for a great combination I think. Haven't had any peel, crack or chip in that time either, and I'm pretty hard on belts and sheaths

They look good

It's a gloss finish after buffing, satin if you don't buff.

Finished this one up last week, for myself

Finally got around to replacing the stock sheath that came with my knife. After all, it's pretty shameful to be a leatherworker and carrying a knife in some plain old manufactured sheath While I was at it, I also made up a new belt case for my cell phone.

If I was going for an aged natural look, I'd skip the die. A light coat of neatsfoot oil and day drying out under direct sunlight would naturally darken the leather a bit. Follow that up with some antique paste. Might want to use a resist before the antique paste, but possibly not. I'd play with some scrap to see what gives the best effect for what your looking for.

Since the black is in the tooling marks, die the whole piece brown, apply a resist, followed by black antique paste.

Like leatheroo mentioned, use a good quality sable brush. They are plenty stiff for this sort of work, and can be had in a very fine point for getting into corners. I coat the entire piece with the resist. Keeps the antique paste from soaking into the grain of the leather.

Something like this? I used a fine tipped brush for the background and edges around the tooled pattern, and wide brush for the open areas of the edges. A couple of coats of die till I got the effect I wanted, followed by buffing after the die dried. A light coat of neatsfoot oil that I allowed to dry overnight, followed by a coat of Neat Lac as a resist before applying the antique and final coats of Neat Lac.

This book, How to Carve Leather, by Al Stohlman is a great start. It's the one I started out with many years ago. Lots of pictures and very descriptive how to's. Covers basic florals and some figure carving basics.

They had me set up in a matter of hours via email. Though keep in mind this is Saturday, so I'd be patient till Monday.

Were you still getting any die coming off on the cloth when you stopped buffing? I've never used the oil based dyes. With water based and spirit based dyes I've never had die rub off with the final finish so long as I put in the elbow grease to buff till absolutely no traces of color come off on the buffing cloth or pad. I also like to let the dye dry overnight before buffing.

Typically the pockets do get stacked one on top of the other, with the top one being a little shorter than the bottom pocket. Generally the lining is bit thinner than your planing on as well. I usually use 3-4 oz tooling leather for backs, and 2 oz lining for the pockets. Keep in mind, once you put cards in those pockets, no matter how thin the lining, the wallet bulks up.

How hard are you guys hitting your stamps? I started with the same set as a kid back in the 70's, and I've yet to have a stamp bend.