itsben

Hi all... I'm debating making the switch from dyeing my own sides to purchasing chrome-dyed leather, but am wondering how I'll get my maker's stamp and other detail lines I usually use on my pieces to show. The stamps are on magnesium plates and I usually just press them in with my arbor, but the chrome-dyed leather won't take a stamp if I understand correctly. I've heard you can hot stamp them, but I have no idea what the proper technique to do so is. Any help you can lend would be appreciated! Ben

Hi Ferg. I'm using Fiebing's oil-based dyes, and I think I'd prefer to stick with those for the time being. I've tried the alcohol dyes and wasn't at all happy with the colors I got out of them (browns too red, etc.)

Hi all, I've been experimenting with when I stamp my maker's stamp onto various pieces and I can't seem to settle on which is the correct way. Hoping someone can lend a guiding hand here... Stamping before dye: Wetting the leather (with water) and stamping the un-dyed leather leaves a clean enough impression, but then the dye tends to collect in the stamped area a little more heavily than elsewhere on the piece, resulting in an uneven job. Stamping after dye: This seems to give a better result as far as the evenness of dye (especially under the stamp's lettering), but when I put some water to the leather to help with the stamping I often get significant discoloration: the dye is bleeding, essentially, and it only partly evens out when I apply atom wax. Could someone out there tell me what they do for this? Is there a tried and true "this is what has always been done" method, or is this another one of those "to each his own" moments? Thanks!

No-one has any idea?

Hey there... Does anyone know where to find Horween leather (particularly cordovan and chromexcel) other than from the tannery itself? I haven't spoken with them yet, but I believe their minimum orders are quite large and as I'm just getting started with my business, I need to keep the upfront investment to a minimum at this stage. Any help you can offer would be hugely appreciated. Thanks! Ben

Hey there... I'm currently working on a phone case which is molded on one side, using a plastic shaper to get the fit nice and tight around the side of the phone. Shape-wise this is working great, but I'm noticing that the dye isn't absorbing properly on those places that have been rubbed by the shaping tool. It absorbs somewhat, but not to the same degree as the rest of the piece, so the sides come out looking slightly discolored. Any idea how I can avoid this problem? Is it a product of wetting the leather when molding and not letting it dry properly, or is there a way to restore the leather after it's been rubbed down? Thanks!

Thanks! That's actually pretty much what I'd ended up with, using the tabs to keep everything flush. A couple of questions, though: how are you securing them to one another, glue or sewing? Also, I notice that your top pocket is smaller than the rest: is this because .25" or so of the others are used to fasten them? Do you have a standard height (ie. depth) that you use for your cards?

Thanks everyone! I think I'm more interested at making them myself at this stage, so I'll check out that link Ken provided and go from there. I had another crack at it last night and actually managed to pull something off, though I'll need to figure out my measurements better so that all the pockets wind up the same depth. Not too concerned about using 3oz leather for them: In the pieces I'm making I'll only have a max of 3 per side, and I'm going for a simpler, slightly more bulky look anyway. All part of the learning process at this stage. Thanks for your help! Nice to find a community out there so I'm not wasting too much leather with my experiments

Hey everyone... Newbie question maybe, but I've scoured the site and so far can't seem to find any step-by-step instruction for how to do the card pockets in a wallet. I'm using 3oz tooling leather and my assumption that you just stack the pockets on top of one another doesn't seem right (I want the sites of the wallet to be flush) but I can't seem to find a decent alternative. The "accordian" style isn't quite doing it for me. Can anyone point me in the direction of a how-to or pattern that could answer the riddle for me? Thanks in advance! Ben