WinterBear

Those pebbles on the stingray are impossible to stitch. They'll break or deflect your needle, or the nubbins will break and leave a sharp edge. Some of the users here use a dremel to grind the nubs off the sewing line (wear a respirator as the dust is bad for you), border with veg tan, or drill the holes and hope for the best.

Yeah, they don't make that one any more. Sad. If you find a substitute from Fiebings, Let me know what you think of it?

Birdman--click on the picture and it'll enlarge to its uploaded size. They're just thumbnailed.

I don't actually know if it is going to be possible. Veg-tan leather can be tooled because it can absorb water, and then the fibers can compress and the collagen fibers will form a glue of sorts that holds the carving in place after it dries. I can't think of a single man-made or plant product that will give that gluing behavior/effect and yet still remain flexible. I suppose you could potentially shape something out of a non-woven cloth or vinyl with either the cloth or the underlayment saturated or infused with glue to mimic this, but the glue itself could be out as the most suitable types are likely made of animal products too. Maybe you can use that "fun foam" stuff they sell in craft stores, and shape it a little bit by heating it--you definitely don't want it hot enough to offgass as the fumes are nasty for you (wear a respirator or work under a fume hood of sorts), but you might be able to "carve" it to a degree by using somewhat hot tools to partially melt instead of stamp and burnish the patterns on. A warning-- heating some tools can damaging them by ruining their temper.

The Tandy Eco-Flo All in one? They still sell it, it's even on sale this month. Look at page 13 of the sale flyer: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/eflyer/1204RT-USA/1204RT-USA.aspx. No mahogany any more, but there is midnight black, prairie tan, desert tan, fudge brown, acorn brown, light mocha brown, chocolate cherry, marine blue, grape purple, cactus green, cherry, and primrose red.

Arf? There are other ones using straps, but most seem to use the pockets. A lot of people will also add clips, straps, or buckles to the outside to hold the book shut as well (there is a pretty nice example of this in the Gallery right now).

Miss v, book covers usually have two pockets that the outer edges of the book's own cover slip into. Each pocket runs the full length of the leather book cover at the edge of the front and back halves, and about 1/4 to less than 1/3 of the width of the book cover. Each of these pockets is sewn or laces along the top, long edge, and bottom, leaving a long pocket on each half of the book cover with the opening facing towards the spine. Here are some examples: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=31323&st=0&p=195524 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2029&st=0&p=38599

Nice belt! Your friend is lucky to get that. How much time do you figure you have before his buddies see it and you get mobbed? I think I have leather envy too--that was one big steer.

Everything else! You know...like widgets, a bacon stretcher, muffler bearings, and the kitchen sink!

Oh heck, forget using it as a purse, that's a great tool bag or a camera bag! I might have to try this--but replace most of those little zippers with snaps? Little zippers break a lot. No bullet loops for me either--stuff on the outside of a bag that's going to get slung around will eventually fall off in my experience.

I think this one is still my favorite. I find the pattern, the floral, and the colors very aesthetically appealing.

Helmut, try looking up "targe" here on this site. There are some good examples of this Scottish shield, and some discussion of the construction. The Tandy Leathercraft Library also has a doodle page targe pattern and instructions--I'll see if I can find that if you want to message me later so I don't forget. This guy shows some nice finished ones: http://www.targemaker.co.uk/, and you might also try the forums at http://www.xmarksthescot.com (you'll have to register there to view the photos and use the search engine). And this topic here seems to have some good discussion and links: http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=143225

So when do we get to see this demented tiki that cracked up the Monster King? You're running out of month!

Wait, wait! I have to ask. The syntax on this can read either way, and either way is funny. Either: your son who is your critic and who is a monster, or your son who critiques monsters?

It's pretty brittle Glendon. Try scraping the top edge with the back of a knife blade (obviously not on the cutting surface of either tool). Once you get an edge lifted up to grab a hold of, it will usually break up and sort of peel off.

Thanks Cheryl, chancey, and PL01.

Here is mine. Little Tom Thumb kit, very very thin leather, I'm surprised I was able to get any tooling on it at all. Tiki is a quick scribble I made. And yes, i finished it--I have no pictures of it naked--I needed it to use immediately to cart around a spare set of batteries and a flash drive. I used the EcoFlo Highlighter and a caruaba cream. Reverse side is a "quilted" pattern with the seeder swivel knife cuts, but since I also used a camo tool, I'm not posting that side. Lace is goat. Tools: swivel knife seeder backgrounder pear shader

Hi Neillo. Some of the topics I read here seem to be of the opinion that over-oiling anything that starts out as veg tan is as bad as not oiling at all, and maybe worse, degrading or rotting out the leather, or simply stinking when the excess oils go rancid. If you want weather resistance, it might be better to start with something that has oils and waxes as part of its tanning/finishing process, like latigo leather. Drum stuffed or hot stuffed leather might also be a possibility? You'll trade off the ability to carve or do much molding, but gain water resistance. Can I also suggest talking to the folks in the saddle and motorcycle subforms? Their products get exposed to a lot of weather, and they will probably have some suggestions.

Nice, nice work. Can I suggest something on the black wallet? Maybe take a little dye on a burned dauber to the cut edge of the binding strip? It's very much paler than the rest of the inside, so it is very noticeable (either that or it's a burnished edge that's picking up the light and I need to get my eyes checked).

ebay sells a lot. But you'll really want to watch the shipping--especially if you are buying a full set of "Foundry type" which is quite heavy. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Vintage-Wood-Type-Ampersand-Symbol-1-x-13-16-Block-4-Antique-Old-Letterpress-/370603310503?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5649adbda7 Here is a metal on wood ampersand. With these letterpress blocks, the best way to get a good impression is by using an arbor press or similar, but I can get good results with a c-clamp and a few blocks of wood to spread the pressure between the letterpress and the clamp, and on the backside of the leather. (Essentially, you make a sandwich--one side of the clamp, block of wood, cased leather, letterpress block, block of wood, other side of clamp.)

I'm sorry to hear that Spinner. She looks like such a sweetheart in her pictures.

Annealling the metal before shaping or after a lot of working to prevent the metal from cracking. The methods are varies, but essentially, one heats the metal, then cools it very slowly. The metal will then regain its softness and can be worked. Afterwards, the metal can be tempered, or heated and cooled quickly (as by quenching) to regain durability. I think if you investigate the forums used by jewelry fabricators (those that make jewelry from ingots, sheet, and/or rod--you might try the ganoksin orchid forum archives in fact) you'll be able to find the best methods for tempering and annealing for the size, shape, thickness, and alloy of brass you are using, plus how to remove or prevent fire scale and how best to polish it (e.g., a brushed finish, mirror polish, and everything in between).

Am I understanding it this right?-- it will be any 4 of the tools from the Basic Seven (swivel knife, pear, veiner, camo, beveler, seeder, and matting)? (And for those that don't have a basic 7, I assume whatever is equivalent?) No modeling spoon on this challenge then--that means I'll have to work harder at walking my tools correctly!