WinterBear

Hi, Welcome to the forum. I just commented on you gallery, nice ideas on those.

I've seen a small dog print stamp on Etsy (look under metal jewelry stamps). Very tiny--about the size of the end of a pencil. If you want a bigger/2-D print, Wishful's idea of grinding off the claws would work. The left one is one that has been ground down, the right one is the current wolf print stamp from Tandy (8286). vs

You're welcome. Glad I was able to help. WHoops, I forgot to post the flame stamps. Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-BARON-LEATHER-TOOL-152-BIKER-FLAME-NEW-/400233232594?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2fc278d2 for a small stamp and http://cgi.ebay.com/Matched-Pair-Flame-Emboss-Plates-1-3-4-Wide-/320737927798?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aad786276 for larger ones that will need a press.

Good luck. I hope you can find what you need.

I think the user Studio N has one as a Delrin clicker/hammer stamp--It's a soft serve cone though. It's not on his main website (http://www.lasered-s...sc?categoryId=2), but he does have one on ebay at the moment (http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item336909773b). If you want an itty bitty thing, there is a jewelry stamp that I have seen used on leather. It can be found at the following websites: My linkhttps://www.romazone.com/supplies/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59&products_id=199 http://www.etsy.com/listing/27048555/ice-cream-cone-design-stamp-for-jewelry

Well, if nobody here has a pattern, maybe try contacting the National USMC Museum?: http://www.virtualusmcmuseum.com/ They also have a page of links to other USMC museums and historical associations: http://www.usmcmuseum.com/marine_links.asp

I don't see why that wouldn't make a great maker's mark Nooj.

Did it somehow get hot? The folks that make armor post that they boil or heat leather to make it hard, but they also say it will get darker and may be brittle if it is heated too long.

That's going to be a great workbench. By the way, I showed a coworker your mini-solo bag, and he thought it was fantastic. He's wondering if you'd consider producing more and how much it would set him back?

OK, an evaluation of the oil pencils method on rawhide. Caveats: 1) All I had was a bend of cow rawhide, which is probably not going to be used to make drum with anyway, It's just too thick. 2) I just don't have the hand strength to stretch it transparency and smoothness. So all in all, it's thick, rough, and about as rough as 120-180 grit sandpaper. Not exactly conducive to drawing smooth lines. 3) I also did not have my good ink pen, so I used a brush marker that was much to thick for the size of the example--the figure is only about 2 1/2 inches tall. Pros: 1) Greasy spots? No problem. It accepted the pigments quite nicely, and the Testors smoothed the surface and blended the colors. 2) The Testors thinned the pigment to the point where it was absorbed into the hide. 3) The Testors evaporated away, leaving the pigment on the leather and dry. Cons: 1) If you have a thick layor of pigment, it can rub into adjacent areas or bleed a bit with the Testors. See the hind legs and the far wing. 2) The rougher the hide, the coarser the details have to be. 3) The oils will need to be sealed in some way to prevent the oils from rubbing onto uncolored portions or to the beater (if used). A spray fixative meant for oil pencils would probably work. It tends to be non-crazing, flexible, and non-yellowing. So all in all, it might be worth exploring, but I don't think it will be what you want to do. You need to find someone who has used alcohol-based inks, I think. The water-based might not work on greasy spots well?

Wow, you won't have to move anything around to get a big piece over the stone, will you? Will you set it flush with the top, or have it on top of a base?

The ladybug is an especially nice touch.

I've put a small piece of rawhide to soak and I'll get it stretched tomorrow. A friend is letting me steal her pencils for an hour or so this weekend, and I have a bottle of Testor's thinner/brush cleaner in the cabinet. So, I should be able to tell you what I think of the "pencil painting" on rawhide in a few more days.

Maybe you can use oil pencils and oil pastels to draw on leather, then blend, thin, and "paint" the drawing with a thinning medium used for model enamel paint. I have done this on cardstock, hot and cold press watercolor papers, unfinished wood, gesso, and goose eggs, along with some fabrics. I plan to be trying it on leather too, but haven't had the time yet, or the money to get myself new oil pastels! I expect it would work on rawhide about as well as it does on gesso or wood. "Painting" with the thinner can cause drawn edges to bleed, so use caution.

From what I understand, she forges the clips. The metal is shaped, then tempered by working and heating/cooling cycles. She also starts with a heavier gauge than most I see. I think the clip is mostly meant for dressing up or a gift. Daily day-to-day would ruin the mirror finish, the chasing, and the malachite cab, but the piece is actually pretty robust. I'd honestly expect it to outlast the brass or nickle ones I see sold most often. You ought to take some sketches to a smallish jeweler and see what they'd charge you to job-lot a few dozen. A big place wouldn't want to do it unless you were buying a lot (100 or 1000 + pieces), and a really small one might not have the abilities/equipment to do multiple castings. I'd suggest some folks I know, except the shipping here and back would probably cost more than the work! Not to mention, US silver prices are pretty steep right now.

There is the stuff they use to paint unglazed bisque (aka clay that is fired once to cure it from green ware, or wet clay, to bisque ware fired clay) might be what he was speaking of. Bisque is often painted with pastels and acrylics. The stuff most often used is an acrylic medium, often in unique colors and finishes. Duncan is one brand I have used (Liquid Pearl, Ultra Metallic, and the stains), along with Lusters, Pearls, Metallics, and Translucents in other brands. Some of the stuff does come as a powder that is brushed on as an accent, but it can be harder to use. Most of the ones I used were easier in the pre-mixed form, which for some of the metallics is the metallic powder in a clear or tinted suspension of acrylic medium. I've seen some stuff here where the makers used acrylics and seal with an acrylic sealer (Super Sheen and others), so maybe you can substitute your powders with thinned-down metallic acrylics and do a little experimenting on scrap?

If you look at most high end journals and diaries with a closure, there IS a little gap. It isn't butted up flush and tight against the edge of the front and back boards of the book (the cover), so the slight excess bows away from the edges of the book slightly. The reason being that pages get a little warped when they are written on. Not by much, but some, so the book gets minutely "thicker". It also allows a little bit of expansion if the journal owner tucks a pressed flower or a picture or three in there. That little bit of free play prevents the closure and the closure tab that goes from the back to the front cover from being over-strained. It also allows for a pen to be tucked under the closure tab in the gap between the covers and the page edges, which most journal owners seem to do.

Yeoo. Pretty well crisped. But it could have been so much worse, I'm happy for you that most of the damage was cosmetic and most of the important tools (and the rest of the house!) are undamaged. If you haven't already, you might ask your local hardware store if they have fire chemicals to wipe the salvaged items down with. They're degreaser and detergent types formulated to get rid of the nasty gunky grubby soot on everything. That being said, I have a brand new, still in the bag, still dipped in edge protectant, french edge skiver. I accidentally bought one, it got lost in the chaos, so I bought another. And then found the first a week ago. I haven't taken it back yet, so you're welcome to it if you want it? It's just hobby quality (Tandy Craftool) but it does a pretty nice job.

Holler at me if I can help too? I don't have a much that isn't the hobby-type quality, but I'm sure I can help with something.

Welcome CritterPoor. I'm just beginning myself with a lot of this, and finding all sorts of tips, great ideas, and help here. Plus lots of fantastic items to aspire to!