WinterBear

Maybe here? http://en.artesanodecuero.com/flechtbuch/trenza_patria_en.html

Well, the cat is 16, I think he's entitled to his crotchets and occasional lapses of judgement, and the hairball has a serious weakness for all things poultry. He'd nibble on it at the least. The dog, well, Mom's dog is something of a blockhead. He's a rescue who was abused and starved by his former owner. He can't help himself, he can't not eat something. If it is food, or just smells like food, or if he suspects it might be food, he eats it. If you can't convince your teacher, a lot of small potters (those who do white-ware painting classes and have a small business run out of a small storefront) will often fire for a small fee. I've had a few odds and ends fired over the years, and the cost was minimal.

Mostly, I am happy with much of what I get from Tandy. I've managed to get some good leather and tools that do what I ask them to so far from them. But I guess I just equated something being called damascus being actual damascus/pattern welded steel, and I seem to have equated Stohlman in my mind with high quality, probably due to the Stolhman books. I guess I just got excited, and was let down when I found out both knives were essentially overhyped. I'm on the way to buying a good Osborne or Gomph, or something in the same class, as soon as I scrape more money together.

Ok, now I am seriously tempted to try this....but, ungh. Gotta get through Boy Scout summer class and finish two quilts first.

Color me impressed. I sew duck and tent canvas (very very carefully) on a home machine, and that is difficult enough. Did you have to use a walking foot or drop the feed dogs?

Hi TexasLady. I'm sorry to hear that the edges were dried out. You might be able to salvage that though as it picks up oils from your skin and from the leather as you work with it, and it may stabilize the bone. You're welcome! You won't need a huge amount of peroxide, and depending on the percentage, you can dilute it quite a bit, or just daub it on full strength with a cottonball to clean things up a bit, then let the bone sit in the sun for a few hours with the peroxide on it, and rinse well. Sunlight will help hasten the whitening. You certainly won't need to immerse the bone in bottled peroxide for a long period of time, unless it is an absolutely manky nasty thing...which most people wouldn't pick up anyway when it looks that gross! :whistle:I think both skulls took less than two small bottles of peroxide. If you want to clean bones, I can recommend the National Park Service's "Conserve-O-Gram" for basic instructions (NAtional Park Sevice Conserve-O-Gram), with the following caveats--I would really avoid the ammonia soak and some of their other instructions. Greases in the bone structure react with the ammonia, and smell really really bad--as in, your neighbors will think you have a carcass lying out somewhere. And heating ammonia as the document also mentions is also a hugely bad idea, very very toxic, very very flammable. You're neighbors might suspect you have a meth lab in your workshop if you burn it up by boiling ammonia. Don't use the dermestids or the toxic chemicals they also mention--those methods are best handled in a prep facility with a fire suppression system, a confined dermestid colony, somewhere to proerly dispose of hazardous materials, and a fume hood to vent the objectionable odors and the fumes. Instead, stick to the general cleaning methods with the warm water, the soaking, simmering in warm water, and using sodium perborate (this is the BORAX! hehehe) in the soak/simmer water. The sodium hydroxide that they also mention is found in many detergents, and is also known as caustic lye, but plain old Borax does what you need it to, so avoid the lye. The peroxide methods for whitening the bone are on pages 6 and 7. Lastly, most of the methods here are going to be overkill, as a soup bone won't have been from something lying in the sun for too long and will be pretty easy to clean and won't have any odor if all of the grease is out of the bone before it spoils. In fact, anything laying around in the forest is probably not going to be good for carving as it often has a high microbial level, and you'd likely need a permit anyway. I personally stick to butcher bones or the dog bones from the pet store for carving to avoid the whole issue. Yes, bone dust is terrible. Inhaled dust from bone/ivory/antler isn't absorbed by your body. It can cause chronic lung damage, pneumoconiosis...essentially you can give yourself miner's lung, or just flat out make yourself sick from a particularly nasty infection, or from the dust lodging in your lungs and casing inflammation and cysts that build up around the particles. If you want to work bone, try stopping into your local hardware store and look at the NIOSH approved half-face respirators with replaceable cartridges. 3M makes one that is pretty comfortable and relatively inexpensive (the cost is much less than a doctor's visit), and you can get cartridges for different tasks. Most packaging will tell what cartridges to use for particulates, or you can ask someone who works with exotic woods or antler inlay for advice, so then you'd just have to get filters for the correct particle size. I've never tanned hide, or bird skins, so couldn't tell you if you could tan smoked turkey skin leather. It sounds plausible though, but I'd never be able to pry the cat or the dog off of it if I tried to make something with that hide. I used to work with a fellow that did reproduction smoking pipes (mountain man pipes mostly), and I would prepare the turkey and chicken bones for him to make pipe-stems with. Occasionally, he'd make whistles and such with them as well. He also made non-historically accurate things with bird bones, like scarf slides using sections of the bone to form the center/core of the slide, and then tying rawhide knots over the outside of the bone, or making a sort of scrimshaw pattern with ink.

I am glad I asked the question before buying something I will ultimately be very unhappy with. So, for now, I am setting aside some additional money so I can get something I will be happy with and that I can use for years. I am disappointed about the Tandy knife especially--I was hoping for some modicum of quality, but it sure sounds like that isn't the case.

Glad I wasn't completely off base and could provide some help. I think I suggested the lacing because I'm a better lacer than a sewer yet (I'm working on it).

I'm not sure how thin you need, but Springfield Leather has kidskin in a variety of colors including two metallic colors (bronze and platinum). The kidskin is 2oz. It might work, but I'm not sure if the grain side is sueded or not, so I think you'd have to call them up or email them and ask. Both Tandy and Springfield sell some sort of shoe and boot scrap, but that's a crap shoot as to what you'd get and the colors. However, most Tandy stores usually have a rummage bin of upholstery bits, some of which are large and if you're lucky you can find the colors you want. if you have one close. The local Tandy also has quite a bit of patent leather they get in odd lots, some of which is quite thin, and they get a lot of different colors in. You might see if your closest Tandy or Leather Factory does the same. You might also see if you can find the manufacturers of purses in the region, or call the places that make custom cowboy boots, and see who sells their scrap. Sometimes they sell it through a local hobby store by 1 pound bags.

Oh my, that is so very classic, elegant...(rambles on into incoherent muttering). wow

Mammalogists that prepare bone for teaching groups and lab specimens suggest never using bleach, or if you must use bleach, never soak bones in bleach. It weakens the bone and will cause it to crumble over time. Bleach can be used to wipe or to help degrease, but should be followed with a soak in clean water to get it out of the pores. Better to use a strong peroxide solution which is pretty good for both whitening and getting rid of germs, and won't degrade the bone. The university still has a pair of antelope skulls I prepped and cleaned with peroxide for use in the mammalogy labs there. The final projects of all of the students became part of the collection to replace the items that were deteriorating due to age and handling. The skulls were cleaned by putting them in water that was below boiling--hot, but not boiling-with a small amount of non-sudsing detergent and keeping them in there for several hours. I brushed as needed with a stiff scrub-brush, but mostly, anything attached fell off on its own. I've done similar prep work with bird legs (turkey mostly) for making cores and stems, and it works great for those fragiler bones too. I've done some beef-bone work, and I personally like the mellowed look of unbleached bone. I've given away most of the tools I made (silly of me, I know), but I think I still have a small unbleached beef bone pendant around here somewhere. I'll scrounge it up and post a picture tomorrow. The material from the pendant came from a great source--pre-cleaned and sterile white dog bones from the pet store! Just make sure you wear good safety equipment when you work your beef bone--bone dust is nasty and can really tear up your lungs and eyes. It also smells pretty funky, so best to do it outside so the family doesn't disown ya.

Dagnabbit. Every post I've made over the past day hasn't posted. Let's try again... Seems is more complex than I thought. I'll have to put some more thought into this so I get exactly and precisely what I want and be very happy with my purchase. Look are secondary for use for me on a lot of things, for the simple reason that I have more than plenty paperweights as it is! Terry/Knipper, Bobby/HidePounder, Art, Ben/gtwister09, Mike/rawhide, and Bruce Johnson: Thanks for the advice and sharpening tips, especially on the differences on the different grades of carbon steel, damascus, and stainless. Luckily, humidity isn't much of a problem around here unless someone is foolish enough to fall into the pond, so as long as I don't put anything away wet and keep the sharp stuff in a "camera box" (a wooden box that has a bunch of silica packets in to absorb the air-borne moisture), I dont think it will matter much to me as long as it will keep and edge and does what it is supposed to. I'll do some more research and watch fleabay for a while. (Fleabay! I love it! )

Sorry, I've never heard them called anything else but "peg" buckles, but I know that isn't the right name. I do know that Tandy sells them. Any of their buckles with a "flat" front is pegged. If I was going to make a belt for an active 4-year-old boy, I would go for fairly inexpensive and pretty simple in case it gets lost, and since I don't have a lot of skills, I'd go for things that would make the assembly easy. So I'd go with something like this: Small Buckle Blank 1805-00 Small Pre-Punched Buckle Blank Cover 44853-00 1" belt blank with snaps: 44546-00 OR 1 1/4" belt blank with snaps: 44545-00 1" Belt keeper: 4600-02 OR 1 1/4" keeper 4600-03 A lacing needle and about two yards of 1/8" lace for a double-loop edge--it's sturdy and wears well. The raised edge gives a good grip too. The advantages to this is that he can swap out different buckles to suit his current fascinations (batman, Pixar, dogs, cars, earthmovers, what have you) and because of the snaps, the belt can be swapped out for different colors or styles, or lengths as he grows. The disadvantage is the price. This costs more than a belt from WalMart, and the pre-snapped belt is more expensive than putting snaps on after cutting your own blank or punching your own strap. But a belt made of actual belt-leather and finished correctly will last easily 4 or 5 times as long, won't shed crud off the edges, won't crack, and won't slit between the buckle holes --unless it is put through a lot of abuse, and he would have to really work at it to do that much damage.

Maybe just a western/peg-type buckled with the peg on the back would work? Only thing is, it can't be left on the floor--stepping on that peg at 2am will cause the parental units to holler plenty!

Ok, now I know what to look for, I have a feeling I will be contacting you soon. I've looked up you website and quite like a lot of what I see there. A good tool that is used because it works the way it is mean to, and is used a lot, has a certain look to it, and I see that with the knives you showcase. I also quite like the lacing tools--one of those would have made a few projects easier!

Hello LNLeather, sorry for the long wait, I wanted to poke around on those sites a bit. They have some great resources. I'll be making use of those in the coming weeks. And it might be time to dig out the cookie cutters... (I wish the Girl Scouts in my area had done something like this too. Frankly, they never really did anything and I wound up joining 4-H just so I could do something).

Thanks for the replies and the advice, much appreciated.

Ok, a relativity raw novice here, and I'm looking for some good advice. I'm looking at what I want to do, and have determined that one of the things I will need is a round knife/head knife. And which is which, or are the two terms more or less interchangeable? There are several options in my price range, but it seems to be neck and neck with the Osborn and the Stolhman knives I've listed in the poll above as far as basic reviews and price. So I've come to ask those who are most familiar with these things to help me decide what I should get, or, tell me why I should get neither and get something else!

Thanks! I thought it might be elephant because of the checking--I've been shown a piece that looked much like it. I'll have to get some of that bison hide... It might be time for me to wander down to Colorado or see if the Terry Bison Ranch sells it.

Looks like elephant?

I have a feeling your bud's fellow Marines may attempt to mug him for this. Nice.

Whoops. I just realized my gender was set to "male". It's fixed now. I'm one of those odd ducks in the Scouting program, the adult female.

Thanks King's X. Ohhoo, tutorials. I'm all over those like ugly on an ape. Thanks for the links TwinOaks (also an Eagle).The oven covers are just a pipe dream at this point, but Springfield Leather's Low Grade Hides would probably work and the cost might not be too frightening. I can also talk to the Tandy manager and see if he would sell me a lousy side. The Troop is old (1934, I think), and has a lot of good equipment that needs some tender loving care. I'm hoping oven covers would keep some grand old ovens around for another 40 years or so, and I hope protecting them from knocks, scrapes and drops by giving a good case to carry them in will go a long ways towards that.

Hello all. I've been poking around on the web to get some information on leather-working and have come to the conclusion that this must be the place to be! I am amazed by the beautiful work in the galleries, the friendly folk here, the great tutorials, and topic after topic of ideas, tips, and techniques. I'm mostly picking up leatherwork due to the Scouts youths I work with (Boy Scout, one Lone Weeb, and a Venture Crew), along with other folks in OA, in my Wood Badge class, and Lions. So, from week to week, I'm usually up to my eyeballs in people who use leather and need leather, but since they are all non-profit, costs are an issue. To go hand in hand with that, I've been asked to teach a leatherworking class for the Troop summer camp...and I am only a dabbler at best! I have a feeling I will be begging for a lot of help on this forum. Luckily, the merit badge requirements are pretty straightforward and most of the boys are 12 and older. I'll also have one of the other adult leaders who went through Wood Badge with me to help, thank goodness. I've been working on sample projects for the boys to select from prior to camp. So far, I think I have 6 or 8 different woggles (turks heads, mystery braids, and tooled or stamped ones that are stitched, laced, or formed). I've also taken an embossed BSA buckle kit, and dyed and finished it as another sample, and I'll be making key fobs, one or two knife sheaths, and maybe a formed belt pouch for other ideas. I'm also teaching myself some lacing, but I'm hoping to avoid the plastic stuff, so I have some nice braiding manuals to help me learn to use latigo lace. Are there any other Boy Scouts/Scouters around that would have any good ideas for some projects for the camp in the short term, and for the Troop and Crew as a whole for the long term? One idea I have for the Troop/Crew, for instance, is to make leather cases to protect our dutch ovens using the techniques in the Stolman's leather cases books... edit--it would really help if I watched my spelling!