WinterBear

That's what he was telling you right there. Embossing and plugs. Look up plugs and "leather putty" on this board, and on you-tube, and you'll find a lot. A leather plug is a piece of leather that is cut to shape and glued into an embossed hollow on the backside, usually with contact cement. Leather putty is a bunch of ground leather scraps or the residue from sanding, mixed with glue until it forms a paste, and is pressed into the hollows in much the same manner. If you go to Clay B.'s tutorials and click through the Buffalo Feathers Tutorial or the Bear Paw, he has pictures or the embossing methods. http://badlandsleatherart.com/BadlandsLeatherArtTutorials.html The hollow is filled with leather putty on page 32 of the bear paw tutorial: http://www.leatherworker.net/bearpaw/pages/bearpaw%20%2832%29.htm

Don't know where to get the hologram skingray other than Roje, but you might take a look at Shark King out of Florida for stingray in bright colors, metallic flake, and camo, zebra, leopard and tiger patterns. http://www.sharkking.com/ Leather Guy has stingray in giraffe prints, various colors of ring lizard, various frog leather, and some cow in a frog print. Also has genuine cape buffalo with an embossed pattern. http://www.theleatherguy.org/ Check the "falling leaf" and "tan" colors of their embossed alligator cowhide--it looks similar to that tack of yours. http://www.theleatherguy.org/STOCK-LEATHERS-147213/8146727-STOCK-LEATHER-Leather/ProductInfo.aspx Hidehouse has hair-on calf in leopard, cheetah, zebra, and cobra patterns.

Thanks, I'll have to give a wallet a try now. This seems like a good choice for a first one. What weight do you all recommend for the exterior pieces, and the interior pocket pieces? I don't want it too thick from what I've read on the forum, but I don't want a "floppy" wallet either.

That is exactly it. The glycerine in the soap itself is preventing the dye penetration. It is less of a problem with black because the dye is so dark that an area that has slightly less dye penetration is completely hidden/darkened by what dye does penetrate. I know some people bevel, then dye, then burnish to avoid this, but I'm not sure how well that works and what problems that may entail either. (it may mean that the unburnished edges may pick up more dye, or may dye unevenly, for instance). Some also will only burnish first with water to prevent the fats in soaps and conditioners from getting on the surfaces they wish to dye, and to keep the dye from penetrating the edge so much. They will then often re-burnish with glycerine or wax after dying to finish the edge and bring the edge to its final gloss. Edit: Seems Tree Reaper popped in as I was typing. Yeah, what he said.

That might be a hard weight to find. You may have to get something thinner and bond it to something to get your correct weight? Leatherguy has some Cape Buffalo (not waterbuffalo, but similar species) with an embossed pattern in a rosewood color in 3-4 oz. http://www.theleatherguy.org/BISON-BUFFALO-LEATHER-143933/Cape-Buffalo-147296.aspx Hide House has a pull-up waterbuffalo in brown in a 2.5-3 oz weight. https://hidehouse.com/products/index.html?Category=UW Zack White has some waterbuffalo, but it seems to be in the 8-9 oz range, and I don't know if they'll split the leather to something thinner.

Check sewing supply/craft stores that sell fabric on the bolt. They usually carry replacement blades and sharpeners for rotary blades, plus handy gadgets like handles that attach to your straight edge with suction cups to help keep fingers out of the blade's path.

My gosh, if she puts that on her horse, the poor beast will be carried off by magpies.

Oo, pretty. I love the textures. I bet both sides are as nice to touch as they are to look at.

Sturgeon, probably like this place has: http://www.sibel.fr/sturgeon.html Interesting looking stuff--I like it but don't think I could get it here in the US.

You're very welcome. The thing makes nice fringe, when you can find the blades that is!

Hi papaw. I've links to a couple places that have those. Centralia: https://furandhide.com/products/categories/tools Stanley (100 blades) http://www.stanleysupplyservices.com/general-852-100-replacement-blades/p/119-376, (5 blades) http://www.stanleysupplyservices.com/general-852-5-replacement-blades/p/119-377 Koblick: http://www.koblicksupply.com/gecaof5hbl10.html

Look at the gun holsters subforum for belt stiffeners and the things the makers of such do to make their belts stiffer (and less likely to "W" too, I think--but also maybe not comfortable either). Makers suggest hard-rolled horse hide, two pieces of thick leather bonded and sewn flesh-sides together, widening the belt, and laminating things like a piece of fiberglass pallet strapping tape between the leather, among other things.

You're definitely right Nigel. You can tell them they aren't looking in the right museums then! Here are some museum examples that appear to be saddle-stitched, or maybe just double-running stitch. I think these all are early to late Medieval. http://www.bunrattycollection.com/search.php?i=138 http://www.bunrattycollection.com/search.php?i=140 http://www.bunrattycollection.com/search.php?i=146 As for crude? Well, yeah. When you consider that the average person wouldn't have a lot of access to tools and didn't have the leisure to learn to make things at the epitome of the art unless they were masters or journeymen of that craft--and those items would have been made for and owned by the wealthy. In a situation like that, good enough was often as good as it got for day-to-day items for the average schmoe. You should remind them that what remains for history often is recovered from garbage pits or battlefields, where animals, microbes, and the weather would have caused havoc on anything organic. Nothing organic looks pretty or well made after being chewed on or worn out to the point of being deemed non-salvageable and then thrown somewhere nasty to fester for hundreds of years. edit: This too: http://www.historiclife.com/pdf/flasks.pdf

You might also try doing a search on these forums for other projects made for and by firefighters. Other users here have probably posted what dyes, paints, and sealers they have used for helmet shields and suspenders. And there will likely be some discussion of what did and did not seem to work well.

Could be a couple of things, based on my personal experiences. What type and brand of dyes and paints are you using? And have you conditioned your leather before dying? We have a lot of brilliant people on here who can probably help you out if they know a little more. I'll give you some examples of some of the issues I've had and the reasons I found for poor sticking. Poor acrylic. Not always able to figure this one out by looking. If your supplier has allowed the paint to freeze, for instance, it will often be compromised and bond poorly. Or it may be a "cheap" paint--not necessarily the same as inexpensive. But a "cheap" paint is what I call it when the pigment grains are coarser and the binders are poor quality. Try a paint with a fine grind and a better binder. They are not always the expensive ones. I get decent results with CeramCoat and some of the artist acrylic tubes from the hobby store. I refuse to buy any of the paint from the big box stores though, as it is too often been allowed to freeze somewhere in its transport. Improper mixing or thinned too much. If the paint isn't thoroughly shaken (liquid) to get the pigments and binders well blended, the pain could have weak spots and will bind poorly. Too much water can also thin out the binders too much as well. I have used Satin Sheen and Super Sheen as my thinning agent--it works well to thin the paint without making it too weak. It can cause cloudiness in some colors though. Leather is too smooth. It could be that the buffing you are doing is essentially polishing the surface, and there isn't enough "tooth" for the paints to hold on to. Lastly, my biggest problem is not letting it dry enough between layers. The more water I add, the longer it takes to dry. You'll have to find a happy medium between thin and not too much water. And then let it dry, and dry it completely between each thin layer until the leather is bone dry. I am too often impatient, and don't let the layers dry enough, so adjacent layers bond and form a thicker layer that is more prone to lifting.

You might also try fabric or home decor supply stores for brass zipper by the yard. I can get zipper for $2/yard, and a box with two stops and two zipper pulls for a buck. I buy zipper a couple of yards at a time, and keep a couple of pulls and stops around. When I need a strong zipper, I just cut off what I need. Instructions for using zipper by the yard are online all over, as are instructions for shortening zippers, so if you want a colored zipper that's 23 inches, you can buy a bigger zipper and use it if you need to. For shearling where you don't need to buy a whole hide, you might look into these links and see if any of what they have will work: http://www.chichesterinc.com/SheepskinShearlingScrap.htm http://springfieldleather.com/32947/Wool%2CPieces/ and for whole sheep hides, you might try http://www.theleatherguy.org/ (there is also an ebay store). The hides run around $45, plus shipping. No orange, but black, creams, browns, and grays are usually on hand.

Don't know of a seeder that large, but what about using a piece of pipe? A piece of small diameter copper pipe or a pipe coupling should be able to withstand a limited amount of stamping and should be relatively inexpensive. A jeweler's stamp may also work (http://www.etsy.com/...mp-large-bubble). The stamping edges of a jeweler's stamp may need to be blunted by drawing the impression face across sandpaper glued to a piece of glass, and the shoulders of the stamp may need to be ground back as well to make something like this usable as a leather stamp. You might also take a look at Barry King's flower centers. Clicking on the pictures will bring up a ruler for scale, and you might find something the right size that you like. http://www.barrykingtools.com/page3.htm

Springfield Leather also carries the milled veg tan, but only in the 3-4 oz weight, yet sells it by the square foot up to an entire side.

Have you thought about getting an inexpensive top stub checkbook cover, or cover and wallet, that you can deconstruct and use to make your own pattern? They'll run about $2-4, plus shipping, for a vinyl checkbook cover, and a plain import leather checkbook cover+wallet from Amazon will run up to $20 plus shipping. Even getting a cheap vinyl cover would give you somewhere to start, then you can use some ideas from the great wallet tutorial pages to add to it to make it into a wallet or checkbook clutch, or add things like slots for pens, a pocket calendar, credit card slots, and so on. Since you're worried about a time frame, have you tried calling around to see if you have any small specialty office and stationary supply shops? They often cater to small businesses and executives, and have stock items for imprinting. If they have the covers, they might be willing to sell you a cheap plain cover or a misprint.

The first thought I have, and keep and mind that I've never seen a foil machine in person, is what the heck are you supposed to use for the impression? It doesn't seem to come with printers cuts/type, and there are no specs given for what you need to buy--as they don't apear to sell the pieces for that either?

If you need only small amounts, you could also try taxidermy places. I've bought from Promised Land Tannery, a small taxidery/tannery that has some nice furs and antlers. It's in Washington and I was well pleased with the couple of pelts I bought. They also have an Etsy shop, but due to policy changes, they aren't allowed to sell some of their products on Etsy. http://www.promisela...index.html and http://www.etsy.com/shop/Furries You might also try looking for taxidermy places that are a little more local to your location. Sometimes those have a portion open to buyers, and you can see the items in person (taxidermy places are excellent places to find fur scraps too, especially the trimmings from rug making, as well as partial hides like rear-halves, or hides that aren't high-enough quality for mounts). You might also try Moscow Hide and Fur in Idaho, Chichester in New York, and Centralia in Washington: http://www.hideandfur.com/, http://www.chicheste...products.htm#A2, https://furandhide.c...categories/furs If you want reindeer, you might also try this ebay seller out of Florida. http://www.ebay.com/...products&_sac=1 I've not bought furs from them, but they do have nice horns. Chichester, Centralia, and Moscow Hide and Fur also sell other species, such as bison, that may provide more-rub-resistant fur. I gave away a deer hide last year becase the hollow hair would not hold up like I would have wanted it to.

Dwight, you might enjoy these links then: Wampum belt designer http://www.nativetech.org/beadwork/wampumgraph/index.html http://www.kahnawakelonghouse.com/index.php?mid=2 http://www.ganondagan.org/wampum.html A pair of glass bead wampum belt reproductions on this page http://www.warof1812rph.com/images-2/six-nations/ A nice reproduction of the George Washington Covenant Belt or the Canandaiagua Treaty Belt made by twining http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2010/06/wampum-belt-by-mariah-blake-for-robert.html This is a good go-to site. All kinds of belts from reproduction to important historical pieces. I can spend hours here. http://www.wampumbear.com/P_The%20Wampum%20Cabinet%20Archive.html, take a look at the photos here too http://www.wampumbear.com/P_Wampum%20Photo%20Gallery.html A google image search for the "Dust Fan", "Tadodaho", and "Hiawatha" belts will bring up some very large wide belts that are incredibly impressive. Amazon has a nice book. The pictures are not the best, and it black and white, but the paterns can be made out, and there is quite a bit of history provided. http://www.amazon.com/Wampum-Belts-Iroquois-Tehanetorens-Fadden/dp/157067082X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387732287&sr=1-2 Pay no attention to the third review - false review by someone who thought they were being "funny".

Oh, I've a pattern for a couple of different ones of those, I think. I'm not at home, but I'll see if I can find it when I am much later tonight, and send it to your messages here.

If you buy from Bruce, what ever Bruce sends you will be scary sharp and ready to work. None of this "need to grind out nicks, glue the handle, true the edges and re-sharpen before you can even use it". No nicks, no steel that has been sharpened and allowed to get hot and lose its temper either.