Cyberthrasher

How deep is the dome on your setter? I was just looking at some spot setters and they look basically the same as a domed rivet setter. Try it and see I saw some mention before of using small holes instead of slits. All that said, this video convinces me to get the spot setters

It would depend on the use of the item. Take a belt for example - even if you get it perfect, it's going to start fuzzing out if it's worn every day because it's constantly being pulled through the belt loops. It should last a lot longer than a month though. On the other end, I have a bracelet that I've been wearing every day for well over a year and it's not fuzzing up at all because the edges don't ever come into contact with stuff on a regular basis. And it gets ABUSED. I've already replaced the snap on it once because it started rusting away from sweat!!! But, the edges are perfect One thing that would help is to use a clear coat on the edges, Clear-Lac (or any of the other Lac products) or Resolene or something like that. Basically anything that will seal the fibers down before you wax it. Also, your 150 grit may be causing more fuzzies than anything. I usually start with either 200 or 220 with a touch of water and then move straight to 400. You really want to just shape it and remove any of the fuzzies that are already there without pulling up any more. 150 is course enough that it can actually shred the edge of the leather and just make more work. ALL that said though, some portions of the hide are just naturally fuzzier than the others - especially in the belly. I did a quick dog collar for my "puppy" and had the edge relatively smooth. But, I pulled the strap from a piece of belly I had sitting there and it was really fuzzy to begin with. It's looking pretty ratty right now about a month later (it was "fairly" smooth when I did it). The main reason though is that I didn't spend a whole lot of time doing a perfect job. It was seriously just a 2 hour job because he didn't have a fitting collar at the time. If I were to make one for a customer, I would have never even used that piece of leather, let alone sent it out with the edges in the state they were.

We have a hole sub-forum devoted to dying and finishing leather. Take a look around there, do some reading, then let us know if there's anything you need clarification on. There's lots of information there, so that will help you get an idea and then we can help with any specific questions. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showforum=18 basically, you'll follow these steps. tool oil dye finish If you want to use antique: tool oil dye finish antique finish

Hey, that's the only problem I have with it right now too (except MY tool board, not yours)!!!

This thing is such a work of art, I HAVE to show it off here. I don't even have it in my hands yet. Paul did such a great job on it!!!! I'm kind of speechless over how it came out, so I'll just let the knife do the talking

I always wax my edges last. The oil is fine because it penetrates into the leather and should have had plenty of time to soak in before applying the clear-lac.

Definitely airbrush. I'd follow Billy's mixture, but I'd probably add some brown to the outer edge, so it's more of a 3 tone burst. That's kind of what it looks like to me. I've seen people do it by dry brushing, and I've done it myself in the past, but the time it takes to make it look even is a real pain.

That's the ONLY thing that matters. You got the kids saved, you and your husband are safe, and life goes on. Glad to see that he saved the most important stuff. But, it also kind of makes me wonder what he let go in order to save your work. That's a great husband you have there!! We're all here for you. I won't speak for everyone, but I'll help anyway I can. Looks like you're still better set then I am for tools, but there may be some stragglers around there. Just let us know.

Let's get this back up in the open. Come on guys!! Chancey's stuff is GREAT for bringing dead animals back to life!!!

Supersheen doesn't work as a resist for dye (nothing does accept for actual masking materials) Supersheen is compatible with dye as a finish though.

Depends on what I'm doing. If it's a solid color belt with lots of tooling, I either sponge it all on or airbrush. If it's multi-color, I may hand brush (3, 5, and 0/10 are my favorite sizes), or mask with liquid latex and airbrush. Other times, if I'm going for a solid color with natural color in the tooling, I use a blue Scott shop towel and wipe it on with my hand. For edges, I ALWAYS us a foam sponge brush after sanding my edge so that it doesn't soak the dye in.

Get a nice clean font that will be easy to cut and bevel, then transfer it just like any other piece of artwork.

Works and VERY helpful Wonder if we can find a PDF of it somewhere to get the information in the margins?

Stropping is a very mild form of sharpening. Basically you're just polishing the blade as you use it, not really removing any material as in traditional sharpening. Your tandy blade will probably need to be sharpened (actually, honed is a better term) and then consistently stropped as you're working. The wet stone is fine for regular sharpening/honing. You'll want to make sure it's not too coarse of a grit though so you're not re-shaping the blade as much. Basically it's just like any other blade, we just have to polish them up more often. Up in the "How Do I Do That" section, there's a pinned topic at the top on how to make a strop for knives. There's actually lots of pinned topics throughout the forum regarding knife sharpening. There's nothing really leather specific about it, or USA for that matter. You just need a chunk of wood, some honing compound (the kit comes with jewelers rouge, but I'd only use it if I were out of compound), and a strip of leather or even poster board. http://leatherworker...hp?showforum=36 here you'll find a bunch more stuff on sharpening knives in general http://leatherworker...hp?showforum=10 yes, the kit knife will need some work. Hopefully in time, you'll decide that you want to stick to tooling and end up getting a better swivel knife to work with. Here are a bunch of videos from Pabloz (a very talented knife maker and leatherworker here on the forum) that will show how to sharpen and care for your knives, both round/head and swivel knives - as well as any other knife you may have. Learn these videos well!!! http://www.leatherwr...s.com/tips.html

In a previous post he said it was 2 weeks of work, which makes me even that much more jealous!! But, I suppose if you're working on it all day that's a different story.

I don't do holsters, but I'm afraid of the same thing happening with my guitar straps. I send out an aftercare sheet through email telling them how to handle it and care for it, and emphasize letting it naturally break in with use. I also send a printed copy with the leather - since I know they don't all read the email. I use Resolene on most of them. It's flexible, but will show spider webing if forced like that. I've only had one come back and ask "what can I use to soften this thing up?". I had to point him back at the aftercare sheet and give him directions again. I'm just happy that he asked first!!!

Hey, I got MY maul, that's all that matters!!!

wow!! That's super nice!! I've been wanting to make one for quite some time, but I don't think I'd ever pull off something like that.

As a business owner, it's your responsibility to pay those fees, not your customers. I'm paying PayPal a percentage so that they can collect the money from my customer and process it through all the proper banks. I don't even consider charging that percentage onto my customers because it's not the customer's responsibility to pay for my convenience. As Karina said above, do you get charged the processing fees when you go to the store? No, you pay the same price regardless of payment method. With all that in mind, is it really worth it to rub a customer the wrong way over a few bucks?

Sons of The South?? Yeah, that one's pretty killer man!!

You already know all of my favorite stuff Brother!! Hauss, since Chris is overseas and hopefully sleeping right now...... Go check out his full time band on Youtube - Sixgun Republic. There's quite a few there showing their varying styles - country, rockabilly, punk. Never mind that sleeping part - apparently I'm the one who needs some sleep since I can't tell the difference between morning and night.

If you haven't seen what the dremel press is, it's a little device similar to a drill press that you attach a dremel to and it lets you move the dremel up and down in a controlled fashion. But, it also incrementally rotates 90 degrees. I have mine setup horizontally with the my dremel burnisher so I can see what's going on a lot easier and just run my belts and guitar straps through it real quick with both hands. This is the one I bought, but it looks like they have a different version now. If you're interested in it, keep in mind that it's only technically compatible with certain models of dremel. They're all listed there I think. Basically, it just has to fit in the carriage. I had another battery operated dremel that wouldn't work on it, so I went and bought a new one to fit the press. http://www.amazon.co...8952287-0599345 I don't think it's a replacement for an actual drill press, but as far as burnishing and sanding, it's pretty handy in order to keep both hands free. I'm actually looking for a full size drill press right now, but I need to get a new bench built to house stuff like that.

WOOHOO!!! There's a little bit of wear on it, but as far as anybody else is concerned, that happened before you sealed it Glad you were finally able to get it taken care of. If you ever decide to take up leatherwork, you know where to find us!!

That's a GREAT little visual aid for people!! I never did learn those terms very well.

Yeah, when you first posted, I assumed it would be a minor role. I was pretty happy to see it front and center on the screen as if the whole commercial was designed around it!!