Cyberthrasher

by the time he comes over, the wallet is usually pretty dry, so I don't think I would have too much of a problem applying a real finish at that point. He's another IT guy like me, so he spends a LOT of time sitting on it, wearing everything down

I used it before I could afford to place an order at one time, so it is good in a pinch. But, I don't think I'd ever use it on a high-dollar item. The small stuff that's for friends or family would most likely be it - something where I can come back later and do it right. Actually, one of my friends has a wallet from my "conditioner as a finish" days, so whenever he comes over to my house I re-apply for him and say "one of these days we need to put some real finish on this so the dye quits fading".

I would say the finishing products available are any of the "Sheen" products (super sheen, wyosheen), Resolene, Clearlac/neatlac/saddlelac (all lacquer based), Tan-Kote, Bag-Kote, and some others from Bee Natural - but I don't want to quote specifics on that one since I'm not entirely sure of their intended uses for the different products. I'm sure I'm missing a few, but that's a good list. I don't know about harness dressing or atom wax for sure, but I KNOW that neatsfoot oil is a conditioner, hence the reason I added "or any oil" to the quoted post. In fact, the Lexol bottle of neatsfoot says "leather conditioner" on it. Oil feeds the leather with the nutrients it needs by soaking into it. Anything that soaks into the leather is not a finish and will not protect the dye. I believe atom wax is more of a top coat that could be considered a "temporary" finish because any wax solution will eventually wear off and need to be re-applied. I imagine the same is true for harness dressing. I use Montana Pitch Blend for a leather dressing. When I first started I thought it would work as a "finish", but soon realized that it doesn't really protect the dye long-term. It does give a waxy coating while conditioning the leather, but it will eventually wear off, leaving the dye exposed to be rubbed off or degraded by the elements. I've never used Tan-Kote myself, so I'll defer to someone like Billy who's used it before. I thought I had read somewhere that it could be thinned just like Resolene, but I may have been thinking of Bag-Kote. The "Kote" in them makes me mix them up all the time

Just remember that Tan-Kote is a finish and Olive Oil (or any oil) is a conditioner. The oil won't protect your dye at all, it will only feed the leather. Did you try thinning the Tan-Kote? Most finish products will require thinning in order to apply them evenly, which will also reduce the amount of sheen on them.

I have no experience in Sheridan, but I do know that I would NEVER pay $24 for a Tandy tool, when I can get one of Barry's for $25 - $35 depending on the tool. I just wish Barry would put comparative sizes up (or numbers) so you can see what closely resembles the tools you're looking for. Now, i did go looking for some stops at BK last night and noticed he didn't have any that were quite the shape I was looking for, but anything he has I would buy before i went to a mass produced product.

Yeah, that's why I was leaning toward a flattened screwdriver as a matter. I obviously don't know how well the BK's would get there, but I know a problem I have right now is the dang ridge showing its face in the middle of my work like that. So, if I were to do it now I would definitely need something to mat things down.

Do you think they'd be able to get the flat look like that, or would they still need something to mat down the interior? I just hit buy on some small BK smooth beveler's (unrelated to this topic), so I guess I'll be able to see for myself soon

Well, this one takes up my full screen once I open up the thumbnail from his gallery http://anvilcustoms.com/perch/resources/img_7582-w960h640-w960h640.jpg How about a full size wallet http://anvilcustoms.com/perch/resources/img_2689-w960h640.jpg

I'm trying not to steer this conversation even further away from the original question, but Anvil has lots of closeup large pictures of beautiful hand tooled work on his website, as well as closeup pictures of the stuff that's done with embossing plates. I don't see him trying to hide anything in his pictures. In fact, there are a couple pictures in his gallery that I would call less then premium work and look like they're from the beginning of his career. And, in regards to that keyfob, read the description. It's made with an "Anvil Original solid brass Quick Snap". Yeah, it's a little bit of marketing. But, Anvil Customs is named based on the fact that he's a metal worker. All of the metal chains and snaps you see are built in house by him. So, can we please get this conversation away from the man's pricing and judgement of his quality? He does work, he charges his price, and he's successful at it. The OP admired his work and asked "How do I do that" not "Why does he charge that".

When I originally suggested it, I thought of that exact same question, which is why I said key-ring (not that you'd know that ) the ball chain just says "this is a tag with a fancy metal clip", where the key ring with some other method of attachment says "this is a keyring - use it as such". Now, you could put a little piece of that chain in there and then put the keyring on that to get things facing the right direction. Just a thought.

Also, if you know anybody with a newborn They're always willing to get rid of all those piles of baby food jars. I also used some jars that came from some powdered beef and chicken bouillon that are a touch bigger then baby food jars. They're nice because they have a seal on them.

Really? Are you looking at his site or just his facebook page? He really does do top-notch work. Yeah, he has some cookie cutter designs, but he has a lot of really cool one-off stuff too. Is it possible that you're just looking at the thumbnails that have to be clicked to open up the larger pictures? http://anvilcustoms.com/store.php

Man, I really need to get me one of those. But, I don't have a press or anywhere to put one, so I'd be limited on being able to fit my product in the bench vise. Either way, I really need something more descriptive then what I'm doing now. The level of detail he gets in that is awesome.

Hey, if you ever think it's perfect, go find a new craft to master. No sense in continuing if you already know it all Even masters still learn all the time. Good thing I already know your a perfectionist who nit picks yourself more than everyone else does. It takes one to know one.

I'm about to do the same. There are a couple of different blades I want, like a beader and some good angled blades - the stuff I don't use all to often but when I need it, I wish I had it. Not something I can justify buying a whole new assembly for, but the price for the various blades to go to my Tandy barrels is well worth it.

GREAT JOB NATALIE!! All that persistence has paid off. Looks like you're even getting the hang of the edge burnishing

Those look like they're from Anvil. I'm pretty sure he has a lot of custom embossing stamps that he uses, but I could be wrong. I know I've seen a few of his items pop up with the same design. Heck, he could just make the stamps himself. I really don't know. It would also be possible to modify a tool to stamp down like that instead of cutting. First thing that pops into my mind would be a flat blade screwdriver with the tip ground down to a flat surface. You could also modify a beveler to do the same thing. I have one that's really thin and long like that which could be modified by eliminating the angle so it no longer bevels and just makes a straight line. Check out his facebook page for some more awesome examples.

If things aren't sharp, I'd say it's a creaser as well. I used to work at a box plant making the cardboard and this looks like a piece of the machinery that the cardboard would run through at the end to create the creases in the box.

It's a pretty specialized area, so some of those people may not have seen your request yet. You might ask down in the sewing section. In fact, I'd say a good way to start is to go through that section of the forum and find a lot of the frequent questions since it's likely that those will be the same things your students need to know.

Looking good man!! There's a couple spots where it looks like you overshot your knife cut a little (in the scroll work), and the "P" has a wavy line on the left side. But, as always, those are just nitpicks to point out things to watch out for while you're practicing. KEEP IT UP!! Another thing to think about is a border, even if it's just a simple bead line. Right now things look like they just kind of go off into nowhere and they're un-contained. Now, you can go past that border for parts of it (kind of gives a cool perspective) but having a slight boundary will really increase the aesthetics of the piece as a whole. This also gives you room to make sure you can bevel and burnish your edges without cutting into the design too much. Don't let a raw/unfinished edge sink the quality of your work. It's too good to let that happen As far as artwork goes, there are a lot of times where I pull images off of shutterstock.com or other stock photo sites and them modify them to mine or the customer's liking. It's a pretty small price to pay that can be incorporated into the final cost of the item. I figure $10 for some artwork that's almost there, vs. $20 an hour to start from scratch - it really helps keep costs down for some people.

That's the key Even if they're given out as promotion, at least they're getting used.

The distance of your seam should be approximately equal to the thickness of your project. There are times where that's obviously too far (like doubled up 8 oz leather) but for the most part that's a good guideline.

Anywhere that sells fishing hooks. Here you go - take your pick. Looks like the circle hooks would match. http://www.jannsnetc...com/fish-hooks/

Yes, you're definitely going to want to stitch it or lace it. Since you have access to a machine, you can do a cool double stitch line that would look good. I'm just starting to learn how to stitch, and not with a machine, so I can't really recommend anything for the thread size.