Cyberthrasher

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.

Yes. If you thin it with denatured alcohol, it will lighten it up. From there (or prior), you can mix with other colors just like any other medium. I don't have a chart though. If anybody out there has one for Fiebing's dye, PLEASE give it up . That would save me a lot of time mixing. You can get some airbrush jars to store your color in. I've been using some glass bottles I have that have a glass eyedropper in them - kind of like the old medicine bottles. Something like item #3 here. My laptop wasn't showing the picture when I went to the product page, so I wanted to make sure you saw the right item. You can get them here or Amazon. TCP is a good company for paint and airbrush supplies. If you have an airbrush, they have sets of them with the airbrush nozzle cap on them, but you'll still want a regular cap to seal it. http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/abcups.aspx

It's virtually impossible to get 2 pieces EXACTLY the same every time, so you're likely to end up with some sanding either way. When I'm cutting from my side of leather, I usually cut it out big (or even just cut out a section that will definitely fit it) and then take that to my table to trim up. When I'm making matched pieces, I will always cut one piece a hair bigger (1/8" to 1/4"). That way I can glue it up and trim them to match precisely. If you're worried about making too much waste from cutting big, remember that you should be doing dye tests on a piece of leather that's from the same area of the side you pulled your working piece from, so just use them for that and it's no longer a waste.