electrathon

When you get to the corner do the same thing as you are doing but double hit the 3 holes on your corner. Think of it like you are moving forward, just overlap. The trick with the two colors is when you are coming around the last corner count forward to make sure that the two tone pattern will meet corectly on the last stitch. If is does not, simply add an extra double hit on the final corner hole. What you have done so far looks great!

Unfortionatly, chrome plating is tough to get off. You will likely do so much damage to the tool removing it that it will have little resemblance to the origional. Also most of the steel is not hard enough to last if the plating were not there (the plating is the "hardest" part). It would be easier to start from scratch than to dechrome, repair and then use the tool.

Bruce, I thank you for this. If you would post your paypal I (and hopefully a few others) would send you a few dollars. Aaron

The two tone laces just like double loop lacing, you just keep switching laces every other one. The pattern I used is the same one as you used on your wallet, just used two laces instead of one. So corners are just as easy/hard as regular lacing. I generally round the corner a little (very little, about 1/8" radius) and then hit two of the holes twice. If I am trying to get a pointed corner I round hole punch the corner and hit it 4 times.

Tom, Looking at the lacing: Try using smaller holes. The smaller the better. You should barely be able to get the needle through. Space them closer togeather and closer to the egde, it gives a "fuller" look to the lace. Slots tend to look better than holes too. Take a Sharpie and color the white edge of the lining leather. Fast and easy, you can get brown or black Sharpies, so no matter what color liner you used, you are covered. The insert/liner should be 1/8" shorter than the back, it allows for the fold to happen without a bunched up lump. Allow for the space in the center bottom when you lace. I have a post on a clutch purse in this section, I am open to your critiques too. Aaron

Thanks guys. I started two tone lacing most of my work a while back. It always seems to draw attention. It is not really any harder than regular lacing, but gives things a unique look.

It has been a while since I have posted any pictures. This was a Tandy kit. As usual, there were a few issues with the kit. I generally throw out the leather that comes with the kits, as the quality is about equil to cardboard. I started carving the piece that came with this one, but by the time I had it carved I decided that the piece would make a better templet than a carving. I replaced it with a piece of leather I had from a better quality hide. It was tooled using the pattern in the kit, The only changes I made in it was I added basket weave to the center of the circle in the back. It just looked so bare.It is antiqued with Sheridan Brown Feibings paste antique, applied over two layers of RTC finish. After it was assembled, I realized that the pattern should have been shifted about 3/8"-1/2" down. Also the hole punched for the snap was in the wrong place (it is a little too tight when closing). I also did not use the incorectly spaced round holes for the lacing. Unfortionatly you can see them on the inside. Aaron

Use tape instead of scribing the line. Remove the tape, no more line.

The main differance is the craftool one is smaller and less gawdy. Personally, I would not waste money on either one. Buy a good one with a bearing in the top pivot.

Charge by the job. It is the most fair system. Lets say you charged by the hour. You are learning and it takes you 5 hours to do a wallet. You work hard and devote yourself to the job. Everyone is happy. So you do this a lot. Now you can tool both faster and better. You work hard and do exactly the same pattern as months before. You finish it in 3 hours. You are great at what you do and you are now being paid 2 hours less time solely for one reason, you got better. Charge by the job and everyone will know the cost up front, all will be happy and you do not cheat yourself. The only other question is hor much you charge per job.

Of course it is OLD, it is a ROCK! LOL Very cool find.

For a first attempt, all I can say is great.

Pets give us unconditional love companionship. I lost my cat a few months ago. I still open the door looking for her at times. Time tends to help with the pain, but it is good that you will always remember her fondly.

Very good (great) match in styling. Also, pardon my ignorance: Is a sporran a man purse? If not, what is the purpose? Aaron

Bruce: You can self publish and print on your home printer. Print them only when there are orders. I will buy one if you do. Aaron

Has anyone found any spray can glue that is truely permanant, similar to barge? My experience with all (I have tried a lot of them) spray cans is that it is closer to rubber cement, and will not hold over the long term. It is more for assembly only.

The money that is "given" to people is borrowed money. You can not, and never will be, able to borrow yourself out of debt. The only system that has ever historically worked is cutting taxes so that people can spend their own money and all will prosper. Dinner & Taxes I was having lunch with one of my favorite clients last week and the conversation turned to the government's recent round of tax cuts. '"I'm opposed to those tax cuts," the retired college instructor declared, "because they benefit the rich. The rich get much more money back than ordinary taxpayers like you and me and that's not fair.'" "But the rich pay more in the first place," I argued, "so it stands to reason that they'd get more money back." I could tell that my friend was unimpressed by this meager argument. So I said to him, "let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand." "Suppose that every day 10 men go to a restaurant for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If it was paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four men would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59." The 10 men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." Now dinner for the 10 only costs $80. The first four are unaffected. They still eat for free. Can you figure out how to divvy up the $20 savings among the remaining six so that everyone gets his fair share? The men realize that $20 divided by 6 is $3.33, but if they subtract that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up being paid to eat their meal. The restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percentage, being sure to give each a break, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so now the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of $59. Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," complained the sixth man, pointing to the tenth, "and he got $7!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!" "That's true," shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor." Then, the nine men surrounded the tenth man (the richest one, paying the most) and beat him up. The next night the richest man didn't show up for dinner, so now the nine men sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They were $52 short! "And that, boys, girls and college instructors, is how America's tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table any more. There are lots of good restaurants in Switzerland and the Caribbean."

Spraying the glue on is the solution. It will not saturate that way. Unfortionatly, I do not have an easy answer to making a cheap home glue sprayer (I personally would like to know how to do it too).

My opinion: don't do it. It will be too thick. I make all of my carved wallets out of 3-4 oz veg tan, lined with a thin pigskin. They are not thick and bulky like most tooled wallets are. Thin is better ofr comfort of the wearer.

Don't put yourself down. You look pretty. And welcome! Aaron

Got to love the wonders of bio-diesel! It turns to crisco when it is that cold.

I sent a little in too. The longer this topic stays on top, the more people will see it and participate. Aaron

I have made a few round knives. I made them out of old hand saw blades. They are thin, varring on what you find. Very good steel usually. If you are carefull when you cut them out you will not hurt the temper and will not need to reharden them. If the blase is thin enough, you will not need to worry about what way to grind them, just sharpen the edge and you are done.

I have been using RTC on a lot of my projects and I really like it (it you order some get a bottle of pro-carve at the same time). Do keep in mind there is a learning curve with it. It dries very fast. You slop it on and then spread it with a piece of sheepskin. Work fast(very fast). You have about 20 seconds to get it spread. Use too much, never try to skimp thinking you will add more. Keep smoothing it till it tacks up, then stop, you are done. Aaron

I found a treadle machine for $50 that I can take the treadle off of, so I was thinking that would be an easy way to go. I am pretty thrifty when it comes to making things work, so I was hoping this was a good solution. I have been hand cranking it with no motor and while it works, it would be nice to sometimes be able to hold the leather with both hands too.