electrathon

I also really like the smell. I have often wondered what it is that creates the smell. When the process is started it is a rather icky smell, then it somehow transforms to what we like. Aaron

Looks very good for not tooling for 20 years. Aaron

Fiber is pretty cheap. If it is the cost of sheepskin, almost all of the cost is in the part you are using. I toss the twimmings, and I am very frugal. Aaron

I am interested. You have a pm here.

I have been thinking about this and here is my thought. You are in a country differant than ours and likely have a few small unique items that we do not have here. We have stuff here hard for you to find. How about if you post a few things you have and might be willing to trade for something from one of us. Post a wish list and a surplus list. People likely will speak up and send you something and you send them something. Pass through customs as a gift, likely most items will have fairly low value. You will end up with a few tools and we will end up with something from you. Could be kind of fun. Aaron

Personally I feel you have every right to do whatevery you want to do. Very little is unique in the world today, so it is super easy to demonstrate that everything anyone makes is from copying others. But if you called me and asked me, I would tell you "No". If all I have to so is tell you not to compete with me and you choose not to, of course I will tell you no.

Back to the beginning. When you are tooling you do not want to remove the leather, just push it around. Using the gouge you are removing it an dthis will make it hard to do the rest of the tooling nicely. If you were sewing and wanted to use a stitch grove you are right in line. What you are doing will work well. You need to sharpen your knife, they usually arrive dull. Also if you like leatherwork save up and buy a better quality knife.

I have a few and have used most of them. They are basicly copies of Barry King tools. They are stainless, they are not chromed. They look pretty rough compared to Barrys tools. They look amazing compared to craft tool. The impressions are good, the lines are crisp and not muted compared to craft tools. When teaching tooling at Tandy it has been very dificult to do when I had to tell the studenty that the store did not sell tools that were usable, now there si an option. The bottom line I see it is that I am estatic the Tandy finally after 30 years took a step to quality. I am perplexed that they would be selling Chinese mass produced for more money than Barry sells USA make quality. If you get best price they are a savings, If you pay full price they are more than Barry. Aaron

Here is the sad and honest truth. If it does not cost a lot of money it won't work. You likely will spend more money trying to save money than if you save up and get one that works.

My thought is to make luggage tags. Teaches cutting, Layout. Glue up. dying and finishing. Edge burninhing and either sewing or lacing. Possibly both.

You only mark the one side. Push your awl through carefully watching the exit to make sure it is straight on the exit.

it is really a pricking iron, not a hole punch. Mark the holes by driving it part way in. Use your awl to poke the holes.

That just looks cool!

What I like about this is that it is a very simple/clean design. And it looks good. Aaron

I think you must be dealing with the pharmicist off or "Two and a half Men". The pills are a great idea though. Soft and pliable when you want to stow it away and firm and stiff when you are wearing it.

http://www.seawear.com/jewelry/fishing.html

It looks cool to tip the belt slots, but this does change the length of the slots. Over time it can contribute to looseness. Straighten them out. Tell the guy he wants at least some cant. Especially if he is overweight, he will have a very tough time reaching back and pulling straight up.

I seldome grove. I think your other parts of the wallet will fail before the thread does so no need to protect it with a grove. As to the chisel/awl issue. You need a pricking iron. They are driven in part way to mark the leather then you can awl the rest of the way.

I think your issue is more with the eco flow you are using than it is with the finish you are using. If you have read much here you have likely seen that eco flow has little respect in the leather world. If I was going to paint a picture to hang on the wall I may get some eco flow. But for durability I would get Fiebings dye. Dip your item in it (do a few tests first and you likely will have to dilute it). For a shiney finish try atom wax. Aaron

How it has been explained to me is that rosin is cooked pitch. If you have pitch you need to cook it so that it turns into rosin. Once you have rosin you mix it with the wax. So you do not need both pitch and rosin, they are basicly the same.

I would put your sealer on the leather before sewing and hopefully you did not yet punch your holes (I have had issues with color in the holes getting on the thread). I think you are on track.

I want to say this as gentle as possible. You asked about prices and shipping, but looking at your stuff my comments relate to price verses quality. If your work was top end, I feel your prices would be in the ballpark. What I can see in the pictures (hard to see well) is that the quality needs to .be raised to reflect the price leval. Your edges are poorly/ragged cut, they should look like a single sweeping cut. The edges are left raw and unburnished. In one I see you painted the edges and let the paint bleed onto the front/rear of the item. Your stitching is not a consistant distance from the edge, looks like a wandering line. Stitch holes are gigantic, they need to be sized so that the thread fits snugly into the holes. Your thread is not conisitant, it wanders left to right in the stitch line. I will stop here but you get the idea. I strongly believe that your work/workmanship is judged off of the worst work you do. Slow down and take time doing quality work. One quality finished product is far better then 3 sloppy products (and you will make more selling the one than you will off of trying to sell three poor quality items). Aaron

I own a few swivel knives. If I had to replace them I would buy the SK3, then a Chuck Smith and then a Tangleboss last (it is more of a gimic than a primary knife). I personally do not really like ceramic blades. If you buy a good knife it will come with a quality blade.

When I cooked the pine sap it did get pretty stiff in the pan when it first cooled (I reheated it and then mixed it). I thought I had overheated it but it did flow out when I reheated it. Never got runny like wax though, it was pretty thick. Next time I will look for more clean sap, it really was tough to get the crud out of it. Now as to mixing tar into the mix for sewing, this just seems sort of grose to me. I work for a road department and tar is sticky, dirty, nasty. Not sure I would want my leather smelling like that.

Of all of the work that we do as leatherworkers pieces like this are amongst the most important. Your work looks very good. Aaron