electrathon

The edging is done with an edging tool. It has a screwdriver like handle and you pull it along the edge to make the line and smooth edge. The other lines look to me like you want to cut them in with a swivel knife. The double line (#4) is cut with a special blade. Aaron

Delrin would be a bad choice of material. You want it to be very hard/smooth. Stainless would be a good choice.

Go with just leaves, loose the flowers. Continue them the total length. It will make a simple and clean look. Aaton

Almost everyone starts their leather journey at Tandy. Very few finish there. A lot of us see, or want to see, Tandy as the friendly corner leather store. Tandy is a large cooperation that solely exists to generate a profit. That is OK, but if you think or feel that they are in business to produce smiling faces on leather crafters you are seriously seeing the picture wrong. The individuals that run the organization know they are selling crap. They do it for one reason, they make more money. They know we want better quality. They hear it every day. They get letters, they get email and they get input from the store managers. They do not care. The sole thing that matters is what they can buy for a little and sell for a lot. I caught a glimpse of this in a class with Jim Linell. The issue of quality came up. I told him that I wanted quality and was willing to pay for it. His answer was that I would be wasting my money. That all leather tools needed to be modified before you could use them and that there really was no choice and to be content with what Tandy sells (this discussion still comes up with a few friends that were in the class with me). Aaron

I have a lot of tools, many/most are Barry King. I started buying a few years ago and buy a few every time I get the chance. In my opinion, if you are on a tight budget and can only afford a few tools I would buy bevelers. The quality is vastly different on all tools, but I think the biggest difference is on bevelers. The are angled better and shaped better (the small subtle differences are what it is all about). My other suggestion is to not get too carried away buying junk tools. Buy no more than you absolutely must buy. You are waisting your money on them. You can not save money by waisting it. 10 quality tools is far better than having 100 junk tools. If you want to learn how to tool, using tools that make your finished work look like poo is not the way to motivate/learn/pride yourself in leather tooling. Aaron

Tina, I am glad to see this statement from someone as talented as you are. It is incredibly frustrating to keep seeing people tell others to just draw their own patterns when they are trying to buy them. Pattern drawing is an art itself unrelated to leather carving. I have never heard the fabric store tell someone to draw their own shirt pattern when they are selling someone cloth, why would we tell a leather worker to draw their own pattern. Aaron

Buy better leather. Double layer the belt. Aaron

You are asking a lot from paint. Paint lays on the surface and is a good choice to do a picture to hang on the wall of something like that. If you want it to last (through flexing, abrasion, water) you need to dye/stain it. The color will actually get into the top of the leather that way. Aaron

Is this a real Samari sword? If so I would think that you will greatly reduce the value by re-doing it.. Generally restoring things like this may make it nicer, but will destroy the origional value. Aaron

This happens too with different tannery leathers when using Fiebings dye. You have to make sure that you do not use one piece of leather on part of a project and another on the rest. they may turn out drastically different. Aaron

The trick to keep the belt or the wheel from burning is to use VERY sharp sandpaper. Brand new, do not use on anything else. Also about 80 grit is good, finer tends to burn. Aaron

It will be a little more stiff after you dye it. Oil it after it dries, that will help some. It will be no more or less protected after you dye it. You can use any number of products to seal it up. On non-tooled items I like to use Dr Jacksons. Aaron

Fiebings dye. Dip the whole piece in a pan with dye in it. Take it out and pat it dry with a towell. Aaron

"Pipe Smokers Belt Need a smaller width belt " Why do you have to wear a narrower belt if you smoke a pipe? Aaron

I grew up in Alaska and we were taught the same thing. But then again, about 80% of what we were taught about the Eskimoes was a total fabrication. I bet way back, a long time ago someone did it once and it became what everyone did.

Bottom line is you are lacing it crocked and wanting it to be straight. The holes needed to be punched at the same time for things to line up. About the only idea I can give you (other than leave it and do not do it that way again) is to cut out the lacing, trim off 1/8" , punch the new holes straight and consider it a learning experience. The other option is to start over. Aaron

But she does not really want rawhide, she wants it to be soft...leather. I was sort of off the wall trying to coment that the problem is that she needs tanned leather for the project.

This can be a very complicated and touchy subject. Technically you should have a business lisence, insurance, city permits and so on. The reality is if you are going to play around a little bit and make a couple hundred in sales you do not need to worry about it. If you are going to get serious and make a lot, it all changes. As a comparison, if you have a garage sale you are required to pay taxes on that too, most people do not. Aaron

If you tan it then it will be softer.

Antiquing is made to do what you are trying to make happen. If your impressions are too shallow though it will have a hard time staying in the recesses. Aaron

Not really that tough, especially in 6" pieces. You want to bore the hole first, just in case you go off a little in the hole, then chuck it in the lathe and turn the outer diameter. A forstner bit will easily cut the hole. Have you thought about how you are going to connect the burnisher to the shaft? It might be easier to bore the inner hole a little larger and have inserts on each end, then have set screws in the lock ring. Aaron

Or try wrapping your phone a few extra times to make it a little bit larger. Then when it shrinks it will fit. Aaron

Either you need to sharpen your knife or the leather is low quality of both. Not sure what you are using for leather, but some is very bad. If it is not cased properly it makes it worse. Try using Pro-carve in the casing water, it helps. Also try lexol on the cased leather, it helps too. Also sharpen your knife. Aaron

The only issue I see is the top side of the smaller pocket. It has a gap open to the elements, could be an issue when riding in the rain and dust. Aaron

He is using a beader blade. The first pass is being cut light because he is bacicly freehanding it. Once he establishes a line he then cuts it deep. Aaron