electrathon

I have to agree. Land lines are fast becoming history and more and more are carring cell phones. 5 years ago I would have said the oposite, now I think it is no big deal. Aaron

You put the lace through the hole, then hold it with the pin.

Jay, If you are harvesting your own, this is more in line. Likely not many stingrays near to you. The inlay was a rattle snake I bought off ebay a couple years ago. One of the best tools you can buy for cleaning up your edges is a drywall sanding sponge. You can smooth out your jerky cuts easily. Plus they are cheap and easy to get. I like the metal clip better than a loop, just in case I need to pull it off my belt. Definatly a personal preferance. I used a thin maget for the closer. Velcro will wear out over time opening and closing it, the magnet will not. Your basket waeve is sideways. It should go side to side, not top to bottom. Aaron

Yes, the inlay is stingray. There is a short trimmed layer of sheepskin behind it to mape it "poofy".

Often the power of God can be a very strong guiding force. It does sort of say that you likely have yet to complete the tasks you were sent here to do. It is good to hear that you are OK. Aaron

You might consider sewing the back instead of riviting. Over time, the rivits will scratch the finish off the phone where ever it touches. Also included a knife scabbard idea. Aaron

The Lok-Eye needles will work on all sized lace, you just trim the tip into a V so it will fit. Make sure you get the right ones. One style of flat needle has two pins, one has a hole and one pin, that is the one you want.The two pin one is terrable to use. Attached is a pic of the punch I usually use. It came from Hidecrafters, I do not think they have it anymore. The trouble with most lacing chisels is the spacing on them is wrong. As far as I know, all of the ones tandy sells has the prongs spaced wrong. I do often pull my needles through with a set of very small pliers. I want the holes to be too small rather than too loose. Aaron

Finished mine last night. Aaron

You might consider switching to Lok-Eye needles. They are way easier to use than round needles and virtually never pull off the lace, no matter how hard you pull. In general, round holes are best for round lace, so you use round needles. The lacing pattern also looks more porfesional with slots. The gap around flat lace in a round hole is sort of like trim that does not fit properly. I am attaching two pics showing edges with the differance between the two. Neither one of these are my work, but it is easy to see the cleaner look in the one with slots.

Did anyone have a personality change now that the orbits have changed enough that the sign you are may be differant?

I did this sample up a few days ago. It measures out about 5 slots per inch. There are two styles of punches used on it, the lower ones are chisel shaped and tilled about 10 degrees. The top ones are straight. both are 1/8" slots. I sometimes use 3/16" slots and 1/8" lace, that gives a very nice full look. The checkbook cover is done that way, using two laces instead of one so that it is even fuller. One common lacing issue is that a lot of the punches you buy are spaced way to far apart. The space between the slots should not be as wide as the slots are. Also keep close to the edge when you punch your holes. Aaron

My suggestion is to find an upholstery shop that does high end work and buy their leather scraps. I have a nearby shop that will fill a large plastic bag (trash bag size) for a $20 bill. Very high quality and he just does not want to toss it. Many of his scraps are about a foot square, too small to cover interiors of cars, plenty big enough for small projects. I suggest you do not use vinyl. There is plenty of junk sold on the market, lift above that. You may sell to someone what does not understand quality, but the next person seeing it will.

Yes, I would have layed them along the edge of the leather. If you do it right it just disapears.

LOL now I want to redo it. I did not figure I would have to show the back. I just quickly tucked the lace in along the stitches in the back. As to length, I pull the lace out as far as I can in both hands (about 5'6" or so). The second lace gets another foot so the splices do not line up. I never splice on a corner, if you do not have enough lace to fo around a corner, cut it short and splice. The lace is Kangeroo. I have roles and roles of calf, but I do not like the way it wears. I have been trying to use it when I can, but most of the time I use the kangeroo. Kangeroo lays in so noce and it very easy to work with.

Here is a pic of the way I do the interiors. I do them myself solely because when I have bought pre-made interiors they come apart! I want my wallets to be simple, thin and long lasting. I sew these out of pig, two pockets and a sideways slot on each side. I have been doing them this way for a couple years, never to my knowledge has one came apart.. Every one I built with a premade interior had a seam come apart in less than a year, one in less than 6 months. I made a wallet for one of the guys I work with over a year ago, he just told me the other day it has lasted him longer than any wallet he has ever had. Aaron

Here is a sample I did up. I used two differant punches, one is slightly tipped and one is straight.

Looking very good. The top of the braid will tend to migrate to the rear, adjust it straight as you are going.

Chan is an increadible instructor. The wallet is a pattern he drew (it is in one of his pattern packs). He was the first person to show me how to lace two tone, I liked it so much most of my lacing is now done this way.

The only real differance you will have in starting is that you will use the first hole twice and not just once. I would recomend you practice not doing that till you get the hang of lacing, then adjust the starting laces. The biggest initial tip I can give you is to practice on something else. Must people pull the lacing too tight and it will break or cup your project. It is a "feel" thing as to how hard to pull it. The slots do not have to be angled, but it looks smoother if they are. You are reusing slots, so you do not have to deal with spacing, just work with what is there. A common mistake on tank bibs is that the left side of the bib should be laced the oposite of the right side. It should be mirror image. Scan the page in that shows the pattern and then flip it so the words are backwards, this is the pattern for the opposite side. I am likely saying this wrong, I will do a sample showing this, likely will be tomorrow evening when I can post it. Use Kangeroo lace! Y Knot lace sells it for about the same cost as the junky lace tandy sells. A fraction of the Cost tandy charges for kangeroo. 406-249-5225 This one is two tone, douple lace done with one color. The slots are 3/32" and 1/8" lace. It was very hard to pull because it was crowded and tight. Wax your lace with parafin. Use LOK-EYE needles, others are just frustrating, these work.

Do you mean this? It is double loop two tone lacing. On page 17 of the book Lacing and Stiching for Leathercraft. You likely have the other lacing book Tandy has and it is tough to follow. This one is great. I can't post a scan because it is a copywrited book. It is just as easy as double loop lacing once you get the hang of it. Keep your slots close togeather and near to the edge. If you do it corect it looks very similar to Mexican round braid when it is done. JJleatherworks: Thank you for the complement. Aaron

I bought some of this leather too. I do agree with what you posted. My main complaint/issue with it is that it is very soft. It tools very easily, it will take some time to see how it holds the tooling. It takes water well and had nearly no stretch marks in it. You can even smell that it is differant then the other tandy leather.

I think the trouble is that this is an inline saber saw. The stroke is so long on it that there is no way to do clean work. Even looking at the work he is demonstrating on his edges are irregular and distorted. If you are going to do something like this a palm nailer modified to hold a beveler would be far better. It has a very short stroke, so your tool would not be jumping back and forth almost an inch. http://www.harborfreight.com/compact-air-hand-nailer-99555.html Aaron

Johanna, That is a photocopy of a page out of the Tandy book "Lacing & Stiching for Leathercraft". It is a current copywrited book they still sell. Aaron

Suround the chrome tanned leather with a strip of veg tan the same thickness. The edges will then be three layers of burnishable veg tan.

Take a belt they are currently wearing. The dent from the rear loop is the exact center.