electrathon

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

I have not done it, but would try a red sharpie before you burnish. You could contact Carla with the Fantastic edge burnisher and see if she has recomendations. I know when they are demonstrating the burnisher and you want black edges they just use a sharpie and it works great. Aaron

This really is in the wrong section. If a moderator would move it you will get more answers. I would use very thin leather. If you get something like pig it should be easy to cover the box and back of the hide with spray glue, then cover it similar to gift wraping a box. You will need to trim the corners very neatly, but it should not be too hard to get pro looking results. Aaron

First off let me say I am not upset at Josh and understand that he was not trying to put me down. I did recieve an apology directly from him saying he was sorry if his wording offended me. Thank you Josh. I am a good amature leatherworker , not a professional. I do leather because I enjoy it and have fun doing it. I work on it in the evenings when I am watching TV as a way to relax and pass the time. Because of that, I do not have to make a lot of money at it. Most of my work is passed on as gifts to friends and family. Someday if my life situation changes I may find that I need to do leather as a carrier, for now I just enjoy what I create. I sell a few things to help offset the cost of buying tools and materials (I am a tool junkie by the way) but if someone was to come to me wanting 25 wallets I would pass on the order, as I would not have fun doing it. Interiors: I make my own. Not because I want to, but because every time I build a wallet with a pre-made one it comes apart! I currently do not have any pics of the insides of mine, but I keep them simple and thin. I have one wallet under construction now and in a few days I will post pics of how I do the insides. Lacing: Two toned, double loop. It is basicly the same pattern as single strand, double loop, but you use two laces. You can find the patterns for it on a couple places on the web or here: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/search/searchresults/61906-00.aspx?feature=Product_2&kw=lacing+book I highly recomend this book. Be carefull not to buy the other one Tandy sells, the pictures are harder to follow. I use a lacing punch ( I will post a pic of it later). Never use round holes. Round holes are for round lace, slits are for flat lace. I punch close to the edge, usually about an 1/8th inch. Kangeroo lace is the only way to go. It lasts longer than cheaper laces and lays in smoother. Thank you to those who said kind words about my work. Aaron

As a start, you push the knife. Keep your hand that is holding the leather behind it. Do not ever push it toward your hand!

Any time I see a statement like that I cringe. If it is true, they are intentionally selling dull blades so that they can say the others are sharper. In mass production, making thousands of blades a second to be able to make sure some blades are "sharper", by an exact percentage, is totally impossible. It is nothing more or less than marketing hype. Harbor freight blades are just as likely to be sharper. Keep in mind, if you are going to believe the statement, soft junk steel can be sharpened scarry sharp. The trouble is it will dull almost as fast as it touches the item you are cutting.

Similar to this? $35 plus shipping ($40 total) . Aaron

It sounds like you are the victim of an advertisement.

I do it the same way, except I usually buy 4oz bottles. Very little waste if you do not spill it.

I think this is definatly a preferance issue. My Dad taught me how to tool origionally (he has been doing it since the 1950's). I learned from him to "background color" as you are describing. Then I learned how to antique! WOW, what a differance in appearance. I love the look. Complements of my work skyrocketed in how great it looked. My Dad saw my work and had me teach him how to do it. Another old timer I know antiques without any form of resist or finish between the leather and the antique. His work looks like he took the finished project and rubbed mud on it, hidious! He likes the look and tells me that people like the dirty, muddly antiqued look on leather. Bottom line I guess is that it really depends what you are used to seeing and have learned to like. In all of your examples above I personally think they would be far more attractive if you had aniqued them. It is the final pizaz that gives carvings a WOW factor. Aaron

I both like and am impressed with your tooling. Your knife cuts are great. I personally love antiquing when applied correctly, which you did. As for a critique: The two things I would point out- A stiffener in the leather would have helped with the inside flap. I also would recomend a larger thumbprint (or horrors, a pear shader) on the leafs. There is a lot of "flat" area between the wiggly edges. Aaron

This was my thought when I read the part about you using copper to make it. That your hands woudl soon be black and they would stink. Your workmanship looks good (very good), nickel silver would likely been a better metal choice of metal though. Aaron

Chan Geer has a set of clock patterns he sells.

I have one. It works great. Get the low gloss wax, it looks best (to me at least). Half of the cost is that you are buying a motor with it. Aaron

I am sort of surprised no one has yet said this. Lead can and will make your kids grow up stupid. If you are going to have lead laying around do not ever let your kids mess with it. It is bad for adults too, but kids are very suseptable to lead learning issues. Wheel weights can be bought as salvage from a local tire shop. It is a little harder than soft lead like is used in plumbing. Aaron

I have not done it, but I have left a piece of metal touching wet leather. It definatly leaves a mark. It did not leave a crisp line, more of a blured edge. Aaron

Marlon, What are you using as a lacing punch? Nothing but positive input on your lacing. You are doing a great job on the layout, the biggest issue I see most often is people use a punch with too much space between the slots, making the lacing too spaced out. Here is an example if the punch I use and the result: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=23530&st=0&p=150196entry150196 Your angles are greater than mine, just curious on whick tool you used. Aaron

Probibly most of your trouble is not the thin leather but the crappy leather. Kits usually have the worst leather available. I usually toss it and use a real piece of leather when I am doing a kit.

It works good. You do not need to leave it in the bag too long, just a few minutes. Does a far better job mokding than I can do by hand. Aaron

I would recomend using an antenna off a car. They are plentifull and are very hard. Stainless too so they will not discolor your leather like a will. Aaron

I have the same thing wrong with me! I will often spend more time and money doing something myself than if I paid someone else. I just can't bring myself to have someone else do something that I know I can do. To bond the slabs togeather use structural epoxy. They sell it at most home stores. It will hold a foundation bolt into a cement slab. The trick is to make sure there are no gaps when you push it togeather. Spread the epoxy and the weight the upper spab with as much weight as you have. You want it pushed down so all the voide are purged out. If you use a flexable glue you really will not have a thick slab because the flexing of the glue will absorb the energy instead of stopping the forward movement of the energy. Aaron

I don't really have a direct answer, but as to the issue of burnisher speed: I have a fantastic edge burnisher (it works great by the way) and it runs at 1725 rpm, just like yours. The burnisher is mounted directly to the motor shaft. Your set-up is very similar to it except that it uses a felt like material and a secret blend of wax. Aaron

It is really hard to say without seeing how it fits... But it looks good from what I can tell.

When I do it I neat-laq eveything. One coat applied with a piece of sheepskin scrap. Then I antique over all of the tooling, it makes a mess. Wipe away everything on the surface, leaving the cuts and dents in the leather colored. Allow to dry for a bit and then wipe the piece down with tan-coat to seal in the antique. Aaron