toasty1435

Can anyone attest to the Osborne #155 rotary punch quality? I have a cheapo one that the tubes have worn down on and don't punch well only after a few uses. I'm looking to get a better quality punch that will stand up to use. I've heard good things about the Osborne #155 and also the Knipex punch (http://tinyurl.com/m6tyv34). What you guys recommend? One requirement is it has to be a rotary punch just due to minimal noise. Thanks!

I ordred about 3 sides so maybe its not that far off?

Do any of you order from Horween's distributor Tannery row? I've placed a few orders and handling and shipping charges are in the range of 45-60 dollars. Is this average for the rest of you?

Has anyone ever tried tooling or stamping Chromexcel with much success? I've been thinking about trying it out and didn't know if anyone had any experience with it.

I've still had no luck hearing from WC and have moved on to Springfield. After sending in my request I got an immediate detailed response back. +1 for customer service. Lack of communication is my biggest turn off from using a supplier. I hear good things about Springfield so I'll see what they can do for me.

What are people's opinions of them? I've sent them numerous emails about pricing and samples and I've never heard back. Is this the usual case for WC? What other suppliers do people recommend?

Do you tape the leather after dip dying or before you dip dye you tape your leather to cardboard? How does that work?

When you guys have a project, do you dye the entire hide and then cut your pattern out or do you dye the individual pieces after cutting? I'm asking because I've been using fairly thin leather (2.5 - 3oz) and after dying sometimes the cut pattern pieces have stretched/shrunk and they don't line up exactly according to my patterns. Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

Hi all, I recently made the switch to weldwood and I like it so much better than Barge. It's much cheaper and a lot less stringy/messy. Only downside is the smell is much stronger. Anywho I recently tried a new glue dispenser with the Weldwood original formula (non-gel). I got it for doing detail work for stuff like passport covers and other things where you needed a very small bead of glue. This is the one that I got: http://www.amazon.co...ils_o00_s00_i00 It works great! It has a small precise metal tip that's perfect for laying down a glue line 1-2mm wide. I store a pin in it when I'm not using it so it doesn't get clogged from dried glue. Anyways I thought I would share because it's been so handy to use!

Hi all, I've been burnishing some edges on some piece lately and I have a had time of keeping the edges from becoming flared out and making a raised edge on either side of my piece. Should you always bevel the edge of the leather before you burnish it or is there another way to do it so I do not need to bevel it? Thanks.

So I have a issue on two pieces I just finished dying last night. I had wet them in the area around where I was stamping and they were dyed the leather is much lighter around where it had been wet. They had ample time to dry and I've never had this happen before on my other pieces done in the same way. It's so light and in a well defined area it looks like a bleach stain. Usually I do this and I never have problem with stains like this. Is this fixable? My only thought of recourse is to use a dauber and try to dye around the area that is lighter and blend it in.

I'm using fiebings oil dye on 2 oz goat leather but I've also had the same issue on veg tanned calf at 3-4 oz as well. The goat leather I got off eBay and the veg tanned stuff I got from Tandy.

I just want to say thanks to all of the forum members so far, it's been very helpful to be on this site and get tips from the professionals. My next question is how deep does your dye usually penetrate your leather? I've been daubing dye and lately been dip dying some of my projects. However it seems no matter how much dye I use or how long I leave the hide in the dye bath I can only get dye on the surface and not further in. Is this usual? I would like deeper dye penetration so as my projects wear they don't show the light colored hide underneath. Thanks again!

Wow, these are all good tips. Has anyone ever just thinned barge with acetone or denatured alcohol? Is that the same stuff as Barge thinner? Does anyone have a recommendation for something like a squeeze bottle for Barge? I like the idea of being able to draw a fine line with it as I do a lot of book covers and straps where I need a thin bead of glue.

So currently i use Barge but it is the tube type. I try to mix it best i cant by squeezing the tube back and forth and then I apply it to a popsicle stick to smear it on. The glue is usually kind of chunky and extremely stringy. I just recently started hearing about glue pots. Can anyone tell me the purpose of these and whether you usually do or do not thin Barge before you apply it to your project? Thanks!

If there is any way you can buy Obenaufs Heavy Duty LP I would prefer that over anything else. It barely darkens the leather and provides water proofing like you wouldn't believe. It has no silicons so it won't crack your leather over time. I use it on all my projects and I can literally dunk a piece underwater, pull it out and have the water bead right off.

Thanks for the help! Do you ever condition before dyeing? I just fixed the warping by wetting the leather, forming it back into shape and then liberally applying some lexol. Seems to have worked well for now. I can't afford a whole airbrush kit yet but I've always wanted to try dip dying, it seems much more fool-proof than daubers. My only problem is I do a lot of small projects with different tones and I hate wasting excess dye. Do you guys make small containers to dip dye in or do you just make large batches and use that color repeatedly? Thanks again.

Hi all, I'm still a bit of a beginner at this but I'm passionate for learning the right way. Right now I'm having an issue where when I'm dying some vegetable calf and goat leather and the edges are curling and the piece is warping significantly. I'm using Fiebing's oil dye mixed with denatured alcohol to get the shade I want. My process is dyeing with wool daubers and then leaving the piece to dry. When I come back in the morning the piece is very dry and warped. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

Anyone use or heard of these? I'm looking for a verstile sewing machine for both fabrics and leathers. The type of work I'm doing is sewing 4-5oz leather onto felt or 4-5oz pieces together. I mostly need something that has the ability to do light leather work but also fabric. 5oz is the thickest I would be using.

Thanks everyone I took back the can to Tags and unfortunately found out their entire stock was expired. So instead I bought some barge glue. I know there's been talk about the new formula not being as good as the old stuff but I thought I'd get it a shot since I like that it came in a tube. So far seems to work pretty well, definately much more "stringy" than the weld wood stuff its hard to spread without it being messy. Anyone have any tips? Also how long does it take to fully cure/stick? Thanks.

Yea I'm pretty sure I'm doing it right. I'm applying to both sides, two coats and allowing 30min setup time in-between. It sounds like I may have gotten a bad can. I think I'm going to take it back tomorrow and see if I can get some new stuff.

Hey guys I'm having some issues with weld wood, seems to not really be sticking. Its more like super tacky but I can still pull apart the leather I'm gluing. I'm wondering if I have an old batch by chance, does everyone's can say copyright 2006? I'm worried I got a bad batch from Ace hardware. Thanks.

Excellent thats what I thought. Thanks!

The glue I'm using is this kind.. http://shop.hobbylobby.com/assets/item/zoom/154195.jpg And as for the mixing ratio that's just what I've read on a couple of threads. It definitely helps with consistent coloring.

Has anyone else had problems with their dye mixture (1part dye to 3 parts alcohol) eating away their glue? I have some straps I'm making and they come undone when I apply the dye. I use Aleenes tacky glue but I'm wondering if I switch to Weldwood would that make a difference? Thanks.