raysouth

I may be opening a can of worms here but I suppose I could use the worms in my garden. lol. As I have been rooting around in my treasures as we dispose of our estate, I stumbled upon a compass of the WWI era, ie; 1918, and have been toting it around for many years. It is made of brass and has a leather case. Very interesting collectible for someone. The leather case is still in reasonable condition with the exception of the thread being dry and rotting. Here is my offer. I have removed the thread and disassembled the case. The hand stitching done years ago was fascinating. All of the holes appear to have been hand punched with a very small awl and stitched through the center of the leather, (thickness) where the side and body joined. My description may be a bit confusing. If someone here thinks that they are good enough to resew this case as did the original craftsmen, using the same holes and method that was used. I will send them the case, post paid, and when completed, can be returned to me. If completed as original, I will then insert the compass and return it to you, as something you will hopefully enjoy having around, as I have. The closest pic I found of one almost exactly like the one I will be sending was on eBay, item number 330957593111. The difference is that mine is not black cover but brass. Hope this will be of interest to someone that appreciates the craftsmanship of yore. God Bless. Ray

Something using pyrography on leather. Simple artwork, utilitarian item, or ????????? God Bless. Ray

Great mags and I did a mass purchase of back issues some years ago and subscribe on a regular basis. Sure you will enjoy for many moons. God Bless. Ray

Hello Lightingale, Was able to get to the shop and retrieve some information. I wish I had one of the devices that can read and display information on a screen but had to do it by comparison and may not be factual. Hope this is of use. 1. CARR & DAY & MARTIN, KO-CHO-LINE LEATHER BALSAM. 2. BIENENWACHSLEDERFLEGE CREME. 3. URAD TENDERLY 4. HESTRA LEATHER BALM 6. ANGELUS LEATHER BALM 7. PECARD LEATHER DRESSING 8. DR. MARTEN LEATHER DRESSING 9. HUBERD SHOE GREASE 10. OAKWOOD LEATHER CONDITIONER 11. MONTANA PITCH BLEND (paste) This is how I read the sample cards I have mounted on display boards. I thought I might be able to take pics that would reflect this but my camera ability is not up to snuff. Perhaps this is the best way to go about it. 1. being the least darkening. I must say, there seemed to be very few products that darkened to and undesireable degree. It may be different with methods used by individual crafters and when in contact with other products used during fabrication. Hope this is of use. God Bless. Ray

Thank you Feraud, Not being a professional product tester, there may be plenty of additional information I overlooked but that will have to be taken into consideration as questions may be asked. It was a pleasant project and gave me information I myself, had been seeking. God Bless. Ray

The usual barettes, ammunition pouches with a bit of sewing and straps, military logos/crests, club emblems for attaching to saddle bags, etc. Extra large, multi ring/eyelet key fobs. Great for the steam punk folks. Also a twist on large holster decoration. Finish the circle with design of your choice and then finish/burnish, and attach as desired to holster. I did one for a friend and turned out great. Lot of work in some of the projects but just some ideas. The ammo pouches are neat and have seen them sewn, riveted and glued so really a matter of preference, I suppose. God Bless. Ray

Thank you Tom. I hope this makes it easier for folks interested in the subject. Hope to do a bit more as I learn of other products available to the craft, in hopes that it will benefit someone seeking good products. God Bless. Ray

Hello Lightingale, Good question. I have taken pics of the sample cards but do not believe they will be good enough to get much of an idea as to which darkens the most/least. What I will do in the am, when I return to the shop, is take a very close look at the lower strip that is natural, and I should be able to tell which has done the least darkening, at least on the natural leather. Will be back with the info. tomorrow. Thanks for taking an interest. God Bless. Ray

Howdy All, I have been working with different leather conditioners and have attempted to post some results as attachments. Hope that they are legible. I will attempt to get pics of the leather cards as well, but may take a bit of time for me to figure out. This was a pleasant project for me. Please feel free to ask any questions as I have probably overlooked a few things. I hope that this will give some folks an idea of the products available to finish/enhance the many projects they make. 6 pages and hope they are in order. God bless. Ray I JUST NOTICED THAT THE PAGES DID NOT COME UP IN ORDER. SORRY BUT I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CORRECT THIS.

Hello Ian, or is it Lan? Good advice/suggestions from folks above. Years ago, I also operated small business, one of many over the years, but today I doubt if I would go it again with conditions as they are. Operating from homestead helps control cost and folks will come if you have the product they seek and can compare quality or simply desire the best. Your rant is something that many folks are experiencing so it has been beneficial for others to see that they are not alone. Even today, I feel pressure that I should not be feeling but won't get into that. Just grab a cold, (whatever you prefer), take off and find a relaxing spot, imagine that you are above the clouds and floating away from all the trials and tribs. of today. You will find a way and it will be a good trip. Be well, my friend. God Bless. Ray

I will try this again. Was typing and all of a sudden the page went away. Take a look through the Ohio Travel Bag Catalog online. They have nearly all of the rivets used today and good pics and information that may be of use. www.ohiotravelbag.com Hope this is of value. God Bless. Ray

Bucksnort, you braiders are amazing. Never been able to master that craft. I become lost after holding the pieces together. lol. Indeed an art and one that you have learned well. Beautiful work and keep on wastin those hides. God Bless. Ray

Hello Thomas, You might also consider giving Bob Kovar a call at Toledo Sewing machine. He has the Cowboy brand, like the Cobra, as well as great used machines if you are seeking to save a few bucks in the beginning. Do a Google search for Toledo Sewing machine and it will give you his number. God Bless. Ray

Available is a Landis Skiver, recently purchased from site member and found that I will not be able to use. Appears to be a "B" ???? Model or very similar to one that Bruce Johnson describes under one of the topics here. Very good condition, sharp blade and appears to have experienced very little use. I hope to sell for what I have invested and shipping to be paid by purchaser. I have assistance to help me with packing and will be packed in box as I received. Great investment for able bodied person having a desire to skive leather. Send me an email for particulars. Will respond as soon as I see your email from the site. God Bless. Ray

Hello Rosalyn, There is a topic on shop layouts on the site and you can look at many of the different layouts folks use. If the epitomy of work spaces is your desire, take a look at Peter Main's shop layout, and then go from there. lol. My benches are on three walls with cabinets, etc. Being mobility limited, I have mine arranged so I can scoot around and get to everything. I may have a few pics of my shop in progress, under that topic as well. Good luck and sure you will get some ideas from the layouts you will see here on site. God Bless. Ray

Hello Harley45, Try Jeff at Gray Ghost Graphics or Nick at Studio-N.com. One of them should be able to do what you want with the Tiger. Let me know how it turns out as sounds interesting. God Bless. Ray

After reading all of the suggestions, I suppose I should look around as well. I do use the Tandy stamps and mine, on all of the sets except the smallest, have the letter on the top side, very small, but it is there. I have made several jigs using 1/4" plastic tubing and other plastic sizes. to align the letters I wish to use. With them, I can place a complete name into the jig, and I use the arbor press to press them in using a steel plate that covers them all. 1/4" thick plate has worked well for me. I agree, that there are many type styles that are more desireable and I have a few printers plates I scrounged up, but don't have enough of them to use on a regular basis. All of the terminology used by the folks in the printing trade is another language to learn. lol. God Bless. Ray

A dye/paint that may be available in your area is Tarrago. They have an excellent white that covers very well. Angelus may also have outlets in Europe. Search their site and if you don't see a section of where to purchase, contact them and they can help. Godd luck. God Bless. Ray

Hello Ian, Attempted to post a reply a few minutes ago but for some unknown reason it did not go through. I use Angelus paints developed for leather. They are acrylic and produce some very nice results. Also use Tarrago dye/paint and it is great as well. Perhaps they are available in your area as well. Try a search and see. Hope this is of value. God Bless. Ray

Great topic and sure that everyone has developed some interesting tools/methods at their bench. I have 5 small anvils on my bench and all different shapes and sizes. One designed for jewelers, one very small hobby anvil, a couple of intermediate anvils and the largest I use is the anvil for leatherworkers as sold by Weaver. I love that anvil and has more uses that I could describe. On my dye bench and on my tooling/pyrography bench, I have a 4' section covered by woven backed rubber printers mat as used on large presses. Very comfortable work surface for me and spilling a drop of dye does not cause any problem. Also enjoy having a good selection of different size stainless rulers, sae and metric, along with thin beam squares. Wish I could find larger thin beam squares as mine are 6" max but very nice to work with. Using the threaded side of various bolts, I have rigged up a few for imprinting the thread design and makes some interesting patterns. Also use hex nuts, washers and anything strong enough, and with an unusual shape, to stamp/press designs into leather. Found that, for certain items, model railroad tracks, ho and n gage, make some nice outlines when pressed with my arbor press. Even use the curved sections, now and then. I imagine anything could be used if handled properly. I never throw things in the junk pile anymore, without giving them a try at the bench. Amazing results, at times. Had some counterfiet chinese coins that had nice designs and couldn't read them anyway so I put them in the press and got some very nice impressions. I have a few extra if anyone would like to try one. Picked them up from a guy that purchased at an estate sale and thought they were silver. Lost out on that one. Take a magnet with you when looking at coins of other lands. So much more to do and fun to have. God Bless. Ray

Hello Flyingcuda, There are stretchers available that will stretch nearly everything, ie; vamp, toe, length, width, and, the shaft. I stretch just about everything as a side venture to my shoe shining project. The stretchers are quite expensive, for a good set, or you could simply by one stretcher and take a bit more time. I would suggest a search for boot stretchers and really search around as the outfits selling the stretchers are not in a level playing field. Price swings are enormous and requires some effort. I use a liquid stretch product and would be happy to tell you where I purchased my stretchers, if I could remember. As they were a one time purchase item, I neglected to maintain any information from seller. Some folks do not use stretchers but that is a personal preference thing. Best of luck with the project. God Bless. Ray

Howdy All, Hoping to find information/assistance with a project I have been interested in doing for a number of years. Passed down to me, some years ago, was a family bible with birth, death, and marraige information of ancesters of the 1700's. The book itself, is in very good condition for it's age, but the covers and binding are not much. The rear cover is fairly intact and board/cardboard? insert from front cover is there but loose. What I would like to do is learn how to cover the book in leather for donation to?????, as I am the last of the family line. If anyone can assist or head me off in the right direction, it would be much appreciated. I have purchased a couple of books on bookbinding but not much in there having to do with covering by leather. The penmanship of my ancesters is beautiful and certainly not how we would write anything today. Hopefully, it will be enjoyed by some caring soul, or to whomever I decide to donate the book. Again, any assistance will be much appreciated. God Bless. Ray

WELCOME, STEPHEN, Hope you continue to enjoy leather craft and make a zillion additional items. You are limited only by your imagination so turn it on and have a great time. Happy to see you on the site. God Bless. Ray

Howdy Ranchmom 77, Not sure if I can answer your questions satisfactorily but will take a shot at it. If you are going to paint the flag on the item of a ready made product, I would suggest painting directly onto the finish after being certain that it is clean and dry. This may end up as trial and error, not knowing how or what the item was originally finished with or how it was done. After you paint has sufficient time to cure, I might then think about a spay on laq. finish product as offered by many of the leather suppliers you can find here or on net. Suppose it depends on how you want the painting to appear, glossy or dull or somewhere in between. Judgement call needed here. Angelus and Tarrago both make great paint products for use on leather. All of the colors they offer are very good but I find myself using the Tarrago white when that color is needed. Hope this was of some assistance. God Bless. Ray

Cova colors and Fiebings white are not worthwhile, in my opinion. Fiebings white is no longer available, I believe. Angelus has great paint products as well as Tarrago. David, at turtlefeathers.com always seems to have a good supply of Angelus products, at reasonable prices. manhattanwardrobesupply has the best price I have found for the Tarrago line. Their white is very good, as well as some of the other colors I have used in the past. God Bless. Ray