Toolingaround

Hi Everyone Great topic. Ditto everything LOL! I will add two more. Thease two kind of go hand in hand. Sharpening and cutting. Though I try mightily I can't seem to sharpen anything to the degree I need so thus I dread .......DREAD.......decorative cuts! I do a nice job, I am real happy then I just butcher the project with G-d awful slashes from hell. I do practice and I can draw so I understand flow. My knife just turns in to a feindish Mr. Hyde that makes me want to curl up in a quivering ball. So any part of leather working requiring a sharp implement is the bane of my existence at the moment. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hey Spinner Can't wait to see it laced :-) I am glad to know it can be sprayed without problem! I find it is great stuff for sealing in my antiquing, stopping dye transfer and waterproofing. I bet I will love "neat lac" type products when I get a chance to try some. I have had it lift the paint when I sprayed in on sheep skin and rubbed it in. Once it is dry it seems fine though. I know alchohol will sure take off ceramcoat as I had to strip some leather armor painted with it and repaint it a different color. Doesn't take it down to nude leather completely but may save an "oopsy". I agree with you on the good acrylics and mediums. My good stuff got lost in a move so for now the Walmart stuff works. Right now I am saving up for some leather, Angelus dyes and of course more tools ;-) Cheers eh

Hi Everyone Spinner, nice work!!! Thought I would add a few thoughts here. Nice to see someone who knows ceramics too. I love porcelain. Don't have my kiln hooked up because all my money has gone into leather tools this last year, imagine that LOL. Anyhow here is a photo of a leather jacket I painted with Delta Ceramcoat. That painting was on there for 23 years at the time I took the photo and was never sealed or anything. Ceramcoat is used on ceramics that are already fired to bisque then sealed with a clear acrylic. They area also very popular for painting on wood. Paul Burnett (G-d rest his soul) used them on leather until they changed the formula in 2008. I have used both my ancient 25 year old paint, (still good) and new bottles of Folk art acrylics and varnish from Walmart with good results. Of course I have only been doing leather tooling for a year now so can not vouch for the longevity yet. Warning don't use Saddle Lac over acrylics or anything containing alcohol as it will lift them. I may have come across a way to overcome that cause I loves me my Saddle Lac. If my tests pan out I will post to the group at some point. Anyhow I thought I would throw in another photo done witha mix of old Ceramcoat and new Folk art paints and finished with Ceramcoat varnish. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi there Sorry this is a late reply, I just noticed your post. The local saddle maker here in Virginia where I live swears by the stuff. He puts it on finished saddles for weather protection. I have not tried it yet myself. He put some on a saddle and buffed it in so I could see what it is like. I could still feel it on the leather not slippery though. He says it allows the leather to breath unlike saddle lac which is what I have been using on tooled pieces to make them waterproof and keep my dye or antique from bleeding. I will update this post if I ever pick some up and try it. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hey Sylvia Thanks for the great ideas. I really like the air freshener and the cord keeper ideas. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hello Thanks for the great tests Will. As a newbie I am at the point where I need to decide which kind of dye I am going to invest in. This helps a lot! I only wish the water stain line was a bit more affordable. Thanks again, Toolingaround

Hey we would love to see any graph paper experiments that work out :-) Have a good one eh Toolingaround

I like videos! Do post :-) Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi everyone My brain freezes if a number comes anywhere near it. This video is awesome even I get it. Check out her other videos too! Cheers, Toolingaround Oops just noticed I've been beaten to the punch ......red face ..... Couldn't open the other video on my iPod didn't realize it was the same.

I really like your maul!!! I struggle making and and altering stamps and making simple tools out of screw drivers and nails. I use a junior hacksaw, files and sandpaper. If I had the money for good tools to make tools well would just buy the good leather tools from the pros to start with LOL Nice work, Cheers, Toolingaround

I am very sorry to hear he is gone. I learned so much from his generous lessons and am still learning! My condolences to his family. He will be very missed. RIP Paul Burnett and thank you Toolingaround

Hi Bruce Thank you so very much for the book!!! Cheers, Toolingaround

Ok I know this is a really really old thread but I just purchased the magazine secondhand that the articles are in. Both the work and the tooling bench plans are in the Leathercrafters & Saddlers Journal volume 11, no. 5, Sept/Oct 2001. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi Sinpac I just ground down a 50 cent dollar store screw driver tonight. It was a two pack LOL. No power tools but I got the job done. Not as pretty as yours, nice job! Happy New Year everyone, Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi Another useful app is called "Tracing Paper". It puts a grid over a jpeg making it easier to draw from or make a composition. I have it on my iPod as I don't have an iPad but they probably have it for the iPad too. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi there I am a newb and struggling with this issue too! I can tell you with certainty that tan kote is not even remotely waterproof. Sneeze too hard and the darn stuff comes off and waterspots. Not a very good resist in my opinion either, pity cause it looks nice. Cheers, toolingaround

Hey thanks for the tutorial! I just made one for my husband before I saw your tutorial so mines a bit different but I like your idea of a tie down ring for the draw. Nice tutorial👍 Thanks again, Toolingaround

Hi Sylvia Thanks eh Nature finish, that sounds like fun to play around with too.👍 I hope to do three related techniques for the tutorial that of course can also be used on non goofed up projects as well LOL Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi Folks My appologies, I realized latter I should have put this in the dyes and finishes section. I think I will do a tutorial on this anyway and a couple of other ideas for damaged projects even though I got no replies. The wretched tooling job and my bad iPod camera (I used auto enhance which made it look shinier and less like metal) don't do the actual technique justice. I will post it in dyes and finishes when I get it done. I will try to get this up sooner rather than latter as there is nothing worse than goofing up a Holliday gift at the last minute but if life interferes and I don't get it posted please don't be shy to ask me. Cheers to you all 😊 Toolingaround

Hi Everyone I am so wet behind the ears in leather work that I am dripping but I have done a lot of other artwork. I came up with an alternative to the "dye it black" when you have an oopsy option. This is espeshally good for the "crap it turned out too dark!" order of oops. You all know that horrible dead brown I am talking about when your resist failed, you rushed things, your antique is blotchy and smeared and the color turned out like dog doo doo. Or maybe it only happens to me...... anyhow here is an idea before you pitch it in the trash. I can't believe I am actually showing this as my first piece on leatherworker.net but in the interest of helping someone else.........cringe here it is ( don't look at the swivel knife cuts or the edge or the design). Since this was destined for the trash anyway and my antiquing experiment failed horribly (sorry no before picture) I decided to do a copper verdigris finish on it. It is easy, cheap ( I spent four bucks at Wally world) and will happily put together a photo tutorial on how to do it if anyone is interested. I will use a better camera too. Cheers, Toolingaround

Hi Hosscomp Wow I love the case! The braided handle is a nice touch too. I am glad you did not give up when the stitching got tough. I am only doing non sewn projects right now until I can afford a decent awl and some punches. Sorry I can't help with the photo problem. I have not had the courage to post any pics yet myself. Great job, love it! Cheers, Tooling around

Hello Newbie here, I can't afford to buy an awl yet so presently I am just abusing scrap leather and have not done much in the way of a real project yet but I thought I would tell you about these needles from spotted pony traders. Here is there link http://www.spottedponytraders.com/products/i/?id=TO&action=detail&prod_id=125 These needles are super sharp! I took a picture of them stuck in heavy armor leather but can't seam to up load it to the form on my iPod at the moment. Any how the large S curve needle went through the super heavy leather like butter. Infact these needles are so sharp that you probably can not saddle stitch with them as they will probably cut the thread. They are great for frontier type cloths and moccasins. In a pinch they would probably do for your project and are cheep as dirt. The people are nice at spotted pony and so is their leather, unfortunately they don't carry veg tan. Good luck with your project! Cheers Toolingaround

Hello Everyone I am a rank amature newbie of the first degree and have been glued leatherworker.net since I found it!!! Being short on cash and long on enthusiasm I downloaded a bunch of out of copywrite books from google on leatherworking. In this book The decoration of leather Georges de Récy They mention a study done in 1900 on the durability of various book binding leather techniques and concluded among other things that oxalic acid is BAD news. I don't know what modern studies may have found but just something to keep in mind if you are doing heirloom stuff. Anyhow can't thank you all enough for this amazing fountain of knowledge!!! Cheers, Toolingaround