Chavez

Welcome to the forum!

Almost forgot about these guys: http://www.saddlerycourses.com/ They make very good saddlers clams in full-size and a smaller version. Although I've heard there is nothing wrong with clams from LePrevo. Try to avoid stitching ponies - the ones for sale are far from perfect and they only allow stitching limited projects. There are plenty of designs for a pony on this website so if you'd like one in future, you're better off making one yourself.

Hi, Most of LePrevo tools are Ivan. Generally, Ivan make decent tools. I'd stay away from Ivan groovers and their carving stamps are really bad, but unless you are ready to fork out £500 straight away on Barry King and another £100 on a swivel knife, there is no need to overpay for a beginner's set of stamps so go with Ivan! If I remember correctly, the round knives are G Barnsley - I've heard these knives are very good! The pairing knives are English-made and are superb for the ~£3. http://abbeyengland.com/ Have a look at abbey (you'll need to set up a sole trader account with them). They have a lot of tools and supplies and I believe they are the official distributor of Fiebing's, so they have the cheapest Fiebing's stuff. Some leather is cheaper than LePrevo. http://handtools-uk.com/ Here's a good source for osborne tools. In regard to dixon tools, I'd recommend to stay away from them unless you absolutely have to have them (e.g. sitting SMS exams). IF you are to buy a dixon, get it from abbey. The tools will be a bit more expensive but easier to return once you get a faulty one http://www.goodsjapan.jp/ These guy have a lot of great tools if you can afford to fork out a bit of extra cash. I've got their groover and overstitcher and they beat carftool (though the overstitcher needs a bit of machining before you can use it). Feel free to drop me a message with your list of tools and I'll try ho help you

Hi Chancey, I really like the final leaf! Can't comment on dyeing, but from the carving point of view: 1) You need lifters/undercutters. Barry King makes good undercutters (he makes a lot of great stuff actually, not just undercutters ) but if you don't have a spare $60-$100 in your budget, you can get an osborne petal lifter for as little as $10ish I think if you check with suppliers... Also, with a bit of elbow grease, - Google "Petal lifter tool" for an image of one. - Choose a few old screwdrivers that you don't mind sacrificing. - Cut the tips of the screwdrivers off at about 45 degrees. - file the new tip down so it's smooth (check to the photo from step 1). - using extremely fine sandpaper & jewellers rouge polish your new lifters! You can either use them as a lifter or as an undercutter (i.e. hold at an angle and tap with a mallet). They are not going to be as good as pro tools, but that's cheap, reasonably quick to make, can be made to your liking (any angle/size). For the carving itself, watch out for your swivel cuts. try not to get any of the lines crossing each other. Practice, practice, practice. There are a lot of tight turns in a maple, but they are not as bad as, say, American oak, so maples are not that bad.

Thanks! Didn't realise you could put regular conditioner on acrylics. I would usually just put a very light layer of mink oil, but I'll try Aussies on it now =)

Thank you very much! How would you attach them to a cover? chicago-screw it to a strap & then stitch the strap to the cover?

Hi! Does anyone know a good place to buy organiser binders (those metal sprung-up rings) in small quantities. Perhaps about 10 items in 2-3 sizes? Can't find them anywhere =( Thank you!

Thanks guys!

Hi again! I am drafting a leather care brochure to enclose a copy to my products. With a lot of help from some of you guys I now have some ideas about what to write for wax-based finishes. But what would you recommend for acrylic resolene? You wouldn't want to put a conditioner, say, Aussies on it would you? Just a thin coat of evoo or neetsfoot? If anyone is feeling generous and wouldn't mind sending me a copy of your leather care brochure (if you haven't sent one already!) for me to draw inspiration from (I'm not going to do any copy & pasting!) I would be very much obliged! Thank you!

Hi! Being an absolute zero in marketing, I can't decide what to print on my business cards under my name. How do you describe your business? "Custom Leatherwork" is probably the best I could come up with, but I don't think many clients will know what "custom leatherwork" actually means... "Hand made custom leatherwork"? A bit more info but still quite short =( And just doesn't sound right. Do you list your main areas of leatherwork? "Hand made gunleather and leather accessories"? Will put off most people who don't happen to be a gun nut from buying a wallet (I'm in the UK, not the US) =( "Custom leather accessories"? I would be very grateful for any suggestions! Really stuck here =( Thank you! Chavez

A bigger saddler's knife (or a half-round knife) will do the trick for longer cuts. Mine is only about 4 1/2" and I don't usually have problems cutting straight lines. Might get a +/-1mm error margin if I'm not very accurate though. I really recommend investing into a good quality saddler's knife and a strop. It will do most of the work (straight & curved cutting and skiving) as long as it is sharp enough. In fact, regardless of what knife you use, you always have to keep it stropped. A blunt knife is a dangerous knife! PS you also might want to invest into a strap cutter. Cheap wooden ones work great and cut up to 4" straps.

A master saddler taught me to cast the thread (to lock the stitches) but as I do not usually do saddlery/tack work I sometimes forget to cast a few stitches and nothing bad happens. Just make sure that you don't double loop the thread (I only double loop to lock the backstitch) or cast the wrong way, cause then your stitch will look different from the others. I never noticed the casting knot showing through the leather, but 3-4oz + 1-2oz is the lightest I've stitched so far.

Had a similar problem with a strap of John White's the other day. My splitter just won't bite into it without me running the risk of the blade digging in too far. Had to skive by hand but I'll try the water trick next time!

Thanks guys, I'll try it this week. Don't have any good quality hair blades but let's see if the cheap one works...

by the petals I mean the top. I thought about leaving it blank and putting a lot of decorative lines with a swivel knife but not sure if it's going to look good and whether I can get enough consistency on them =/ I either end up with the "top" that's not detailed enough or just doesn't look natural. Either way it looks out of place when compared to the rest of the carving. I'll try a few more ideas tomorrow =/ Leaf liner didn't work, camo didn't work,

here are a couple of my latest drafts. pod sorted out but the petals are still bad =(( Any ideas on what tools to use?

Hm. I've also just read that rags saturated with boiled linseed oil are a fire hazard as they can self-combust!!! Would putting the waterproofer mix onto a canvas bag and heating it up with a blow dryer not be likely to go up in flames? =/

Thanks! Would the linseed based mix be worse than evoo or neetsfoot based as linseed dries up?

Thanks Chuck! So would you suggest not to use this waterproofer on leather?

I'll try making the paste soon. Aussie's is fine, but its more of a conditioner rather than a waterproofer. Can one use this paste to condition? IF the oil dries up then I guess the answer is no? Has anyone used 50-50 mix of wax & evoo to condition the leather rather than to waterproof it? Is it worse or better than aussies?

That's the video! I am an idiot - it is boiled linseed oil, not neetsfoot! Thanks! Has anyone tried this paste on leather by the way? =) What results did you get? And how bad is the smell? Is it likely to take over the nice smell of leather? What are the chances of me getting in trouble with my mrs for stinking up a few canvas bags =) ? Thank you!

Hi! I remember reading a waterproofing paste recipe that had boiled neetsfoot oil in it. Is there any difference between boiled neetsfoot oil and just regular neetsfoot oil? Thanks!

Haha! I think I figured out what's wrong with my drafts - I was trying to carve an oval pod while it's much better when it is carved like Bob did on his saddle! Thank you very much for the photo - I'll try to draft some more thistles!

Thanks guys! It's the detailing that doesn't look good. Lack of experience I guess.. Mulefoot sounds interesting - I was going to try it on my next draft. I'll take a few photos of my first drafts and post them here. I did a cross-hatch pattern (like an oak acorn) but it doesn't look good. I'll try the scales pattern & bevelling too... The "toto lib" link has a nice pattern.

Do you have to use the glue? In my case it's glue that's causing most of the awl blade drag, so I try to avoid it when I can and use tacks instead...