cjdevito

Thanks very much, I appreciate it. Funny enough I'm actually transferring the pattern I drew up on paper onto a sheet of bontex right now. I keep going back between two idea. Either running a strap under the the side straps, but all the way around the bag and having an adjustable buckle in the front (and securing it to the bag with rivets under where the side straps go and possibly in back as well), or just terminating a strap without a buckle under the side straps and again going the rivet route at that point. Haven't made up my mind. It's definitely the weakest design element of the colson keane original design, aesthetically, and your solution looks much better than theirs does. I'll probably be playing around a bontex mock up for a week or two before I actually get around to trying to build one out of leather, but I'll definitely post it up once I have it.

Hi Monica. I've been playing around with the design of this and with your design and Jeremy's pattern for a basis I've laid out a pattern of my own, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind answering a few further dimensional questions? 1. What width straps did you use on the sides, are they 1.5" or 2'? 2. What was the spacing you used between the slots on the side of the bag? 3. Last one... the flap strap. Do you have it running around the entire exterior of the bag, or does it terminate under the side straps? Do you remember what length you used for it? Thanks for any answers you can provide, and thanks for showing off a piece that's really a great inspiration.

There's a member here who specializes in baroque designs, you can see the style here: http://www.rbn.kz/gallery.php?gallery=leather If it interests you he does offer his sketch book for purchase... http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=48079&hl=baroque

Thanks, that's very helpful.

Wonderful work, and I too think your Colson Keane bag looks better than the original. I don't suppose you have a pattern for it you'd consider sharing? I think I'd like to try that design myself.

I tend to print my designs on transparencies (thin sheets of acetate available in any office supply shop) and transfer them with a ballpoint stylus. The transparencies make positioning the design on the leather easier, they don't suffer from contact with moist leather, and they're re-usable.

From my days with reef aquariums, I'd suggest metal halide lighting of at least 175 watts if you're really set on trying something. As far as bulbs, iwasakis 6500K bulbs are fairly cheap (for metal halides). You'll get more UV output with a higher K-rated bulb, especially if you get one of the double-ended 10KK or 20KK models that doesn't have an internal UV shield. The cost goes up significantly though.

Not enough pressure. If you don't have a press of some sort lay a thin sheet of acrylic or something similar over the leaves, then run a rolling pin over it using a lot of pressure. You'll get much better impressions.

Yeah, it appears they're phasing out their dyes and at least most of their hi-lite stains in favor of the pro line of dyes and their gel antiques. The pro line and the gels are the better products so it's not such a big deal, but there are a few colors of the hi-lite I will really miss - raisin mahogany and smoke black - so I stocked up on them a couple months back.

Funny, my current project is actually duplicating another different one of this guy's bags for a friend of mine. Cheryl's already given you good advice, but I can point you to a pattern that may help you get started.... http://www.bighousedaddy.com/business_satchel.htm or http://www.bighousedaddy.com/attache_case.htm The first one is more like the bag you want to duplicate but the price is higher and it's just the pattern, no instructions. The second one is only half the price and does come with extensive documentation - I bought a copy of it myself some time ago and found it helpful.

That Tandy video drove me absolutely nuts trying to duplicate what was shown, I swear George Hurst left a step out from the final video when it came to getting it started properly. After an hour of trying to get it started properly and failing again and again I asked my wife - a former professional costume designer who's work has appeared on broadway and in film - to watch the video and see if she could figure it out. She had no luck either. FInally I gave up on the video amd dug out a copy of tandy's very old 'Lacing and Stitching for Leathercraft' http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/department/books-patterns/lacing-braiding/61906-00.aspx and followed the instructions there. Five minutes later I was further along than I'd been after an hour with the video.

Lovely work, as always.

I use tandy's antique gel a lot myself but this isn't a problem I've encountered with it. The only thing that stands out that you do that I don't is that you use Super/Satin Shene. I really hate both of those and so never use them - I prefer a variety of other products, from RTC's Sheridan Resist to tandy's pro finishes. I can't say that the super shene is the problem, but it's the only thing that seems to differ between what you do and what I do.

I've used the product tandy carries (it's called Bontex, btw) with pretty decent results. It's a thick paper stock, think a manila folder on steroids. You'll want to line it with something to hide it on the interior of the bag, but otherwise it's pretty straighfroward to use. I'll usually cut pieces of both it and the leather I'm working with to be slightly oversize to the individual pattern pieces I'm making... glue the oversized bontex to the oversized leather and then cut both layers at once to the exact dimensions needed. Makes it easy to keep your edges even.

Pretty basic. Based off the pattern for Tandy's old Dispatch Rider briefcase, but I've changed the handle and removed the strap closures and replaced them with a clasp. Leather is a kamali pull up leather I bought from springfield leather a year ago, over a layer of bontex as stiffener. Case is fully lined with a black and white canvas fabric. The first briefcase I made ( http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=42919&hl=dispatch ) I punched the holes with a rotary punch. This time I used an awl, though clearly I have a ways to go with getting better at it.

I'll never be able to make as much money with leatherwork as I make at my day job. Forget about my skill level, which is low... even if I were one of the best, it wouldn't be enough to compete with my regular salary. On one level that's a damn shame, because I enjoy the leatherwork a hell of a lot more than I enjoy my day job. On another level, though, it's a blessing - it keeps me from seriously contemplating going into the leather business, no matter how much I enjoy working with leather. So my plan is simple. I have another 20 years or so til I can retire, and when I do that will be with a great pension, SS, and a retirement fund. I figure I can use the time between now and then to improve my leatherwork til it's a level where I could feel proud enough of what I make to sell it, then when I retire I'll go into the leather business then. I won't -need- that income, so I'll still be able to have fun with it without having to worry about putting food on the table with it. I can't say whether the leather business is the right call for anyone else as a way to make a living. Just that in my own case it's not. Being able to look objectively at it, no matter how much you love it, is key to figuring out your own answer.

Like the others have said, it's a waxy cream. Does darken leather a little but in my experience not all that much. One thing about it is that it's extremely good at pulling off tandy's water based stains, so I wouldn't recommend using the two together unless you really want to lighten up the stain.

This. Stain can be very useful in applications where you're resisting part of the work but want a color that isn't conveniently available as a real antique. It also offers a number of different color choices from most of the dye lines, and if you want very light coats that are almost translucent stain can do some really interesting things. But it definitely has it's limitations; it takes practice to apply it evenly, it doesn't really penetrate the leather so scratches on the surface will really show up, and since the pigment really does mostly just sit on the surface it can definitely bleed onto you. Buffing the hell out of the leather after the stain has dried helps with that last part. And yeah, SuperSheen is crap. Just about any other finish you could pick will do a better job. Lots of folks swear by Resolene, I personally like BeeNatural's RTC Sheridan Resist, but anything is going to be better than SuperSheen. If you decide to try dyes most here will recommend Fiebings. I also like tandy's line of eco-flo pro dyes, but not even I think much of the regular tandy eco-flo dyes.

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try.

As an added FWIW, you can get a good grey with tandy's eco-flo smoke black stain. It's finicky and may come out more brown than gray depending on the piece of leather & the application, but I have gotten some genuinely nice greys with it. Cyberthrasher, you wouldn't happen to have any pics of stuff you've done with the fiebings royal blue + black, would you? I'm always on the look out for ways to do grey.

I got a copy of this sketchbook last week and I consider it money well spent. Some gorgeous design work. Most of the patterns are designed around a briefcase, a book cover and what I think is a clutch purse, but there are quite a few others as well. A couple of belt designs, what I think is a pattern for a rifle scabbard, a couple of repeating patterns that could be tooled on anything, plus a few others besides. If the style appeals to someone I definitely recommend the purchase of the sketchbook as a useful resource.

Take a look at my gallery.... http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&user=25665 There's four photos, two of a full sized notepad folder (the folder with the fish on it)done the way WSCott mentioned, two (the ones with the floral carving) that were done as seperate front and back pieces joined with a saddle strip of thinner leather. Neither is a work of art, but the photos might help you get an idea of how to tackle the construction.

A discussion (and eventually a couple of how-to's) of imprinting leaves into leather.... http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4133&hl=%2Bimprinting+%2Bleaves

Old post, but I recently talked to a friend of mine who's a tattoo artist about this very question. Turns out most tattoo 'ink' is actually composed of metal oxides. I have to wonder if these would (over time) discolor veg tan in much the way vinegaroon does. If applied as a dye you could expect little to no penetration, the color would just sit on the surface and would be prone to getting scratched off. I was specifically curious if white tattoo ink might work as a form of white dye, but after talking to my friend it seemed like the results wouldn't be anything worth pursuing.

Brush is fine, but it's more finicky. You not only have to get the resist exactly where you want it and everywhere you want it, but you have to try to get it on evenly. If you brush it on heavier in some places and lighter in others more of the stain/antique will penetrate in the areas where you didn't brush it on as heavy. Which can look good, if you do it deliberately, planning out sections of the work where you want more penetration than others. But if you do it accidentally the final result will look streaky and uneven. It's one reason why it's often recommended that you resist with multiple light coats.