rosiart

Does it make a difference if a person normally works in the lighter weights of leathers for the weight recommendations for the maul? I am leaning towards a 14 oz, but wanted to check if my reasoning is sound.

I would check out a local kitchen countertop installation place. They often have granite cut outs for sinks that you can get for free or a nominal charge.

Very nice. At the risk of sounding really dumb, what does RTC stand for?

You have no idea how helpful this has been. Thanks so much for giving such a detailed response. And I think one of my biggest problems is trying to rush things. It is hard to know in the beginning when the time is right to start the tooling and I think I tend to jump the gun. Do you do all the carving at once then do the tooling a section at a time or is there a better method? In the process of making a belt, what clues I should be looking for, to know when it is time to rewet the work? Rosemary

Yes it does but it also raises more questions in my mind. Sorry. lol In the Al Stohlman book, they mention casing the belt by running through a bowl of water slowly to get a good casing. I was wondering how necessary that is. And if a backing such as tape is necessary. I really don't want use it as this will be a single layer belt so I won't be able to hide fuzzies. Do you find that the tooling loses any of its definition through repeated dampenings? Thanks . ( I considered sending my questions as a pm but then figured other newbies might also like to know)

Very nice and it even has my initials on it. lol Could I ask you a quick question? I am really new to this and want to make a belt for my hubby that is carved and tooled. Do you do it all in one sitting? Do you use saran or something similar to keep the areas not being worked on from drying? Rosemary

My hubby couldn't figure out how I managed to miss that step. You can bet I won't be skipping it next time. :-)

Joel, I think those of us who do this as a hobby tend to underestimate the costs involved. In part because we normally buy things when they are on sale, to have a stash,rather than for a specific project. So the price isn't as tied in our mind to the specific article. I think the other part is, we REALLY don't want to know how much we have spent on our hobby, or we don't wan't someone else to know so we tend to deflate the cost a little lol . Many of us just have a hard time charging what our products are worth. That old confidence issue makes us undervalue our time. I do feel you did the right thing though, honouring the quoted price. Fortunately it was only for a few items and hopefully the advertising value will greatly exceed the loss. And your customer is likely very happy, most people like to feel that they got the bargain of the century. Rosemary

I did a crossbody style purse using some upholstry leather and ostrich leg. Learned the hard way that you should check the conditioner you plan on using on your purse in an inconspicuous place of your ostrich or you risk losing all the colour. Fortunately I was able to save it but it no longer has the depth of colour it once had.

very beautiful!

Check the Tandy site. There is a free video showing how to use the tri weave. Hope this helps.

Oh man, now I officially have leather envy. lol

Looks good! Can I ask how you attached the lining?

Oh My! The sculptural aspects of this are totally amazing. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the reply, Chris. I love the deep black you are getting with this application. To pursue this farther, have you or possibly anyone else, tried the waterstains with the typical Sheridan style finishing, with the supersheen resist and then applying the stain?

This is gorgeous!. Did you use rods to stiffen the top edges?

I have been playing around, trying to learn, reading this forum religiously and thought it was probably time I posted one of my efforts. I bought a big box of scraps from Tandy and this was one of my trial pieces. I did a lot of things wrong, so this was a great learning experience. My backgrounding needs a lot of work. But I am pleased that it is at least wearable.

Has anyone tried these waterstains with items with a lot of tooling or with a Sheridan style finishing? The Tandy video only shows these used in an all over colour application. Also has anyone used them for a painted application? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts on them. thanks.

Well, first off I have to say I really don't like snakes. In fact, they give me the creeps. My son in law has had some for years and still doesn't understand my aversion. That said, you did a really good job with the impression of the snake coming out towards the viewer. It is really well done and I think your mom will love it. Me, not so much but I appreciate the skill that went into the carving. Bet you will have some commissions from your mom's snaky friends. lol

[ I haven't commmented before but I have to say I look forward to your posts. You do some seriously gorgeous leather. And have a blessed and happy Easter.

I think it must not have been all the way onto the cutting edge. That's all I can think of that would allow it to work.

Thanks. I didn't know if it was important. I have stropped it and it seems to be much better.

I have a Tandy keen edge beveler size 2. The red plastic coating? on the tip part has come off. Is that plasic dohickey important for the tool to work properly as my edges now seem to be uneven?