Sylvia

Ok you bought a 16oz AS Maul and put it back in the box... was it because of the weight,... or the feel of the thing?

Same rules apply don't you think? Every contact cement I've ever used required thin coats and allowing it to get to "slightly tacky" before meeting the materials.

Thanks again Fella's! I've made my choice and have placed an order. I went with a Barry King 20oz (even though it was $ more than I wanted to pay) because I felt I needed a little more heft for those dog-gone bag punches. If all else fails I'll still have my el cheapo light weight one for the lightest work. ***Edit... I actually ended up with the 16oz Barry King. I got to flailing around with that 1lb 1.6oz rubber mallet and that 20oz might be a little to much for me. LOL Please do continue to offer your insights... I'm sure Double C and other's find it helpful.

Thanks again, Bruce. I imagine most of the "tool makers" are there... heck I would be if I could afford it. I think I am zeroing in on a 16oz Poly head one to start with. Though I am still not clear if the different colors of poly has anything to do with the feel and behavior of the material. I had actually had my eye on a 3lb one... but I don't want to drive my seeders through the leather with one blow.

Usually if rubber cement isn't working you've done one of 2 things. 1. you put it on too thick. Thin coats are better. or 2. You've tried to stick them together too soon.

Ok Gents... we are getting more into... I like "Mike the tool maker" fest here And Frankly, If I want a pretty tool... I'd paint mine pink and bedazzle it with ruby rhinestones. I don't care about looks or exotic woods. I care about your impression of the weight, and striking material... and your perceived benefits of those materials. As Joe Friday says. "Just the facts, Ma'am."

Thanks Bruce. I saw your post on the other thread about Wayne being your favorite. I imagine he's at Sheridan right now so when I called, I got a voice mail. When you way expensive.... what are we talking... will I have to sell a kidney?

LOL Bless you, Kevin for reminding me that there are 16oz to 1lb. :D (knew that) Well, I weighed my poly mallet from the Tandy Deluxe kit and I believe it is a 4 oz., since the entire thing weighs 6.6oz. I went around an gathered other hammers and mallets sitting around and got a total combined weight of 2lbs 8oz. Then I held all of them and gave them a "how's that feel test" well besides being awkward as heck... It felt quite a bit better to me than my little poly mallet. Then I weighed this rubber mallet I have for tent stakes. It weighs 1lb 1.7oz. It feels ok too. As for color... I don't really care about color... I do care about the material and had hoped someone would be able to give some info on IF there is a difference based on the material/color combo. Meaning.... perhaps the black is slightly Less slick than another color... something like that? Make sense?

Thank you. Ok, so "LF" (is that leather factory?) Also I've noticed different colored poly materials... Do the colors indicate say softness or durability? I've seen white, yellow, baby poop yellow, brown and black. Are or were any of your mallets rawhide? Any benefit to offset the durability problems?

I vote for a BLT, Beer and Sleep. lol

Thanks Spinner. Ok so from what I reading thus far, the poly material is more durable... and about 1.5 to 2lbs is a good all around weight.

A recent experience with a bag punch got me thinking about upgrading from my poly mallet from the Tandy Deluxe Kit to something better. During my research I find a lot of different sizes, and materials. I swear it's worse than trying to decide on a new pair of shoes! So I wanted to ask everyone a couple questions. What do you use the most, a maul or a mallet? What weight is your maul/mallet and why did you choose that weight? What material is your maul/mallet made from, and what do you feel are the advantages of this material? If you were to buy another maul/mallet... would you get a heavier one or a lighter one? If so why? I'm not looking for recommendations of from whom to buy. I've pretty much found the place I'll make my purchase... I just wanted a little more information on what YOU use and why. Thanks for the insight. Syl

Hi Dallas With you being a blacksmith... can you make tools and buckles and such? I agree with the others on Barry King. Well made Quality tools that aren't too expensive for the most part and they take good care of the customer.

The whetstone will work. Somewhere on Youtube is a video on how to sharpen these oblongs. I'll try to find it for you. ok... the oblong section starts at about 3:00 in this video.

Hi Cheryl: I have a 1.5 inch oblong and the same thing happened to me. took me about 6 hours to bash my way through 9oz leather 8 times. When I finally took a really good look at the thing I realized that one end was thicker than the other. When I get time I'll be spending some time with the grinder and the dremel on it. So yeah, yours probably needs to be sharpened REALLY well. S

Hi Dom... LOL I didn't even see the link before.. just the picture. That is the coolest thing ever! When I saw the picture I thought it was one of those resin sculpture like things. Now I see that it's actually a case with a moulded leather dragon on top. Very cool.

I see. May I suggest that you figure out a way to put the glass piece over a light box type thing and trace it? Or perhaps try to scan it using a colored backing paper to enhance the laser etching? I think what is happening is you are loosing some of the finer points in the glass when you freehand sketch. If you don't have a light box, you can use a window or even your monitor if you can figure out a way to get it to stay in place while you trace. Even a clear casserole dish turned upside down with a bunch of clear Christmas/fairy lights stuck under it would work in a pinch... and might be easier to work with. Use one of those clear sheet protectors to trace on with a sharpie. The clear won't hide any of the features of the subject while you are tracing and it aids in placing the image when you go to transfer it to the leather. As for the moon you can always use a coin, or bottle cap or something similar to make sure you get that nicely rounded shape. I think I would be more likely to leave the moon smooth rather than trying to indicate craters with a stamp. Are you planning to paint this with color?

A agree with the fellas, never condition before your casing and tooling. I also think you are over finishing the piece. One thing you'll learn doing leather working is patience. When you say "crackling" are you speaking of a wrinkled effect when the leather is flat and not flexed? If so, it sounds to me as if you have not skived the leather where the buckle goes. When you bend the leather over to test or place a buckle, you stretch the hair side... when it is returned to the flat position is doesn't rebound so the stretched skin wrinkles. Also if you flex leather to condition it to the hair side it will leave wrinkles and such on the finish side of the leather. As far as I know there is nothing to fix this once it's done. But frankly.... the other end of the belt will overlay that and hide it when worn. So I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Hi Justin: Wow she picked a hard one huh? Good for you for giving "figure carving" a shot. Here's what I see that you can improve: The ears are a bit too pointy. Next time try rounding them a little The mouth of the howling wolf on the glass is angled slightly toward the viewer and on the leather you have made it a side view. The lower jaw needs work too. the front wolf's head is wider between the ears on the glass and the inside edges of the ears come down farther on the head. The eyes are not that angled on the glass and the muzzle on the front wolf is wider and more subtly indicated. I don't want overwhelm you with suggestions. Just curious, how did you go about tracing this?

hmmm.... If I were to attempt something like this I would use a screen print method normally used on Tshirts and banners. The trouble I see with that though is the inks are rather thick. I did find a few videos on printing on leather at Youtube. Here's one of them showing printing on a chunk of wood. here's one of the flat bed printers. http://www.kmajet.com/leather-printing/

Learn HTML5.

It's a cleaning solution here in the states. Made by the lysol company I think. Now there are other scents thankfully. http://www.pinesol.com/index.php?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=pinesol&utm_campaign=Branded Thanks for asking. It forced me to look it up and along the way I found out that "sol" in Pinesol is Phenol.. Maybe that's whats making the stuff stick to me.

ha ha ha!! you might have a point there. After a rare attempt at cleaning with pinesol... I'm not sure it's the pine scent now.... I think it's the "sol" sent. Like "lysol" and pinesol" There is just something about it.

LOL that's a little something extra I don't think anyone would want. he he he... nice of him to offer though. S

this is the debut of mine. I've not shown it at all.... nor have I used it on a project yet.