Sylvia

Lucky... wish I could afford something like that.

That's an interesting and elegant idea. My issue is that because I use a tandy strap cutter my 1.5 inches sometimes ends up as 1.52 inches. Just a hair wider.... so I have to measure carefully to get center line. Then it all goes to hell when I measure out 1 inch intervals and try to punch holes that way. Ideally I would have a "self centering tool" that all I have to do is slide the sides to meet the edges of the belt. The center line would have open holes at the right distance... all I would have to do is drill or punch in the hole. Does that make sense. I can see it in my head but drawing it would take too much time at the moment. That is where the rack and pinion would come in... you've seen them on printers and fax machines on the input tray... the self centering device that holds the paper straight.

Sounds like how I ended up with a lot of my guitars... go in to get strings from my buddy at the pawn shop/music store..... and there would be this lonesome Fender guitar with a broken pot.... hmmm.... "What's your best deal on this one with the broken pot and loose tuners.... oh and it has a chip right here...?" "$75" Sold... I'd get home.... "Honey?... can you fix this pot for me?" LOL $5, a few minutes with a screw driver and soldering gun... my cleaning and tightening the screws on the tuners... shazaam. Fender Strat ready to rock. LOL

lol Actually it was Hot Pink curly maple, not blue. That's the Dean. I agree with you there. I am at the point where I have to think about clearing some of mine out.... I can't say I play all that well because you have to practice to keep the skill level. But I enjoy owning these and will be sad to see some of them go. I WISH! I looked like Jessica Rabbit. lol Had a lot of fun with that picture over at Jamplay. I finally had to take it down when a new member, an eastern Europe fellow "shared" a nude of himself. "yikes!" I used to have a special room for my guitars, but hubby has pretty much taken over my office and my guitar room. So I work in the living room now and I must say I make quite a mess! lol Too cold for the garage. Syl

I've been experimenting with wet forming. I had scanned through the tutorial here and grabbed a small bowl and some cool water and stuck it in the microwave to warm it up. Three minutes seemed like a good number. I had skived a small piece of leather and when the microwave "dinged" I took my bowl of warm water to my work bench and plunged my leather in. The microwaved water fizzed and bubbled. "cool" I gathered the stuff I was working with and went to get my "perfectly soaked" leather... It had shrunk to about 1/3 of the original size!! And my water was pink. What the? So apparently I made leather/tannin TEA. "NEXT!!"

That's my face... a friend put it on the antique photo for me. I used to do "face on" for people so good it was spooky. lol Here's one I did with my face on Heidi Klum's body Let's see. Classicals: Takamine G128S Luthier Hand made in Spain (ceder top) Acoustics: Martin 000C-16GTE Dean Performer Pink Denim Arts & Lutherie Wild Cherry Dreadnaught Esteban Starlight Ltd Edition. Fender F30 Round neck resonator Takamine 1970s Lawsuit Martin Fake 12 string. Tatomas 1970s Gibson hummingbird knock off that's actually my hubby's Electrics: Fender Custom Shop FMT-HH Telecaster. Fender SSS Strat MIM from the 90s Fender HSS Strat 60th anniversary edition. Gibson Les Paul Studio Vintage Cherry (the mahogany one) Washburn HB30 hollow body. Other Regal Square neck lap dobro Bass: Epiphone Les Paul Bass Ukes Kala Acacia Concert Some brand I can't remember Soprano tourist Uke Mandolins: To really crappy Chinese made ones that are little more than decorations. (I paid a .01 a piece for them plus shipping)

I did make a pattern, since the straps are typically a fixed width, but.... when I mark the spots where the holes are supposed to go. Well what happens is when I go to set my punch as careful as I am... I still seem to get it off some house.... to close to me... to far back. So instead of 1 inch apart.... one will be an inch and 1/16th or so apart from the previous one. UGG that is what driving me crazy. that sounds like what I need. I've been thinking about how to make one with a rack and pinion set of gears. thanks Dwight.

Beautiful work Nick. You are very lucky to have a papaw who will teach you. I also LOVE your logo. LOL You are chip right off the old block.... I'm sure your grand dad is very proud of you too.

Are there any other ideas?

Bill, have you ever tried an 8oz or higher 3 inch wide strap? I have a Gibson LP solid mahogany... the thing ways over 12lbs. Wider strap is the ticket with heavy guitars. I have one of those thin soft leather straps and it rolls up and digs in... hate it. I find a thicker leather wide strap distributes the weight better across the shoulder

Sounds like what I've been doing. Hmmm....

I'm gathering quite a collection. I now have some pre-"USA" ones as well. Some are duplicates and you can really see the difference in quality between Craftool, Craftool Co., Craftool USA and what passes for tools these days. Sad really. I have 2 of the Craftool USA B200, a b701,B197 and a B60 undercut beveler. I like it but boy you have to be careful with that one, to not go to deep and cut through the leather. I think my favorite one is my craftool co. B803 and my craftool co 941.... and my swivel beveler. lol

I swear, I'll measure and measure again... punch the cotton-picking hole and it's off... just a hair. But enough that I can see it. Uggh. So I've been thinking that I need a better system. I have an idea but I want to know how you folks manage to get the spacing and centering just right.

he he he... well, THANKS!!! You sure could, it's out of copyright so you can use it as you please.

LOL I'll share as needed. I thought it was interesting that it had information on how to make leather covered balls.

I gave up coka cola and was saving the $ to buy one too. Oh well, perhaps some will come up on the secondary market.

NOPE they are not immune. Read more here. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12537279/ns/technology_and_science-security/t/macs-no-longer-immune-viruses-experts-say/#.T1T0kPWMzxE Many people buy Macs thinking that they are USA made... that's no longer true either. PC emulators are available but I can't speak to how well they work. Buy what you are comfortable with. There is a learning curve for PC users who switch to Mac so be prepared to spend some time getting used to the new machine.

I'm going to share this link to a 1904 book on leather working. On page 29 in the book it explains how to make a bench top strap cutting appliance. I think the design could be modified a little with a roller to keep the leather from crawling up on you. http://www.archive.org/details/leatherworking00hasl The book is downloadable as a pdf and you can read it online.... look for the links on the left. hope it helps some.

LOL that's alright Toolingaround, at least we know you were interested enough to look it up. That says a lot about your willingness to try understand it. I like that you embedded the video, too. That will help those who aren't as web savvy. I've been tempted to get out some graph paper and make some spirals and try to turn them into western floral from them.

LOL Oh Twiiiii -iiinnn! We're waiting.

Hello "sharp" Thankfully Barry took care of me and sent me a straight blade AND a sleeve. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who had troubles. I was pulling my hair out. lol

You are welcome. I am glad it helped. Be sure to watch the video provided by Natalie... (and parts 2 and 3), it really shows the spirals in nature. And it's not too math geeky.

Wow! That's really nice. I would be proud to own that one. Excellent job.

Wooo hooo... that is awesome Natalie. Perfect example of how the golden ratio works in nature. Thanks for sharing.

Integral Calculus?!! *plugs ears and sings" La la la la la!!