Sylvia

Hi Ara: I know what you mean. I spent several months trying to understand the different leather weights. I found this and bookmarked it. Perhaps it will help you. http://www.brettunsv...onversions.html I hope that helps some. I can't find it now but I did see a site somewhere that compared the thicknesses to American coins. **** ha ha ha... just saw that Coin info near the bottom of that page! Syl

uh oh, now you've done it...You got the frustrated engineer in me going..... my husbands drill press is in serious danger now. LOL Why couldn't one use an existing drill press, build a block to raise the bed and just use it turned off? Just chuck the hand tools as is... and mash away?

I would say that the skull thing started in recent history as a logo for the Hells Angels. From there Heavy Metal, Gothic and now Screamo Metal etc. all seem to perpetuate the image. Perhaps it is a fascination with death, the dead and who knows these people may be frustrated Thespians stuck in an ever present "Alas, Poor Yoric, I knew him well...." state of mind.

Gingher Knife Edge Scissors are awesome. I had a pair already... but DO BE CAREFUL with these. I recently cut a nasty gash in my index finger. OUCH!. Now I am going to have a battle scar. LOL Daddy always said "Never use your hands as a vise." Now I know why. If you don't have a stitching pony, you can use a small vice and a hard backed book as a temporary one at least until you can make one or buy one. The book needs to be fairly thin... but it works!

Most of what I saw was finished goods. You might call your regular supplier and ask if they have a source.

This isn't exactly new... but you might try wrapping your sponge in some tightly woven material like Chino fabric. Add the dye to the wrapped sponge, blot off excess on a towel... then apply moving in circles. Try it on a stamped and carved piece of scrap. What happens is the dye applicator floats above the deeper carved areas and leaves them nearly free of dye. I also found this video which I find to be an interesting technique. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEuPUey3jc

I think Dry Milling mimics the process of pounding the leather to soften it. http://www.leatherresource.com/drymilling.html

Hey Zonker? Have you considered using hot roller clips? http://www.folica.com/tools/butterfly-hair-clips/conairpro-pro-clips I bet they would work nicely and already have a rounded shape. If you want, you could glue some leather inside the clips to protect your work. I use these a lot when I need to make sure a garment doesn't get in the way of the hoop when machine embroidering. Best $10 I've ever spent.

Hi Travis. I come from the tie dye arena so mixing dyes is something we do a lot. We normally buy, turquoise, yellow and magenta for dyes. For me to get a Olive Drab color I would have to mix 4 parts Magenta (mixing red) 5 parts yellow, and 3 parts Turquoise. There is no black or if I use black it would just be a few drops. I don't think Pro Oil has the colors you need to do this. To get a better idea of how colors mix into other hues, try this online mixing gadget. http://painting.abou...ingpalette1.htm I would avoid the Rit dye because the colors on the bottles aren't necessarily what you end up with. Fiber Reactive Dye's found at Dharmatrading is what I use. You could mix those with alcohol but strain them through a fine mesh strainer to avoid blotchiness. I just got some leather dye from Dharma too "Angelus" brand dye ... I ran a test swatch and I think if you get Rose, Yellow and Light Blue, you can get the color you want. Good luck LOL I just realized how old this post was. Oh well, perhaps my info can help another someday.

Hi Bill: I use a point and shoot digital camera. I find that if I am having a problem with glare, a piece of plain old kitchen wax paper (grease proof paper to you Aussies), taped over the flash diffuses the light enough to stop that problem in it's tracks. You might give that a try.

You got it... young folks doing the designs that give NO thought to tired eyes or those of us who are visually impaired in some way. It looks good to them so off they go to the printers.

Hey JB. The place was called "The Dalles Tanners" I'm not sure it's still in business, though I found a few "yellow" page entries online. Another place called Muir - MacDonald, inc... was located in Dallas, Oregon, but I understand they shut down in 2005. Then again their information is still showing up online. http://www.powerprofiles.com/profile/00005140925137/MUIR-+MC+DONALD+CO+INC-DALLAS-OR I know there is a leather shop in Portland and Eugene. Here is their website. http://www.oregonleatherco.com/ Good luck, I hope you find what you are looking for.

Hello Hosscomp: I am under 60, but I know what you mean about fine print and lack of contrast. I wear glasses and even then I sometimes have difficulty reading websites, until I do a CTRL+ several times to size it up. (Which is why I detest sites that are flash based and won't allow that feature.) I don't know why but it seems the "design practitioners" these days, seem to think grey text on off white is a good enough contrast to read. It's not and I see it a lot these days. Anyway I have a couple suggestions that may help. For those Tool numbers: I use a Jeweler's Loops. I have a good one that is 30X power and a quick peak through that and I have the numbers in short order. It's also handy for reading tiny numbers on diodes, capacitors, potentiometers and resisters. It's also great for looking for burrs on your knives and tools. (I carry mine with me) For those annoying low contrast labels: Once you determine the color, etc., just use a black sharpie and write the color as large as you would like on the label. It won't help you much while you are shopping but when you get it home you can grab the color you want at a glance.

Phil: Try these boots again but use some fabric instead of leather. Try fabric that isn't woven but a knit. You can play all you want while you figure this out without damaging leather. If you want something more "robin hood" try this tutorial on constructing a pattern to fit... it's several pages so read through everything before you begin. http://www.seamlyne.com/design/costume/footwear/footwear_index.asp

Did you find any solution? Inquiring minds want to know.

K-man: Did you ever order your beveler blade? I see that they are available one the website, maybe they are in stock again?

HI Julia: I understand your confusion because I've recently gone through this myself. From what I gather, Eco Flo is a non toxic Dye which provides a transparent color to the leather. As you apply successive layers the color gets deeper and more rich. Eco Cova is an Opaque color that is basically an acrylic paint. Antique Gel is used to give a well worn or old look to the leather and Hi-lite is similar to the antique but is designed to settle into the cut carving and cut work to bring emphasis to the work. I've not read anything about the All in One but I think that is pretty self explanatory. Fiebings and Angelus both have "spirit dyes" that are considered toxic. Oil dye, (Pro Dye) I gather, not only dyes the leather but the oil helps to ensure that the leather softens. If you are looking to get a few colors and are trying to save some $$ I would go to http://www.dharmatrading.com and search for Angelus. They are the least expensive that I have found after about a month of searching. It's funny because I searched and searched for leather dye and it wasn't until I had the brilliant idea to try to mix dyes from my Fiber Reactive Fabric Dyes and sought to learn how from Dharma... that I found the least expensive source for leather dyes. LOL Dharma has a pretty good selection and if you buy more than (5) 3oz bottles they are 2.89 each. They have the acrylic leather "paints" too. Sylvia

You are very welcome. I know how hard it is to locate parts sometimes. I subscribe to the policy of ask... all they can do is say "No." I assume you got the Private Message with the phone number. I hope you and Mike are able to come up with an agreement Sylvia

Hello Amyhis I'm originally from the Canyonville-Roseburg area. I reside in Idaho now though. (Sure miss the trees!) I am envious of your Viking and your Mercury. Either of those machines would make me a happy camper!

The best place price wise I've found for opaque acrylic is http://www.dharmatra...144517-AA.shtml Be sure to get your FREE gift with your first order... it's on the home page. This company ships FAST too. If it is before 11am Pacific time... they ship the same day.

Hello Ara: I'm rather new too. I bought a half hide of deer tanned steer and I'm a bit to intimidated to cut into it and make the leather Ren Boots I wanted. I few years ago I bought a used set of basic tools from the70s or 80s from someone on Ebay. I think I did ok. But from what I have been reading the tools in the "Leather craft kits" these days are not that great anymore and one is better off buying the Basic 10 stamp separately. That said there are some really really nice tools made by some companies that are well beyond MY means... though I drool at them now and then. You didn't really say what you wanted to do with your hides once you get them tanned. But there is a plethora of information on the web, youtube, and with a savvy google you can find information on how to make Ren Boots, authentic moccasins, all kinds of stuff actually. Sylvia

Hi Sinpac: I found some similar holsters on Ebay and being the Gabby Gretta that I am I asked the guy if he could tell me where to get them. Anyway... here is his reply.... Thanks for the holiday wishes. If you need just a SWIVEL and Washer, I have these. A lot of these holsters I have to repair or put together. Can you find out how long a SHAFT he needs on the swivel piece - usamike99 So anyway.... if you want the contact information, I would be happy to get his number for you. ) Sylvia

LOL This reminds me of a story. My brother used to frequent an industrial parts store during the course of his work as a Millwright. He had a buyer/vender with a sexy voiced vixen that had him all the men at the Mill all twitter-payted One day he needed a part asap but it was too late to send it out on the parts delivery truck so he ordered it on the phone and rushed into town to pick up the part. He made it to the parts store and was standing there waiting for his order when he heard her talking. He was all smiles when he turned to greet the face that matched the voice on the phone and was gutted when he discovered a grey haired "Granny" about 60 years old, who weighed about 300lbs. Sometimes the imagination doesn't quite match real life.

Thanks Clair. I will have to wait a while before I try this. I've actually considered using a big old fat sharpie as an experiment. I sometimes do a little restoration work on old guitar amps and I use rubber cement and a black sharpie on Toletex. I've wondered if a black sharpie would "dye" an edge well enough to get by with it... after all it is permanent. Right? lol Syl