lightningad

already been doing the wet stuff, thanks. Thats what has puzzled me - wet with the steel - not much colour change, wet with wood - much darker. I'm more interested to know how the burnishing is achieved on large flat areas, rather than edges. adam

I've been struggling for a week to get a decent looking burnish on a pouch i'm making. I'm using a fancy highly polished steel jewellers burnisher which is making the veg-tan nice and smooth but not really giving that nice burnished colour. However, I have discovered that if i turn the tool around and use the wooden handle it works a treat!. This then prompted me to try burnish the flesh of the leather as well, and stone me...it works fantastically too! My pouch is gonna have a smooth inside and outside. The big problem with this method is it takes a long time and an awful lot of elbow grease. So my question is... are there any mechanical methods for burnishing larger areas of leather? I've got a dremel if thats any use? I know i can get dremel / drill mounted edge burnishers, but i'm more interested in burnishing the whole item being made. thanks Adam

Hi, I've been on the forum for a couple of months now, and my leatherwork is advancing nicely. I've noticed there are some Adult forums that are restricted access. Being over 40, i think i now class as adult, so please can i be allowed in to those forums? my log-in name is lightningad. thanks Adam Name: adam taylor UserName: lightningad IP Address: 87.113.63.240 Email Address: adam@moose.co.uk

I don't have any books, just an idea! As for tools - these forms were made with very basic woodwork tools - rulers, saws, a screwdriver, sandpaper and a few clamps. Nothing more!

I'm in the middle of a very similar project myself, and although its only my second pouch, its working out really well. I created a two part plywood mould - the first has the inner plug glued to a baseboard and sanded smooth. The second is a plywood board with a hole cut out to fit over the plug with enough extra space to allow it to be pressed down without scratching the leather. Again all edges and sides are sanded smooth. I soaked my leather in lukewarm water for around 15-20 mins, then placed it onto the mould then carefully pressed it down manually first, then used the second part of the mould to press it down all the way. Once happy that it was moulding correctly, i attached a couple of spring loaded clamps to hold it all secure. The following day i released the clamps to check it was okay, ad found that one side was more curved than i wanted, so because the leather was still quite damp, i was able to manipulate the plywood and the leather to tighten up the side that needed it. Then back on with the clamps and left to dry for another couple of days. I was so taken with this method, that once the leather was dry I was able to trim it to the size i wanted and then draw around the entry profile on to a template from which i made another set of moulds for creating a cupped lid. The two work together really well. And it worked so much more easily than i expected. Cant wait to finish it properly Pouch body being formed in mould Lid being formed - this needs to fit snuggly over the body pouch so has a curved front edge, and i left the back as a long flat piece so it can be shaped and creased to form the rear panel Not shown is the third flat piece i used to make the lid top flat. This picture shows i quite curved, so i placed a sheet of plasticard over the wet leather and then a sheet of plywood on top of that which was weighted down to give the flat top seen in the next image. The plasticard was to prevent any wood grain from being impressed into the leather the two halves side by side awaiting stitching and finishing - but the idea is pretty clear. adam

thanks for clarifying that Azrider - thats what i thought you meant, just wasn't sure! Good point about about following up on the customer service Capgun....i suppose you have to watch your timing though if they're wandering being cowboys! adam

Hey Syd, i'm new to this whole thing too - and got into it with the Tandy starter kit. I found it to be a great way to learn some basics, and within a few days i had ordered some more stuff from Tandy. What i would recommend doing is looking through the Tandy website for "Veg-bellies...special purchase" - I bought two of these at under £7 each (I have just noticed they are now £18 each) but its a large piece of leather - mine are around 3 mm thick, and both are long enough to get a few belts out of plus have plenty left over to make some knife pouches etc, and its probably the cheapest way to get loads of practice leather. Its not a wide piece but then its a fraction of the cost of decent hide, its cheap and its still very useful! Cutting with the swivel knife is the thing i found most difficult, but a few practice goes - most importantly taking my time and concentrating on each cut, its amazing how quickly your ability will improve. good luck adam

Thanks Azrider, could you be a little more specific? when folding over the stone would you fold so the flesh side was against the stone or would you reverse the leather so the smooth was on the stone. I ask because the quote about then making the groove with an edger seemed odd, unless you either removed it from the stone or had folded the leather flesh side out, and then grooved along the crease. regards Adam

thanks Dwight - if i had a v cutter thats exactly what i would do. I have just done the fold, and apart from cutting a groove, i found by stamping a groove in the wetted leather with the bevel stamp, then using a ball model tool to compress it even more, wet the outside of the fold and just worked it a bit manually, its pretty close to what i needed. regards Adam

I'm making a wet moulded pouch with a wet moulded lid that fits snuggly over the top. The lid has enough flat material still attached so that when its trimmed it will also form the back panel of the pouch. My question is how do i put a fold or crease into the thick veg-tan leather (approx 3mm) to allow the lid to sit correctly, and to behave as the hinge point when opening ? My one previous attempt at a pouch had a flap type lid which curves too much and i want to avoid that on this one. I have tried carving a v-groove on the rough side, but the result is poor at best. I also tried casing the leather and then lightly scoring a line on the rough side, then using a bevel stamp hammer along the line then turn the leather around and go back along the opposite side of the line. This seems to work okay, but i'm convinced there must be a better and more effective method. I'd appreciate any advice about how best to add this detail thanks Adam

PS...is there some acronym or symbol for ..."hope this helps"... like LOL or :-) or something? I do hope not - i hate all that textspeak nonsense - just makes the user look like an idiot. Thanks for the advice. I had used the sinew but it just didnt feel waxed at all, nothing like the waxed thread i had used on an earlier project. I bought some linen thread this weekend and tried beeswaxing it...next time i'll buy ready waxed stuff...what a pain! adam

Perfect - just what i needed to know. thanks. Adam

I understand the reasoning behind waxing linen threads, but having bought myself some Artificial Sinew, i wonder if there are any advantages to be had from waxing this stuff? Also, can some explain the numbering system used on waxed linen threads. Does it denote number of ply and thickness of thread? How do you know which size to buy for using on leather projects? (I even tried looking on Barbours (Coates) website but couldnt find an explanation). thanks Adam (a puzzled newbie)

Have you tested how well the dye is retained by the leather? I have been thinking of trying some coffee to dye leather, but have been wondering if there would be any problems with the colour leaching out and rubbing off on clothes (i'm thinking of using it for staining pouches) adam