Studio-N

Since Ron Morgan retired as Pres, Tandy has gone downhill. Little John Thompson does not care about people only the stock. In past years, they have made an average of $60 million per years in sales. We were told that the goal was to reach $100 million within the year. And the only way to do that is on your ticket. They have decided to emphasize strictly Retail. Why? Because there is more money in it. They really don't give a crap about small businesses where they have to dish out the same amount of product at less margin. They want only Big business accounts.Even though it is small margin, the big sales look good on the books and monthly sales announcements. The are replacing all of the managers that have been there are while and have good bonus plans with young inexperienced managers with a smaller bonus plan. In fact the new corporate line is that they don't really care if the people they put in place even know leatherworking, only need to know sales. That's why you get a lot of "I don't know" from the people in place. If you keep track of the SEC filings, each of the corporate officers have put a 'golden parachute' plan in place if they get ousted. And that is what I personally belive the plan is. I think they are trying to shore up the stock, in order to sell the company. If/when that happens the officers get to retire rich and the company get torn to bits. Now, do I still buy from them? Yes they are local and I don't see the logic in paying for shipping and having to wait on a bottle of dye when I can go down the block. I do however, keep it to a minumum and wait until I have a large enough need then I make a day trip to Springfield leather. As for leather, three of us have gotten together so we can place orders from Herman Oak and save a little. For the chrome tan leather, Springfield is great. It is worth the trip because the sheer bulk of variety they have is great and what they show on the web site does not do it justice.

http://shop.lasered-...93&categoryId=2 Can be made smaller as needed.

a simple dial caliper calibrated in 64/th of an inch will do the job. 1/64 = 1 oz.

What you're smelling is indeed charred flesh. If it is Veg-tan, it will not hurt to wash it in the sink to get out the residue which is holding a lot of the smell. Dry it flat between paper towels. It will still take some time for the smell to fade completely, but the finish will seal it in as well.

Ditto. Even my local Tandy manager wants ME to make his stamp. (and his sales associate already had me make his).

Fiebings = works. Eco-Foo-Foo = crap. nuf said.

While I have not been in your position (yet), I'm alway prepared to have to return the money. I think you did the right thing. Now think of it as when she needs a purse fixed, you can alway say no.

Hello all - the basic stamps are 1.25" on 1.5" disk. I can go smaller. On flat plate I can do up to 1 foot by 2 foot.

I have used Leather Balm on it with success.

I agree that the eco-foo-foo stuff is crap. Super shene is an acrylic. Now, the pro STAINS (not dye) are not. They are made by Fenice in Italy and they made a big disservice putting their eco-foo-foo label on it. Many people immediately came to the same conclusion that it was crap probably without every trying it because of the name. Having said that, the Fenice finishes are a cellulous lacquer. I didn't like the gloss finish, but the semi-gloss looked pretty good on a couple of purses I did in the antique gels. It did not lift any color either. Just stating the facts. I have no association with Tandy, and in fact I hate the SOBs. Glad I got a payout in the lawsuit against them. cheers!

Latigo can usually be stamped under pressure (such as a makers mark) but not usually tooled.

pm sent.

Hello. You have 2 parts to consider here: the cleaning and the conditioning. Almost all the cleaners are basically glycerin soap. The main concern here is whether it will leave a residue. Having said that, never never use saddle soap. It is difficult to get it all out. I've had good success with Dr. Jackson's cleaner. If you have to, use a tooth brush to get it all out. When using conditioners there are two types, oil based and non-oil based. Lexol is purely artificial. I find it works well and does not darken the leather so it is my favorite. Most others are oil based (mostly pig fat) i.e. GREASE. That is why it darkened Jcore's wallet. Some of the others are waxes with conditioner - Aussie is wax and lanolin. It will darken. Something like Leather Balm will clean. The reason is that it contains an acid so it is not something I would use on something precious as it will lift color. Cheers!

Just saw some at springfield leather yesterday.

bravo!

It does sound like it has frozen. Most neatsfoot oil is rendered PIG fat and it will congele. It doesn't really hurt it, but it isn't going to go back to fully liquid. How are you storing it?

totally cool. I've been thinking of getting one of these. Which printer did you get? The shapeways blog didn't show the printer or cost.

yep, the eco-foo-foo dyes are crap. And if you think the blotch is bad, run the piece under water and see what happens. Now, the Fenice made water stains are pretty good. It's a shame they put the Feibings made eco-foo-foo labels on them, it really gave it a bad impression with people before they even tried them. I agree spirit dyes are still the best. Make a day trip across the state border and get some.

I ran across this while googling for dye sub on leather: http://www.subtoner.com/page_leather.htm Looks a lot like some of the results I get by laser engraving but without a lot of the cost. Cheers!

apply LIBERALLY with sheep wool. You'll never get it even with a dauber.

Please contact me via PM. I can do that for you.

Cajun, please let us know. this is just very interesting.