CowboyDan

I've finally got to use these on a project, and so far they're far & away better than the Tandy tools I started with. Definitely worth the $150. Anybody looking to get a starter set of tools should look at this set before looking anywhere else. Especially if you like well made tools. The bevellers are truly awesome. The set has three, and I've found that I really like the smallest one because it has the steepest angle. The backgrounders are very nice also. it just takes some practice to keep the background from getting patters in it when doing larger areas. Just have to think RANDOM!!!

Short of stitching a plastic or glass cover over it, I don't know of any. Higher quality hide may help retain the hair a little longer, but remember that hair is not meant to be permanent. If you ever think it is, just look at your brush or comb after you use it. At least the one you made is simple enough to replace without too much headache. Here's the one I made some time back: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=39160&st=0&p=243187entry243187

That looks really good. I probably should warn you though, in a few years (assuming it will be her daily usage purse) the hair is going to rub off and the purse will be bald. Then of course, she'll probably want a new one. And of course she'll have to get a new pair of shoes to match her new purse....

Lol. I hate small pictures. This is actually the first forum I've seen in recent years that didn't automatically resize the image to fit the screen. The devil's in the details, and that's where the real work is. So I like to be able to see details. I get a lot of folks commenting on my details at my day job. Thanks Chancey. I may take you up on that in a few weeks. This week is insanely busy, and I'll be out & about for a bit after that.

Well, for some reason I can't get the original picture to upload. It's less than 600k, so I'm not sure what's wrong. I'll try again later.

Ok, you know how it goes... looking for something to use as a tracing pattern, but can't find any decent ones like what I'm looking for. So, found an image that seems like it might work, but I want to convert it to a black & white image first to make the pattern. Lo & behold, my favorite editing software doesn't do something like this, so it's off to research on the internet..... A few days later, I haven't found anything near detailed enough to tell me what I need to know, but eventually I figure something out. Sooo, I wrote the steps up. Hopefully it should help someone else. Start by downloading and installing GIMP. GIMP is a free, opensource image editing software. This instruction was written using GIMP 2.8.0, windows version. 1. Open an image. For this instruction, I’m using a picture I took in the flower bed outside my house. 2. Use the Crop tool to outline only the part of the image you want as a pattern. 3. Then press the ENTER key on the keyboard. 4. Now, hold down the control button (CTRL), and use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in. That way you can see the changes better. 5. Navigate to Filters>>Artistic>>Cartoon 6. Use the mouse to drag the preview window around until you can see the main part of the image. 7. Then adjust the Mask Radius and the Percent Black until you get good black lines. These will become the pattern lines. For these instructions, I used a Mask Radius of 25.90 and Percent Black of 0.230. Once you get the lines where they look okay, press the OK button. If you don’t like the results, you can press Ctrl + Z to undo the filter, and try again. The actual values will change depending on the image you're using, so don't expect my values to work for any other image. 8. Navigate to Colors>>Value Invert. This is important because it flips the color values instead of the colors themselves. To understand this, think in terms of binary numbers instead of decimal numbers. 9. Now navigate to Image>>Mode>>Indexed. 10. Select ‘Use black and white (1-bit) palette. Then click ‘Convert’. 11. Once more, Navigate to Colors>>Value Invert. This will change the colors to black lines on a white background. 12. Navigate to File>>export to save the pattern image (JPG). I recommend using the default values, they seem to be pretty common values. Any further clean-up (connecting broken lines, etc…) can be accomplished in GIMP, or in your favorite image editing program, or by hand as you trace the pattern. Note: I know it seems silly to value invert the colors before indexing the color, then value invert it back. But I think it turns out better that way, more like a pattern than a B&W picture. Notice in the non-inverted image that there are several large black splotches that don’t appear in the inverted image in the instructions. For making a tracing pattern, I think the lack of splotches is better. Adding non-inverted version of the pattern.

The very next line of that paragraph says (and I think it's not worded as clearly as it could be): "instructions explain joining threads, using short ends, etc." In other words, he is saying that among the instructions in the book are explanations on how to join See page 18, that's showing how to join ends. Page 19 shows how to start a stitch using the joined threads. For short ends, think a small project that has a baseball stitch, page 48-50. Also see page 65 for other uses of short ends.

Something like this would be a good begining (and cheap) sharpening stone: http://www.harborfreight.com/combination-sharpening-stone-7345.html A local hardware store should have something similar for about the same price. For a maul, you could try a brass hammer. They're used when you want to make sure you don't marr what ever you're hitting, and also where a spark is a very bad thing. Usually pretty cheap, they come in different sizes. When you get the money, get a better sharpening stone: http://www.amazon.com/TRI-6-Arkansas-TRI-HONE-Sharpening-System/dp/B00062BIT4 something like this is usually a good place to start. You have three grits, so you can go from nasty bench-grinder marks to almost no marks at all, all on the same set. Then hit whatever it is you're sharpening with the strop. I took an ultra cheap pair of scissors from nasty dull (couldn't cut flesh at all) to ultrasharp (I ended up with at least a dozen nicks in my hands) in a short Sunday afternoon with that stone set, and that was before the strop.

All the time. There are a lot of smaller businesses that don't have the ability to easily accept credit/debit cards, as well as small utility companies that don't have an online bill pay system. Then there are the local (city/township/county) taxes that don't accept credit cards or cash. Around where I live, there are a lot of Amish folks, and they don't take plastic. Cash or check only. I know of some people that use checks as a way to control their spending, too. It's too easy for them to just slide the card and not feel the pain. But if they have to write out the amount, they think twice (or more) about the purchase.

I think this has sat here unanswered for long enough. I looked at those tools too. For $21 each (for most of them), they weren't much less than the really nice tools (Most of the Barry King tools are $25-35) when comparing what appeared to be the same size/shape/texture stamp. If $10 means that much to you, then go ahead and try them. BUT I will say that Lonnie Height has a set of 15 tools for $145 + shipping. See here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=39899&st=0&p=247961entry247961 So basically with shipping (in US) it averages out to just a few pennies over $10/tool from Lonnie, that's less than half the price of buying 15 Japan tools from SLC. I figured that would be the most economical route for me to get a set of 'good' tools. The tandy ones my parents got me a few years ago have served me well enough, but I want better results from my stamps. Even if (God forbid) Lonnies tools turn out worse than my tandy tools, I have a cheap set of tools to modify that will be at least a good metal to start with, rather than cast and then plated. Please note that I am in no way bashing, demeaning, or belittling any tool or vendor (I've never tried the Japan tools, or dealt with SLC). I'm simply trying to get the most 'good' tool for my money.

This thread, much like grandma, rocks.

See here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15216&view=findpost&p=94437 That's the set I ordered.

I finally called up Lonnie Height to order my 15 piece set. ($145 USD + $6 shipping to my house in Pa). Heck of a guy. I'm going to try to get down to the IFLG show in Nashville (http://southcentralleathercraftersguild.com/sclg-2012-ifolg-show/) this year, primarily to meet him. Somehow we got onto the subject of critters, and his old shepherd dog (which has cataracts) likes to chase cats, but chased a polecat the other day. Lonnie kindly offered to send me some skunk scent for free with my tools. I declined, naturally. Just thought I'd throw that out just in case someone happens to like the odor of fresh skunk. He said he'll be out for the Sheridan show, and he'll have to make a couple tools to finish out my set, so I'll probably be getting them the week of the 21st. i can't wait......

It might be just you. I see an 'M' there. I noticed that the lowercase m has a leading 'tail' that quite connect to the trailing 'tail' of the uppercase A, so it makes the first part of the M almost look like an N. But, neither 'tail' is quite as tall as the full height of the lowercase letter. I probably just made things more confusing.... X2

Apparently he's welding in a blinding snowstorm!!!!!!

Perfect!! I've been trying to draw this by hand for a few days now and getting nowhere!

My old 'bench' was kinda like yours. Putting the granite on a piece of the rubber mat works pretty well, and keeps it from walking too much. I tried the swing arm lamp, but soon got fed up with it. I never could seem to get it at the right angle for me. Maybe I was just being too picky. Anyway, I finally got to make a bench, and I searched high & low for some inexpensive LED lights. I found some fairly nice one at lowes, and they work really well. A lot of light reflects off the back board onto the work. Here's my bench: http://leatherworker...35

I dunno. I kinda like that look. It's just a little different from what you normally see, and it works well on that wallet. Or at least I think so.

I've noticed that there seems to be two distinct styles of stitching horses. 1. Screw operated. These ones use a screw or bolt to pull the two jaws together. Usually has a plate to slip under the user's legs while sitting in a normal chair, or long jaws to rest on the floor. 2. Foot operated. These ones use a foot-operated lever to pull a strap that pulls on one (or both) of the jaws. Usually has some sort of latching mechanism to latch the lever into place. My idea is a derivation of the foot operated stitching horse. What I thought of was using a hinged seat instead of a foot lever to pull on the strap. This way there's no latching & unlatching. To loosen the jams, just stand up a little bit. For rough tension adjustments, have a belt buckle. And for fine tension adjustments, have a stop-bolt underneath the rear of the seat. Another way to do this (would require some inventive wood working), is to allow the jaws to slide vertically, and be lifted by the seat as the person sits down. In this iteration, the strap is a fixed length and the tension is adjusted by the stop bolt length on the other end under the operator's posterior. The last iteration I can think of is similar to the 2nd, except the jaws are once again fixed, but the raw-end of the seat actually pushes up on the inclined jaw sides, forcing the jaws closed. This would take some trial & error to get the incline of the jaw sides correct. Again, tension is adjusted using the bolt under the operator's end of the seat. I have the 1st type (cheap from tandy), and it works alright. But doesn't have clearance between the jaws at the top, so working something into clamping position can be tricky. I'm just thinking how to build a better (stitching) horse, without beating a dead horse. Any thoughts on any of those, or am I over-thinking this?

Well, it appears I have to eat a few of my words. I just stumbled across my construction photos of the purse I made, and discovered how I supported the bag purse while it dried.... As you can see from the picture, my memory is what I forget with. The picture tells the truth. My most sincere apologies to any who have been mislead by my faulty memory. Now where did I put my glasses.........

Thanks for the laugh. That just made my day.

As far as what you have so far, I can only say that if you intend to use that holster with the pliers pointing down, they will probably wear a hole in the bottom of the holster quite quickly. I did a holster for my gerber tool about a month ago. It was just a quick & dirty one I threw together because my nylon sheath was in tatters. I wet formed the leather around the pliers, then let it dry, put a snap on the outside of the holster, sewed a loop on the back, laced the back to the back, put a snap on the flap, threw some neatsfoot on it, and wore it. The wet forming was the hardest part because I was in a hurry. One tip on the belt loop: make it a true loop, not a slit. By that I mean when you sew the loop on, start at the end that will be at the top of the belt, with the loop pointing even further up. Once the top is sewn on, fold the loop down and sew the bottom end. This makes it a little more flexible and forgiving when you snag it on something. I made cellphone holster that had a piece of leather on the back to form a belt slit, and almost gave myself a wedgie when the phone got caught on a grab bar as I was jumping off some machinery. I ended up hanging by the holster at some really crazy angle until I could stop swinging and get ahold of something to right myself. I've snagged my gerber holster several times already, and this loop has enough give to it that I don't get hung up.

Any tips / instructions / pointers you could give?

I don't know if you necessarily want to minimize how wet the leather is when turning it. When I did a purse for my sister, I did all the cut-outs on the bench with the pieces flat, then stitched it inside-out. Then SOAKED it until it absolutely wouldn't take any more water. Then I took it out of the bucket and started turning it. Now the one I made had a lot of very intricate cuts that made for some extremely fragile 'threads' of leather, so I was being extraordinarily cautious as I turned it. I think I found a round container of some sort and slid the (now turned right-side out) purse over it to dry. It wasn't a very tight fit, but I made sure it was sitting smoothly as it dried. I thought it turned out pretty well. You can see the (now very worn) purse here; http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=39160

Wow. That looks pretty good. Did you start with a kit or some sort of instructions? I ask because the holes look machine punched, like from a kit. I've been studying the wheel on my truck as I drive to & from work, trying to figure out the best way to tackle it. The 16 year old leather is finally wearing through.