veedub3

Makerspaces are a great resource. As for the stamp, I would use delrin or hdpe, both are cheap and will hold up to many, many impressions. Not sure about acrylic. Karina

I have always used this adhesive backed cork from the hobby store and it has worked awesome so far. http://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Painting-Surfaces/Cork/12-Natural-Cork-Roll-With-Adhesive/p/28806 Karina

Glad you now know which direction you wish to head in, but just a bit of clarification on the carriage bolt. The photo shows the type of bolt I was referring to. After chopping off the head of the bolt, and smoothing the ruff edges on a sander, that would be the part chucked into your drill press - so no threads getting crushed over time. The part with the threads will be the part epoxied into the wood.

Very good suggestions above, and I have done them all. I have made several versions of DIY wood burnishers over the years. I have sacrificed a drill bit and epoxied it in place. On my very first one, I just hammered in a nail and put it in a drill chuck attached to my adjustable grinder. Didn't even use glue on that one, the wood was so dense, I would destroy the burnisher trying to get the nail out. I made one for a friend once, I just stopped into a hardware store and picked up some metal rod and cut it down to size with my Dremel. Another one, I just cut the head off a carriage bolt and epoxied it in place. Plenty of ways to get it done. Karina

I apply my stain using an airbrush. Actually, using an airbrush is how I dye all my leather. With the airbrush i had to go over it several times to get the nice even color that I wanted. Once dry, the color came out a very dark brown. The husks i was using were from a black walnut tree, and I was told that the fresher they are, the darker the stain will be. I was able to get my husk the same day they fell from the tree. When cracking them open, i didn't wear gloves and my fingers were stained black for days.

I have, but from the walnut husks, although I hear you can make it from the walnut shells as well. I found this method on one of the blade or bushwhack forums, I forget which one, but you can hit up google and will find many ways of doing it. With the husks (I used black walnut), put them in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil, once at boil, reduce heat and start your clock. It needs to cook for about 1 hour. After starting your clock, you will stir every 10 minutes. At about the 30 minutes mark, remove the husks. Let the mixture continue to cook for the remaining time, stirring every 10 minutes. Once done, strain the liquid using a cheese cloth. I did this several times to get all the bits and pieces out of the dye. Once the mixture has completely cooled, (I waited until the next day) Use as you would any other leather dye. My batch produced a a dark stain, closely similar to a Fiebing's Dark Brown dye. YMMV Also this can be done using pecans husks for a lighter shade of brown with hints of red tones. Hope this helps, Karina

This should help you out as well if you choose to make one. Nice bag @SmokeCigars Karina

Branding Irons Unlimited makes a drill press branding iron attachment for the drill press. They way it is built, it is designed to take the downforce to make your mark so I don't think that would be an issue. Install it in your drill chuck, plug it in, wait for it to heat up, then start branding. The price though.....ouch! @RockyAussie I would be interested in what you come up with. I have a Franklin Hot Foil Stamping Machine but it is just too small to emboss large objects. I have been brainstorming how to redesign it and make a bigger bed for it but the drill press would be super easy to do. Karina

Very nice! I would be thrilled to have that bag! Karina

Ahhhhh.......... wow

I am aware of that, I really was referring to the $200.00 discount with the Eliite Membership at Tandy which is free if you have a business license. Does Tippmann give a discount if purchased direct from them? Karina

Not sure when this came about, but I was in Tandy today picking up hardware and saw this: If you have the Elite Membership you can get it for $200 less...... Karina

All the time!!!!! I tell them when they purchase the order, when the expected ship date is, and they totally understand, yet a few days after payment, I will get an email asking how things are coming along. I have even had buyers request status photos during the making of their item. I usually respond with some generic reply letting them know how happy I am to be working with them on this project, and that they will be more than pleased with the finished product, and that usually will get them to calm down. I am so used to it now, that It no longer bothers me, but in the beginning it irked me to no end. People are spending good money in my shop, and I never want to rub anyone the wrong way, so I always take a minute (actually hours) before I respond to ensure that I come off just as enthusiastic about their purchase as they are. I am entirely too busy to take progress photos of their item, so I just gloss on pass that request, but the generic response usually does the trick. Karina

Very Nice! Do you mind sharing which CNC you got and the size bit you used? 1/32"???? I got an X-carve CNC machine back in November and it has been great at cutting out acrylic templates for the products that I make over and over. I have also made several stamps from HDPE and Delrin. I am working on a brass stamp now to use with my heating iron, but it is slow going. I will get it dialed in at some point I hope. The X-carve is not bad, however I really wish I would have taken the time to do more research on CNC machines before I made the purchase, as I definitely believe I would have gotten a different model. Karina

Found this short video this morning.

How awesome is that! Makes my heart smile! Karina

I talked to that guy years ago and he said that will only work with the letter stamps that come with it. He couldn't guarantee that other letters used would fit. I have tons of letter press type sets sized from 6 points all the way up to to 72 points in about 20 different fonts, so that really was not what I needed, besides I do quite a few pieces that are monogrammed with two and three lines of text. My Franking Hot foil machine works great, and even when pressing Horween Chromexcel it comes out beautiful, it's just a tad small and I would love a bigger work surface. Katrina

That drill press branding iron is really nice. If they made it where I could change the fonts out for personalized orders when needed I would totally grab one. I have a Franklin Hot Foil Stamping machine and I agree that heat and pressure is a must with Chrome Tan. Karina

Yes I am a lover of all things VW. Veedub3 stands for the three VW's I had at the time, although I have owned more than 30 over the years. I actually have 4 now. A 71 SB Auto-stick I got for my 15th birthday, a 74 SB, a 1967 Type 2 bus, and I just picked up a 2001 T2c Water cooled Bus made in Brazil. I managed to get it to Mexico, then drove it home to Panama, but have yet to get clearance to bring it into the US. (Safety Standards - no airbags, no smog or emission controls, blah, blah, blah.....) If I don't get it into the US, I can always run about the country in it when I go home. Karina

I have the same skiver. I have had it for nearly 5 years now. It came with one blade, and on my first skive the darn thing snapped in two, I have searched all over and was never able to find another blade for it, so i just tossed it in a drawer with the other random tools I don't use. Actually until you posted yours, i forgot i had it. If you find a blade or another blade that will work in it, please update. Karina

I personally use CorelDraw over Illustrator even though I have the full version of Adobe Master suite where I frequently use the other programs, and yep that bad boy was expensive, but well worth it for my business You can no longer buy the latest version of Adobe products, but you can find older versions online for sale. Adobe went to a subscription service which is about $25 a month or so, or if you just want to make changes to the file you currently have, they offer a 30 day free trial. And as mentioned above Inkscape is free, and will do the job, either way they all have a steep learning curve, it's just a matter of personal preference I guess. Karina

Thanks, and I really love the hand stamped letter. That color compliments the tray very nicely. I have several more on the drying rack. They were dyed black, brown, and saddle tan, but they needed to finish drying. The natural one I was able to complete right away. The black one the buyer asked for the his initial to be in light blue with light blue stitching, can't wait to see how that turns out. Karina

Took a page from Avian45's book, and put a piece of vegtan in the center instead of lining it. I really like the look this way, and it allowed for a little personalization. This one is going to my Father-n-law. Karina

This is definitely my favorite! Love the design, too cute! Karina