KCrimini

Sage advice, all. Thanks! Now, I just hope that the suitcases all make it. Shipping from here is so, so expensive. Otherwise, I'd be shipping huge crates of leather to myself. It's so much cheaper here. Ah, well.

Thanks again. Yeah. There's supposedly a new law that you can bring pocket knives on planes. I ain't trusting it. It's hard to imagine how punches or grommets could be used as weapons. Some of it's going to come down to weight, and I can try to bring my Argentina priced hardware with me -- if they make me throw out my snaps or d-rings, I won't be up a creek and it'll be worth it if I can take them with. Man alive, we get ripped off on the prices of those things in the States. I can get 1000 double-sided rivets here for about $7 US. If I can't make weight any other way, I'll be trying to get those in my carry-on for sure.

Thanks a lot, guys. I figured I'd err on the side of caution, but just wanted to check. Some things, like my strap cutter with no blade in seem like they could make it in the carry-on. I made it through with my rawhide mallet in my carry-on last time. I wonder if an object being metal is what makes it seem dangerous to TSA. In any case, I appreciate all the advice!

Hi, everyone. I hope this is the right place to post this. I am about to move continents (from Argentina to the US). I have three suitcases, a carry-on and a cat. The weight of the carry-on is more flexible than the checked bags, and we all know tools and hardware can be mighty heavy. My question is: has anyone flown a flight either within the US or US bound with tools and hardware? I have plenty of tools it would be a real stretch to re-imagine as a weapon, but TSA is weird and I'd rather be safe than sorry and lose my stuff. Pyramid studs are sharp, but I can't imagine how you'd hurt someone with them. I'm just wondering if anyone around here has flown with tools and hardware in a carry-on and if they had any trouble. If so, what did they take from you or hassle you about? Thanks! K

Thanks a lot! Looks like I'll have to settle with less than desirable results until I can get it together with an airbrush. I appreciate you taking the time to give me advice!

There are some great tutorials here: http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/Contents.html If you look at 95 and up, you'll see several tutorials about lacing. You don't actually join the laces (which should never exceed 2 yards in length because they fray and are hard to handle). Instead, you weave them together, concealing the edges of both laces.

You might be able to lessen the appearance of these by coating the leather with saddle soap -- the inside, too, if you can. Then work it with your hands, bending and pushing it, you can work the surface out a little bit. It will probably never be perfect, but you can lessen the appearance doing this for sure.

Hi, everyone. I love this forum and am so glad you all are here. My question is about getting a nice, light blue. The only way I've been able to accomplish this is by layering a diluted alcohol dye over a layer of white acrylic or oil paint. Yellows and light oranges, same. Obviously, the color of the leather itself is the factor here. What's the best solution you know? I always feel like the surface is unstable when I go for this layered thing. I don't have as easy of a time controlling the dye this way -- it tends to bleed -- and it's hard to polish and seal because a brisk rub changes it again. I also worry that when I sell my work, it might not hold up and I'm selling an inferior product. I love mixing colors and dying carvings, so I like to be as precise as possible as I learn this. Any advice will be much appreciated. K

For thin pieces, you could make one of these:

Just want to join the many in thanking you here. I haven't conquered that knot, but used a simple 8 bight turk's head (I think, anyway). I wish I had found this sooner!

Also, the guy above is right. That handle only has 4 or 8 strands, so should be a lot easier.

This man is a treasure: http://www.youtube.c...bernie46/videos I have been trying to finish a turk's head on my first flogger all day on and off. I got one, but can't seem to get the other. It's going to take a lot of practice! The weave on the handle on that flogger looks to be 16 strands. If you search through Bernie's videos, you'll get an idea what's involved. Here's one where he weaves: I don't have a beveler for my laces, so I"m just cutting and dying lace myself. Anyway, This video will show you how to plait the handle. I used 16 stands in a diamond weave on mine over a cut piece of broom handle. What you're going to want to do the weave is to overlap in a cris-cross your two colors. Your foundation color should lie flush and completely cover the circumference of the handle. Then add your second color in the same fashion going the opposite direction (cris cross them at the top). I put them on with rubber bands at first so there was room to move them if I got it wrong (and I did several times). Good luck! I'll show you a photo if you want when my camera battery charges up. The knots are considerably harder. And I used rubber tubing instead of leather for the fall, so I haven't got any advice about that. Kate