Rawhide

Man it's great to know there are still bonafide honest people still living.... That's a fantastic story...I'm sure both of you will be extremely satisfied.

I think that's a fair price. I paid 100 for mine and it wasn't in perfect shape, but it was in working order.

I found that the regular plastic cutting boards at wally world work great. It's soft enough, not to damage the blade, but doesn't have a grain for the knife to try and follow. If you're using a cutting mat, it will 'grab' the blade and make the knife harder to push. A good way to tell if your knife is sharp, insert it into the leather and pull the leather into the knife, if it glides through, it's sharp.

For those that appreciate the posting...you're all welcome. I think that people that have those incredible abilities give us something to strive for. I'll have to check his site out...haven't seen it yet... Thanks for posting the link Ben.

Hello, ...I asked a friend here in Texas to do some Sheridan style boots tops. I gave him the borders in which to work...see what he designed and carved in the attached photo. This is the finest I have seen in this style of work...the flow, execution and tooling is perfection...his detail is outstanding. Travis Stillson is a master. Peter

I have no probelm getting into their website.

I'd like to know this as well....

You can probably sand it off with some sandpaper. However, next time, when you use rubber cement, place a couple of coats on the mounting surface only. Let dry between coats. Don't put any on your leather. Once dry, place the leather on it and adhere it from the center out. Then when you finish tooling, you can remove it and have no adhesive on the leather. The same thing basically happens with the packing tape. the adhesive is on the tape only. M.

I dilute with my eyes so to speak. I only dilute for a specific project. I place pure dye in one well on a paint/dye tray, then I put the alcohol in another well right next to it. Then I dip my dye brush in the dye and bring it over to the alcohol.... mix it up and test it on scrap leather. I keep repeating this until I get the shade I want... I can't remember why the term 'oil' is in the name. I learned that tid bit from Peter Main. It may be that the dye-stuffs used to make it are derived from something oil based...however, it's still suspended in alcohol. Cheers.

ClayB, Another thing you can try is some tape. Adhere the tape to the area and then pull it off, this usually lifts the grain a bit.

I'm not Bob, but I can tell you how I would do it. I'd dye, by hand, the background first, then depending on the look I was after, either antique and seal, or seal then antique. I'd probably seal with Neatlac for a glossy finish, or leather balm or tan kote for a mellow finish.

I think that's Queen Mum!!

That's fabulous work!! I'd love to be able to do that...I have Gail's book, but haven't caught on yet...

I probably would, just to reduce the bulk on the edges. That will make it much easier to punch the awl through.

TrooperChuck, That's a pretty nice clamp you made. The only thing I would change would be where the ends of the clam shells come together. It looks like it would be tough to get you hands really close to the work. Anyhow, I assume that you're a state trooper (or were)....if so, thanks for your service!

I don't think I can contribute much, but I bought one from craigslist about a year ago. It was fairly rickety, but I replaced the legs to sturdy it up. Nothing fancy. The jaws were in terrible shape, so I purchased some hard maple and had a guy cut the basic profile out for me on a band saw, and I finished them up at home. (Hardest damn wood I ever cut...I thought it was concrete inside). Anyway here are the results and I can't tell you how valuable this thing is.

You know, I read that twice and missed the part where he stated one piece of leather... all you do when a single piece is used is after you go through the last hole the second time, you run the needle under the last few stitches on the back of the leather, and trim off. Sorry about that Max.

You're right Harry, I just got a chance to look in my lacing book and it says when you are not lacing completely around a project...when ending, go through the last slit, then under the bight, and then go through the last slit again, but through the front only, coming out between the leathers and back a few stitches, trim off excess. (I knew I was pretty close though)

I think that when you lace through the last hole available, you just come out between the leathers and up through the lacing on the edge, cut it off and tuck that tab under the lacing.

Ray, May I suggest calling bob Douglas. He specializes in vintage leather tools. He's not in the uk but I'm sure he can ship to you. His info is on the suppliers link from the home page.

What a scumbag!!! Sorry you had to go through that...but thanks for the warning. People like that should be taken out and....(use your imagination).

I've resisted long enough... No one seems to want to say it so I will. Let me preface this by saying that I'm just as nervous and worried about my kid and his kid(s) having to pay for mistakes that we and our parents made. However, no one is saying that this mess we're in is our own fault. No one accepts that we accepted the mortgages that we KNEW we couldn't pay for, we spent money like it was growing in the back yard. We didn't save one damn dime toward a hardship. I'm sorry for everyone that has lost a job. I feel remorse for those who can't pay the next house note, when they didn't bite more than they could handle, yet through the cutbacks at the local plant, they can no longer afford to pay. However, no one is more to blame than us. I don't care who's in charge, it's still our fault. Stop blaming everyone else for things you can't control...Do what you can to survive, for you and your family. A wise man once told me "you can be on the same track, but you have to be pulling in the same direction". No matter that we got here by being careless...we are here now and we have to be responsible to ourselves and do what we can to fix this mess. I'm not a big fan of politics or government either, but to blame anyone but ourselves is lying to each other. Everyone that blames GW Bush for this is insane, everyone that blames B Obama is insane. Each person that takes that job does what he thinks is best to help right the country. I'd like to see anyone of you take that job and do any better...you can't. The arms of these problems reach much farther than you can imagine. Bottom line...stop bitching and do what you can to help...we're all in this together. To the talking heads: "If you don't like it, leave it...We'd love to have you, but we don't need you...."

To prevent them from sticking in the first place, I use Vaseline or petroleum jelly on the threads and I never have a problem. I doesn't evaporate and doesn't allow the glue to harden. To remove a frozen cap. I use channel-locks. They adjust to a size that I don't have to put a lot of squeezing pressure on the cap to loosen it.

does your b/w tool have a rounded striking surface? That may need to be squared off. Using a maul or a mallet with the rounded head tools tend to slip and give a double impression or one that's not located properly.