Rawhide

That's called a quilter's rule. these are great. My wife has about every size imaginable. Sounds like you knife may not be as sharp as it should be. When it's not extremely sharp, the knife can actually pull the leather and it will cut unevenly. Marlon

Sorry for the late reply here. I missed it. Below I posed an example of what I did. you can find individual punches the size you need, but unless you do a lot of punching, it's probably not worth the 30/40 bucks for one. Just use a sharp xacto knife or the like to cut out the hole, use a french edger to recess the back side of the hole and burnish the inside of the hole. place your coin in and cover it with a liner leather. A liner is just a piece of leather to cover the back side, they are either glued down or glued and sewn. Marlon

cover your eyes, nostrils, and skin when you machine cocobolo, it has toxic properties. Be sure to wash up before you eat. Marlon

Hidecrafter's Marlon

You can try uship I think people bid on shipping your stuff for you. Marlon

Man these are great stories. My only one so far is, I was saddle stitching a project and punching the holes with an awl. I went through the leather and the top of my middle finger's nail down to the bed of the nail. After many words of distress that I care not to repeat, It bled under the nail for a while. A few days later I was able to scratch the nail down to the bed and get the dried blood out. Marlon

you can bet i know where breaux bridge is....mmmm crawfish festival!!!! Man I miss that! Sorry about your losses. I hope you get back into the craft and do well. Marlon

second view

Bob, I've always had a small problem if I burnish before dying. I seem to lock the fibers and they won't accept the dye very well, almost like a resist. So I usually dye first. M.

Here's a couple of pictures of my glass slicker.

Ed I haven't tried that one. However, I think I would still prefer the regular spirit dyes and oil dyes, because I can choose the color of the edges. They don't always have to be brown or black. Just my .02 Marlon

Ed, I think I have used that. Are you talking about the one that looks like a shoe dye bottle with a little sponge applicator on top? I have used that one and it's not any thicker than spirit dye, plus I can't control it like I can a burnt wool dauber. Marlon

Welcome TJ. Glad you found us. Where is Parks, La? I am originally from Baton Rouge. Hope you learn a lot here. Marlon

Art, I used to use it, but I don't anymore. It seems to have a plastic-ish feel to it once it's dry, kind of like acrylics. It sits on the leather almost like acrylics with a little penetration. I like to use regular old spirit dye or oil dye. Then slick it up. I think a dyed edge is more professional than edge kote. Just my preference. Marlon

Thanks, I was wondering where to get that. I figured the dye reducer is pretty much 100 % iso, but never knew where to find it. Thanks again, Marlon

This is true, USMC black has a blue-ish sheen to it when it dries, but I wouldn't say it's not a very good dye. I think it has it's place in leather dying. I use it all the time. Marlon

Thanks for the compliments. I screwed up the legs and feet of the owl with the dye I had, but this wasn't for anyone in particular, I just wanted to see how it was going to look as an applique embossing. The big cat is blind embossed a bit for a little dimension. It will be a notepad cover. I didn't want to get too extreme with the embossing, because it's probably going to be a heavy use item. That binder cover is really nice. I'd love to see the finished piece. Me likes the Aussie Wax. I also like Tan Kote and Leather Balm with Atom Wax. Marlon

I use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. I got it from Wal-Mart or CVS. It's a little lower grade than the dye reducer, so it's perfect for cleanup. Marlon

I found some Feibing's mink oil at a local tack shop, I used it and think it works particularly well. However, I don't find the smell offensive, rather a bit sweet. I'm not sure what smell folks are talking about. All I know is ANTS LOVE IT!!!. Marlon

I dye, buff off the residue, cut the sewing grooves, then sew. Otherwise, you'll dye the thread and it won't dye evenly. If you're using black thread, it probably doesn't matter, but I like the white thread. Marlon

Wow! Bob that's fantastic. I do think I see what you mean about the disconnects. I can see the top flower in my drawing seems to not connect to anything. Thanks for the help and modifications. I will get that book and see if it helps me. Thanks again for the comments, critiques, and help. It's very much appreciated, as I am always trying to improve and learn new things. Marlon

I got a question from Spider asking 'Where's your stuff?', so I decided to post a picture with a couple of things I'm working on. Enjoy.

I've posted several before, but here are some things I've been playing around with.

I think that's an outstanding job!! I don't know how you're going to find much in the way of critiques though! Did you hand sew or machine sew? The only difference I think I would have tried, would have been a magnetic closure. Marlon