Rawhide

Thanks Randy. When I run out I will go with a better brand, and remember to shake well. Marlon

There is a BIG difference in the B/W tools from Tandy and other makers. The Tandy's can make a decent impression, but take considerably more effort to do so. Are you using a 2 lb mallet or maul? That can make a difference too. I seem to do better with my heavy maul for B/W tools. I have a couple of Hidecrafter Basketweave tools and I think they give a far better impression than tandy's. That being said, I have a Barry King Crazy legs tool (which is a type of B/W) and the tandy version. The difference is astonishing. I can hit Barry's and give a clean impression with little effort, but the Tandy, takes everything I got, without risk of the tool slipping. Marlon

Hilly, Tandy carries a cement thinner that's used to thin it down. Twin, Thanks for the idea. I may give it a shot. It's only about a 1/4 of a quart left in the pot, but I don't know if that's the problem since the remainder in the can still has good viscosity. HMMM????

I keep my rubber cememt in a teflon pot, just as I do my contact cement. I know every so often the contact cement needs thinner to maintain consistency, but the rubber cement seems to be thinning on its own. Is this common? Is there a way to combat this? Thanks, Marlon

Rob this is great. Thanks for posting. I do have one follow up question/request. Dimensions? Not that I want to completely duplicate your design, The pictures just don't have much in relative size to judge with. Thanks so much for sharing this info. You're a gentleman and a scholar. Marlon

Thanks for bringing that up, because I forgot to mention that. I agree wholeheartedly. Marlon

Thanks for the explination. And glad to here you're coming to the B/SM show. (I love your tools). Marlon

Barry, Do you rub the liner from the center out, randomly? I'm not sure I understand how that works. Also, are you going to the Boot & Saddlemaker trade show in Oct.? Marlon

Ok here's what you do. Get about 5 or 6 cotton balls, an old T-shirt, a rubberband, a medicine dropper and some dye. Thin your dye to a lighter color than your after. (it's better to add more than to go too dark up front). Cut out a piece of the T-shirt into a 5" or 6" square. Place the cotton balls on top and collect them in the t-shirt and gather the t-shirt like you do a garbage bag. Gather it tight and then use the rubber band to hold this together. Now you should have a "pad". Use the medicine dropper to add dye to the pad, blot it to get the excess dye off then, starting in one corner, rub the pad on your leather in circular motion until you cover the entire piece, adding dye as you go. You'll know when you need to add dye. Do this in several coats to achieve the desired color. This method is called burnish dying. I've had fantastic results using this method. Good luck, Marlon

Yeah, thinner leather will stretch more, but dependent on the tannage, thick leather can stretch as well. Marlon

What you should do is rubber cement it to the xray film. I use cresent Illustration board, but I'm sure xray film is just as good if not better. How I do it is apply a coat of rubber cement to the illustration board only and spread it using a hotel credit card. Then when it's tacky I place my leather, center first on it, and smooth it out from the center to ensure good adhesion. I sometimes take a rubber roller and roll over the leather to be sure. Then I use a piece of crepe rubber to remove the excess rubber cement from around the piece (this way, my hands don't get sticky and put rubber cement on the project - it will prevent dye from absorbing.) then I case my leather. When I'm done, the illustration board peels away from the leather easily and leaves no residue on the leather since I only placed the cement on the board. Marlon

Could you explain saturation dye a bit more? So you mean, you want the dye to penetrate all the way through to the flesh side? Or do you mean just getting an even solid color on the grain side? Marlon

I wouldn't mind seeing this either. I can't afford a $425 cutter and beveler and all the one's I've tried to build so far, came out like crap. Right now, I am using the plastic tandy lace maker and have been very successful with it, but the beveling part, I have major problems with. Marlon

I haven't made any tools, but I sure modify the heck out of them. If it doesn't work the way I want it to, I file it, bend it, polish it, cut it, etc... 'til it does what I want it to, how I want it to. Marlon

Fantastic quality. At least from what I can see. Thanks for posting. Marlon

Talking to Ron at Hidecrafter's, he told me that very few companies have inserts right now, because the supplier (from Mexico) went up drastically on pricing, so Hidecrafters, Tandy, etc... only have what they had left over. No one wants to pay the astronomical costs. Marlon

Pictures? We love pictures!! Marlon

Thanks folks, C79, I know what you mean... no matter what I do, I always think about how I could have did it differently, or what should have been done first or last... I guess when you quit learning, there's no need to continue pursuit. Marlon

Absolutely! This is the best way to carve parallel lines/curves. Even if you're not making a bead. I pick that tip up from the great Peter Main (I pick his brain quite often) Marlon

I don't seem to have any trouble opening it. Have you tried to save it to your puter and then opening it? Marlon

I used 2 oz calf skin from Tandy. I think the number was 9154-00. Marlon

I think Peter Main's book on coloring is a bit more up to date with coloring techniques. Al's books are still good to have for basics and fundamentals. Here's a list: The Main Technique of Coloring Leather - Peter Main, available from Peter directly or through Hidecrafter How to Color Leather - Al Stohlman, available at Tandy, Hidecrafter, et al.. Coloring Leather - Al Stohlman, available at Tandy, Hidecrafter, et al.. Marlon

Thanks Mike, I appreciate it. Mike, I wrote a tutorial on the beading and placed it in the how do I do that section. You may want to add this techniqe to that thread. I never would have thought of that. Thanks Tina, I am pretty proud of it. Marlon

You're most welcome. As long as it helps someone, I feel good about it. If anyone has questions about it feel free to pm me or reply to the thread. Marlon

Here's a tutorial on how to creat a bead using a swivel knife and modeling tool. Thanks Johanna for posting this. http://leatherworker.net/beaderblade.pdf Marlon