Rawhide

Chrome tanned leather will not burnish. you can either use edge kote, which is an acrylic based paint, or you can skive toward the edge and then turn the edge. Turned edges are how most commercialized chrome tanned leather is finished, except maybe belts.

I'm sure one of the custom tool makers could make you one. Or even one of the maker's stamp makers could make you one out of delrin.

Pulling plexiglass away from the leather seems a tad difficult to me. Here's what I've been using lately. X-ray film. The x-ray film is flexible, yet won't stretch. I use rubber cement on the film only. I don't put any rubber cement on the leather at all. I usually put two coats on the film. When tacky, I put the leather on the film and use a glass slicker to ensure good adhesion. then I use a piece of crepe rubber to remove the excess dried rubber cement. Now I case the leather and then tool when it's ready. Once tooling is done, I can hold the piece flat to the bench and slide it to the edge of the bench and peel the film off downwards using the edge of the bench as leverage. This won't distort the tooling and since the film is flexible, it can be reused again and again. To remove the excess adhesive off the back of the leather, I once again use the crepe rubber to remove it. Marlon

Hi Fredo, I had the same problems myself when I first started. The thing is to be ABSOLUTELY CONSISTENT with how you do each hole. If you punch a hole and start with the left needle first, then you have to start with the left needle for every hole thereafter. My initial advice is to get Al Stohlman's book, The Art of Handsewing Leather.This is the definitive work on hand sewing. But don't do like I did and skim it to get the basics. Actually read it step for step and you'll see vast improvements. Also, I prefer to use linen cord instead of the nylon or poly threads at Tandy. I think it just looks better. The idea though is to place the awl, needles, everything, it the the exact same position from hole to hole. Marlon

I bought some 2 oz goat from Seigel's and it is pretty nice. It is of vegetable tannage. Not sure what type of tannage she is after.

Ed, What's the price of a 16oz'er, I think it's about time I get a new maul. Will they all be straight heads or can I get a tapered head? Marlon

Hello Todd, My awls are NOT hollow ground. What happens is the awl cuts on two edges and pushes the leather aside on the other two. The hole is opened long enough to sew it, but the leather tends to try and mend itself. This is why it appears the awl is a hollow ground blade. Marlon

I've never used nylon, (I don't think I have anyway.) I can tell you that I have had holes fail before the cord, but over years of hard wear...think saddles and such, linen has been known for dry rotting. I'm pretty sure nylon won't rot on you, but for belts, purses, gun rigs etc.., I would use the linen to get the pretty white stitch. As far as needles and awls, nothing special is required, and the diameters are comparable. For most stitching applications 3-cord, and 5 cord are probably the most used. The only other consideration is the twist direction. There is a school of thought about using left (S) or right (Z) twist cord. I use left with no issues. There is a discussion thread on it here somewhere. I bought left for one reason only, and that is because it can be used in a sewing machine. I've never done so, but that was the reason. Marlon

Ed, Very fine work and I must say that your talents really shine in this box. I really like the bear paw print in the interior. Would you share how you made the impression areas for each tool and the paw print? Marlon

Here's what I found...The thread that most people use (usually from Tandy), is the culprit. For one thing the thread has WAY too much wax on it (which you can remove with brown paper bag). What you are seeing with the clean stitching are usually Linen cord. When pulling, the thread stretches, and it tends to look dirty. When you pull the linen, it doesn't stretch, so therefore it doesn't look dirty. Marlon

Recent work by Peter Main, Sorry I haven't posted Peter's work in a while, I've been really busy with a new business, but here's some of his latest work along with some Al Stohlman originals... Peter's comments in red. ..the last belt I made myself was around 2003...thought about time I made myself another. ...here are some boot tops recently completed. They are yet to have onlays set into the frames on the front, and dates inlayed above and below the steers head on the back. These tops remind me why I prefer inverted carving...I don't like backgrounding. ...these pieces were made by Al in the sixties for Oliver Sturdy and his wife. Oliver Sturdy was the founder and owner of the Craftool Company in California, prior to selling to Tandy Leather Co.These pieces are for sale and any inquiries should be made directly to me at: petergmain@msn.com

I was a MAJOR, and I mean MAJOR PC guy for a long time, I built them, fixed them and used them exclusively. I curled at owning a mac. I finally did make the switch about 4 years ago. I now wish I had converted years ago. The mac just works. I use a pc for work, but I run my business with a mac, and my home computer is a mac. Yes it's more expensive, but I love it. For those programs that are pc only, I use Parallels. It runs right along with mac osx and can be ran in several modes. Crystal is my favorite, because it looks just like a native mac program, and is seemless to go between mac osx and windows. There is nothing on a pc, that I can't do on my mac (even windows), not to mention no viruses. Right now I run mac osx leopard and windows 7. If you do switch, get the book, by David Progue "switching to the mac, the missing manual". Good luck.

That's almost right. Take the dividers and find the center of the belt by adjusting the legs until you can touch the exact same point on the belt from both sides of it. In other words one leg of the dividers will be touching the side of the belt, the other in the center, then switch sides. If they touch the same point on the belt you're good, if not, adjust in or out accordingly and repeat. Once you have the center, use the divider at that spacing to scribe a very light line in the center of the belt where the the holes will go. Now place a mark where the most used hole will go. adjust the dividers to about 3/4" apart and place one point on the mark just made and mark on the centerline with the other point, on both sides of the initial mark, now you should have 3 marks on the centerline. mark one more time 3/4" outside these last two marks and now you should have 5 marks total on the centerline. A little tip when punching your holes. Don't try to center the punch over the mark...you'll never get consistent holes, because you can't see it if you cover it up. Line the hole punch up using the edge of it on the marks. Be sure to punch on the same side of the mark for all holes. Hope this helps.

Hi Fred, I have never measured my head knives, but I'll tell you that I prefer the thinner blades. I don't have a technical reason for such, but I just prefer it, I think it cuts easier. The 4 sided strop is an eye catcher among leatherworkers, and I stole that idea from Peter Main. It is highly functional and I don't know how I got along without it.

Where should I put this magnet? I agree with NoahL, at the back near the bottom. What kind of lining should I use so I wont scratch the surface? I would line with a goat skin flesh side out, or pig skin flesh side out. Either use turned edges or lace to cover the raw edge. (be sure to leave a way for dirt and trash to escape the bottom, so that the suede texture doesn't trap grit and scratch the phone) Is molded 8 once to thick for this kind of project? Yes this is to heavy a leather. Try a thinner 4/5 oz. leather with a thin lining, this should be plenty of heft for a phone case.

Holy Cow! Man that's a nice lamp. Bob did you design the floral? What's the finish? Resist and stain? Just....WOW!!

Any jeweler should be able to replace it, provided you had one to replace it with. A good jeweler may be able to grind a shape to a cultured ruby to fit your needs, but I'd look into getting a jeweler to regrind the broken tip if it's not too bad.

Thanks Bobby and Ross,Troy, we'd love to see pictures of this device. You know how we like pictures.

Hey Bobby, can you elaborate a little more on these pens? how do they work. do you have some pictures? Do you use the ink that seems to come with them, or do you use dye? Marlon

I have to agree with Bobby (hidepounder) here. I prefer my metal blades. However, if you are to use a ceramic, you've got to tune it up. If you look at the bevel of a ceramic blade under a magnifying glass, you'll see the grind serrations from the factory. You need to polish all that away using varying grits of sand paper. I think the last time I cleaned one up I used 400 grit to start with and worked it perpendicular to the edge. (in other words side to side motion with the egde of the blade pointed away from you.) Work with the 400 grit until all the lines you saw when you first looked at it disappear. Then move up to 600, 800, 1200, and 2000 grit papers. Now strop it like normal pulling it away from the edge at the proper angle. It should cut like never before. This will be a lot of work, and could take you a while to complete. Maybe a half an hour to an hour depending on how good/bad the blade is.Marlon.

Sure if you sniff it or don't take proper precautions. It can be detrimental to your health, so can a bunch of other household products. Oven cleaner comes to mind. Not to mention all the crap we put in our pools to keep them clean, hydrochloric acid, diatomaceous earth (d.e.) (certified to cause cancer), etc... Key is proper equipement, i.e. gloves, and well-ventalated areas. I don't use it very often, but do use it. But I wouldn't use it without following the directions, the Leatherwork Manual, mentioned above explains that this is an acid, and proper protective equipment is essential, If you chose not to use the equipement, prepare for the consequences. Ever get dye on your fingers? Do you know that soaks into your skin, and gets into your blood stream? Think that's healthy? I'm not trying to sound condesending or anything, just pointing out that there are plenty of dangerous chemicals in the leatherworking industry. You should know how to properly use them and dispose of them. Sounds like you did the right thing when you found out it was corrosive.

Most of those wallets are made from stingray hides from Thailand. Those hides are inexpensive and that's how they can produce them that cheaply. check the ebay prices. Hides are usually 20-50 bucks or so.

Douglas Tools 307-737-2222. Not sure if he has an email or not.

That's a great idea. Thanks for sharing!