Rawhide

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!

Be sure to wax your thread very well. Also put a stitching groove in the leather, this minimizes the contact of the cord with the dye.

try and find an old drafting table light and use 5000 to 5500 kelvin flourecent light tubes. These are the closest to daylight and are not tiring to the eyes. (at least not in my case), plus they will show what colors will actually look like when you take a project out.

Pictures say 1000 words. Can you explain this a little more.

Burnish it while the edge is damp. Don't soak it, just enough to dampen it.

This knife would be fantastic cleaned and sharpened. I have an old Rose knife and love it. It's the first I reach for. Having said that, I probably wouldn't pay 70 for it. 40-50 should be about right. I think the "straight" edge that 8th saw on the right side was a glare from the light as I can still see the full curvature of the blade. Can you call them and try to negotiate?

Afternoon Jim, Hair blades are very easy to come by. I don't know your location, but any reputable leather tool supplier should carry them. There are two versions a course and a fine. A hair blade is nothing more than a a blade with multiple serrations that basically scratch the grain of the leather to give the appearance of hair, or grain to the surface. You can use a modeler to get by without the blade, but it won't be nearly as easy to control. Hope this helps. Good luck!

So far, the best knife i have is an old W. Rose knife...it's over a hundred years old and has a little pitting, but still glides through leather like air. I found it on ebay for about $40. I also have a Danny Marlin knife that I am fond of as well. It was about 75 new. If you have the time, I suggest finding the old knives. And by all means don't get the Al Stohlman brand head knife from Tandy, the blade won't stay sharp for $hit...

you might try using penetrating lubricant first. like WD-40 and the like. Then hit it with a wire brush to see if you can break the rust loose. I don't know if you can get them repaired or not, you could try Bob Douglas, he specializes in old tools. Maybe Jeremiah Watt.

Depends on the color I'm after. All it does is dilute the mix and reduce the intensity of the color. For instance if I want a light blue, I mix a heavy ratio of reducer with a little blue dye. I don't pre determine the ratios, i just mix until I have the color I want.

I use Angelus dyes and I don't use the deglazer. I dilute the colors with Fiebings Dye Reducer. I usually apply with dye brushes. I never dye with daubers. If you make holsters you might use dipping, but I don't make holsters, so I can't really comment much there.

You can try making a wood jig that can help. Line up one edge (the other three edges don't really matter.) Screw two boards together temporarily, and cut a 45 degree angle on the edge that's lined up, then unscrew the pieces. Place the leather between the two boards and line the leather up to the bottom piece, place the top on the leather (line it all up). Then just cut off the protruding leather. it'll give you a perfect 45. I think this is shown in one of the Al Stohlman books.