Rawhide

I was in H/C this weekend and they had a few sets there. I don't think they are discontinued or anything, because they just started offering them about a year ago. So you should be in good shape. The handle does have more of an angle than the Tandy ones and the points are really sharp compared to Tandy. I think it makes decent impressions and has good overstitch capability.

Kate, we would have loved to have you...The farthest participant was Bill who drove in 6 1/2 hrs. from Louisiana. Yeah I missed you guys, I knew for sure you'd be there. Ok I'll let you slide. Next time. Tim, we can't wait for your arrival! The class was in Fort Worth, at the Tandy store on Camp Bowie. Not to brag or anything, ok maybe a little, I'm off to have breakfast with George Hurst, Jim Linnell and several guild members. Man I love Fort Worth!

Hi folks, Here are some pictures from the class we took from Jim Linnell, What a great guy and a fantastic teacher. Thanks Jim, we had a ball. Pictures

Congrats Tim, I saw your certificates at the guild meeting on Tues. Great work. Did you post a picture of the chinks as well somewhere?

Sal, You'll get a lot of pro and con answers here, but let me offer this. If you can't make decent products with craftools, more expensive tools won't help your tooling. Having said that, some of the more expensive tools aid in speed and crispness of tooling. They won't make you better as a tooler, but they'll make the job easier, in my opinion of course! I am a big fan of the Barry King line, and the Craft Japan line from Hidecrafters. See this thread and have a look at post #8. I try to show the difference in a Barry King geometric and a Tandy Geometric. I hit both with the same intensity (as close as I could measure by feel), and came up with the results you see. Here's the link.

I have sevral blades from the likes of Tandy, Henley, and Chuck smith. The one I reach for now, is Paul Zalesak's Leather wrangler knife. The blade stays sharp longer than any other combo I have. His blades are $35 and he can make them to fit a Tandy knife if you like. I can get any one of my blades sharp and polished well, but none of them cut as long as Paul's between stroppings. I can't comment on Bob Beard's but with the quality of his other tools, I'm sure you'll be super satisfied. (you'll just have to wait a while for it )

Sal are you using a bead blade? If so, i would use a thick straight edge like a quilter's rule. This will give the blade something to "ride" on as you cut. Also cut the bead in multiple passes, don't try to get the bead with the first pass. If you don't have a bead blade, use the same quilter's rule to cut the first line, then line the rule up on your cut line the width you want and cut the second parallel line. Then use your modeler to round over the edge of the bead.

Hmm, I still don't see an unravel. Maybe it's because I stitch with my left needle first, then the right, and I stitch toward me... here's an example...

I'm right handed and use the Left twist, and I have never had a problem with it unravelling. Left-twist thread is always used in the sewing machine because the action of the stitch-forming mechanism tends to ravel or break right-twist thread. Left- or right-twist thread may be used for hand sewing. I bought left twist in the event I ever wanted to sew with it.

looks like you got the answer. let us know how it turns out.

if you are going to be making a bunch of the same shapes, I'd consider investing in a cheap shop press and get some dies made up of the shapes. this way you can click out a bunch of shapes quickly and efficiently.

Be sure to work that neatlac in with a scrap of clipped wool, in circular motions. Let dry and use a second coat to be sure that you don't get blotching and streaking. Good Luck!

First thing is to let the piece dry completely. I usually let mine sit for 2 days before doing anything to it after it's tooled. Next I'll dye, if I am coloring the piece. let that dry for a day and buff it with an old t-shirt to remove the excess dried dye. Then I'll use clipped wool, place it on the top of the bottle of oil, turn upside down and back upright, I drag the wool over the opening to remove the excess oil, then I work it into the entire piece and let that sit for 24 hours, after that, I can't tell the difference before and after oiling. If the piece seems flexible enough with the one oiling, I leave it be and seal (let dry a couple of hours) and antique. What weight leather are you using? Something very thin will soak up oil very quickly and it's easy to over oil thin leather.

ditto on the edge kote, However the watch strap looks like a latigo. You can tell if it's chrome tanned by looking for a thin grey sliver in the middle of the cross section on leather (plus it won't soak up water). Cheers.

To save you time and frustration on edgers and awls, buy your edgers from Barry King, or Ron's Edgers. They are expensive, but let me tell you they are worth every penny and then some. I have Barry's grooved and bissonette edgers. They are about 55 bucks now, but still a little cheaper than Ron's. You may also look at Jeremiah Watt's edgers. I haven't used them, but folks swear by them. As far as awls go there's only three places to get a perfect awl blade, Bob Douglas, Bob Douglas, and last but not least Bob Douglas...You can get by with a cheaper haft, but don't skimp on the blade. Bob's blades were 25, last I bought one. (I'd skimp on leather before I'd skimp on my awl) Good luck.

Thanks for the offer. I think I'll be going up myself on Saturday though. He was there last year, so I would suspect he'd be there this year too.

I have seen Ed's mauls and I think they are beautiful...I have a couple of BK mauls now and they use a similar material for the striking surface. Which is the reason I want the Beard maul. It doesn't flake and chip and leave "dandruff" all over the piece. I haven't used any of Ed's mauls, but if it flakes any, I'll be in the same boat I'm in now. Bob's mauls never flake. I saw an ad somewhere like that and I believe the company was in Kansas somewhere, but I haven't called them yet. Kevin hopkins said he may have one around, so I'm waiting to hear back from him.

Hi Russ, Thanks for the info. I looked at Springfield's website and only saw Barry King's mauls. I have a couple of those already. Bob Beard doesn't make mauls anymore, so I'll have to buy used. I'll get with Kevin anyway, he may have one lying around somewhere. Thanks again. Marlon

I think Peter's tool is now $38.00 U.S., but hands down the best I've used. You can contact him directly through his email. He told me he was going to London, Norway and Germany for some classes, but he should be back in a couple of weeks. I don't know if he's got access to email or not, but for his email, Click here.

You can find some real bone tools at a good art supply store (look in the bookbinding section) or you can go to a bookbinding tools website and find them. Like Hollanders Marlon

Thanks bentley, but don't be fooled...I haven't the slightest artistic ability, but I can trace with the best of them! Jimnx, thanks for the compliments

Thanks for all the complements, Max, it's mostly dye. the white is the only acrylic. I sealed it with Bee Natural and gave it a once over with antique to fill in the crevices. Marlon

This is a portrait I completed for a family friend. Please excuse the poor camera phone picture, but it was all I had to work with at the time. She was so delighted, she actually cried... I don't know what kind of bird it is, I just started coloring and this is how it came out. Enjoy! (Critiques are always welcome). Marlon

...here are a few belts recently completed. The alligator belts have a filler in the center area to take away the flat look. The filigree belt below also has a filler, but this one is more raised to give a pronounced rounded appearance. Peter