Old Noober

OMG that video is amazing, and yes you are pretty. Too bad I live in the States and married. Good luck on finding your soulmate.

I've had a pair of scissors for a couple of years, still cuts well. Just wondering if they ever start to dull, which I'm sure it's inevitable. How would you sharpen them?

One thing about NYC is we have a very good public transit system that can reach all 5 boroughs, the down side to the studio is $160 a month. Thanks though.

I'm looking to make SCA and SteamPunk boots. The concern I have is how much do I really need a motorized sander? My cuts are not perfect all the time, so I know I'll need to do some trimming, is this something that can be done by hand? And some of my pounding, I might have to do it outside as, yeah, my neighbors would not be happy. When I worked with Copper rivets, they were not happy at all.

I was just wondering. Would it be at all feasible for someone like me who lives in an apartment and moves around because of rent affordability. Who cannot buy machines because of room restrictions. Only kind of powertools I can buy would have to be very portable. Every boot making videos I've watched the maker has huge machines, for grinding, sanding, buffing, etc. I'd love to try to make my own boots, but it doesn't look like I'd have the space for it. Also I live in NYC, the apartments here are very small, from what everyone tells me that comes from other state's.

Wow they are expensive, but some are gorgeous, thanks.

Well, she may swing it around one day, it is carbon steel, and combat ready/theatrical, but for now it's for show. And I'm looking for a simple pattern. For now, instead of using a wooden core, I want to try doing a scabbard with a heavy weight leather, like 14oz, so it'll have some stiffness. I do not have a work shop, and live in a tiny apartment, so wood crafting isn't an option for me. The only thing I'm not sure about that I've seen on lots of scabbards are those metal tip ends, where does one find that and how is it secured? Thank you camano ridge and DJole for your feed backs.

Hello all, Just bought my wife this sword, doesn't seem like it comes with a scabbard, any suggestions? I'm not too familiar with lacing yet, thought I'd make a scabbard doing double stitching. http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/p-1086-double-handed-broadsword.aspx

Wow, that was a lot of juicy info, thank you. And the Wifey loves purple, personally I'd rather go with forest green. Then again, I cos play as a Ranger or a Bard she's a Warrior.

Thank you all for the input. Time to get an air compressor and try Yonder's technique. I don't know much about wood, do you think Yew would be any different than Ash, Matt?

Has anyone ever tried to dye wood with leather dye? I'm looking at an unfinished Yew bow for my fiance, and I want to dye it purple, I have some Fiebings and wonder if the contact would hold and how should I finish it so the color doesn't run/streak or ruin through weather? Oh yeah she does plan on using the bow for target practice, so I need a finish that won't crack. Thanks

Anyone knows what happened to the post that had patterns? I haven't been on the boards in over a month, was wondering if they all ever got posted.

Thanks for the advice guys, don't have a sander, kinda scares me to do it that way, I think I might take off too much. I have a skiver, like sanding I think I took off a bit too much even with gentle strokes, but I'll try that again. I'll look up the burnish method, saw that pin on finishing edges.

I searched the forums but didn't see much about this topic. What's the best way to smooth out the back side of leather, I bought a side to make armor with, the middle section is pretty good, but some of the outer areas are a bit rough, I used a boning to try to smoothe it out, but it only does so much. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I just started buying from Springfield and I can't seem to find the post, but someone mentioned that Springfield honored Tandy's Gold Membership, and SURE ENOUGH THEY DID!!! . That saved me even more money that I don't really have. I started looking for a new place to shop, only because I was getting gouged, not the fault of Tandy, by Shipping costs and Tax. I live in NYC and Tandy's store is way the F out there for me, about a 6 hr drive, so I can't just pop in there and have to suffer both tax and shipping costs. Springfield is such a great company to deal with, their shipping costs seem cheaper as well for some odd reason, I bought a side skirt and a bunch of tools, vs Tandy where shipping was a few bucks more for almost the same stuff i put in my cart. Over all my experience with Springfield has been amazing, cheaper prices, friendly people, saved even more money using my Tandy Gold membership. I love that company, gonna get more stuff from them, though I'll still shop at Tandy when they have stuff on sale, like .39 cent buckles, even with tax and shipping some prices couldn't be beat.

Thanks again everyone for your tips and advice. Gonna try multiple methods on some scrap to get the color right. Oh and Oltoot, that piece in the middle with the purple happened when I was doing circular motions with the dauber, I guess some dye just brushed it during the application, it's pretty much the color I was hoping for. The edge is going to be black in the finished product.

Would the deglazing cause the leather to crack if it dries it out, and wouldn't the oil change the properties or color of the dye as well? I still have a lot to learn about leather dying, and what would be a good consistency of alcohol to dye, I'm going to do another dye attempt this weekend and was planing on going with 2 parts dye to 1 part alcohol, unless you guys out there recommend 1:1?

Thanks for the tip, I'll try diluting it, then see about air brushing it. I did try to buff it after letting it dry over night, I was hoping it'd only look like that because it was wet, but buffing it made it more shiny ironically. I used a wool rag and cotton to see if it made any difference.

I'm working on making armor for my wife, I use veggie tanned leather specifically side skirt, because it's about 12 oz. I'm trying to dye her armor purple, but it's coming out as a bronze looking color with a lot of shine. I'm using Fiebing's purple dye, and I tried 3 methods, first was, wet the leather then swab. Then I tried on dry leather, and lastly I went with alcohol wetting. The best result as far as I got was the dry method, it looked as close to purple as the other two. I run about 2 or 3 coats, and from certain lighting, it looks bronze and shiny or reflective. Is there a way to do a matte finish with this dye, or is it oil causing the shiny reflectiveness, also what am I doing wrong when I try applying it on wet leather that's giving me the bronze shiny finish? To sum it up, side skirt leather, wool dauber, Fiebing's purple dye. I tried straight and circular strokes. Straight one coat still looks like purple on dry leather, others, look bronze and also uneven. Left is wet, middle is alcohol, right is dry

All that armor, just for the guy who talks to fish, hehe. So beautiful, I hope I can get to that level in 5 years.

Thanks a ton, that membership thing is going to be huge

Bump in hopes of getting some vets helping us noobs

So, I live in NYC, and buying from Tandy is starting to get expensive because I have to pay Tax and Shipping, for me to drive there would cost me about 8 hrs round trip + gas and what ever tolls there may be. So being a bit tight on budget, can anyone recommend another dealer with good prices. Aside from leather, I also need a few more tools, punches, dyes, rivets, buckles and whatever else I might need for projects. I did buy the gold member with Tandy, but tax and shipping can get outrageous so it really didn't offset much. Thanks

Thanks. This helps

Hello all, what buckle sizes should I look for to make leather armor with? I plan on making my first set, have an idea of patterns, just don't konw what size to make straps and buckles, any advice would help. Thanks