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immiketoo

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Posts posted by immiketoo

  2. Posted · Report reply

    24 minutes ago, BillinTR said:

    To me "tool" = "utility".

    Apparently I ruffled at least one or two feathers here. It wasn't my intention but I can understand where some of you might be coming from. It just seems to me that there are some things you spend money on as much for appearance as for its intended use. Personally I wouldn't consider it for a tool. Apparently some people feel strongly about the glitz of their tools as well as the function.

    I fully agree with this. I can appreciate the difference that buying higher quality can make in your work. As a hobbyist on a limited budget I have take value into serious consideration so I have to look for how to acquire as much quality as I can without killing the budget. For that reason I have to focus on function more than glitz. In that regard I have been trying to locate tools somewhere on the scale between $10 and $100. But that doesn't seem easy to do. I guess I will always be one of those "tandy toolers" you can spot a mile away. But I am a beginner and I want to eventually do good work. I will eventually see if I succeeded.

    Again I apologize if I offended. I have no intention of ever becoming the professional that some of you who were offended are.

     

    You didn't offend me in the slightest, and I can't see any reason that you think I would be.  And what I mean about tandy stamps is that they lack crispness compared to the other makers I mentioned.  You basically want to spend smart money so rather than spend it on 100+ of SK when 28 will give you an excellent knife, an you can spend the change on a good stamp.  I was in the exact same boat as you a while back, and after bending a few Tandy stamps, I bought a barry king.  The difference is clear.  Especially when it comes to good looking geometric stamps.  For general carving you should look at pre-letter craftool (Tandy) as they are quite good, just as crisp and modern tools and VERY affordable.  I still use several of them today on account of the quality they produce.

    Frankly, I wish I had focused more on function than show when I started.  I have so many tools I don't ever use now its ridiculous, and I'm not even that big a collector.  I just like sparkly things.  My friend Serge gives me a cookie whenever I walk away from something sparkly.  It took seeing all kinds of tools to know the difference though, and since you have already identified the desire to have better stamps.  All of the money on a stamp goes into the design they stamp.  The rest of it could be a nail and the cost difference of the materials isn't enough to justify the price difference.  The business end is.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    One other thing.  When it comes to stamps, i.e. basket weave or geometric, you get what you pay for.  Crispness, depth, burnish and symmetry all come at a price, and that price starts around $30 bucks per tool.  Wayne Jueschke makes some of the finest geometric stamps in the business.  They are amazingly crisp and the have perfect alignment.  They are 100 a piece.  Barry King makes amazing geometric stamps as well.  

    In addition to sharp, accurate stamping, what you're really paying for is tools that don't bend, rust or look like every other craft level maker on the market.  I can tell a tandy tooler a mile away in most cases.  The ability to create your own combinations of less common tools makes your work stand out from the crowd, and that what we all really want when it comes time for someone to hand over their hard earned cash to us as makers, right?  Just food for thought.

    Here's a pic of something Tandy can't do.

     

    20151106_103141.JPG

  6. Posted · Report reply

    An age old discussion!  I am an admitted tool whore in recovery.  I have spent a lot of money on a lot of tools that are beautiful and work well.  I have some cheap tools that suck ass.  I have a lot of tools in the middle that are functional and average looking.  I got caught up in the hype of collecting and had some extra cash at the time.  Until you try some tools, learn a few things, you won't know what's worth while and what's not.

    I'll use bevelers as an example.  Its the most important tool in a carver's arsenal, and I have close to 50 different ones.  They each have their use.  However, I could narrow down 90% of my carving to seven or ten tools.  That's it.  They are all Robert Beard bevelers, and they are worth every penny.  I'd sell all my guns (Except one) before I sold those 10 tools.  Nobody else on the market can touch them for quality and ease of use, and they make my life easier.  Sure, you can scrape along with Tandy tools and do an adequate (Sometimes exceptional) job with them, but the Beard tools made me a better leather worker.  They taught me things I couldn't have learned with any other tool.  


    Same thing goes for a swivel knife.  Now that I've tried dozens of them, I have settled onto one that I could use the rest of my life.  In fact, I could probably get along just fine without a swivel knife.  I sharpened up a screw driver and it can carve leather just fine.  You get a lot more hand fatigue, but it can be done.  

    Now, WHY do tools have exotic hard wood handles?  Or stag handles?   Why do SK have fancy barrels?  Because a lot of makers are artists just like us.  They take pride in what they do and add a little art to the tool.  If you don't appreciate that, don't buy it.    If it makes you happy, go for it.  There are a lot of manufacturers right now making good quality, affordable tools.  Take a look at Rickert Werkzeuge as they have a new line of Japanese tools that are true performers without the cost.  No, I don't get anything from them and I don't work there.  
     

     

  8. Posted · Report reply

    On September 27, 2018 at 5:00 AM, ScoobyNewbie said:

    How do you use those? Push? Pull? Jiggle?

    I always like the jiggle method :P

    On October 5, 2018 at 2:46 AM, wrz0170 said:

    Right now, I’m trying it out without a microbevel.  I feel safe with the push cut going at the edge at 90°.  Short cuts and slow, but it lets me breath a bit easier.  Practicing the pull cuts.   Haven’t quite got the angle down for those nice long strips.  I get a moment of “a ha”, then lose the angle.  Lol.  

    After I gave it an initial sharpening, I’m using a horse butt hide strop (without any compound at the moment) to see how it goes.  

    On those long cuts, don't try and do it all at once.  Draw your line and do an initial cut into the fibers, then go back and do it again.  Way easier.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    I would only use fine grit sand paper to sharpen these.  Files are a bit rough.  I roll sand paper in a little tube and put it inside the punch to clean up the inside.  On a piece of thick veg tan, I lay the sand paper on top of the leather and pull the punch toward me, rolling it as I go to clean up the edge.  If you haven't damaged it, it shouldn't take much work.  Then I strop it the same way.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    8 hours ago, BillinTR said:

    Mike, very interesting comments and that looks like gorgeous work to me. I am beginning to believe that some form of technique that involves pre punching all of my stitching holes for a stitch line is going to be my preference, at least for what I consider thicker stuff.

    Chris, I don't have a "selection" of veg tan. But the stuff I have is fresh from Springfield Leather within the last couple of months. It isn't old and dried out. And hopefully I won't let it get that way.

     

    it works for me.  I'm not knocking the purists and I use exactly the Stohlman method for the rest of the stitching, including holding the awl to open difficult holes.  I just find I get good consistency this way.  Now this would be impossible sewing a cantle binding on a saddle and you'd HAVE to do it the other way, but I don't make saddles. 

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I have read and re-read that book many times.  I still do it differently.  I mark my holes with a stitch wheel.  Then I poke all my holes with the leather piece flat on the surface using a  piece of leather and a cutting board to stop my awl from going through to the table.  I have become pretty good at keeping it aligned properly, and it works for me. Then, when I go to the stitching horse, all I need to do is stitch, although sometimes I do keep the awl in my hand in case theres a difficult hole.  

    I know it's not traditional and I don't care.  It was how I was able to get consistent, good looking stitches on my work.

    Now, I have tried a lot of awls by a lot of makers, and I finally found one that is exceptional.  It's not fancy, but it does the trick.  Sharp, but not TOO sharp.  One maker makes them so sharp they cut the leather and that makes for ugly stitching.  Sure, it goes through a mile of leather with ease, but the holes are ugly.  So, the one I have been using and will likely add another one or two is made by LederLouis in Switzerland.  He ships to the states and they are well worth the money.  He makes prepared blades that will fit existing hafts and he makes finished awls with very plain handles.

    https://shop.leder-louis.ch/product/Diamond-awl-ready-to-use-45-mm-S/1595

    Here's some stitching I was able to do using the methods described above and with this awl.
     

    Hope this helps.  Just a different approach.

     

     

    CT5.jpg

  17. Posted · Report reply

    The best advice I can give you is to start at the top and tool the parts closest to the surface of the leather first and work your way down doing the background last.  So, foreground to background.  Then, with many vehicles, there are a lot of straight lines.  Careful tracing or transfer to the leather is essential.  You can print your image onto vellum and transfer it to the leather before it dries, but that has as many issues as traditional transfer, just different.  Best to queue up some practice pieces with an image you like.  Remember a lot of detail is hard to do, so a stylized image or simplified one might be best.

    This one is free.

     

     

    free-bulldozer-vector-clip-art-30921.png

  19. Posted · Report reply

    1 hour ago, Edge2886 said:

    Anyone ever tooled a bulldozer design on a wallet or similar item got request for one and not sure where to look for inspiration 

    What kind of inspiration?  Pictures?  How to?  I took some cool bulldozer pics a few years back if you want them...otherwise google!

  21. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, Aven said:

    I was taught to skive like the guy in the video and the way Lisa shows, working on a flat, smooth surface, (glass or marble works great), knife hand over the leather and the knife point on the marble.  Keeping the cutting edge at an angle to the work and smoothly, gently pull towards you.  If you keep the cutting edge angle  shown at 1:53 in the Kinnari video, its possible to get a good skive with a safety skiver.  You'll have to change out the blade often, but it will do a good job.  It takes a bit of time, blades and practice, but in the not so long run it's much cheaper to buy a good knife than 1000's of replacement blades for the skiver.

    This.  My video is just showing the guy I sharpened the for that it works the way he uses is.  The technique is terrible, but he skives sandal straps on the sole while the shoe is still in the last.  He complained that the angle of the blade wouldn’t work for pulling it toward him.  I was just showing him that it would work.  Disregard the shitty technique.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Andrew,  if you have found a UV protective finish that works, you might not experience the darkening, or maybe it will delay it for a long time.  I don’t use a product like that so I can’t offer any opinion other than I’d like to see your results over the course of time.

    In the piece with the braid, you can see my struggle with the lips (well, all of it really) and how badly I mangled it.  Do you have some sort of art background?  Most people that can pull off a first piece have some sort of familiarity or artistic history.  Again, well done.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    On August 11, 2018 at 6:13 PM, 3DReefer said:

    Am I the only one that is completely distracted by the fact that the hammers are both pulled back in these pics?

     

    On August 11, 2018 at 6:22 PM, Treed said:

    called cocked and locked..... Only way to carry a 1911

     

    On August 11, 2018 at 6:28 PM, 3DReefer said:

    Not really. hammer pull should be part of your draw muscle memory. Cocked and Locked is one of the biggest reasons for accidently holstered fires of hammer inclusive pistols and becoming considered very irresponsible in the carry community. 

     

    On August 12, 2018 at 6:15 AM, battlemunky said:

    I too get a bit edgy seeing 1911s cocked and holstered but I am mainly ignorant to them. 

    Regarding the OP's work, it is really nice. Is that double stitched or some fat thread? Also, those hidden loops are really nice. I don't know if I've seen them before but it adds a different bit of flash to a holster. 

     

    6 minutes ago, East50Leather said:

    Condition One.  I am an Indiana Law Enforcement Academy Certified F/A Instructor and have been for almost 20 years.  The only positive way to carry a 1911 style pistol.  Training is the key.  Gunsite is a good place to go for that training. Education and Constant Practice and you will never have a problem. 

     

    I carried a 1911 on the job like this for 20 years.  It is the only recommended was as noted above, but I ALWAYS got comments about  it from civilians.  Freaks people out.  Oh well.  By the way, love the hidden loops!  That is some BEEFY thread though.  Was it hard to stitch?

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