immiketoo

It look grainy because its small. Hermann Oak A grade I am cutting it as well.

One of our customers wanted a Greek Medusa holster. This artwork is from an historical relic carving and the lettering is an ancient alphabet.

Y knot Lace sells lovely natural roo as does knotty linda. Just give either of them a call and order some.

Natural or will take any stain, dye or paint just like veg tanned cow. Or you could just get a hide from a metal roo

Having a completely clean and smooth surface is imperative. Also don't bash it about while tooling and like Ferg said, nails short.

How long did you let it dry before you put finish on it? If its not completely dry, it can bleed and the dye and finish can react to make a sticky feeling mess.

That seat is sick. Love it.

I'm just curious to see what you mean. I started tooling on an old printing block for a medical book. It was cement. My life got better when I got the surface plate.

Woodcraft carried them a few years ago, but whatever makes you happy. Have a pic of those tiles?

Its a precision piece of granite used in machining to test tolerances, layout, inspection or when you need a perfectly flat assembly surface. http://www.shars.com/products/measuring/surface-plates/grade-a-9-x-12-black-granite-surface-plate

If you want a non-chines machine, you'll need to be ready to spend a LOT of money. That being said, the chinese machines are pretty good and parts are readily available for most of them. I will move this to the sewing machine section so @Wizcrafts can take a crack at it.

That should be fine but I prefer a compressor with a tank as it eases the drain on the motor and flow is more consistent. Check out Chicago Airbrush on the internet and see what they offer.

If it were me, I'd get larger diameter if you have the room so you don't have to cram thick hides into a small tube.

I agree with you about not everyone being able to, because lets face it, some folks just don't see the flaws. Thats ok. But, most of us do and we want to improve. Wow factor can be achieved on simple items with no embellishment as well. Ive seen basic knife sheaths so clean I've said to myself, "well shit." Back to the drawing board. If a person picks one thing to get better at, over time these things all combine to make a fine piece. Don't sell yourself short. You can have a goal of affordable items, but that doesn't mean they have to be poorly made. Price is up to you, and I admire the fact you want people to have your cane in their hand. Kudos to you. Nice looking and simple is a good combo and it applies to leatherwork as well. Anyway ,the whole point of this post is specifically that things DON'T have to be perfect to earn a wow. Thats the beauty of making things with our hands.

Pull knives are ok, but tough to make tight corners with in my experience. I didn't know that about Keiths knife, but the one I held looked and felt just like mine. Good to know. As for wait time, let me say this. I am happy to see all of you willing to wait. Terry stresses out about the long wait times, but he refuses to cut corners in his process and I can assure you the wait is wort it. So much so that if you don't like his knife, I will buy it from you without question. Terry is a friend of mine, and I would wait years for one of his knives if I had to. They're that good.

Well done. Love the stitching.

Best combo for antique I've found is Bee Natural RTC and fiebings paste antique. RTC has virtually zero bleed through with antique paste and like Bob said above, Tan Kote will clean up some of the smears whilst leaving the antique where it belongs. That being said, I almost never use it anymore because it usually detracts from the final result as opposed to adding to it. Some tooling can benefit from antique, but I've used it once or twice in three years.

Glad it wasn't just me! I like that you shared your story so I just let it be, but now it makes more sense!

Thats what I do most of the time, and its perfect for that. I've been to Keith's shop and he has a standard french as far as I know. Chan Geer's is a bit smaller in size than the french, but I've never used it.

Honestly thats the one I use least. Cant really find a use for it.

Lol...I hate excuse makers.

Thats a trim knife designed by a friend of mine. Crazy sharp and very useful.

IT works for me. Not sure why it wont for you. The first file is a MOV which is apple. The difference is the shape. The offset handle makes long running cuts easy and rocking it down allows tight corners to be cut with ease. I can cut quarter sized circles all day long and if I really want to go tight, flip it over and go for it.

Any spirit dye will work just fine out of the bottle, but I like to thin them for a variety of reasons. Those include having greater control over the shades of color I want, saving material by using less of it and reducing the possibility of excess dyestuffs piling up on the surface of the leather when spraying. To cover areas to resist dye, you need liquid latex. Its brush on and requires careful application so you don't miss any areas. Two coats is best and you have to be careful you don't smear the dyestuffs that accumulate on top of it onto your project when you remove the latex. The wont dry on the latex or absorb so its best to spray away from the latex to minimize the build up.

Congrats chief! I retired a few years ago and do leather full time now. I also appreciate a good dobro, although my national is not a lap version like yours. Enjoy your time!