immiketoo

Nice coaster! I like the wood grain. How are you going to seal it?

Gazoo, there are two options here as we have all gone through this. Practice a lot or use a guide like a french curve or some other template. Its a pain for sure. Good luck!

Bob, i could see that from a chefs knifework perspective with all the chopping and banging. But the smooth glide shouldn't mess it up as fast especially if you only glide the tip of the knife. Even if you rolled the knife forward, you'd still only drag about an inch or so, right?

Nice mask! looks scary!

Dude, you gotta post pics so we can see what you're dealing with.

Denster, I've been looking at those. What size do you use for 11-12 leather?

Country covered that pretty well, especially the chat! So, another suggestion is to find a local leather guild and attend one of their meetings. You will meet leather people and get to see what people have and learn from their experiences.

Jeff, I'm convinced that its the rawhide content in the side. They are all different and sometimes they just don't get tanned properly. I have seen this a lot in cheaper leathers, not so much in HO. You'll just have to deal with it unfortunately.

That's one good looking belt! I have yet to try lacing, and it appears I'll need some more tools. Is that a Damascus fid I see?

Diesel, many people choose not to line their bible covers, but many others want a nice finished look. IMO you have several options and I am assuming you are using veg tanned leather on the outside. A nice cloth could be glued to the inside of the cover but you then have a different edging process to contend with. You could also use a very light weight (1-2 oz) cow, calfskin or pigskin liner. These will flex nicely and while there may be some wrinkles right at the fold, the book will cover it anyway. Personally, I'd use calf skin. I really love the feel of it. Good luck, post pics, and welcome to the forum! Mike

Ben, I have had the same experience with other forums (especially car forums) and we at LW actively work to make this site an environment the fosters learning and a good time. I'm glad you have noticed our efforts! Mike

use a french curve as a cutting template. If you buy a set, you're almost guaranteed to find an arc that matches. If not, it will be so close it won't really matter.

According to my friend, as long as its smooth, nick free and harder than the steel so that the steel doesn't scratch it, it works great according to him. It certainly looks easy, but you'd have to try it to know for sure. Tempered glass BTW.

Hey Randy. A friend of mine cuts on a smooth glass table. Its pretty slick.

If you want them to look old, you should dye the brilliant white stitching. It kind of glares at you.

Welcome Ben! Anywhere you start is a good place to start. There's a steepish learning curve so read a lot before cutting leather! And don't get discouraged, ever. Again, welcome and post pics of your work.

Jay, I have experienced this with several kinds of leather. Its due to the rawhide content in the leather. Almost all leather has it and HO is the best at NOT having it. The only way I have found to work around this is to replace the blade on my skiver and start fresh. For your knife that needs sharpening, I don't know what totell you except make it sharper or use a super skiver from Tandy. Hope this helps.

Kev, without pictures its gonna be hard to tell you anything of value.

Hey there those are both very different in the designs, and you can see the influence of each maker. What did you use for the finish?

Benji, WELCOME! Its great to see new leather workers. If you are anything like the rest of us, it quickly becomes a passion, or in some cases and addiction!

Wow. I wasnt expecting anything so elaborate! Or colorful. Or articulated! Nice job sir.

Nigel, I am willing to be adopted.

Or, you could use my proven method...Grow them

That is just the coolest! I'm late to the thread, but damn. Nice Job.

I really like that. And I have no idea how you did it...magic!