Cozee

What weight leather works well for masks that will receive some tooling/carving?

If it were riding weather it would be local but since it isn't, it is a little over an hour and a half in a cage to get there. Would 3-4 work for biker masks? Especially if they were lined?

Tandy has a sale on Craftsman Oak tooling sides till the end of January. Being a newbie I am still learning leather. Should I go buy one or two? It is 3-4 oz. averaging 22-27 sq. ft.

I guess I must not be using the right words to search with. I am trying to find a weight guide for a newbie like myself. Not sure which weights would be the one's I need to use for the projects I have in mind like biker's mask, tank and windshield bags, and small pouches. I know one has to exist, anyone know of such a guide?

Thanks!!!

I am looking for various military stamps and coming up empty. I am thinking of having some custom ones made. I see that some are made out of delrin or nylon type plastics. Has anyone used these types of stamps and if so, your opinions? Thanks!

Dayum, that is niiiiiicccceeeee!!!! Tell us the details, pleeeeeaaasseeee!

Found a few more designs made with the HF brush . . . One more for the goat lovers out there . . .

Hey wokka! Funny meeting you here!

I know this thread is old, but just in case someone is searching the site about airbrushing, I will add this. I have been airbrushing in one way, shape, or form for 40 years. I have supplemented my income with the airbrush and for a handful of years, lived off my brushes. With that i am going to step up and say that i know a little something about airbrushes. High dollar airbrushes are awesome, but if you are simply spraying color, the HF airbrushes that seem here to get a bad rap will work great. In fact, with a little experience, they can come real close in giving you the detailed work of a high end airbrush. I had always been one to promote the use of quality brushes, mainly because anything less was pure junk. I hang out on a chopper board where low cost is the theme, including tools. I decided to try the HF brushes to see if they could do what some were looking for so I started playing around. The pic below is of a t-shirt design I did earlier this year to put the HF brush through it's paces. It is done on a pellon with a Harbor Freight double action brush I got on sale for $17.99. After completing this design, and a few others, I went back to the store and bought 2 more just to have them around!!!

Great looking hat. Got a pic of the top?

Welcome Marine. Semper Fi!!!!

And just as important, make sure it is going on a softtail swing arm and not a hardtailed bike. One for a hardtail should have more attention paid to how it mounts as a hardtail transmits more vibration and jolting than does a suspended swing arm.

If you are still looking for paint, the Wicked line of airbrush paints work really well on leather vests and coats. I like it far better than Etac. SEM also has paints for automotive leather that works great also. SEM also has prepping materials that I recommend.

Thanks for the insight and advice. I'm still doing a lot of reading here and around the web. Looking at a lot of pictures and watching vids. As for defining my "artistic style" well, I don't know that there is a name for it. I have been airbrushing in one way, shape or form for nearly 41 years now. Throughout most of the 90's I airbrushed thousands of t-shirts at events throughout Illinois and Indiana. And from the early 2000's I started doing motorcycle skins, helmets and other odd ball items till about 3 years ago. I slowed way down on the amount of work I do and only do so when I feel like it. Never did have my own specific style as I always did my best to give the customer what they wanted and did everything from human and animal portraits and life like scenes to cartoons, grafitti, and sign work. The leather work I am hoping to do will be centered in the motorcycle world as I am a biker and have been riding as long as I have been airbrushing. And as for tools themselves, the kit I have was a Christmas present and can see that the stamps in it are marginal at best. I am sure that before long I will be making my own tools.

First, my apologies go out to Barry as the computer I had been using to view his site for some reason was not allowing the photos to load up. Sorry Barry!!!! I picked up the Tandy Deluxe Set ($70 at Hobby Lobby) and yes, they will work for now but they do feel cheap. I have made my living with my hands all my life. To me, the feel of a tool in my hands is just as much a factor in creating quality work as is the tool itself and my ability. I have cheap tools and I have high dollar tools for all that I do. 9 times out of 10, the cheap tools still look new!!!! I will take a look at the new Tandy Pro Series.

As a novice (have yet to strike the first tool) to leather working/tooling, I have been doing a lot of reading. I like quality tools in all that I do and have gleaned that Barry King and Robert Beard are a couple of the best for leather tooling. To my dismay though, when visiting these web sites, unless you know exactly what you want, you are left holding the bag as there are no pictures to show the tool and or the pattern it makes. For me this is a bummer for if I am looking for something new or different, I have no idea what they are selling unless I already know what a given tool produces. I would think that for the time and effort they've already put into building good looking and user friendly sites, pictures would not have been that much more work to add. Guess my money will go elsewhere for now.

Thanks for the warm welcomes. I live 12 miles SW of of Champaign-Urbana, about 2 hours south of the Windy. I will definitely be leaning towards motorcycle based projects as I already have a "want" list for a couple of my bikes.

New here. Long story short, I am looking for another avenue for artwork/creative release. I have been airbrushing in one way, shape, or form for nearly 40 years. I am a bodyman by trade and also do a lot of metal fabrication. greatly enjoy building and riding motorcycles. I also turn pens too. Most of my family and many friends have been encouraging me to start tattooing but don't want the issues of dealing with the health department. I recently had a custom leather wallet made and after looking it over after receiving it, the process it took to make intrigues me so I started checking out resources on the web which led me here. I am excited to start, not only tooling leather but also in fabricating my own tools and stamps. Thinking of picking up a Tandy deluxe starter set as they have them at my local Hobby Lobby for $70.00. I understand the tools are not the best but I am a firm believer that even a bad tool and do decent work in the right hands. Looking forward to learning as much as I can from the members here.

Awesome!! How does it connect in the back?