MonicaJacobson

Wow, that is a crazy awesome bag. I love all the leathers. Brilliant job.

I had never watched any of Ian's videos until yesterday. I watched Nigel's videos, and while they were extremely helpful, I was still getting some inconsistent stitching. Ian's method really helped, and with a combination of that and paying closer attention to each stitch, I've been getting very consistent results today. I agree with Unicorn that it's probably too fiddly for a harness maker. But in my (comparably limited) experience, it's easier to get consistent stitching with thicker leathers. Ian's method seems like it will work really well for smaller goods like wallets.

I think they look great!

Ha ha, you don't mess about. Welcome to the forum!

Small world! I don't know what possessed you - maybe it was the allergies. It depends on how thick you want it. Some people like ultra thick, some people want it more like 5 - 6 oz. Some people want almost paper thin. I think if you talk to the people at Springfield and tell them about your concerns about the back, they'll be able to give you some ideas of would wouldn't be too expensive, but would look nice. At Maverick right now there's some leather that is finished smooth on both sides if you're really concerned about it. However, Maverick will not cut for you. They can be half the price of Springfield, though. There are several kinds of leather that are very smooth on the back.

Nice burnish!

Kevin, there really should be a beginner guide. As it is, most people have to use the forum search function and peruse through for a few hours. You could try "tool list" as a search word. Are you planning to buy dyed leather or undyed leather? You don't have to do the whole dye-your-own straight off... or you could just leave your first few experiments undyed. Lots of people like the look anyway. Unfortunately, a lot of the supplies are one choice out of many. There are so many choices, you just have to do some reading about each particular topic, pick one of the options, and try it. A lot of it comes down to preference. You should consider getting a pricking iron rather than a over-stitching wheel. You'd need a 2 prong (for going around corners) and a four (or more) prong. You'd want to get 6-7spi (stitches per inch) for bag size or 8 spi or so for wallets. Here's an example of one, but which one to buy is another debate in itself. I use Fiebings spirit dyes. Some people use Angelus. I think most people like them much better than Tandy eco-flo. You can dilute them with lacquer thinner for color variation and mix your own colors as well. If you want pre-dyed leather, try MaverickLeatherCompany. They sell at a ridiculously good price. Springfield Leather will cut smaller quantities for you. It works better to call these companies than to order through the website, from what I've tried. If you talk to them, ask them about the leather and its quality, and tell them what you want to make, they really try to make sure you get what you need, and they are very upfront about the leather. If you place your order through the internet things just get processed and you may or may not get what you were hoping to get. The worst I've ever gotten was on par with Tandy, not below it. You also want some saddle soap or beeswax/paraffin for burnishing. Good luck, Monica

Ha ha, pants. Nice looking sheath!

I think you'll find the tastes on here pretty evenly divided. There are a lot of people who are excited about clean styles. I go both ways. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Nice knives, Reid. I'm glad you post your knives on LW, it's fun to see what you come up with. @WW - I misspoke - as it turns out there is a clicker knife, and my knife isn't one. I meant a box cutter, basically. Disposable blade... cop out... I know...

That begs the question - if you think that's boring, what do you want to make? Are you a western style carving enthusiast, biker style art, or something else?

That looks beautiful.

Yes, EXACTLY. So frustrating. Have you tried paraffin/beeswax on it? I have the paraffin, but keep putting off buying the beeswax...

Yin, interesting. I do think that would help - scary sharp would help any blade. My problem was more that the end of the blade was four inches away from my hand. My clicker knife was a remarkable relief after the dexter knife from a leverage point of view. I think I would feel the same about a huge head knife, as well. I prefer something smaller and more controllable. It also could be that I just want one of the very pretty knives shown on this thread, and that I'm being completely unreasonable. Certainly could be that.

Ha, that's a relief to hear you say that. I don't really want to spend more time edging at the moment.

LOL, now you mention it. I didn't claim it would stay shiny, it's just easier to deal with than some other chrome tans I've tried. Have you tried another Horween chrome tanned that burnishes better? I haven't tried more than 6 Horween types, and I'd love to hear your methods if you've been able to successfully edge treat them. I've been experimenting with edges for a while, and haven't really found anything I'm super happy with. Lately, I've been dying the edge (I think that helped with the crinkle on my Derby leather) saddle soaping, and then sealing with three coats of resolene. That gives it a shiny edge, but not glaringly shiny like edge paint. I'm not sure how well the resolene will hold up. I've been playing with the idea of doing paraffin/beeswax on top of that, but haven't tried it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to try uncolored fenice edge paint again. It's really too shiny for my taste, but it might be worth another try. Here's a picture of two of my tool cases. One is black Dublin (the bottom one), and one is Derby (very similar to Dublin, also veg tanned). My edges aren't gorgeous and shiny, but they do have some shine, and I coated them with resolene a month or so back. Maybe I've given up on edges a little, but I've never been able to get anything shiny exactly like tooling veg tanned. How do you finish Dublin, and what do your results look like?

Have you tried Dublin? It's a veg tanned Horween (as is Derby), so it's much easier to burnish than some chrome tans I've tried. It doesn't hurt that it's thick enough to make it easier.

Very cool, I like the shield shape on the black and brown ones.

Very cool, all of them. I'm excited to start mine next week. So many options!

I looked for the same thing a while back and couldn't find anything with an additional plate. I just thought to look on OhioTravelBag and found something similar on page 99, middle of the page, in one of the boxes, and it's called an "eyelet plate". http://www.ohiotravelbag.com/PDF/P-214_Hardware-Finished_Goods_Catalog-web.pdf

That is super cool. Sorry, no ideas on the dye. I always prefer things undyed until I see what people come up with, after which I can concede that dying it was worthwhile. I do think you should leave the fossil light and darken the background, though.

Wow, really nice job!

Wow, thank you all for the extremely informative responses and recommending your favorite tools. I've got a list $1000 long right now. It's really nice looking, too. I'm going to watch a bunch of videos of these knives in action and try to decide which to get first. I don't say which to get, because obviously it'll have to be more than one. You can't fight fate.

@WW - don't worry about the pictures. I would never have thought of removing them in the first place. @Bob - serious drooling. I hadn't seriously looked over the Leather Wrangler knives, but they're beautiful. I love the decorative pins and the design of the blade. You said "most cases" - does the round knife work well enough skiving a 12x12 piece of leather?