FrankZaharek

Take a look at this site: http://www.seandoyle.com/S&Smm/ Sean is a really talentet designer and a great guy. I had the pleasure of spending time with him and his models at one of the IFoLG shows. I suggest "Dirty Ol men" like me stay away from his site. LOL

Now you all do know that Polar Bears are just Grizzlys in their winter coats.

Hey that one is totally Kewl.

David, I posed this question to our corporate lawyers and this was how they explained it.Your first statement is not correct as it takes away the customer's "Fair Use" rights. When the customer purchased the emblem (patch) he/she has the right of fair use such as having it sewn or adhered to any item they choose as long as it is for their personal use. Other wise the only use they could make of it would be to take it home and put it away and not even display it. Now what they can't do is have someone copy the emblem in any fashion onto an item as this is not protected under "Fair Use" laws and is a violation of pertinent law. Sorry it took me till now to reply to this but we've been busy getting our new businesses up and running. You'd be surprised at all the legal paper work and inventory and training we've had to go through.

Maybe these pictures will help. attachment=13258:18f7_1.jpg]

Marlon, you said a mouth full there. Most of us started out with Crafttools and for the new or beginning leather crafter it's the best way to go. That said, when you have learned to use your tools properly then you can move up to the custom tools. All the custom tool makers make some mighty fine tools and I have some from most of them along with a complete set of crafttools. At this time I use mostly Robert Beards' Pro Series tools most often but there are times that what I need for a project might require I use a Barry King or Crafttool. While the quality of Crafttools has dropped it's still the best deal for a biginner or when you need a tool for that one or two time use. When your skill and budget permit I suggest that you pick out the tools you use most often and replace those with the better quality tools even if it's just one tool at a time.

I like using pigskin or a light weight seude. I prefer the pig as it will not hold on to makeup or powder as will seude.

We just added another one to those. The new one was for the wife and had a special barrel and yoke just for her hands and a courser knurling.

I'm in total agreement on Peter's blade for carving in thin leathers. I'll attempt to upload a couple of pictures of my Bob Beard swivel knives and blades. One is of the very fine detail blade and is one you have to be very careful with as it will cut through your leather if you use a heavy hand. The other picture is an assortment of knives and blades (sorry for the blur).

I'm from the small town of Hopewell, VA in the central Virginia area about 20 miles south of the Capital city of Richmond, VA and 103 miles south of Washington DC. I've traveled to 49 of the 50 US states, missed Maine. My family is scattered from VA to AL, TX, CO,IL, WI, and CA.

As one that is tool poor I understand the dilemma in choosing tools. The best advice is to use the best you can afford. In the beginning while you are learning the proper use of a tool it won't make a lot of difference and remember also that those "cheap" tools can produce some quality work in the hands of a experienced worker. As your skills improve you will probably want to move up to better quality tools, especially those you use most often. Some of the tools Billy referred to from Hide Crafters are just a step above the standard line sold by them and TLF and were designed by tool makers such as King, Beard and others. These tools are priced so as to be more fitting the pocket book of those who cannot afford the ones from the top tool makers but still want a better quality tool. While I have a quite large collection of Bob Beard's ProSeries tools along with to a lesser degree those from Barry King and Hackbarth and others, I still maintain a near complete collection of Crafttool tools which I still use quite often. Now on swivel knives I usually recommend a person try out several different ones from several makers and find one that feels best to them. This is the place where I suggest you buy the best you can afford that fits you and feels right to you especially if you plan to do any large amount of figure carving. This also applies to the blade you choose as a better quality blade will hold it's edge better. The more important thing is to practice, practice, practice with all your tools. This will go farther to improve your work than any other factor.

Tom, You only have C-band? no Ku?

This is from Al Stohlman's "Leathercraft Tools How to use Them, How to Sharpen Them". #1 for 1 1/2 oz to 3 oz. #2 for 4 oz to 6 oz. #3 for 6 oz to 8 oz. #4 for 8 oz to 10 oz. #5 for 10 oz and heavier. These are general guidelines. The main objective is to take off the sharp edge top and bottom so as to create a nice rounded edge. If you use too large an edger you will get a sharp center edge instead of a nice round edge. You'll also find that the rounded edge is much easier to slick and looks much more professional. The book above is one that should be in every leather workers library. I've had to buy this book 4 times as it seems to keep growing legs and I wouldn't be without it.

For those that have not met Gesa, she is one wonderful young lady. It was my pleasure to judge some of her work at the IFoLG show in Butler, PA. The judging team had a hard time with her wonderful work as the stitching was so perfect it almost looked like it could have been done on a machine. Anyone seeing her work can easily understand why she walked away from that show with so many ribbons. It's that kind of talent that makes judging such a pleasure. This lady not only is talented but has a fantastic personality.

Here is a couple of CD cases I did for another leather crafter to present to a new Governor and Lt. Governor. I did the transfer and stamping and embossing then lined it. He did the final cutting and stitching and adding the inserts and zippers.