rawcustom

After making up 2 this weekend, I agree that the only way it would be cost effective for your time is to have a fabrication setup and mass produce. And I don't think there is anything I'm making that's going to be any better than what I could source premade. I guess for me personally I am on more of a quest to make something entirely on my own and in itself is unique. I do feel like if I were to start selling in much of any capacity I would be looking for a quality interior. Bill, that's a great way to spin "I don't want to make an interior" into a very positive marketing light, I like it. After all it seems many people spending money are looking for names as much as they are anything.

I like the idea if using them to be upfront from the start and let them have a choice in style. Not sure I will use them or not, but I think if I did this is how I would go about it.

Maybe it's just me but i find a way to salvage most any leather. Maybe they won't work left natural over a wide open space such as your desk mat idea, but I'm sure after some black dye they will look much better for the holster idea. Or better yet use them up on hidden/interior pieces, or cut them for straps where it's not as noticeable. At the very least you can use it for shop projects to keep for yourself.

Not expecting a right or wrong answer, just wanted to know the opinions out there for using or not using purchased interiors for wallets. My opinion makes me feel like I can't claim I made an item if I didn't make 100% of it, so I sludge through my version of an interior. They also look to add to your material cost since they do have some considerable expense versus the raw material to make them. I understand I'm probably out financially making my own once I consider time, just noting another difference. For those that use them are you happy with them, do you let your customers know they aren't yours?? For those stubborn like me what advantages do you see to making them yourselves? I obviously have a few more of my own opinions but interested what others think on this.

Welcome to the forum, lots of useful info here. Like you my stamp inventory was extremely limited and has grown to be very limited, but don't let that stop you. Read the forums and you will find so many ways to improvise tools and use yours in different ways to make up for not having the complete master set.

I've only done a few linings, but had good luck with pig. I haven't attempted dying it, just bought it in the color I was planning to use. Curious about kidskin though.

That is awesome.

Thanks everyone. I've been learning a lot about dying over the last year. This forum has been great for picking up advice. I'm finding myself partial to pretreat with oil, then dry sponge the dye on diluted as need be with alcohol. I also found an interesting effect if you mix the spirit dye before hand with a small amount of oil, so the experiments continue.

Thanks Stu. Yes the handle is elk antler from an unfortunate Montana bull.

Simple hunting knife and pouch sheath, but the first of the year so thought I would post.

A common method is to use a secondary loop around your sheath that your belt loop snaps to. I advise securing the secondary loop with stitching or a rivet otherwise they tend to fall off and get lost. If you're worried about retention than build it to use 2 snaps rather than one. Here is an example of what I'm talking about. Although you don't see the back side, you can see what I mean with the second loop around the sheath.

The lacing does look a bit open from what you typically see. Doesn't look bad though, if you hadn't said anything I would've thought you meant to do it on purpose. I kind of like how it adds some background color behind the pattern.

Awesome, and way to show us what leather carving can be. Exceptional craftsmanship.

Here is one I have used: http://www.3riversarchery.com/Brownell+Crown+Serving+Material_i5148X_baseitem.html And another I have dealt with: http://www.3riversarchery.com/BCY+Halo+Serving+Material_i8626X_baseitem.html There are plenty that would work, all braided and different sizes and colors available. http://www.3riversarchery.com/BCY+62+Braided+Center+Serving+Material_i8625X_baseitem.html http://www.3riversarchery.com/Brownell+Nylon+Serving+Material_i4146X_baseitem.html http://www.3riversarchery.com/Brownell+Fast+Flight+Serving+Material_i5146_baseitem.html

Serving thread in archery is used to wrap around bowstrings and cables. It protects your main string from the wear of arrow nocks and calipers, very tough stuff. Check out Three River Archery and you can see all kinds of sizes and colors.

I stated this in another post, but for those looking for a tough braided thread you should really look at archery serving. You may have to wax yourself, but that's a pretty simple process.

Looking at doing an ostrich hide project and these guys offer some lower graded hides for way less than the what a top grade one costs from the other exotic retailers. I understand that if the grading reflects more defects in the quadrants of the hide, but I feel I would likely be able to work around them. Anyone have any reviews on this supplier?? http://stores.ebay.com/EtgarLeather-Exotic

Never have sharpened pricking irons, but I think diamond needle files used with care could shape things up. I've sharpened meat saw teeth this was with good results.

I'll second http://www.phillipsengriving.com/ Great to work with and got me my stamp very quickly.

Japanese white steel and blue steel is not a rare or special metal. White steel is a high carbon, blue steel is a high carbon with a dash of tungsten. The name white and blue is derived from the color of the wrapping paper the manufacturer packages with. Harder steels will become sharper than softer steels. Stainless steel only indicates an alloyed steel contaning at least 11-12% Chromium (depending on what sources you read). There are a ton of stainless steel alloys from run of the mill 440C to the modern super steels such as M390, Elmax and SV-30. How an alloy steel is made is just as or more important than the contents added. Powder metallurgy steel is vastly superior as it has a homogenous mixture of alloys within the iron matrix. Simple steels containing only Iron and carbon are your 'high carbon' steels, even though most stainless knife steels have a higher carbon content. High Carbon steel are lacking in the wear resistance alloys therefore are easier to sharpen, and consequently easier to dull. All of the above regarding content and alloy is nothing without proper heat treatment. A poor or untreated supersteel would be a complete failure if compared to a properly heat treated simple steel. Alloy and content is potential, heat treatment is the realization of the potential. This is one reason why quality knives can cost more as they don't shortcut heat treatment, and test results, all taking more time and money. The final issue with your blade's cutting performance is how the knife was made. A convex edge is touted by some as superior and stronger. While I can't disagree that it would be stronger since there is more mass as the edge I find it makes resharpening nearly impossible for the end user. A knifemaker can sharpen to a convex about as easy as you can sharpen a knife since guys who do this simply sharpen it against a slack portion of their belt grinder. The resulting flex gives you that convex 'appleseed' edge. I prefer a low flat grind with minimal sharpening bevel on a new knife. After enough sharpening you will arrive at the convex and either love it, or send it back and I regrind it back to a flat. A lot of misconceptions with knife steels, but at least I didn't have to go down the pattern welded "damascus" route.

I'll offer my services if you're still looking. I don't agree with the above caution on harder steels. If a steel is easier to sharpen it is easier to dull, hence more frequent maintenance. A steel that is harder dulls slower and requires less frequent maintenance, and with the advent and availability of diamond sharpeners, the old issue of sharpening hard blades with soft stones is rather dated.

Not really sure where to go on that one. In short, no.

Hello All, Gearing up for my 2015 run of high performance blades for heat treatment. Pricing is better in bulk so I try to coordinate the process in batches. Anyway, It seems inevitable that I'm always looking to add to my leatherworking knife assortment. I already have made myself a head, skiver and trim knife, but left wondering if I couldn't use something else. So if any of you have a favorite handy blade and don't mind sharing I'm looking for something to inspire another blade for the tool drawer. Thanks

1/16" is plenty thin enough. As Zuludog mentioned you can grind your bevel back if you want a feathered edge, and I think you'll be happy if you do. What kind of stainless? I suspect your plan is to wedge the back in a handle similar to the japanese models I've seen? I would opt for pinning the handle on to ensure zero movement, but if you already have it hardened you would need to use a carbide drill bit.

Couldn't find anything that looked like anything other than a waste of money, and since I wasn't going to have the right material for the job I opted to try some white spray paint I had sitting at home. Only attempted this shortcut since I needed a very small amount of white accents. dried everything very thorough and sealed with a few coats of supersheen. I think it should hold, I guess we'll see. All the other coloring is Fieblings dye. So far I'm happy with the results.