Cyclist2

I see Tandy has Eco-Flo dyes and waterstains. What is the difference? They are both water based. I also use acrylic paint that my wife had around, seems to work OK. Is the Eco-Flo cova color any different? Thanks!

This topic undoubtedly has an FAQ, but I'm sort of in a hurry. I've started making kits for my kids (I'm still fairly new at this and not equipped or talented enough to start from scratch. Yet). The patterns that come with the kits, although good, are not really what I'm looking for. I search Google for images of things I want to tool and that has worked fairly well. Does anyone have a good source of patterns, or images that could become patterns? Right now I'm specifically looking for mountain scenes and/or aspen tree patterns for a belt. My vision of where I'm taking my leatherwork is more into the "art" side, if you will, rather than traditional Sheridan or animal carving. Again, I like that style and will do a lot of it, but want to find a sort of different path, too. Thanks! Mark

I'm new at this, kit level so far, but I'm modifying them to better suit my needs and that requires some freehand stitching. I don't have a store nearby, so can't go look at tools. I see several methods of getting holes in the leather - the punched round holes that come in the kits, the awl in a grove with an overstitching wheel, and the chisels with 1, 2, 4, or 6 teeth in a row. Without buying them all, any advice on which is a good method for stitching 4-5 oz leather that comes in wallet type kits and the wallet inside leather? I know that with time (and reading the zillion posts here) I'll be buying lots of tools and I don't want to spend a lot on the "wrong" tools now. Thanks! Mark

Thanks for the replies! The reason I want it to bend a little easier is that I'm modifying it to be an iPhone wallet. Where the passport would go, I'm going to glue in a plastic back case to hold the phone (any recommendations for a super, permanent glue would be appreciated). When talking on the phone, the front side of the wallet has to be folded back against the back so it won't be in your face, so it has to bend in the opening direction easily and fully. The closed direction doesn't matter, the normal bend is fine. I experimented on some scrap today, both with the parallel knife cut lines and skiving (with a utility knife). The knife cuts work better, but I have to be careful not to cut too deep! The skiving produces a wide groove, which makes the wallet a little floppy with the thinned spine.

Hi All; Newbie here, made a few kits so far. I've read lots of "How do I do that" posts, and lots more to read but haven't come across this, yet... I made a Tandy passport wallet kit. Came out OK. I had to modify several things slightly to make it all fit. However, my question is this: The leather is constant thickness and where it bends I'd like to make slightly thinner so that it bends a little easier. I haven't found a tool that will "plane" or scrape off a little of the flesh side in a controlled way to make it uniformly thinner along that spine. How do I do that? Would I want to do that? Thanks! Mark (I ride bicycles, too)