garypl

Chris, I would definitely use Pro Dyes instead of water based - seem to give more consistent colors. I also think spraying would pretty much eliminate your streaking problem. You can buy a $10 airbrush at Harbor Freight that will spray finishes perfectly. If you do not have a compressor, you can buy a tiny compressor for @$50-75 that will be more than adequate to run an airbrush. Gary

Like Jeff, I save the brown paper W&C uses when they ship leather - free is better than cheap! I also bought a roll of brown builders paper at Lowes - 36” x 140’ for @$12. Will last a long time. Gary

Very nice! I like how you stitched around both sides of the serpentine border! Gary

Nice design - I like it! Gary

Quality not the best, but I can cut around the one small hole and a couple of bug bites. Back also is a bit grainy, but for $30 how can you go wrong for lining leather!

Well, I went to the Tandy store this morning and while the masses were rummaging through the stacks of $29.95 veg tan sides, I asked for a demo of the skiver. I have to say, I was impressed how it skived a strap that was about 2” wide. Tandy rep did tell me that you really have to keep the blade honed for good results. I bought one of the last 2 they had left for the sale. Also picked up a 3-4 oz side for $30 that I will use for lining. Bad news - my wife told me to turn the skiver over to her so she could give it to me for Christmas! I don’t mind because my shop is in the middle of a reorganization and I haven’t touched a piece of leather for the past 3-4 weeks. I’ll send my comments after I have a chance to unpack and test it after Christmas Gary

Looks great Treed! Is that your own design? Can’t say I have seen a similar Glock pattern. Gary

LOL! Yes, bridle leather tools nicely. Gary

Not sure what he is using - looks too watery to be wax. There are so many commercial and homemade concoctions! I like to use glycerin bar saddle soap to burnish. Search in the “How To” forum here - many articles on burnishing. Gary

Looks like he is skiving the edges with a sharp chisel?

Not sure of the leather type - looks like veg tan that he dyed That machine is a skiving machine - taper thins leather at the edges to make a thinner joint where they are sewn together. The edges are sanded and burnished and they look really good! He may have used wax on the edges for the final burnish. Gary

After hearing all of the comments I’m torn between buying or not. Think I will go over to the store tomorrow and ask them to try it out - seem to remember one setup on their machine table. If it doesn’t work as well as I expect I will pass and look for an older unit. Happy Thanksgiving to all our USA members! Gary

Get a single tine chisel to go with your current chisel and adjust spacing of the last 1 or 2 holes so you won’t notice the slightly different spacing. Gary

Welcome and hope you enjoy and learn from all the talented people on this forum. Everyone shares information to help improve the workmanship of others. Look forward to seeing your projects as you progress! Gary

I run stitching up both sides, then cross stitch between the two lines of stitching. Once I finish I glue a reinforcing strip on the back side. Seems to be very strong and holding up well after carrying many bottles of beer! Gary

I received the new knurled roller pen today and did a quick test - seems to work really well. Very smooth rolling action and Giardini paint went on much more smoothly than the grooved cone roller I normally use. Will do more testing, but my initial impression is that this is a great tool for the money! Gary

Beautiful work! You have some serious carving skills. Gary

I heard back from Terry and he says he put me on the order list, but it will take “a while” before he gets to my order. That’s ok, it will give me something to look forward to in a year. Hope you get your knives soon! Gary

You can buy these from Tandy for about $2.00 - any Tandy locations near you? Gary

Thanks Munk - like an early Christmas! Quality is normally not cheap, my philosophy is that if I am buying something for use one or two times, buy mid-range price. Buying a tool that you plan to use steadily for years - buy the best you can afford....

I finally received my Knipschield Pull knife on Friday! It is a beautiful knife and out of the box it slices through 10 oz skirting leather like butter! I waited almost a year for it and I just asked Terry to put me on the list for a skiving knife and French knife. Gary

Nice job Tom! I think it looks great. Gary

Beautiful work Marjolien!! Gary

Thanks everyone for your feedback! The $200 price is for anyone on Black Friday - limited to quantity of stock at the store. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a splitter because I don’t see myself using it that often, but I am curious about them and once I try one I may find more uses for it. As YinTx mentioned, there are a few posts on the subject - some l8e it and other not so much. If I get one next Friday I will post my comments on it! Gary

Just received a Tandy Black Friday flyer advertising their Craftool Deluxe 6” splitter for $200. SRP is listed at $550. Any comments on whether this is worth the price? Gary