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It seems you edited your post but I'll address it anyway I still received the post in my notifications and after nearly four years since this thread was made I am clarifying things as some people still don't seem to know the meaning of grey area in this context, I've had a few people over the years who haven't stayed around that long PM me jumping up and down about this and I am tired of it. I am a graphic designer by trade and know how copyright and licensing works but I am not a copyright attorney and don't try to be therefore I have directed anyone recently to look at the main copyright website for their country most governments websites link to one. For specialised information a copyright attorney in your country of origin should be sought out, in the years I've been here no one has put their hand up to say they are one, perhaps someone is but doesn't want to be bombarded due to the many nationalities that post here. So if you need specialised information on copyright or licensing seek an attorney out or perhaps maybe, that first port of call should be contacting the company or artist who's artwork you want to use. Now for that grey area Harley, any other company or artist may or may not go after you for using their artwork on a limited amount of things for sale as a crafts person note I said limited and crafts person, it is still copyright or trademark infringement but it is up them whether they will enforce it or not, chasing people for a small amount may not be worth it to them to go for damages and a cease and desist order may suffice but it doesn't mean that they won't and you have no one to blame but yourself if things do go pear shaped ie that's the risk you alone are taking if you decide to go down this path without asking the proper permission to use artwork that you didn't create. Leatherbaron you were quite polite and I am not having a go at you but lets just say some others weren't privately over a seemingly simple comment. So this will be my last comment on this and I will not be answering any more PM's regarding it. Clair

Very cool, the fireries in West Oz use those plastic helmet things and no one is allowed to do anything custom to them so I love seeing these shields you guys use.

Western Australia, over 40C all this week and probably all next week as well.

I would get a contract written up as like you said things can go pear shaped in situations like this where items are going to be sold, he can transfer his copyright of any drawing he has done to you. Even if it's not a requirement where you are to get it written down I would still suggest doing it so both parties know fully where they stand. If he doesn't want to give up his full copyright you can have a licence agreement written up in that he gives you permission to use his artwork for example leather carving and nothing else. He would probably be fine if you only sell a few things but if you do start selling a lot of things with the same design that might be where he feels he should be compensated properly for his artwork. and it's easier to have an agreement in place from the beginning rather than when problems occur. If you do a search on copyright / licensing agreements you should get some examples of how to get one drawn up, make sure it's specifically for your country though. Also have a look at your gov's main copyright site they may have some examples already there and you should be able to get more specific information on how to go about it.

That sucks Spinner, I know the hard work you have put into your burnishers and I've been very happy with my custom dremel one. It seems Duane Ballard is having some of this trouble as well as he mentioned it on his blog recently. If you have no joy with Ebay get an attorney to send a cease and desist letter.

Angelus have wine in their dye colour range.

As countries can be a bit different in how they tackle copyright I suggest having a look here as you are from the UK http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy.htm and get any info you need directly from them in regards to usage they should know exactly what you can and can't do.

You can do it that way it's called inverted carving, it just comes down to preference on which way you want to carve, standard (outside the line) & inverted (inside the line). If you do a search here and on google for inverted carving it should bring some examples up, Al Stohlman also has a book on the technique.

Angelus also do an orange dye in small bottles.

Thank you for the info particle as that is similar to what I want to do, I wasn't aware you could get wordpess plugins for Concrete 5, I might have to take another look at it. Cheers, Clair

Kate is busy at the moment, I was going to get her do my website but she wouldn't be able to do it until the end of January that was contacting her early December, I have a bit of time up my sleeve now at my day job (graphic designer) now that christmas has passed so I will probably do it myself now. I have built simple websites before in Dreamweaver but I'm looking at using Wordpress now for ease of use. If you want to look into that a good set of beginner tutorials can be found for wordpress here http://wp.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/wp101-training/. I believe Kate uses something similiar in Concrete 5 I went with wordpress as it was a simple install from my webhost. Although wordpress is most associated with blogs it can be used for sites and the drop down boxes can be done fairly easy, one of the videos on the wptutsplus site shows you how to do it. If thats not quite what you are after wordpress can be set up with plugins to do almost anything you want If your wanting to maintain your own site fairly easily Wordpress or Concrete 5 would probably be a good choice for wordpress as you have already got website hosting get the software version from worpress.org if your hosting company doesn't offer it as a one click install, the plugins are available from here as well. Clair

Kings X, do you have the website addresses for the other ones you mentioned I've got Craft Japan, Seiwa & Leftys but the others aren't coming up in searches, I buy stuff from Simon but I may have a friend going to Japan next year and they said they would have a look around for me. Thank you Cheers, Clair

I never really used the chocolate only for the colour chart I made here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=27141&st=0&p=171056&hl=+angelus%20+dye%20+chart&fromsearch=1entry171056 and Colt Hammerless looks to be spot on it does seem to have a violet look to it so you probably haven't done anything wrong. I went over my notes and I had trouble with the honey turning a strange colour but the leather I used also had some problems with some other things as I used it up so now I can't be sure if it was the lemon juice or the actual leather. The dark brown in the Angelus line might be closer to the shade you seem to be after. Cheers, Clair

Jason what are you into if it's carving I agree with drphil a leather wranglers swivel knife would be a great choice I love my two. My other choices would be some beveling tools from Barry King or a maul from Bearman or Beary (that's my next thing to get). If your not into carving though some good knives for cutting out leather would probably be a good choice. Clair

It's most likely the lemon juice I had the same problem with one of the other browns turning a strange colour after using lemon juice as a cleaner, I no longer use Angelus though developed a sensitiviity to the smell of them which caused migraines so sold them and switched to Craftsha waterbased. So I'm not able to suggest an alternative but like Tina wrote possibly look into the Angulus cleaner. Clair

I haven't used their specific pens but I have filled Copic Sketch Markers with Angelus dye they work well for doing edges and small stuff. Cheers, Clair

McJeep I'n not sure but I think you might still be getting confused between dye and paint, dye soaks into the leather you will not get cracking with dye if it cracks it's the leather not the dye, all thick leather will get creases at folds it can't be helped. Acrylic paint on the other hand sits on top of the leather it doesn't soak in if it's put on too thick that's what causes it too crack. There are acrylic paints that are designed for leather which are able to flex a bit more they are Cova and Angelus (Angelus make both dye and paint, there are a lot more colours for the paint, the dye is transparent, the paint is opaque). There are other brands as well that can be used if they are put on thinly. The really confusing thing is some companies label their acrylic paint as dye as well Fiebings do this, also there is no white dye, the supposed white dye you see around is actually acrylic. I haven't used the Zelikovitz product you mentioned but after reading the description of it I'd say it's paint as well as they talk about it being opaque before being diluted, dye is always transparent. Hope this is of some help Cheers, Clair

Thank you for the link that quantity is a little too small for me though I need the actual rolls it comes off, when you deal with Julius Koch they want you to order boxes of rolls but Abbey will let you buy single rolls. Thank you Zoe that would be great. Cheers, Clair

I use Tiger / Ritza braided thread for hand sewing and Abbey Saddlery is the only place I can buy it in small amounts I'm after some different colours but they don't have a colour chart for it, I've been trying to get a colour chart for the last seven months both from the manufacturer Julius Koch and Abbey to no avail. I've even tried to get some one from Abbey to take a photo of it on the shelf so I can at least get an idea of the colours but still no luck. The trouble with it is some of the colours have more than one code and there is no description of the shade colour. Also I bought what they had listed as Royal Blue but it was actually Navy Blue which I still did need so that wasn't a complete loss. So I was just wondering is there anyone in England who buys in store at Abbey who could check the colours out for me and get the codes I am after these colours in 1mm or 1.2mm: Orange, Emerald/ Kelly Green, Mid Grey, Teal, Rose Pink & Royal Blue. The Royal Blue has a code of JK14 but it's actually Navy so if you could check if there is a blue that is closer to an actual Royal Blue that would be most helpful. If some of the the colours aren't available I will probably dye it but it will save me some time if I can get them off the shelf. Any help would be greatly appreciated Thankyou Clair

I've got one it works okay might be just that the blade isn't sharp enough being left handed I do find easier to use than the safety beveller, but since getting a Landis skiver I haven't really needed it.

If the postage was $60-70USD for me I would of jumped at it I could afford that but it was quoted at well over $200 USD from one place for one side, the other place was better but still in the $110-140USD for two sides and I can't justify that much on leather I haven't been able to try properly yet as I have a specific thing I need it to be able to do kind of like what Spinner has though not with such big pieces. If I decide to go down the Hermann Oak path again in the future I might see if it would be easier to send a clicker knife over there and have them click the parts for me from A grade and then send them over. For that though I would have to weigh up their cost of labour and postage vs the full side postage. Also I just watched the Hermann Oak video on you tube and although I can't be fully certain I don't think this side is Hermann Oak unless they have changed the way they hang their hides as there are too many hanging marks on it and it's not trimmed the way they do it. They also talk about using male steers and this side most definitely is female, I just don't know whether I should contact the company about it or let it go what would you guys do ? Cheers, Clair

Thanks Spinner, when I originally asked this place about Hermann Oak they said they only sell A grade so I'm not sure whats going on, whether they are keeping the best stuff for themselves as they manufacture as well or it's not Hermann Oak. In my emails to them I've specifically asked for a nice clean hide as it was my first time using it, sending this to a first time customer who was likely to become a repeat buyer doesn't really say much about their quality control which is annoying when we don't have a lot of choice for the stuff down here. Is there any way to tell if it is actually Hermann Oak are they stamped on the back or anything, come with tags etc I would love to use the places you and Hidepounder mentioned but I'm not selling enough to be able to afford that sort of postage at the moment. I think for now I'm going to go back to my local place and pick my hides out in person and be reserved by the fact I'm only going to get that sweet golden colour by trying to dye it. I really wish there was a vegetable tannery in West Oz as my father in law said he could give me all the hides I wanted from some nice beef that wouldn't have gone anywhere near barb wire, somehow I don't think the local council would like it if I set up a tannery in my tiny backyard ha ha. Cheers, Clair

Just wondering would you guys consider this A grade Hermann Oak, it was bought here in Australia I'm not going to say who the company it is at the moment as I haven't spoken to them about it yet as I wanted get you guys opinions first as this is the first Hermann Oak side I've bought having only seen pieces before. For A grade leather I'm just a bit surprised by the deep gouges, uneven colour and the marks throughout it, I've bought plenty of lower grade sides and they have been cleaner than this. Is this normal for Hermann Oak A grade or have I just been given the first piece off the pile they couldn't sell locally so decided to offload it on someone interstate who probably wouldn't bother with trying to send it back. I've been happy with the leather I've bought locally but wanted to try the Hermann Oak for that nice golden colour you get after oiling. With the other leather it isn't possible to do that but after this side I'm a bit disappointed and think I might just go back to trying to get the colour by dyeing. My father in law who is in the meat trade and buys his own cattle for slaughter also wasn't too impressed with it for being labelled A grade like Spinner am I expecting too much for the A grade tag. I've zoomed in on the worst parts but there are marks throughout the whole side it probably looks better in the photos than what it actually is, the bottom third is barely usable where those gouges are it's barely a mm thick and for quite a bit before and after them there is a big variation in thickness which I haven't seen before even in the belly section on the previous sides I've bought, that leather also had the hanging marks trimmed out. Any help would be greatly appreciated and if possible a photo of what you guys consider A grade for Hermann Oak would work wonders for what I should be looking for with it. Thank you, Clair