Regis

Welcome to the forum. Questions & answers are one of the key successes of this forum along with a group of great folks. Looking forward to seeing some of your work.

Here's my leather home. I do have a portable table on the other side and I dye in the garage. Luke, I'll be up to see your's in a couple weeks. Regis

droff, Here's a pict of the black line 24 snaps from Tandy in 8/9 oz. I think this it the min curl I'd have on the tube/rivet.

Drof, Here's a couple things I've done wrong that "might" help. I punched hole too big so the rivet/tube expanded inside. Tube should fit quite tight (if using hand setting). Also, if I don't compress the top peice so the tube raises up inside, I just barely get the tube to curl out and it comes appart easily. I put some of the tandy black line 24's in yesterday and they just fit 8/9 oz (not much to spare, if any). I'll try to send good (and bad pic) this afternoon. Regis

Last fall I bought a preval sprayer as there was some discussion about it. Ended up trying it and results were terrible & blotchy. It was a cold day (30's) and my dyes are stored in garage at outside temperature. I tossed it in a cabinet until just the other day and though I'd try again. Put a new cartridge on thinned some USMC black and it sprayed perfect (temp in upper 60's). Got a nice even coat. Not sure if it was the temperature or if I had a bad cartridge. If anyone knows, let me know. I'll use it more now for solid colors and probably finishes. Regis

Please count me in. I sure was nervous carving something for a pro like Clay on the current round. I think it will tend to sharpen us amatures a little more each time and of course, it's fun to supprise someone. Regis

Very neat work. Did you also make the matching belt?

Ferret is right, that is a GREAT book.

Johnny, Glad to have you join us here. Lots of good and helpful folks. Looking forward to seeing some of your work. Welcome

Well, Yes, yes, and maybe. There are a lot of reasons to bevel one side or the other but, I can tell you one where you bevel both sides of the cut. For example, you may want to show and animal's foot touching the ground and you would bevel both the foot (to begin rounding up the foot) and the ground (to begin showing it comming nearer to you). Same hols true for many things like rock on bare ground or squirrel sitting on a log. The best way for me to visuallize one side or the other is with an oak leaf carved standard then inverted. There are lots of folk here that can do better job of explaining. Regis

Nice design. Basketweave is real tough for me (especially that much).

Welcome Chris. This is a great site to share & learn. Look forward to seeing some of your work.

Nice work. I too like the color. Looks like there is stitching all around the peice that the belt goes through. Is that correct and is it functional or decorative?

FWIW, the gravers need to be very sharp. The other great thing this will do is make great designs with a diamond point. You can adjust speed and strength/power to come up with very interesting patterns. With longer stroke, you can probably do some interesting work on leather........guess I talked myself into moving mine to my leather tooling area.....

Sometime next month I'll be in the Oklahoma panhandle for a few days. If your shop is there, I'd be proud to bring you a cup of coffee and chat a little. Don't know the dates yet but PM me if you're so inclined to have a visitor for an hour or so. thanks, Regis

Ohhh if we only had a hint of snow. It has started into the 80's with 85% humidity heve in the panhandle of Florida

Even though I'm only a few years into carving, I have invested in a lot more knives than I use. For me any tandy knife set up with straight blade is good for those long straight lines. I'm one of the Henley fans but, more so because, with it, I learned what "sharp" really means. Now that I know how sharp to get the blade (and keep it sharp) other knives work pretty good. Larger barrel for these aging hands is a bit more comfortable though. I wish I could have attended a show or guild event to try a lot of knives as I beleive that is the absolute best way to get the right knife for you. $100 knife that fits you is cheaper than 10 knives at $20-$40 each that sit in a box!!

Once apon a time long long ago, Bill Gates and I were talking. He said he had some friends working on a computer that people could actually use at home. But, none of them knew what it would be good for. They were about to dump the whole idea when I made a suggestion. If you go through with this computer project thing, it will lead to being able to connect with other computers. There are a large group of great folks around the world who are just waiting to be able to share ideas and help each other. The next thing I knew, Johanna showed up on my screen and a lot of fine leatherworking folks lived happily ever after. The end.

Mudtwo, Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of great folks here to share skills, knowledge, and friendships. Looking forward to seeing some of your work. Regis

Storm, Very nice work!!!

Paul, Welcome to the forum. You've got an interesting skill there.

Wow! I can only echo the other comments about simple, neat, and functional. Great setup......I don't dare show my wife these pictures [lol].

I do much the same as SRigs but, I do use a heat gun for some of the drying. When the shape is stable, I go inside & out with heat gun until the whole thing is a bit too hot to hold. I'll do that 2 or 3 times while drying and it seem to make a noticable difference in hardness. My 2c Regis

Marcel, It is very difficult (but, not impossible) to begin with unless you have someone sharpen, show you, or buy a sharp blade. If you are following the proceedure, my guess is that you are not getting the angle flat against the surface and back at the "exact" same place after each turn. Even after you do all you can with the wet papers you list, you will still need to POLISH and POLISH and POLISH. I use hard/smooth side of leather and also a business card with rouge on a very flat surface to polish. I trided the flesh side but, it tends to round/dull the blade (for me anyways). Took me a long time and when I "thought" I had a sharp blade. Later, I bought a Henley and realized that was the 1st SHARP blade I'd ever seen/used. Now, I ca sharpen and keep them polished. Best of luck. Regis

I like the leather back but the leather is now trying to curl a bit so I think I will glue to a thin plywood board slightly smaller than the leather and taper the board edges back. I can still add leather backing if necessary to give me good edges to finish. I appreciate the discussion. Regis