robert

Just finished two ranger belts and had to show 'em off. one floral, one basket... 7/8 ounce leather, lined with 2/3 ounce, finished with fiebings antique paste over neatlac, and a final coat of tankote. I sewed them on my Boss and rubbed the edges with water, but no edgecoat. Robert

nope... the closest I have come is to make a single seed stamp. I used a diamond point bit in a dremel and free-handed a hole. I think for a bar grounder, you would want a drill press to hold the tool still and align the drilling point.

the Nov/Dec LC&SJ has the new tandy machine on the back cover, and the boss on the last page.. the two look identical other than the throat depth and cosmetic differences. The Boss has a 6" throat, the Stitch Master is 9".

Great info... it gives me something to shoot for. I have learned this by trial and error, so this topic has been very helpful. You have inspired me as to what can be done without having a machine shop! Thank you.

Thanks! Several years ago, I taught some classes at the local Tandy store (back when Tandy carried Barry King tools) and there were always students that thought that if they had a rack full of Barry's tools, they could tool like the masters. I decided to make and use some tools to show them it takes practice, not expensive tools. The first tools i made were crude - mostly from carriage bolts and nails. But I kept making and improving, and this notebook was the first thing (and maybe last...) to be completely done with my tools. Some of my homemade ones are not near as good as my others, but now I try to make things like shaders and bevelers so that I have more money for those tools I can't make. I have a stamp addiction, i must admit... I use some old RBS stamps, some pre-letter Craftools, some from Jay Gore, B. King, Chuck Smith and just bought an old McMillen. Making my own doesnt save me any money, it just re-allocates it... :biggrin: How do you polish your tools? i do the tool head with 600 grit paper then 1500 then rouge on a dremel, but by the time I do that by hand, I have no interest in doing any more than the minimum. Is there an easier way, or am I just impatient? And cool info on the cam tool... I was stumped! BTW, I found a place a few years ago that sells a hand tool that will knurl small items and I think would be perfect for stampls - It looks like a c-clamp with a handle... It was too much money for me to justify for my few tools ($225 or so as I recall), but if you are interested, I will find the info.

wow... very cool. i make some of my own, but nothing as nice as is here. i already learned some great stuff - i have never finished the stems because i couldn't figure out how to do it that looked nice, but you have given me something to shoot for. I follow the same basic methods - using stainless bolts for stock, then i use a bench grinder to rough shape them, then a series of files, emory cloth and wet-dry sandpaper, followed by lining files. I dont have a belt sander or drill press. The 75 line per inch tools match what many custom makers use on their lining or checkering - so if you already own some good tools, you can "match" your existing tools. Here is a pic of some of my tools. I am really interested in learning how to get the cam tool even - mine is very crude. Thanks for the info on this post - this is really helpful.

Hi James... Welcome to the site. I am not a rawhide braider, but I am in Austin... Pflugervill, acutally... maybe we will run into one another one of these days. You might check out the leather guild that meets at the Tandy store. robert

Hello all.... I have never added attachments before, so i will see if this works. These 6 scans are from a class i did a few years ago on sheridan style drawing. hopefully they will help... I had to shrink the 8.5 X 11 pages to get them small enough for the attachment limit (assuming they work), but hopefully you can see the drawing. 1. draw circles about 1" apart. on my drawing, the inside circle is the size of my flower. and the outside circle is to help me draw. The first circle (bottom left in this case) has a continuous vine - it is the only one that has no beginning or end. Mark your initial flow - again starting on the bottom left, i went clockwise. Where your circles are closest, draw a line that make about a 45 degree intersection with both circles. If the first circle was clockwise, the second should go counterclockwise. Continue from circle to circle in this same manner. Once you have your flow lines and you know how the vine pattern will run, mark where the flower bases will enter each circle - whereever the diagonal line between circles hits the circle, go about 3/4 the way around and thats where the flower base will be. 2. Draw in your flowers, using the flower bases that you drew in. 3. Shows how i start filling in. The top left is first, then top right, then lower right. 4. and 5. Show how i filled it in. 6. The completed pattern. Sheridan style is the easiest to me to draw, because it is based on the mechanics above. however, once you can do this, doing patterns based on s curves is easier. robert

hey Randy - I knew I recognized your name! My notebook was 2nd behind your blue ribbon... Your portfolio was great - I pulled up the pic last night and showed my wife what I placed behind - and felt good about it! Darn, I really hate that i didnt meet any of you fine folks...

I wish we had pre-arranged a time/place to meet up - i would have enjoyed meeting you Johanna, and any others that were there. thanks for all the pics... it looks like you got individual pics of all the entries- what a great thing for those that missed. I took some pics, but not of many individual peices... i will get them developed (yeah, i still use film), and if i have any that look like they would add to the topic, will add them. For those that say this convinces them to not enter, think again... There is really great stuff there, but it is really a mix - some people are obviously newer crafters than others but its a great experience for anybody. It is inspiring to see that what you did "stacks up" with other crafters, and at the same time it is challenging to see your work alongside some amazing stuff... all in all, it is well worth it. robert

welcome.... i too am in the area (pflugerville, just outside austin). are you taking the tandy class in Austin?

looks like you had a great time... I bought a several barry king tools and a procrafter stamp. I had to work hard not to buy some of those hackbarth tools. did you take any classes? i took the Carey Blanchard class this morning... well worth the time. All in all, i had a great trip.

Typically my casing is Baptist not Methodist - I immerse, not sprinkle Sorry, couldnt help that... my method is similar to some others on heavier leather (say 8 oz and up) - I immerse till the bubbles stop. I typically leave it in the open for an hour or two so that it isnt sopping wet, then put it in a bag in the refridge overnight. if i want to work on it before it is quite ready, i speed up the drying process with a blowdryer. as i work on it if it starts to get a bit dry, i spray the BACK of of the project with a spray bottle. That way the moisture wicks up evenly and you dont have to spray or sponge your tooling, causing that loss of definition.

here is a push beveler that i made. i have never used a "store bought" one, so i dont know how it compares, but this one works pretty good. I dont use it on anything that doesnt have a deep cut (for example, i dont use it on wallets), and, yes, i have had it slip out of the cut ( which makes me say a few choice words). but i have learned to use it pretty effectively. as you see in the pic, it is pretty steep, and has a pretty rounded bottom. and i strop it to keep it polished.... all of those things help me keep in in the cut. it is made from a bolt and driven into a file handle from home depot. It might be worth making one before you spend a bunch, just to see if you like it. I use it on "speed" projects, or if i am doodling or testing a new pattern. but i prefer a conventional beveler on my "good" projects because i like the checkerd texture. Oh yeah... i only use this where i have long straight lines.... i dont even attempt curves with it. http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n44/rob...06/IMG_4303.jpg

no doubt there are many ways to go about it, but i cut my liners out of 3-4 oz or 2-3 ounce veg tan leather. i cut it about 1/4 inch wider than the belt, and generally finish it with neats foot oil and then tan kote. After the belt is tooled and finished, I coat both the liner and the belt back with contact cement and glue it down starting at one end (i use waxed paper to keep the part i am not working on yet separated) and working my way down. i use a small hammer to tap it together to make sure it "stays stuck." Then i sew it as i normally would, then use a sharp knife or utility knife to trim the liner to the correct width. then sand the edges (by hand or with a dremel on slow) to get the edges perfectly even. Then edge bevel and slick as you normally would. by the way...if you are like me and occasionally get edge dressing on the liner, I have learned that a dab of tan kote on a rag will take it off if it hasnt dried completely.

my dad got new granite countertops installed, and they cut out the hole for the sink on site... they started to haul it off, but good ol' dad was thinking about me and told them to just leave it. but you gotta figure they do that at just about every job... the first piece i had was also from a countertop place- they took their scraps and threw them in the mudholes in their work yard... i think they laughed when i was fishing them out of the mud...

I have never been totally satisfied with anything to completely slick the flesh side, but the best i figured out was to use tan kote. I will be interested to see what others have to say... i wonder if sanding it first would work, to remove the heaviest "knap"... anybody ever tried that?

You definitely need to put something on the back of anything that is small and/or thin. I use backing on wallets and belts, but dont use backing on notebook covers for example. Rubber cement will probably require that you use a lining. Clear packing tape work well and generally doesn't leave a residue. Sometimes it will leave just a bit, which i have successfully removed with light sanding with medium grit sandpaper. good luck, have fun. robert

I bought up bunches of yard sale sets for a while so that i could have sets for students in the classes I was doing at the time, and yes, i bought lots off ebay just to get to the couple that i needed for class sets. but unlike you guys, i dont try very hard to get rid of them... some of those old yard sale tools are as good as the tools that i buy now from custom tool makers, so i cant bring myself to get rid of a $1 ebay tool and then think that later i could have to buy a $20 or $40 tool to replace it. I have probably 75 "using tools" in my wooden rack at the bench, but the other 150 or so are in plastic containers, and i am surprised how many times i go fishing through them for some particular project. Also, i like to expiriment with different tooling styles, so those tools that i dont use today may be just what i need for a project next month.

I use a collection of tandy, barry king, jay gore, a chuck smith or two, along with some handmade tools... here are few of my thoughts. Do beginners need great tools, or just will just anything do? I am not a fan of making beginners think they need a bunch of high dollar tools. However, some of the really cheap tools are difficult to use. I have taught classes where students had inexpensive tools that just didnt work very well... they were too big for the patterns that are popular today and werent shaped correctly (bevelers that are so flat they wont walk, or pearshaders that have edges and leave tool marks). If a tool is hard to use, it will not encourage the user to continue with this craft. SO... beginners need some "happy medium"... procrafter tools are an option, or as somebody mentioned above, buying used off the internet is a good one as well. I have craftools from the 60s that are every bit as good as anything in my tool rack. We need to help beginners find that happy medium. Can a customer tell the difference? I dont know, but once your work reaches a certain level of quality, improvement comes in small increments - evenly spaced stitches, nice finishes, smooth edges, stamping with crisp, clear impressions... - and your customer notices the total package. So good tools are a part of the puzzle, maybe even an important part, but not the only part. The old masters didnt have stainless steel tools... but they had (have) hours upon hours upon hours of practice... that is unquestionably more important than tool quality. The best advice I ever got was to spend 10 minutes a night practicing with my swivel knife... for the next year, I would sit and watch tv and cut circles, lines, etc for 10 minutes, probably 5 nights each week... One further note... in my mind, one upgrade that i suggest even for beginners is to get a good swivel knife blade. Stock, cheap blades are hard to use... and what is the most frustrating and difficult part of this craft? Swivel knife control! A cheap knife is ok, but a ceramic or henley blade allows a beginner to see improvement faster if they practice. So... thats my nickels worth... good discussion...

you guys are making me jealous... i used to run up to brownwood every year cause i have family there (made for a good excuse anyway...), and have been to WF a couple of times. I try to go on the cheap (leaves more money for tools!) so have never stayed anywhere except the la quinta or eaten anything but fast food... The LQ isnt too bad, but cant say i would recommend it over a high rent joint like the econolodge! i try to save up all my "wants" through the year and then buy them there... it is a great show for anyone close enough to get there. this year i opted to go to the ifolg show in fort worth - we will see how that goes...

Neat discussion... i am just learning my way around the site, so sorry if my post is a few days late. I love learning about the regional styles - i too started with the "Tandy" style, then moved to closer to a "pure" sheridan (ie - imitating work by clint fay, bill garder, et al), then did some projects with california flowers like jeremiah watt and others use. lately, i have been studying some of the old texas saddlemakers, and trying to draw flowers of that style into my work. Some of the old tandy doodle pages by ken griffin show "arizona style", "california style" and "texas style". The book "packing iron" has lots of old pics, and a lot of the work out of colorado has a definite similarity to some of the texas work. In addition to the difference in flowers and leaves, the regions used different style tools. Some regions only used bargrounders, while in Texas, a "birds eye" or round backgrounder was popular. California stampers used vieners instead of swivel knife cuts on their "stickers" or vine leaves. Texas vines had big bulbous vine leaves, and were typically done with smooth pearshaders. There a lots of other differences... for example... texas stampers used cam tools in the same way that other parts of the country used a mule foot.... Its all great work. Like bruce says - it blends together, but if you go back to the early to mid 1900s, you can see some differences. Its fun to study in the same way that regional history of any kind is fun.

i too use spikes, cause nobody wants them (hunters dont want to part with those big racks!!). But i took fine grit paper and worked on them pretty good to get them as slick as i could.

thanks for the nice comments! i like you folks already! honestly though, i have had some really great teachers along the way... one of the great things about leathercraft is that everyone shares so readily. regarding the tools... i would be happy to put together a thread on that. it really isnt as hard as i thought it would be, but it does take some patience, and maybe a few of the things i have learned can help some. pear shaders are easiest, and about half the shaders i use on a regular basis are homemade. bevelers arent too bad, but i prefer my barry king bevelers to those that i made. i made a few stops and liners that i use regularly. The veiner and the cam tool that i used on that notebook were made just so i could say that i made all the tools used on that project.. but they arent as good as my other tools... so it is fun and there is a lot of self satisfaction, but folks like bob beard and barry king and all the great toolmakers need not worry about any competition from me!

just joined, and wanted to say howdy... i do mostly western floral notebooks, bible covers, etc... I draw a lot of my own patterns, and make a few of my own tools. i am planning on going to the ifolg show in fort worth in a few weeks, so maybe will meet some of you there. i am always trying to make my carving better, so i like to find places where leatherworkers "hang out". here are a few pics of some things that i was pleased with... if the links come out right... a portfolio http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n44/rob.../rwporfolio.jpg a notebook with the tools i made to stamp it with... http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n44/rob...06/IMG_4108.jpg bible covers for my kiddos... (give me some time and i will brag on them - they are neat kids) http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n44/rob...nbiblecover.jpg http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n44/rob...nbiblecover.jpg