Johanna

Just a thought, Mike- have you contacted Bob Beard? I know he buys his tools back occasionally. Ferg, I'm not sure you understand that this knife is more of a collector item than a regular swivel knife. Are you familiar with Robb Barr's work? Bob made these knives to raise money to help a friend who needed medical care. The knives are quality tools, and people were glad to have a way to help a fellow leatherworker. Some of us are sentimental, and Robb had many friends. The real value to the knife is in the love and caring which inspired it. ~J

Thanks for letting us know, Wayne. He was a friend to many of us, and we'll miss him. ~J

On the left side of the page. at the bottom of every topic there is an envelope (email the topic) a printer (print this topic) a box with a green arrow, (download and save) and a share to FB. ~J

Hmmm... you aren't the only one having problems with the inline notifications. I changed a few of the settings just now. Log out, then log in and see if the problem is fixed. If not, let me know. THANKS! Johanna

I do remember some sort of disclaimer with these hides, that nothing should be built with them that a human life depended on, like climbing gear, for example. Johanna

What kind of tools do you have? What kind of leatherwork do you do? Johanna

In the End Of Year Specials is a note from Steven I find interesting:

Hivemind- I know you meant no harm, but this kind of thing has come up before and TLF has made their position pretty clear. I know they have insisted employees take web materials down- I have not heard of a customer being prosecuted, but nothing would surprise me these days. ~J

Tandy's official line was "Leather is a natural product, and range markings and other slight imperfections in the leather add character to your piece." I don't think they ever tried to squiggle pattern pieces for usable leather on the floor. Unless your holsters must be black for an LEO or Military, those marks might dye with "character" and look "natural", which is appealing to some. If the leather is thick enough, those fat marks won't affect the strength of the leather unless the leather feels mushy or stretchy as someone pointed out. Some people swear by shoulders, some by backs...really it depends on the style of holster you are making. We always bought sides because in a working shop, a couple of straps off the back will pay for the hide and the rest is gravy. Sides are economical- think of it this way, the more they cut, the higher the price, just like the butcher shop someone said. Bellies can be useful for lots of things, especially if it's a good hide to begin with. If someone were not very experienced, I'd tell them to buy a side and make knife sheathes and odds and ends from the belly for practice before they cut into the good leather towards the top for their first holster or other intermediate project. If you don't like the leather and don't want to use it, send it back with an explanation and get a different one. When you order over the Internet or phone you have to be very clear what you are looking for and making, and since the seller wants you satisfied, they'll look for a piece to meet your needs. You can often call for swatches if you're not sure what to order. If that piece doesn't suit you, send it back. They'll make things right with you. Johanna

YES! and use the add/remove programs functionin the Control Panel to uninstall the Kodak software. Think of your camera as a flash drive. You can just hook up the USB cord and copy pics off of it, delete pics etc. No special software is required for that. HP is famous for printer software that takes over your entire pictures folders. Irfanview is easy, free and does everything you need. Holler if you want help, Bill. Johanna

I've had enough of Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, all the songs that are "politically correct" and don't mention God or Jesus. O Holy Night, Away in the Manger and Silent Night are my favorites for singing Christmas carols door-to-door. I used to sing Handel's Messiah every year with a choir, and I think I want to start doing that again.