Hilly

Hi there! Welcome to the neatest place on the internet. Even the most advanced leather artist has been in your shoes at one time. Just be forewarned, leatherwork is an addiction, not a craft. You will probably want to get a second and third job to pay for your tools and materials. I suggest reading these forums. They are a great source of ideas and inspiration to all of us. There are also quite a few tutorials that people have taken the time to do, and post here. I tell you, I have project ideas lined up till the day I die! I would probably go to my nearest Tandy store, and buy an inexpensive leathercraft kit. These come with all of the tools and materials needed to complete the project. You also get directions, maybe a picture or two for reference, and some experience. You'll also get some cool tools to use on your scraps, and probably a few ideas to boot. The store manager could probably give you an idea of the very basic tools needed for leather work, along with some of the basic instruction type books, such as project ideas, and techniques, stiching, lacing, etc. I suggest taking out a second mortgage on your home, and bring plenty of cash Hope this was at least a little bit helpful. Hilly

One of our members "Whitebuff" makes a nice string maker for thinner leathers, such as calf. I bought one when I was a total newbie to braiding. I learned to use the string maker in about 20 minutes. Of course, I only make small items for now - bracelets, key fobs, scarf slides and such, and I use kangaroo hide, but the method is pretty much the same for anything braided. I still want to take a stab at braiding with calf rawhide, but I just can't find the time right now.

LOL! I just read my last post in this thread. "White Deer Tail Antler"! I've been working too many hours lately...

Thanks for the explanation and pics. You were lucky to get to use escutcheon pins. All we ever got to use were toothpicks! I have a very large shed white deer tail antler that we found in the spring. I keep debating whether a new cribbage board is in order...

It looks very nice. Is it a trick of the eyes that it appears to be blue metallic?

I use 8-9oz. veg tan, lined with 2-3oz. veg tan. I carve our phone number and the dog's name in their collars, in case they get lost. You could also tool designs into them. I don't think other types of leather tool very well. I use veg tan because the chemicals in other types of tanning processes may be harmful to my dogs. You can get veg tan (tooling) leather from many different sources including Tandy, Hide crafter and other places. A good place to start looking is if you go to the Leatherworker.net main page. There's links there to MANY suppliers. Hope this helps. Hilly

You aren't kidding about the stock seats! My HD stock seat felt like an upholstered brick.

When I was a young girl, I learned to play cribbage on a board made of deer antler! Sure brought back some memories. Thanks. What exactly are "escutcheon pins"? Buttons sound kinda cool. I've used antlers for buttons before. Just cut cross sections, and drill 2 little holes for the needle to slip through. A neat sounding idea for horns, too! Thanks.

My husband just came home from a flea market, and tossed a big bag of stuff in front of me, saying "I hope you can use these." I opened the bag, and inside I found a large sheep skin, which will be great for applicators. I also found a plastic grocery sack full of horns. A bakers dozen plus a pair of pronghorn antelope horns. Now, we both hunt with muzzle loaders, and I thought to make us each a "powder horn" to stash our speed loaders and some other stuff, as a couple of these horns are pretty fair sized. What to do with the others? Some are polished, and some are pretty scuzzy looking. All dried out, and not much for a hollow in the base. And the antelope horns? Not a clue as to what to use them for, unless I make some kind of funny hat. I'm open to suggestions from you all.

Have any of you ever ordered veg tan sides from Leather Unlimited? If so, how was the quality? I'm wondering because they have a good price on sides of lighter weight veg tan sides, and have 2 grades to choose from. I could kick myself because I was there a month or so ago, and I never asked to look at their veg tan leather. They are mostly an on-line supply type of place. They don't allow customers access to look around their facility because of "insurance purposes", and only have a very tiny customer area where they will bring out anything you want to look at. If anyone's interested, you can see their veg tan sides for sale. And no, I'm not affiliated in any way. Just wondering what you think?

I've never used a steel, but I have used a ceramic knife sharpener. Although it did okay in the short run, I quit using it once I got a decent stone.

I don't have a problem placing an order by phone, but I want to know what I'm ordering. Pictures help a lot. How hard is it to include photos? Heck, if they don't own a camera, there's always stock photos for cheap... Maybe in another year or two they will have a decent site. In the mean time, I'll order from somewhere that I can see what I'm buying.

You can use any detergent you wish. I've always used Dawn dish detergent simply because it cuts greases so well because it's such a great surfactant. As long as the dog stays dry after using this treatment, you will just barely smell skunk if you bury your face in it's fur. If the dog gets wet, you will smell skunk (pretty mild) while it is wet for a period of about 2 - 3 weeks. I have used this remedy on more than a few occasions, and can allow my pets back into the house the same day. Hope this helps someone. I know from experience that the only thing tomatoe juice does is turn your dog orange. Beer just makes them sticky.

Mix together the following ingredients in the following amounts. Very inexpensive and quite effective. Use as many recipes as it takes to do the job. 1/4c baking soda 1 bottle hydrogen peroxide 1 TBS detergent. Lather, let sit for a few minutes, rinse, repeat. Throw away the collar - it's a lost cause. Folks, I own 3 bird dogs, and every year at least one of them tangles with a skunk. The last one was at 10:00pm in a campground full of campers. We were NOT popular I wonder why dogs never learn? Same goes for porcupines.... Why do dogs never learn?

Words from a true master!

A very sad story indeed. This is solid evidence that stupid people should not breed. A few years ago, there was a couple of stupid people hauling a miniature horse from a fair ground in a home made trailer with a 1/2" plywood door propped up in the back and held in place with a rope. Somehow the horse fell out of the back of the trailer and was run over by the semi behind. Too bad it wasn't one of the owners.

If it was for something that I would never be able to sell to someone else, I'd charge 100% non-refundable up front, or tell the customer to go find someone else to do the work.

Sorry so late, Johanna! I was out of town on business, and no internet! Just got home a little while ago. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

http://leatherunltd.com/blackpowder/antlers/antlers.html This may help if you don't need the whole antler.

Thank you for the reply, Bruce. I like the idea of glueing the hair on to some thin lining and glueing the lining to the front. I guess I will experiment when I finally have the chance to. I like the idea of plugging, too.For the time being, I can only make plans. I'll be working 70-80 hours a week till after Labor Day. I wonder how a pet clipper would work around the edges? Just shave a little off around the edges....

They sure look good to me! Wish I knew the difference between rodeo chaps, shotgun chaps, cutting chaps, etc. Hey,I'm lucky I can tell the difference between the back end of a horse, and the front end of a horse...

That's very original! Hope those "bumps" aren't too hard to sit on!

C'mon you guys! Nobody can tell me the best way to do a hair on hide inlay? Hide Pounder? Bruce Johnson? Anyone? I want to make a photo album cover with an inlay, and I want to know if you just glue the top leather down to the hair? Do you use contact cement? Do you cement both inlay and top leather? I don't want to waste any hair on hide, and the photo album is going to have a lot of carving and tooling on it, so I don't want any mistakes.

$100? If only you knew what you are in for.... RUN! Run for you life! Keep you wallet and credit cards under lock and key!

Hi there. Welcome to LW. So the leatherbug has bitten, eh? Welcome to the crowd! Do you have any ideas what types of things you are interested in making, ie: bags, wallets, belts, horse tack, etc.? Do you want to learn how to carve and tool? Use exotic leathers? Tandy leather sells leatherwork kits which might be a good way to start, and find the types of things you like to do? Otherwise, you'll find everyone here to be helpful if you have particular questions. I envy you having a lot of time on your hands. Tomorrow I start my summer job, and I work 70-80 hours per week. Beginning tomorrow, there will be no time or energy for leatherwork till after Labor Day for me Enjoy your addiction new hobby, and please post photos of your projects! We all love photos! Hilly