Mike

I think I used this one for dye practice after I stood back and looked at it. I just couldn't believe it. Evidently, I had drawn both panels and the frame and then just put the horse in the top panel instead of the bottom panel. Oh well, at least the carving part went pretty smooth. PS If you want to see another boo-boo, look at the lower right corner of Christine Stanley's Last Supper pattern. Then look at the lower left side of the pattern. If you don't have it, I'll reply with the boo-boo later. Mike

Earlier in the year when I started to do more leatherwork again, someone asked for a horse checkbook. It couldn't be flowers or butterflies, no..... it had to be a horse. Here's how it turned out. It was long enough ago that I can laugh at it now.

Welcome aboard. I'm not too far from you. I live about 40 miles east of Dallas. Mike

I see it. I thought it was suede. I have a veg-tan split that could be used for an Indian Guide vest. (In fact it was). It is tool-able but not very. It is fuzzy (flesh) on both sides. That is what I thought a veg-tan split was.

In going through my box of non-tooling leather, I came across two pieces of lining leather. It's pigskin, very nice to look at, lightweight, and the two hides add up to about 11 sq ft. Never been cut. I just can't figure out what to use it with. Any suggestions?

Thanks, folks. Would that be the petite tooling calf (9154-00 $7.99 sq ft) or the Tooling Kip Sides 9155-00 $6.99 sq ft? Oh wait, I see they have Oak-Leaf and Craftsman Oak in 2-3 oz at better prices. Are these good tooling leathers as well? Mike

I have been asked to make to checkbooks, wallets, etc... for upcoming gun shows. Somewhat along the lines of my fish wallets. I have checked my supplies and I am low. I cannot easily get to a leather store to look at liner material but I do have both the Tandy and Hidecrafter catalogs. What is a good liner/interior material? I can use veg-tan but I prefer this for the carving area. I use thin leather on these items. What is thin, has good body/strength, and looks good. These items would all probably work with natural or brown interiors. I can change my border colors to match interiors but brown and natural seem the most useful. It's been years since I made this stuff regularly. I am out of touch with what is current. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Do you folks use one material (thin) for the liners and another (a bit thicker) for the interiors? Thanks, Mike

The purse is completed. I took a picture but the film is still in the camera. Maybe I'll get a digital for Christmas :biggrin: I went over the outer edge in medium brown. I had some very strong 1/8" dark brown lacing the matches the interior. The interior is a dark brown pigskin liner. No hardware is seen on the inside. (Made that boo-boo once and that was enough to teach me the lesson!) I used a textured pear shader. I also used directional lined bevelers along the veins of the leaves. All color is hand brushed. I am not real experienced in painting and so I tried real hard on this one. Peter Main give me some tips after I showed it to him in the early stages of it. The color around the horse is not natural leather. I made a mistake and the background was too dark. (Or the horse was). I needed to get better contrast between the horse and the background. So...... I used acrylics and mixed a batch that was real close to the color of the leather and applied it around the horses. Not the best way but I never claimed to be an expert. I left the border line natural. For some reason I can color leaves a lot better that figures. Although I think I did well on the bass (another carving), the horse is just plain hard for me to color properly. I have purchased a couple of anatomy books that may help me the next time I do something like this. Thanks for all the kind words.

800 x 600 would work for me.

Rayban, I've tried the covered horseshoe once. I screwed it up. I thought I gave myself enough room for the stretching but about 1/2 way around and the other side was way off. I have a couple of shoes to play with. What does your original pattern prior to molding look like? Mine was like a fat 'U'. Mike

I'll send you an email when I get home after work. Thank you, Mike PS I don't have much money but perhaps I could make something for you.

Thanks, I am still working on mine. It keeps getting revised before I can get through it. The categories keep getting reworked. I plan to be able to easily search my index for authors, items, patterns, etc. Right now I'm using MS-Excel and/or OpenOffice.org Calc. When I get smart enough, I might try putting it into a real database. I'm also trying to locate issues I'm missing. Mike

I am currently indexing all magazines that I have. I have most of LC&SJ since day one. Since the index is for my use, I figure I do not need anyones permission to create one. I am listing all articles, whether or not they include a pattern, the magazine info, author, page, up to 3 categories and a comment field. I feel as if I am missing something. That's why I'd like to see what someone else has come up with. Mike

Once upon a time I indexed my collection of leather magazines. Well, It was lost when I upgraded to a new operating system. (If you're a geek, yes I know about backups. ) Anyway, I am once again trying to index my magazines. I am using MS-Excel and am up to about 1979. (Yes, I've got a ways to go). Has anyone else indexed their magazines? If so, can I have a peek? Mike

Go2Tex forgot to mention our mosquitoes. Not to mention all the little spider webs draped everywhere. We even saw a scorpion on Saturday. This warm spell sure has the critters happy. Mike

Not knowing exactly what you're doing makes it difficult to answer. The quick answer is that burnishing is directly related to casing the leather. Leather cased the old fashion way and then allowed to become a bit dryer (as near the end of a carving session) will burnish better than damper leather. Also some brands of leather burnish better than others. I seem to recall Wicket & Craig seemed to burnish easier and better than other brands. As in other methods of coloring, burnishing takes practice and can be overdone. Properly cased leather will not feel wet. It will be cool to the touch and the moisture content even throughout it's depth. Mike

Thanks all, Mike USN 1972-1980

I believe the size is 0 or 00 for the Osborne harness needles. Mike

Welcome aboard, Netherlands is a really nice place. I visited there a few years back. One local person in your country is Gerda v/d Stroom~de Jong. Her work is with motorcycles and other artwork. You also have a lot of resources south in Germany. Rene Berends has a business in Munich. He's Dutch but you'd swear he was German. Keep up the good work, Mike

Thanks, in the meantime I ordered some of the issues I am missing. I'm not sure when I'll get them. Any rules about embossing? I cannot tell if the originals were embossed. The photo does show evidence of wrinkles in the leather which may or may not mean anything. Mike

Clay, I do not have that issue (my subscription expired when I was laid off : ) I do happen to have some Bill Gomer patterns I bought from him a few years ago that sound like the ones you mention. The eagle is perched in a tree with foliage. It measures about 16" h x 10.5" w. The single mule is about 17-18" h x 13.5" w. The double mule is about 13"h x 13.5"w. How does this compare to what was in the magazine. I'll try to order the back issue. I'm missing some 05-07 issues. Mike

Campbell Bosworth Machinery Co. sells Barbour linen thread in various sizes. They also sell nice machines and tools. Mike

I handsew wallets and checkbooks. In an old Stohlman book on wallets he mentions 3 cord linen thread and size 4 or 5 harness needles. I have some Osborne size 5. They are small. I noticed on a website that they should be 20 gauge and size 4 would be 19 gauge. This would make the 4's a bit larger. Has anyone used Barbour's Linen Thread size 3 left twist? If so, what size needle did you use? I would also like to know if you have pictures of the work or a description of it. BTW, the thread will cost me $42 plus shipping. Can I do better than this? Thank you, Mike

Yeah, I know. I just added medium brown around the perimeter. Man, I have got to learn how to airbrush. Trying to get a smooth color over large uncovered areas is beyond me. I seem to work best in tight corners. Mike

I just added more color to the horse in an attempt to finish this purse. Since I began this, I have more documentation on horses and would carve it differently the next go-around. As it is, I have to try to color it as carved and have had difficulty with it. Today I tried to add shadows and roundness (body) to the horse. I also touched up some shading amongst the leaves. I do not know if I will color the border ring or just use Hi-lighter, Tan-Kote or some other finish to it. I welcome all suggestions. I need to finish this thing, it's haunting me. (No, I couln't resist a Halloween pun.) Mike