Duke

nice! not sure if I like the stitching on the brown one for some reason.... just drags my eye to it a little wierdly. unsure. either way, good job.

I use an 1/4 inch ceramic filigree blade as that is what I am most comfortable with. the thing with the ceramics is you have to be super careful with them, not to drop them or tap them on anything hard as they will chip. if they chip, theyre done. kiss that 30.00 bucks goodbye.play with a few different blades, and find what you like the most, and what works well with your style.and remember to cut 2/3rds of the way and then bevel as deep as you cut. you will be happy with the results. oh yea, an you can never have too many strops.I use a few different kinds. one is just a leather strap that has been rubbed vigorously with a stick of jewelers rouge. the other is a business card with rouge rubbed onto the back of it.this method helps keep the bevel on your blade at the optimum(sp) angle. when you use just a leather strapwith rouge, you can over time concave your blade. I also strop my blade just about every 12-15 strokes.overkill? maybe.

im not worthy! im not worthy! (very nice by the way).

wow, took me a while to get back to this post, but thanks agian for all ya'lls comments.

question..... did you case your leather? not to point out your faults, but it looks like mine did the first time I tooled. meaning dry leather.I was fotunate enough to have a good teacher, and they taught me to wet my leather thoroughly, and wait for the top grain to return back to the original color, and then to feel the leather with the back of my hand. if it felt cool to the touch, it was ready.when I use my swivel knife, I cut 2/3 of the way though my leather, and swivel the whole pattern at 1 time.when you go back through and start beveling, bevel as deep as your cut.dont rush this job, take your time and learn to walk the beveler.if you are doing it right, you wont see any choppiness in your beveling.If you do, go back over it to remove it. happy tooling!

that would work for my christmas present, lol. what would you charge for something like that? I want one

check out triggbrothers.com

you mean you didnt make him pay 1/2 up front for materials??? wow, im not the only one thats done that. lol

looks good! wish I could turn out something that nice. so far ive only had luck with the 4 strand round braid

good tutorial. just on a added note, when I do basket stamps, I usually take packing tape or masking tape(the blue painters tape works great) and tape across the back of the piece horizontal and then vertical, making sure to overlap the tape by about 1/3 to 1/2 way the width of the tape.this helps with keeping the leather from distorting while stamping.ive heard of other people glueing cereal box cardboard to the back also. also, when I I stamp, I first use a scratch awl and a ruler to score a small line across the piece I am working on at the same angle i want the stamp to go.then I start in one corner and stagger the stamp. this means I stamp on 1 side of the line, then on the other remembering to overlap the stamp.I always make sure to keep the stamp on the side of the line that is away from me, so i can see what my spacing is doing.hope this helps. if need be, I can post a couple pics. just let me know.

thanks guys. as for being young, im almost 32. my eyes are better than theyve ever been before, since last year I got lasik surgery on them. it was a little tedious painting the stars, but I used a fine tipped brush, and just got the tops. didnt worry bout getting it perfect, just that you could tell it was a star, lol.

it was the tandy stamp, and also used the new colors tandy is carrying. I appreciate all the nice comments. thanks

check em out, lemme know what ya think. thanks!

ok, so I leave for a while to get married an figure out what direction my life is going an now I come back an ya'll have changed everything around on me! its like leaving for a week, and coming home an the wife bought all new furniture and painted the house. makes ya think yer in the wrong place. HAHAHAHA! looks great johanna, ya'll have outdone yourselves. Im just wondering whats next. I heard talk of twitter, maybe an iPhone app? ROFLMAO! I couldnt be that lucky, so I betterd shut my mouth.anyhoo, looks great. Dan AKA Duke (PS someone remind me to change that confucious saying later, k.)

hey mike, I know we are all busy, as am I...but you know you are more than welcome to get ahold of me an dig through any patterns I have. ps, have you decided if youre gonna buy that sewing machine?

wow, what an awesome item! my brain got to churning when I seen that, how cool would it be to enlarge that and make it into an actual mask, and then when its all tooled, cut it out an wet mold it to fit the human face. I would even go as far as to tool some oak leaves and cut those out and fasten them to the mask to really make it pop out.

what I tell people is to wet your leather, and then wait for the face of the leather to turn back to the original color, and then place the back side of your hand agianst it. if it feels cool to the touch, you know its ready. if it feels room temp, case it agian. also, for every 10 cuts you do with your swivel knife, you will want to strop it. do the same number of "draws" on both sides.hope this helps.

weather here is hot hot hot. was out on the river yesterday when the temp hit 99, planning on goin out agian today, and takin the jetski. supposed to be 103 today. they have issued a heat advisory for yesterday today and tomorrow.

does anyone out there know how to fasten conchos onto spur straps where the spur connects? I cant seem to wrap my brain around it and have it come out lookin good. im sure I will slap my forehead once someone shows me, but for the life of me I cant come to a conclusion. thanks in advance

wow, good topic. at the moment, I have a sheridan style check book that has been put off for 2 months, a breast collar that has been in the makings for 3 1/2, a tool bag over due by 3 months, a belt im supposed to make for the neighbor,a tooled panel for my draw down stand that Ive been meaning to work on for 2 months, and im supposed to have 8 sets of buckaroo spur straps done by the 4th of july. dont feel so bad, it happens. I bounce between the various projects to keep from burning out.

200 dollars for 3 days.materials provided. you just need to bring a marble slab, and your personal tools. he will have barry king tools for sale, and his pattern books,and such.