TomSwede

Very good braidwork Tom!! You are a busy and avid crafter! I like that book too and have practice lace laying around but never seem to be able to get it done with more practices from the book. Tom

Thanks hellcat!!! Yeah that two tone black/red has really been something I get to practice alot, customers love it too! So it's like a trademark for me now but I picked this technique up here at LW so thanks to all people here who share so willingly!!! Love this backgrounder. It is very hard to make use of the tools I have since most my customers are from the heavy metal scene and basketweaving and florals is out of the question. Thank you Luke!!! With this pair I had to struggle and redo a bit just because of what you say. Very picky with this customer so just had to get it to that point where I was really satisfied and also working like this burns alot of time on every project. Now I explore other matters, trying to make a wallet but the innerpieces and stitching makes me nervous;-) That's a completely different task than dancing with the swivelknife. Thank you Art!!! Tom

Happy birthday Jim! Love your work, very artistic and thanks for comment on the feather. I really appreciated that but still haven't found a Swedish source for that powder to mix with the sheen!! Tom

Very neat and yes, minimalistic too. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Just the kinda thing I'd like for myself. Tom

Wow Cecil!! That's a great piece and a wonderful x-mas gift!! Tom

Welcome to the board!! Those quivers look great and I like the details on the last one with a knife and a little pocket. Tom

Just plain awesome but gotta tell you what my eye really sticks to is the tiny little neat addition of the pencil holder, how easy such nice details are to forget!! Tom

Hey bro!! That's a bunch of cool looking wallets!!! Love the first one and the purplish looks very special too. Tom

Wow, nice wallet Mark! Love the corner details, small stuff that has huge impact on the overall design!! A skull is off course highly appreciated too! Tom

It is a very beautiful scabbard!! I can just imagine the sewing of that back. Outstanding! Tom

Hi and welcome to the board!! Good looking stuff and really nice shots too with that hair on hide as background. Looks just like raindeer fur to an old Swede like me. Tom

Well as you probably figured out by now I'd take me an eternity to get this much hair so I'm gonna need to find another pic for my future good looking as seasoned leathercrafter!! But I just love this photo, this is the man and the art!!! Tom

Hi and welcome Eire (sumting)!! Doubleposting is not necessary, you'll get help from this board anyways but maybe it was a mistake so on to your probs. Doing the edges is a widely discussed subject here. Use the search form wich is available att the bottom of the screen whenever you get into one of the subforums. You can choose from the dropdown list to search a specific subforum or all. Use keywords like edges, edging, slick (ing), burnish and I think you get a bunch of threads and there are some with the actual topic right in the threadname. We have just had a really strong and lively thread about this. In short you use a little tool called edge beveler to cut the edges so they get rounded and then you use a slicker (bone, hardwood and plastic is mostly used as slicker but a piece of canvas can also be used) and whilst leather is damp you polish (some say burnish) the edges to a smooth and/or high gloss condition. There is also different aids ranging from saliva(!!!) to a sticky goo called gum-tragacanth that you can put onto the edge while slicking to make it easier. Staining, I usually take it off before completely dry. Most times I use a sponge too apply it to get a certain streaky grain effect but a circular motion is better to work it into all cavitys and crevages. I also use techniques where I seal the leather surface with acrylic sealer/finish (Fiebings leathersheen) before staining and most often those times I let it dry completely AND for special effect I have a certain tecnique where I don't seal AND let it drie completely wich creates a very special effect. So with both theese topics there are as many techiques as leatherworkers. Study the threads and you'll find out interesting ones that you can try. Many of us is very inclined to help out and guide through processes individually aswell as posting tutorials. That's often how the few tuts I've done have started. Good luck with it and give us a call for help if you're stuck!! Tom

Nice doggie!!! Tom

Found this post at photo.net. Looks like it may be leather but could sumting else anyway a very cool illustration/documentary photo. http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6906389 Tom

I said it before, you have an eye for design Corter!! Tom

I use a wooden underlay when I cut. I put the leather so that the cut goes diagonally over the wood grain. When i use my plastic underlay the knife tends to sink in to the plastic wich causes drag that (for me) maeks the cut a bit more "nervous". I'm sure there are better plastic underlays than the one I use but just something to consider about the woodgrain underlay. Tom

Great looking chaps!! I agree what the others wrote about the pocket, the brown trim is a detail that catches on to the eye. Tom

Welcome to the board! Like Roo said, people are very willing to share here so never hesitate to ask if there's anything you need to find out! Good looking belt, the brass goes really well with the colour! Tom

Good looking wristband and a fine stampingpattern! He'll be pleased! Tom

Yeah that looks great!! I must admit that when I wrote the post about border I forgot what strong border a braid really makes just in itself but this one is great! Tom

Looking great Tom!! I'd use black lace quite and like to argue that that it will make it look better. The way I'm taught is that the eye will naturaly read the contours first and then fall into the center and focus on whatever is more interesting there and with the added leaves a black border will keep this design together very well. With a natural lace the eye will tend to stray off the center IMO so if it was my buckle I definetly go with black lace but then again this is also a matter of personal preference. As I've been taught this is a leftover from times when man had to be on the lookout from predators and such and because the human eye has very limited field of sharp vision. Anyways those buckles look very good, nice job with those small leafs. Tom

That looks sooo smooth and as usual the carving is top notch!! Tom

That is a good looking briefcase! I like the black edges and what a nice pair of buckles you found for it. The little hanger from the handle is a nice extra detail. Tom

Hi and welcome Becca! You probably have noticed the welth of information and what a nice place this is so just kick back and enjoy the reading. Don't hesitate to ask questions, most get answered and there are no dumb ones. We do love pics so you just put that camera right at your workbench. Upload limit is 1MB per post so you may need some resizing tool before posting or use photobucket and paste codes into posts. Nice work!! Tom