TomSwede

Someone uses his wifes yogamat so next time your wife (assuming that you hav one) is out take hers, if she have one . Otherwise you now get an idea where to start looking. I also heard that those foampieces used as childrens playmats are very good to glue together and sand to shape. Good luck! Tom

to you to you, Have a great day and lotsa presents! Tom

Wow dude, that IS awesome!! This one is King size;-) I love the fleur de lis details in the corners. Tom

Thanks Clay! I got a third place I think! Tom

What is a white ribbon? Tom

http://www.leatherworker.net/ifolg08comp/index.htm

No wonder I have probs, I only know metric scales. A check on the conversion table should resolve this and then I handle it perfectly. Left side right! Mike D (Twin oaks) came up with this idea. Fuse the swivelknife border tool http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/product...?number=3204-00 with the freehand groover http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/product...number=88074-11 and I thought it was a cool idea so gonna check with my supplier if I can get it. Both tools separetly is welcome to my shop anyway so why not test it. I wanna work with every little detail to make better results on lesser time and I seen some posts on people having troubles with skidding on top so aswell as working with perfecting working techniques I like to figure out shortcuts with the technical aids aswell. Who wouldn't choose Rob Beard stamps over craftools that doesn't sit straight on the stone?? My wallet currently decides that and getting better results any wich way I can will be a good to help to further investments or get my stuff out to customers faster wich is my main goal at the moment. Tom Tom

Oh this is to hard! I've got lots of pics I'd like to post so hard to decide! But I go with one family guy pic and one with hardrocker whiskyfanatic in Scotland. I can be a real showoff in front of the camera so I attach a pic of drunken Tom Leatherworker aswell;-) Tom

Hello and Welcome Swfla1! ATX said it very well so ask away and there is usually someone around to answer it straight away. Tom

Thanks Greg! Good tip! I did strop it with a rogued thread but had the groover clamped between my knees to be able to polish the inside and avoid the prob you mention with wire edge. Doing it your way is a great tip and gives good control over the stropping. Tom

Thanks Roo! I'm on the same track as you and didn't think they were meant to be shapened but since jewelers rogueand buffing seem to be the cure to everything I just thought maybe give it a try. I've stropped it now but also switched to standing up wich really feels alot better and got a lot better results on the scrap pieces but I betcha I flunk with it going on a "sharp" piece. If you anticipate failure it often happens so. I'm gonna pull out that riflesling now and have a second run in the first grooves. I've tried to change the angle on the L thing cutter but since it's splined it seems to fall back into standard position, the little I can alter the angle. Tom

Thanks Clay! Other than buffing wheel, can it be stropped with a piece of thread with jewelers rouge on it? IT's the wigglin pig attached to the handle.... Thanks Tim! Good point on body position, I've been sitting down and alltough I know it can be better to stand up and over some types of work it hasn't struck me to try that with the groover and I use the groover on my marble table top. Standing I think may help me to keep it at right angle too. Gonna go use up some scrap right away with the good suggestions you've made! Oh, the music! Too much heavy metal in my shop you mean;-) but I do know a band that used alot of boggie woggie mixed with metal music and very groovy so I must definetly see if I can find those albums on cd somewhere;-) Another question on topic, what is prefferred when grooving, dry or cased leather? So far I had better results with it cased but it does cause more drag I think. Tom, feeling groovy now

Thanks Luke! I get your message. Maintenance and keeping your tools slick is always a good thing but I don't see how it can help with skidding probs. of the groover. I want to break down this tool in pieces and find the missing link wich seem to be more of a mechanical issue and I want understand the behaviour of this tool wich would be a good help to maneuver it. So I can have my drivers license for it;-) 49 more and I get it perfect, definetly but since there is a freehand version and a guided version, one would expect the guided to be pretty slick from scratch and the freehand one more of a thing that just require a lot of practice. Sometimes there are no shortcuts and this may be one of those but I wanna poke around the subject a bit and see what comes up. Tom

It hates me!! Talking bout this one http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/product...?number=8074-00 I'm sure it hates other people too so throw in you .02cents and tips on how to make life easier with this little great but not great aid. I have lots of problems with it skidding on top of leather or away from it. I don't think this is very strange. The round tip jumps up on top if you apply pressure wich I assume is the purpose with having a guided version. Why is the main piece rounded? I feel that this is why it skids on top. I'm thinking a square main piece with rounded corners would guide better and not be so sensitive to pressure. Perhaps this would cause to much drag instead?? When I ease of pressure it really want's to go away from the edge, especially when I hit a softspot. I also think it is a bit hard to control the depth of the groove but I assume that will resolve with better control of the tool. On the other hand I'm thinking perhaps the tools is supposed to be a little difficult so that beginners are scared off and that keep the folks in the know how better setup as top craftsmen/women but is that what we really want? I don't think so, the market will shrink and put us out of comission with that attitude, prolly. This is off course not a serious saying from me but the thought struck me when I grooved a riflesling today that will not be topnotch in the grooving field of work. One more thing, I'd like to se the possibility to make grooves even after edge beveling, That seems impossible to me with this tool(yeah, it has happened that I got carried away and rembered grooving after edgebeveling, wich is a tool with it's own characteristics too and deserves a separate thread;-) So come on and fill this thread with useful tips and advice for all of us in the dark! Tom

Very nice and clean work Luke!! You made his day I think. It is always a joy and a great receipt when you see someone smile that much, better than getting paid really. Tom

Hi and welcome Darkdreams! I looked at your website..Awesome!!!! Tom

Hi Bassi! Seems like you got a little Norse gods thing going on so welcome from the Scandinavian parts of the world! Tom

I think this is why we have us ambassadors here for, to help and assist, firstly newcomers but also those lost in the jungle. So never hesitate to ask, it brings up old useful threads to life instead of creating new ones adding to the jungle! Glad to be of help Tom

I use the 3M Scotch brown semi transparent packing tape and have had no probs with residue and like to add that I like the flesh fuzz for my bracers. I wet it a little and comb it over to one side with the the bonefolder (in other words: I don't rub back and forth) and that makes a very good and smooth surface that doesn't scratch or irritate the skin. Before I got to know about the tape solution I tooled the bracers without backing wich sometimes caused tiny little "knots" to the flesh that had to be sanded off. Tom

Very nice and clean wallet! Nice and very rich black colour. Love that barb wire stamping, seem like it could be a little tricky to get it even but it looks very nice and smooth on your wallet. Good work and nice stitches Brad! Tom

Ha ha lutfisk, usch vad jag inte gillar det, blä å fy bubblan!! (Yuck that's horrible, I don't like! Twi and spit!) Tom

Thanks Brad!! (two owners) Yeah I sure hope so, they were delivered by mailorder yesterday and i haven't heard anything. Makes me nervous but they do look good and true to their logotype. Tom

Think I got you right so hopefully this answer is good enough: I have a little lesser then 1" (20mm)space between the grommeted edges and use a standard pattern. I take measurement from the lowest part of the forearm over the protruding point and just check it off the scale I have on my pattern and use a needle to mark out the corresponding connecting points on the leather to cut from. I often alter the roortop lines to suit the project well and I have a standard offset for the lines to accomodate the increasing armthickness upwards so if the arm is muscular there might be a wider gap on top (wich looks quite natural) and for people with very slim arms it can be even a little lesser gap on top in cntradiction to the bottom (that does look a bit funny but it's something you really think about).I gotta cut time somewhere and this is one point I use standard. Sometimes a customer ask about this just as you and if they feel unsure bout measurements or their armwidth increase I put the grommetts a bit further so they can trim it later by themselves and anyone can colour the raw edge with a felttip pen to black.Hope I got the message through, theese things can be a bit hard to convert from thinking in Swedish and then get it over to English. We speak the words very differently even though we share alot of them beacuse of the Norman heritage to English.Tom Tack Svenska kollega;-)Yeah I really hope so but hope they realize I can make guitarstraps and lots of other stuff and how bout some ****** basketweaving tooooo!!!I MISS THE BASKETWEAVING Tom

Very nice and clean work!! Those small colourful ones are really funny!! Tom

Hi and welcome Cris! That mask with fleur de lis is awsome, there's some really good maskmakers here so your in good company and that corsette..WOW!!, don't see to much of those here but maybe that is because I don't frequent the adult area?? Nice introduction!! Tom