pete

I hate wasting leather! Not only did I make a template for oval and round holes (spacing and alignment) out of plastic milk jug material for belts and straps, but I carefully cut some 6" strips of leather in various widths like 1/2, 1/4,1 1/2, 1 3/4, 2" etc. I put them into my Tandy strip cutter and slide the gauge/razor and tighten. I don't trust the inch markings on the gauge and there is n guessing when I want to cut a strip. pete

WOW! I really like it! VERY nice for a first try. The only thing that I would have done would have been to run a groover for the sewing(nice job, by the way) to sit in so as not to pucker the leather around it. Love the color,single rivet,stamp look. Maybe a defined edge so that the basketweave stands out better. Where did you get the buckle set?????? Beautiful.. pete

Dan- I know that you didn't ask- but I just pour the dye into the neats until I get the color I want. I've had some in a bottle for 6 mos and it doesn't separate-just shake it a second if it has been sitting.

neatsfoot and feibing's chocolate dye is a standard on my workbench. I use it all the time for dying light colored leather after tooling and before neetlac/antique.

If you plan to transfer to leather then don't waste your time with tracing paper. It "dissolves" when you get it wet. Use tracing film from Tandy or Springfield. I have a few patterns that I did transfer to leather but I got a 3yd. roll of clear shelf paper at the Dollar Store (for a dollar!) and covered both sides. Made half a dozen belts from them and they are still good. pete

What exactly are you trying for!? I use a lot of leather that is fairly white when I start and never gets color even when I am casing. I have a bottle of neats and chocolate feibing's dye mixture at my table. I can get a great "expensive" leather color and my coat of oil in one shot. pete

can't tell

I've read all of the knife questions here- seems like it goes on forever. Now I am thinking and would love an answer from some of our great sheridan toolers. I have always had and always loved the 3/4" angled ceramic. I've been reading lately about the popularity and need for 3/8 straight knives and what a great one to start on and get to know well. What I didn't understand was the comments made regarding the lack of need for angled knives for sheridan flowers and tight turns, as the straight blades do so much better. When I make tight turns with the angled, its only the tip that cuts anyway- I can't seem to make clean tight turns with the straight blade as it will "scrape" the leather if not tilted steeply enough- and ANY variance of the perpendicular will of course cause undercutting. It's fine for long straight passes- but other than that my curves and finish cuts look the same with either style. Bottom line,(Bruce,Clay, Kieth, and others) isn't the most important thing that one gets used to and really has a command on the blade style? I ASK THIS BECAUSE I WANT TO GET EVEN BETTER AT CARVING-HAVE SEEN NO APPRECIABLE DIFFERENCE WHEN I USE THE STRAIGHT BLADE OTHER THAN IT IS HARDER-AND WANT TO KNOW IF I JUST NEED TO PRACTICE MORE WITH ONE. COMMENTS PLEASE!!!!!! pete

Do what you show in your picture. punch your first hole and the last one. Then----leave your ruler across the bottom of the holes like in your picture and with the other hand, hand press the middle holes with your punch resting on the ruler. You need to allow for a TINY difference if your punch is thick or wide as the side MAY slide it up from the edge of the rule but hand press it and you can see it clearly before you hit it. pete

this is what I use- hope that it helps. I took a piece of posterboard, cut it to different widths for straps and belts, drew a line down the middle, and punched holes for 1". 1/2", 3/4" etc. Place them on the desired strap width and spacing, push the hole punch into the leather to mark it, remove the paper, and punch the hole. This was especially helpful for those darned OVAL punches that never seemed to be right. Made oval holes too in the posterboard. What exactly is going wrong with your hole spacing? pete

beautiful!!! Is that a stamp for the handle or a freehand basketweave pattern? pete

"Classic" and traditional, but you better practice running it as a bad job looks terrible, especially against a nice tooling job.

close as i can tell it's between 3/16 and 1/4, but it fits in all of my barrels. pete

Same problem here- really clip your nail short and use an emery board on the corner, (don't hurt yourself!) and rest your little finger on the leather and not the base of the blade. pete

Sylvia, look into a ceramic blade also. I have the the Chuck Smith LW and Henley blades and always go back to the ceramic. NEVER drags and I strop about once a week with a few passes on green rouge. pete

Bruce, Thank you again for the information that you sent regarding the antique question. I was short on time but wanted to get back to you immediately! Question (again) is the Tandy Hi-Liter that you mentioned still available? I looked at the latest catalogue and it only lists the hi-lite dye(water soluable) and not the old Hi Liter product. Same thing? Again, thank you so much for your contributions here and taking the time. pete

Since I have found such joy and pleasure in leatherworking over the years, my wife and I give to HHV- the hospitalized vets program. Not advertising to anyone to follow suit, but if you are interested go to www.hhv.org. I couldn't believe how many "famous" people are involved, mostly hollywood and sports figures. The cost is minimal and they send craft kits to the vets. These are leather and woodworking kits they get for $8.00-regularly $20.00+ and send a card allowing you to "personalize" the gift. The time that they spend in the hospital forgetting their wounds and using their hands and brains is priceless. AGAIN- NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT- but something that I wanted to make all you great leatherworkers aware of. Regardless of your decisions- SUPPORT OUR VETS! thanks for reading this. respectfully pete

you might add a few well done/close up fotos of some really fine examples of your work and products. I have been following this and pretending that I just "stopped by" this forum, and haven't seen anything that I felt is "up to par" with what I can buy at a feed store or local tack shop. I know that you are working on your craft as I have been monitoring your horse eye project, but you need to spend a lot more time developing your leather talents - get to be REALLY good at what you want to sell and it will sell itself. Maybe do a few pieces with carving and antique work and submit it here for critique. I haven't seen anything yet that shows your capabilities and talent. I sell a fair amount of binders, albums, and wallets and belts a month an still am not happy with my work when I REALLY look at it! NOT trying to be critical- I just haven't seen anything yet from you. pete

BICK'S #4 end of story

Give BEE NATURAL saddle oil a try. It doesn't darken at all! All I use since Chan Geer showed it to me. Best stuff ever. pete

anyone happen to notice that in one video he is free handing tiny letters? It says Herman Oak and then MO. USA Is this guy in Missouri!??!!!!!! Making items for a Missouri retailer????

when I shop I have a u.s. quarter with me. One quarter (edge) is real close to 1/16" or 4 oz leather- 2 quarters stacked is 8 oz. etc etc pete

Pretty much standard is 1/2 the width of the belt itself. ex: 2" belt=1"(wide) loops Someone chime in if this is too general. pete

Bill, Thank you SO much for taking the time to respond. I know that your explanation will be of help to many more that just me. Please feel free to post your tap-offs!!! I have all of Chan Geer belt designs , but I love looking at as many styles as I can. Again, great critique - thank you. respectfully pete

I have been tooling for many years and have always used patterns from books,pasting pictures together, etc. I have Pete Gorrell's book as well as design artistry (Baird) and 4-5 Chan Geer books. I am SO *(#)(*&$ frustrated that I can't draw a design that I like. They come out too stemmy, to much background, or usually so crowded that the stem and leaves are bigger than the flowers. IS THERE A RULE OF THUMB or at least a consensus on belt patterns!?!?! l know to start at the tip (duh!) but when drawing, do you place your flowers and leaves and fill in the blanks? and if so, do you draw the stems up from the bottom or down from the top? I know it sounds stupid but I get the top flower done and before I'm at the next flower or leaf I've got a jungle going and have used up all my ideas! I hope that Clay, Bobby,Randy, and others will chime in- I'm getting tired of the same old patterns (as great as they are) and have a new order for dozens of belts. I would happily use just the Chan Geer belt patterns for all of them but I really want to learn to create my own. thanks to all respectfully, pete