pete

WOW!!!!! What a great technique! Like scrimshaw on leather! Keep at it- it's not something that you see every day. Ferg's critique is about as encouraging as a hostess ding-dong, but I think that you have a talent! How big are the pig and crow, , and would you sell them? pete

try conchos.com. I have their catalogue pete

http://www.prorodeooriginals.com/ give cris a call. he's fast and very reasonable. I used him last year and it was great. pete

sounds like really fast growing mold. Try wiping it all down with diluted lemon juice. dry it off and maybe a coat of neatlac. Should seal it. And keep it away from the other leather in your shop. Mold jumps!

You're right in assessing that it's really personal- BUT- we've all been where you are and we ALL have 3 or more knives now!!! We end up with a favorite and still use the others though. My suggestion would be to get a 3/8 or 7/16 barrel for control, straight lines and ease of turning tight corners, and a 3/4 angled blade. Knife work is paramount in good tooling, and the knife seems to be a hurdle for most all beginners. Part of the problem is maintaining the proper forward slant while cutting. I have NEVER been comfortable with a straight blade regardless of its length. The angle blade makes it easier to keep your hand relatively vertical as the tip is digging in already. Practice curves and circles, short strokes, etc. Scrap leather is cheap and you will get better really fast- and learn when it's properly cased at the same time!!!!!!!!!!

Really nice job on the blade! I guess that I am still so used to the feel of the ceramic gliding that I haven't gotten used to the feel of steel! I read somewhere that a ceramic blade gets better as it ages(is used) and mine is almost 20 years old. even dry, uncased leather cuts with no drag. Thanks again for the wonderful job, though. I use it for decorative cuts and thick leather as the blade is thinner than the ceramic. If I can do anything for you please don't hesitate. 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

your welcome-- get the $24.00 model (hand held) rather than the $29.00 "block" looking one. Much easier to use

v-gouge. easy to use too. pete

Great idea. I made the same thing out of thin clear plastic from a soad bottle. That way I can see the previous letter(s) and can space them as evenly as I can. pete

in a word- no. Get one from Grey ghost- I have 4 of them. well made- if price is an issue call Springfield leather and get the TLF model. I used one for many, many years with great results. Still do. pete

Personally, I want my guitar to look worn. If it is from age and playing then the tone is just going to improve. Check out the hole in Willie's gut sting acustic. Picks have worn a hole in it you coud out your fist through! I perspire a bit with the outdoor bluegrass festivals, but I just spray Dunlop guitar wax on it a few times a month. Best thing I've ever seen. They use it exclusively at Gruhn's guitar shop. pete

Chan Geer has a great dvd on notebooks. It's not for 8 1/2x11 but you can resize to fit and it really explains and shows the process wonderfully.

BEE NATURAL makes a great oil called Saddle Oil. It won't darken at all . Chan Geer turned me on to it. I don't use Neats anymore. pete

I get the best result when I carve,thumbprint, and then lift. (The thumb will smash it down if you lift first,) and it makes the beveling around the flower much faster as you already have the "pocket" around the tips, and then backgrounder pushes it further down. The look is different too which I like. Some folks use it last after the backgrounding but I think that it looks like a hole was punched underneath the tips, and it sometimes flattens out the backgrounding unless you do it steeply.

I still don't "get it".. sorry..... why don't you make your own tack, start out small with the finest leather and hardware and quality dyes and see where it goes from there? From what I have read so far- there isn't a market for your things from any "hand" worth their salt. This sounds like fancy showy stuff, and from one who had years of working with and for those folks, they want top quality, even if it is so flashy that a cowman wouldn't be caught dead with it. You might have a business there but you need to take a breather and figure out what YOU want to do and if there IS a market to make it profitable. Don't look at what you've spent in time and money already and try to make THAT your mission. We've ALL made costly mistakes and wrong turns here but cut our losses and re-focused. pete

personally I really like it as is. Use a coat of Bison brown as I think that you will get what you want more than say a dk. brown. pete

you must have had a glaze or resist of some kind on the leather. I can't imagine dying a piece and having it scrape off as you described. Did the leather feel really slick or shiney when you started? Did if feel as though there was a coat of something on the surface? I ask because if you even accidently drop a speck of dye on good veg tanned leather you will scrape through to the other side just trying to get it off!! pete

Unless you really soak or dip the piece the dye won't penetrate all the way though. That would be way too much anyway. I have recently dyed a belt black(USMC Feibings) for my wife. I put 2 coats on with a sheepskin, let it dry and buffed it. Then I applied a coat of Bick's #4 and no rub off. I know that there have been a million postings here about rub off with black, but I got NONE! Let me know what happens. pete

REALLY,REALLY cool!!!!!! want to do a tutorial on making it?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Without seeing the cuts- I would have to say that they were either not as deep as you think to begin, or you used too much dye at once. Did you "soak" the piece or put it on with a brush? If he leather was sufficiently dry before dying then I can only assume that your finish cuts weren't nearly deep enough. pete

TELL me that that isn't a Tandy tri-weave tool!!!! If it is, you got the 1 in a 1000 that is somewhat symmetric l!!!!

Is there a "standard" measurement to use for wallets and checkbooks when using pre made inserts? I have some really nice leather from Springfield and am using Chaylor inserts. Besides the thickness of the back, how much extra width do you measure for a good folding fit? I am going to lace the piece. I haven't made a "kit" in years and don't want to buy one just to measure the back. thanks pete

I have a #2,3&4. I rarely use the 4 but have found that there is no one that you MUST use. Use a #2 and see if there is the result that you want. I sometimes use a 2 on heavy leather(7,8,9oz) and get the edge that I want. Other times I have used a #3 on 4/5oz if that is the edge I want. Take a scrap of your project and start with a 2&3 and burnish the edge. You'll know right away! There is no one tool to use. I had the same question when I started too! pete

thanks! I MEANT the stingray. sorry... by the way- I thought that was what you had to do but I haven't tried the dremel et. pete