pete

I agree. We built our home 2 years ago and got one primarily for the kitchen for the sink. It feeds the downstairs bathrooms but obviously didn't connecct it to the dishwasher or washing machine as they have their own system within. Great for the sink but a wait for the bathrooms as it takes time to get the water all the way across the house. Pretty "instant" hot water. I need to turn it down in the summer as it runs about 10% hotter than the outside temperature. Same as the winter. about 10 degrees different so when it's really cold out the water doesn't get hot enough by about 10-15%(degrees not percent) I wouldn't suggest it for a 2 story house as it takes too long to get up there. We have a circulating pump for the second floor and have hot water in the pipes all the time. Cold to near scalding in 2-3 seconds! Yes- I put anti scald fixtures up there. Good and effecient system. I'de do it pete

I'm probably the LAST to figure this out but--- I never got a REALLY exact angle on my swivel i when I sharpened them. Close, but sometimes I would look at it under my magnifying glass and see that I had done one side slightly off from the other. I use a Tandy rolling jig that adjusts to the angle. This afternoon I pulled out an old blade to sharpen and realized something. Strop it FIRST . If you get rouge on the base of the blade then steepen the angle. If you get the tip of the blade scarring the rouge then lessen the angle! If you get a smooth pass across the rouge then you are right on! THEN go to the 400 or 600 grit or stone and begin putting an edge on it. DUH-- Hope that I educated someone and didn't bore you to tears pete

haven't noticed! I just case the leather and do it when I would normally pear shade. If done on the dry side it tends to burnish better but then again so it does when pear shading. In fact it burnishes better because you are rubbing rather than pounding. pea-aire'

Thanks for the gret tutorial!! Any reason that you use the pro=petal AFTER the backgrounding? I have always done it after cutting. Then the backgrounder/matters cover any marks. I LOVE the results that you get though. Was this how you leaned or do the pockets show up cleaner? pete

I have a few REALLY old ones but would LOVE to have as many as I could get. Send them on if you possibly can!!!!!!! pete

Clay- the close-ups look really neat. Did you use a hair blade on the leaves or is that the lines from a vertical thumbprint/pear shader? Guess I've never looked at MY leaves under a magnifying glass! pete

rouge is pretty hard. Don't worry about that. Take a nice piece of leather at least 5oz. and rub in some saddle or neatsfoot oil and let it set for a few hours. Don't use too much neatsfoot though- just enough to wet and rub in. Then take your rouge stick and rub it in hard enough to coat the leather but not so hard that it comes off in chunks. Don't worry if you have hard ridges and streaks. Your knife will smoth them down after a few strokes. pete

If you folks have DOLLAR GENERAL stores near you(or something comparable) check out the poly plastic kitchen cutting mats. The are just cheap chinese made pieces of plastic but PERFECT for gluing your piece to while tooling. They are 15"x12", come 2 to a pack and cut cleanly with a rotary or head knife. Scissors leave and uneven edge. I had been using tape,x-ray film and cardboard in the past but this is by far the best and cheapest. It is the perfect thickness for cutting out patterns for tapered belt tips, wallets, etc and the rubber cement comes off cleanly so you can re-use it forever. Best of all they are $1.00 for two. pea-aire'

[beautiful tooling on the silver saddle! Could you please send more fotos of close-ups and do you draw your own paterns? pea-aire'

as usual Clay- beautiful work. I've noticed on you pieces that you have a great, how do I say, vertical or flat border along your leave's edges. Do you use a thin blade and do you bevel AND mat before you background? I don't seem to get the "depth" with my tooling even though I cut and bevel as deeply as you do. pete

I'm curious. There are a lot of you out there I'm sure that buy blanks rather than cutting your own. I had a few simple belts to make so I called Tandy and ordered them. I noticed after I tooled them that they are all 1/16th over. The 2" and 1 1/2" buckles that I ordered were scant but awfully close but the belts wouldn't fit even after I edged and slicked them. Checked the Tandy catalogue and sure enough they say the blanks are 1/16" over. WHY DO THEY DO THIS?????? Why isn't a 2" blank 2"!!!!!!!! someone must know. There are lot's of brainiacs here pete

Nice design! That's why I love the Bick's mix too! And no you didn't need the supersheen because the Bick's will soften and oil the piece to the point that it is real water repellant. I really like it on cheaper (lighter) leather. It NEVER looks dark and rich after I oil it so I use the dye/Bick's on a lot of projects to get the rich leather look before I antique. MOst of the albums look like expensive Herman Oak or W&C leather. It's not too late to get a good burnish on the edges. Would make it look even nicer! respectfully pete

thanks so much for the help. By the way- do you always slant the rope tool top left to bottom right, and if so is it easier to work left to right or right to left. Thanks again pete

Can anyone help me with rope borders. I saw Jeff Mosby's tutorial on basketweave and I'm sure that it was of great help to many who haven't mastered that one yet. I really need help with rope though. Are there any tricks to make it come out more evenly? Most of the time I free hand draw the rope and cut/bevel it but I own a rope tool and would really like to work faster pete

how did you get that BEAD around the seat carving? Did you draw it in and free hand cut it and bevel it both sides? Beauiful work by the way pete

Great information- thank you. Where did you get the "original" and are they available still?

thanks to all- what a GREAT place to find out stuff!

could very well be the hide. If you take a sample and wet it and it smells like urine or cat pee then it was probably tanned in Mexico or S. America. Tha smell is arsenic and other stuff. I have found that even the best looking piece and most expensive piece that smells this way is horrible to tool and dye. Nothing is consistent and I constantly have to wet it. I spoke with Chan Geer recently and he told me that the Hidecrafter "American Value?" hide is a great value and a very well tanned piece regardless of the wt.

I'm making more belts lately and wanted any feed back on 2 items. First- How good a job does a rotary cutter do. I'vve seen them for years but have always used a head knife. I have no problem with it but am intrigued with the rotary style. Does anyone use one and are they easier for certain cuts? Do they work well? Secondly- I want to start making more blanks. Is there a great difference between the wooden and stainless strap cutters that justifies the $50.00 difference? ANY responses would be greatly appreciated. pea-aire'

I was talking about the alcohol dyes- he said that they were as flamable as the old ones

By the way- there is a rumor out there that Hidecrafters is suffering after the takeover and that Kevin will stop reatil business and only sell wholesale. He assured me that these were just stupid rumors- don't know where they began, and that he know the fella that took over at Hidecrafters- he's a good guy and is doing just fine. pete

Well folks- looked like we've been duped. I just got back from Springfield, MO and saw my good friend Kevin(mgr/owner) I asked where all of the "great new eco-products" were. He rolled his eyes, blew out a breath and said "I'm not ordering that stuff at all" He spoke to the head honcho at Fiebings( apparently a GOOD friend of his) who leveled with him and told him that the stuff is EXACTLY the same dye that they have always sold- ALL THEY DID WAS TO POUR IT INTO NEW, POLITICALLY CORRECT, PRETTY BOTTLES!!! Not a smidgen of chemical change from the old stuff. They just wanted California and others to think that they were making a safer product! To add insult to injury- the NEW products cost more!!!!!!!! We've been ripped off and I'm not blaming Fiebings (entirely). Think what you want. I know Kevin- I BELIEVE that he leveled with me and he has NO reason to tell a whopper. He's way to big in product and in reputation in this industry. all I know is that I will order the original dye if I can. It's cheaper and I don't like being scammed culturally, politically, monetarily (that's why I got the hell out of California)

Probably not new to some of you but I have found that if I use a stylus with round ends(small ball/bigger ball) that I can get a really nice pear shading effect on Sheridan and other flowers. I don't even use the pear shader much anymore until I finish > THEN I go after it with one tap of the lined thumbprint. It allows me to make smoother and more natural "grooves" in the leaves and stems rather than walking the shader. pete

Thank you Bruce, I really appreciate your response. I'll give it a try. pete

Really nice work---clean. How did you do the borders-(is that a stitch groover cut or a cut line that you beveled?)