badLoveLeather

Has anyone seen a 1/4 inch thonging chisel? I do a lot of lacing and wanted to try some 1/4 inch lace in some of my projects. I use thonging chisels to make the holes. I wanted to know if anyone knew where to buy a tool like that Travis Bad Love Leather

Yea, the site. You'd think that someone with a 17 year history in graphics and even some web savy would pull it together. Soon.

During the XMAS holiday this year I visited my folks in Sarasota Florida. Since my father is an artist (fused dichroic glass) he wanted to see me work at what I do. So I packed up a 100 lb bag of skins and tools to I could show him how and what I do. Since he was eager to see the exotic skin work I do he scoured the area he lived in for some exotic skins. Leather stuff isn;t readily available in Sarasota but he did stumble across this African Python skin that he bought off an old retired CIA guy who bought off a wooden vendor cart over 30 years ago. Since the skin was so old it had dried out considerably. I posted some questions here ( old post died with the old board) Someone suggested Dyo -Reptile Shoe conditioner. It worked well. Damn impressive. The skin on the left is the conditioned one. I'll post photos of the wallet when its done

When I do wristbands I like using two pieces of leather for a few reasons. 1.) I can dye the inner leather and use my logo stamp(branding,branding,branding) 2.) I don;t like having the sueded side of the leather exposed. When i dye out some nice 2/3oz rawhide I wax rub the leather with an old canvas bank change bag that has been infused (rubbed with bees wax and then melted some) with bees wax and make the braclet/watch band smooth with a nice waxy finish. 3.) It does make the leather thicker. Often I have found awesome pieces of garment or thiner weight leather that was just too wimpy for the "Meaty" wristbands and watch bands that I like to make. For me and the customers that buy from me the "weight" and solid feel of the pieces I make are appreciated. I've included a couple of photos for your reference. One thing about watch bands is you need to measure the side straps of the watch when its closed. If you measure the side straps when its open, they are too short. Does that make sense? Plus I like to lace. Single loop lace goes good on most of the pieces I make. I like using the Mexican Round (ie; watchband) makes the wristband even heavier and cooler to look at. I use barge mostly because of the fumes it produces. But I have found that a good by product of the fumes is its a killer bond on the leather. I've created some other prototype bands in the past without sewing or lace and they looked cool and lasted only a little while. So if you don't want to stitch or lace your work together you will need to put yer brain on(I usually put the glue away when I want to do this) and engineer something that is cool and functions. Work on the function part first. Remember necessity fuels the design. Good Luck to ya!

Yes. The double loop lacing on an average belt takes me about 1ft an hour. Average belt is about 6ft. I'm working on chocolate brown sharkskin belt right now. Lots of labor for a nice product. Travis

Here is a cool 2" Sharkskin belt with Double Loop lacing. It took me quite a while but the finished product looks cool. Travis

My father just gave me a 12ft African Python snakeskin. It has some great brown tones but its over 30 years old and is very dry. Before I put scissors and needle to it, does anyone have any reccomendations as to how I can treat it before I go to work? Oil? Cream? Travis

Luke, Thats a great lookin belt. Can we see some better photos. I like how the coffee cup made a cameo in the photo. I laced a shark skin belt not too long ago double loop style and it took me about seven or more hours. A lot of work but it looked great. I'll post it in the show off section.

Nice work Steve. I love that pebble texture by the initials. Where did you get that tool? Travis

Here is a Custom Biker Style Tri Fold Caiman Gator wallet that I did for my local tattoo artist. All hand made. I did all the sewing on the inside by hand. Caiman Aligator "Head Piece" Kangaroo skin lining with kangaroo double loop lacing. A cool wallet to compliment a cool tattoo guy.

Thanks Ken!

I do a double loop lacing on the wallets I make and I always have trouble finishing. I have a video I bought from Hidecrafter but I'm still having trouble. I also have trouble finishing the Mexican Round braid on the edge of the cuffs I make. Does anyone have any suggestions? Travis

How much do you get for a seat like that?

Anyone?

Hello Anyone know of a US Tannery or a place to buy Hirsehide? Travis Poole Bad Love Leather