howardb

Just saw this. Friggin' brilliant! Gonna do it for sure. I've got some scraps of heavy vinyl that I've been wondering what to use for and this would be perfect. Brent

Kathy - I believe rubber chicken is required on all banquet menus. State Law or something. Crystal - I have a partial list of the workshops. Partial as in there will likely be more instructors and we don't have many of the class details yet. Instructors who have agreed to be there: Jim Linnell Chan Geer Jeff Mosby Vickie Baker Bill Gomer Jeff Swanson Charlie Crenshaw Dale Grabowski Paul Burnett Jeff White Roz Kaohn George Hurst Some of these folks will be doing multiple classes. Chan Geer is teaching a checkbook cover, basket stamping, and swivel knife control (3 classes). Dale Grabowski will be doing a cell phone case. Vickie Baker will be doing a poinsettia. Roz will be doing a class on feathers. Shaping up to be a good show already....

What a freakin' good time! Met Tina and her hubby - nice folks! Her stuff in person is more awesome than the pictures she posts. The judges almost could not decide between two of her cases for best of category (Open - B category). I think everything she entered got a blue "ribbon". Oh by the way, the ribbons were handmade dreamcatchers, so much cooler than a reg'lar ribbon. Johanna came and though I didn't get to talk to her more than a few seconds, I think she had fun and she seemed to know everyone. This group was well represented. I took 4 blues and a white; Tina had at least 4 blues, and I heard Clay B's name twice during awards. Clay, let me know which items were yours. Clay was in Advanced and the competition was fairly stiff. Smudly got a white in open division for a sweet day planner. I think it would have done better, but there were 9 other items and they were all pretty good. I would have given it 2nd, but I was only a lowly scribe and not allowed to comment. A new member to the CALG has only been carving for 2 years and entered a saddle that won him best of show in open class. I was not privvy to the discussion, but I would bet Tina's name came up during those discussions. I know the head judge was much impressed by her stuff. She could compete in Advanced... Anyway, for a small show, there was much excitement. I got to try out a Tippman BOSS they brought in for demo. While the vendor room was a little thinner than we'd hoped, the RAFFLE TABLE was INSANE! 200 items, and more than half were REALLY nice things. I got to sit and watch Jim Linnell tool a rose and learned how HE does those #$%^& leave edges! Jim also worked on a horse after the rose. Allan Scheiderer does pretty amazing stamped stuff and I got to watch him for a bit. I have pictures. I need to find a way to get them up somewhere. I got to take pictures in the competition room before they moved everything out, and took a bunch at the guild displays. Anyway, a good time. Someone let me know where to send pics. Brent

A band aid. Man that's wicked cool. If I show that to my kids one of them will surely want one! Brent

"Fun to boot"?? Very punny. Nice work though Brent

Pretty bird! Pretty bird! Squaaak! Another classic! Brent

Carol is working on the class list for IFOLG 08. People don't respond as quickly as they used to, and she got a late start. I will ask if I can post the list as it is when I get home tonight. Brent PS: The yaks might be a fun diversion during dinner. Do they like rubber chicken?

april_show_book.pdf OK, I finally got word. Hidecrafters won't be coming at all to our show, nor will George Hurst. George is still sending a couple things for the raffle table though. New brochure is attached. See you there! Brent april_show_book.pdf

Clay - Yep, I tagged them. And I just realized I will need to fill out the whole tag as you won't be there (big duh!) In my noggin, I was assigning the tags and then y'all would fill them out when you got there. I'm smakin' my head for that one! I'll make sure yours and the others get filled out before deadline. Johanna, no banquet at the midwest show, at least not this one. Maybe a bunch of us can meet for dinner on Saturday? Tina - see you there! Brent

OK kids - one more week! I've seen a couple of names that I recognize on some submitted contest items! So I know a few of you are coming. I'm attaching the show brochure for your amusement, and if any of you are on the fence, mayble this'll bump ya off. I'm going to be manning the registration table on Friday with CALG member & fellow LW.net member "Smudly". Please say hello! Brent PS: It figures. As soon as I loose this book on the public, something changes. George Hurst will not make it. As soon as I find out whether anyone from Hidecrafters will be there I will repost the book. Anyone who got it in the few minutes it was up, draw a line through George for the demonstrations on Saturday. Brent

Ooops. I was talking about edge slicking. I didn't know there was a difference until now! Ya learn something new every day... Brent

Bumping it up again. Hotel Registrations were due March 25th. Any submitted now are on a space available basis. Yeah, mine aren't in either!! The raffle table alone may be worth the trip up. It's almost better than the fall IFOLG show... Tippman is supposed to be there with the Boss and will, I understand, be doing demos with it. Other demonstrations too, but I don't have a final list yet. I will try to get that up by next week. Paul Burnett has had to back out of the head judge position for personal reasons. I will find out who is replacing him as head judge and get that posted too. Best to all, Brent

Try a local home store for some hardwood dowel rod. I've used wood, bone & plastic, and the wood one seems to work as well as the others if not better in some cases. I've got a grooved wood wheel chucked into a drill and it makes short work of edges... I think it's walnut or cherry. You want a dense grain (avoid oak!) like maple, walnut, ash, cherry... Good luck! Brent

I think this question has come up on a monthly basis and it never gets a final answer. Bob - shortest answer: get some from Tandy for now. Just call and ask them to help you pick one. They have both machine and hand stitching threads, and will be able to advise you on a choice. It will be better than fabric sewing thread no matter which kind you get. None of the advice above is bad, it's just what works for each person, and several of them may work for you too. As you learn & try things, you will find what works best for you. Smaller lighter duty projects need lighter smaller threads than something heavy duty like a holster or saddle. BUT ALL hand stitching thread will be 3-4 times thicker than the heaviest of fabric sewing threads. I asked Maine Thread company how to compare things and I got a neat-o card in the mail with samples of all their colors and weights of thread, but no answer to the eternal question. I have sought the mountaintop gurus and no help from them either. Ply's, Cords, Nylon, Polyester, Sinew, Linen, gage... it all makes me nutso. But the good news is if you sort of ignore all that, you will still end up with something that works. I found 25yard cards ($2.50) of hand stitching thread at HOBBY LOBBY of all places!! They even had a pack of needles that were the right size and seem better than the Tandy kit needles. They have a small leather craft area in the store with just a few basic supplies & kits geared toward scouting or indian guides. I've used some of that thread and it's not all bad. It claims to be waxed, but I re-waxed it and that helped. Good luck. I hope someday to answer this question once and for all!! It's becoming a personal mission... Brent

Mike! Where do I send the money?!? As soon as I sell my old cow, I want to buy your magic glue!

me think tiki spiffo. :D

Hi Jim, I think you were referring to the stool in your question. I think the black lacquer look for the stool would be good and match the oriental flavor of the leather tooling. Matching the leather coloration would be appropriate if the carving were something more traditional like a sheridan style design. Brent

Wow. Outstanding detail! Brent

Hey smud. Confirming - spirit dyes were alcohol based. Denatured is the best solvent, but isopropyl will do in a pinch. For those interested, isopropyl is found in the cosmetic or pharmacy at your local wally mart or favorite drug store. Denatured is in the paint department and can be found anywhere (hardware, home improvment, etc.). Denatured is also GREAT for dissolving or softening dried acrylic paint (or latex paint). I have an ancient can of Tandy NeatLac and just dumped the rest of the ancient thinner into it. The empty thinner can reads: "Contains petroleum distillates and methanol 79%". If you are getting some denatured (Methyl Alcohol = Methanol) alcohol anyway, try a small jar of Neat Lac and add some DA to see if it thins it. If it separates when it sits for a few days, then they probably aren't compatible, but would certainly be worthy to clean brushes with. Not sure about the rubber cement thinner, again I'd try the paint department / hardware department & see what gives. Shoot, give the DA a try with the rubber cement in the ol' jar test. Toss the crafstman cement when it finally croaks and get some DAP contact cement. Lots cheaper and available everywhere. Brent

Hi Roo. I think the one from Tandy had a few less holes, but was only about $50. Best bet is to find a local woodworker and try to work out a trade or something. I'm probably going to end up making some saddlebags for his Vespa as payment for his labor on the woodworking. Well, I've rubbed a couple of coats of linseed into it, burnished it with fine scotchbrite, and took a couple more pictures. The grain really popped with the finish on it! Brent

Ah, Touche. I can't disagree too much as we were going through a VCR every 6 months for a while. Didn't seem to matter how much we spent, they all just died. I checked, and no peanut butter & jelly sandwiches had been stuffed in either. Just disposable junk. I do like the idea of the rubbery stuff on the outside to keep it from wandering. And I guess if you were going to coat the inside with anything an epoxy is a good call. The rubber cement was the one I would avoid like a plague. Have you tried any plastic ones? A friend of mine carries his contact cement in a plastic jar with the brush in the cap. I hadn't asked him about dried glue residue, but I will... Brent

First & foremost - thanks to all for the nice comments! It was really just a lark project, something to practice stitching on more than anything, but it did turn out neato. Chachi - nice collection! Yours are a bit more deluxe than mine! I see you have one in a holster style holder. Tazz was just commenting on those further up in the thread. Johann - It's gold (metallic) acrylic craft paint. McCloskey's is the brand and it was in the basement when I bought the house 4 years ago. I then rubbed Fiebings black dye quickly over it for an antiqued look. It's a nice effect! And that ladies & germs is why I don't pretend to speak any language. I can blunder through pre-school level German, but the rest of the languages I know one or two words, often from a menu (hahaha)! Thanks for putting out the correct phrase! I have that plan somewhere. I think it's an early Tandy offering or may have come from one of the midwest guilds in the early days. If I find it I will post it. It's a Craftool 533. No letter prefix. FYI the bigger rose is the W964. Regards to all, Brent

Not a new idea. Grandpa's Pastime sells these, as does Tandy and probably Hidecrafters & anyone else. I'm only sharing because a friend at work made it for me using my wood. It's black walnut... The wood was given to me by my best friend's brother, so it's got some history to it, especially from their family. It was his dad's & there's a whole sad story to it, and this is the first I've had a chance to use it. The only bummer is I didn't get to do the actual woodworking. I am doing the finishing though, but I'm sharing the raw wood pic first. It's flippin gorgeous. The grain is straight & dense. It was an old growth tree. Brent

I wouldn't coat it with anything. Someone, hopefully a lot smarter 'n us, designed the thing. I heard two good suggestions for cleaning - one: use a little fresh glue to soften the old; and two: to use solvent to clean it up. I think your old can may have been defective, but trying to coat the new one will likely just make a mess. my 2 cents... Brent

Hilly - did you ever get anything? I finally called Duey Peters. He's making me one. Probably be a month before I see it. He is very busy! Can't wait... Brent