billybopp

I used to use a kitchen cutting board, and it worked fine. This one was pretty soft and occasionally when punching small holes, little bits of leather would pull out of the punch and stick in it. Not a big problem, really. ... Until one day the spousal unit came across it ( we were dating at the time ) ... and threw it away while I was out .. Saying "It had WORMS growing in it .. You're disgusting". I now use a black Tandy poundo board. Bill

Very nice indeed! I LOVE the idea of using the pen as clasp. That's something I've never seen before. Bill

Very nice! What did you use on the back-side of leather to protect the picture from the leather?

Bob .. I did the test on leather because somebody asked for it. I thought it an interesting question, so I gave it a whirl. The test / practice was done on the leather and it served no other useful purpose, so no loss but a little time for trying! Bill

I finally got some other stuff out of the way and got to try a little experiment on removing dyes from leather. I made a grid on a test / practice piece of veg tan with a row of Fiebings USMC ( spirit ) splatters, a row of Eco-flo pro black ( water-based ), a row of Fiebings pro black ( spirit/Oil ), and a row for cova color black paint ( acrylic paint ). I experimented with a citrus ( ZEP, which is Lowes' store brand), Dye Gone II, and Fiebings dye prep. Since the citrus and dye gone both have grit, I made two columns for those .. One rubbed one not. I didn't let any of the dyes sit for long, as hopefully would happen if one were actually working and made a splatter. All of the cleaners discolored the leather to some extent. All of the cleaners did a respectable job of removing the paint with just a little left embedded in the grain. Rubbing with the gritty Dye Gone and Zep didn't scratch the leather much at all, to my surprise. All were useless on Fiebings Pro. Dye Gone did the best on Eco Flo and Fiebings USMC. Both were noticeably diminished but not removed. Dye Gone also discolored the leather the most. Dye Prep diminished Eco Flo and Fiebings USMC somewhat, and discolored the leather noticeably, but not as much as Dye Gone. Zep Orange didn't work terribly well on anything other than paint, but it also did not discolor the leather very much. I also managed to get a bit on my hands. I know from past experience that Artist soap will remove dye, but you have to scrub for several minutes. It works much better on paints. Zep works a little better, but you still need to scrub. Dye Gone works in seconds with just slight scrubbing. Hope that helps!! Bill

Does anybody have experience with using a kevlar glove in leatherwork? They've made inroads into kitchens in the last couple of years, and supposedly they work well to prevent slicing cuts. They are probably useless for pokey sharp things, but might work well for slicey sharp thing. Bill

Wow. This piece is great, and I'm really glad I looked through your gallery too. Your work is amazingly creative, and belongs in an art museum. Bill

It occurs to me that if you don't have the tools, skills, or friends to get wooden mold, then foam might be a good alternative. The foam shown in the video may well be expensive, but there may be other foams that are usable too! They make stuff called Modeling Board, and carv-foam that might be usable and not outrageously expensive. They are relatively easily cut with knives, etc. and some can be worked with power tools as well. I may experiment with this stuff at some point! Another interesting thing that came to mind while thinking about this is using a rigid urethane foam to form a mold of a pre-existing piece. Put a piece of thin plastic into the bag, or whatever that you want to duplicate, mix and pour the expanding foam into it. Let it set and then pull it out! Some of these foams are relatively dense and can be tooled after they have cured. In any case, it just might work if I can find a suitable piece that I'm willing to sacrifice in case it doesn't work!! Bill

I think about getting a round knife now and then, and know that I'd love some of the things to be done with it. At least for a time. Then I remember how much I like my fingers they way they are. I'm just too accident prone to trust myself with one! LOL! Bill

I was told long ago that the 9/10 cent on gasoline was there by law in order to let you know that federal excise taxes are included in the price.

Spousal units make the strangest sounds when you work with contact cement indoors.

I could not agree more about Nigel Armitage. I learned more about stitching watching his videos than I ever could have any other way. Most important of all has been to give careful thought to stitching. I have been able to develop a few techniques of my own, and to adapt my technique to different situations. His messenger bag video is really good, and makes a beautiful bag that is now in my project queue. I probably could have reverse engineered my own from the video, but I decided to pony up the $17 to buy from him. I got a useful design, and at the same time got to give him a thank you donation. I have yet to deal with Stefan Ludlow, but I will be later this week. I need some tiger thread. It's comforting to know in advance that he has happy customers. Bill

Very nice work on both pieces! I do some painting as well and I know just how much work it takes to get something like that wolf right! Awesome. The ONLY two things that I see that I might change are minor details on the holster, and mostly my preference. There's a strap peeking out from behind the barrel side which I would have finished a bit more finely, burnishing it if possible. It will probably be hidden when in use, so that's not a huge thing. It looks like the stitching on the trigger side was dyed along with the leather, which is fine if that's what you wanted, but it always seems to me that stitching should is such a hallmark of hand-made leather items that it should contrast rather than match the leather. You put a lot of time into stitching, let it shine! Bill

I happen to have both a screw adjustable creaser from Tandy, and a used Osborne #1, and find that they both have their uses. The Osborne makes a very fine crease, and with too much pressure will actually cut into the leather. It has a guide "blade" ( for lack of a better word) which is longer than the other creasing "blade". That helps to prevent the tool from wandering as I push it with a very slight toe in angle to keep it tight against the leather edge. The fine crease that the Osborne leaves makes a very attractive decorative crease, but is much too fine for a stitching crease. The adjustable is a much more blunt tool and requires a lot of pressure. It also leaves a much wider crease which is great for stitching. It wanders a bit more on me, probably because both "blades" are the same length which requires that it be both toed in AND tipped toward the edge of the leather. I have also noticed on mine that one "blade" is slightly thicker than the other, so I use that to advantage for a slightly different crease. I haven't looked at any others, so I do not know if that is by design, or a fluke. On veg tan, heat only makes a slight difference which is more noticable with the adjustable. I prefer the look that heat gives. Alcohol burners are the tool of choice because alcohol burn very cleanly. A butane lighter will leave a deposit of soot on your tool which then has to be wiped off, which is a pain. The same is true of at least most candles. And if you don't get all of the soot off, you have a blackened crease on your work for the first few inches. I put up with wiping my tools for awhile but recently bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005QDP42K/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1# It has a wide heavy base to help prevent tipping, a thumbwheel to adjust the wick without snuffing it, a nifty little snuffer cap to snuff the flame and also slow the alocohol evaporation, and a cute little handle that is useful. I'm burning 90% rubbing alcohol which works fine, but denatured alcohol might be even better. I'm not so sure about 70% rubbing alcohol. On awls, you are completely correct about blade length. It's good old geometry at work. The farther the tip of the blade is from your hand, the more it will move with every tiny movement of your hand. It's another thing that I put up with until I figured a few things out. My first awl was a Tandy multi-purpose with a wing awl blade, which was duller than the butter knives in my kitches. I used it because I did not know any better. It didn't take TOO long to realize that it had to be sharpened to be of much use. It took a little longer to figure out that the wing blade is a pain to use since it will always make a bigger hole on one side of the leather than on the other and consistent holes require very precise depth control. And finally longer still to figure out that it was too long. I now use awls with short straight sided blades that are sharpened and stropped to an almost mirror like finish and am MUCH happier, and my stitching is vastly improved. I'm sure that wing blades have their uses, but not for me. I hope that helps more than it confuses! Bill

The simple answer is no. But you're in luck. These look to be intended for use with cheap soldering irons, the non tempurature regulated ones. Unless you intend to use it with an iron that you already own, I'd take them to the store with you and ask to try them for fit. Most places should be happy to help you try it out. One of those should only cost something like $10-20, depending on the wattage. Maybe somebody else will be able to advise on what wattage to use, but I have no experience in using them this way. ( I'm a pro at soldering, tho! ) Bill

I bought a 16" ruler with a backing that looks like it might be neoprene at an art supply store, and it works well. I have a 48" rule that slides around as does yours, and because of that I don't use it much. Let us know if you give that a go, and if it works well, maybe you can offer up strips for sale to offset your cost. It sounds as though a lot of people could benefit that way. Doing well by doing good! I also came up with a creative, if expensive, solution to making beautiful long cuts. I bought a picture framing matte cutter. It does double duty around here since my other half does some custom framing, so the expense is justified for us. It also has the advantage of doing 45 degree cuts in addition to square cuts. That said, there are still times when the ol' 48" stand alone rule would be easier to use. Bill

Sharp tools .. Sharp tools .. And Sharp tools. I buy utility knife blades and hobby knife blades in bulk and replace them very frequently. They are dirt cheap and money well spent for efficiency and improved results. That said, a LOT of time spent with stones and strop on new tools pays back every moment in a short order. Seconds spent with a strop every time a sharp tool is used will pay back your time in a big hurry too. +1 for power burnishers too. I have one in a dremel with a drill-press base allowing me to use it mounted or free-hand as the situation calls for. +1 for an arbor press as well. It's faster, with less waste from OOPSes, and gives a better result over all. +1 for a stitching pony. They're great! Bill

I've set a dozen or so decorative snaps mostly using a couple of layers of leather beneath the face. The only one I messed up was the first one ... Without the leather, hitting it too hard and a bit off center. That being said, poundo boards are a nice thing to have for a lot of other uses as well and you can't go wrong getting one! Take a look at Springfieldleather.com. They sell for about the same or less than Tandy with an elite membership and have a small one for crystal rivets for about $10. Bill

This is going to be a really nice piece when you get it done. I love seeing things re-purposed and reused rather than being disposed of.

When I was a wee lad, I went to the store one day with Dad. I noticed an end cap display with a $9.99 price on the sign, and asked him why it was so. His reply was "To me that's $10. To your mother it's $9." and then just laughed. Y'all just gave me a chuckle as I remembered that.

I've used this stuff, and it's not bad. It's not as heavily waxed as tiger thread, which makes it slightly more difficult to use. That said, less wax also means it's less shiny which is a good thing for some projects! It's worth buying, and the price is right even if the wait for its arrival isn't easy.