barehandcustoms

So tempted to just buy a good one now..... I get the itch to make some knives every few months but I doubt I'll make a round knife.

East Texas in a town called White Oak

Most of the professional leather makers I know have a round head knife that they are just head over heels for but I have always used a Roberts Big Fatso Carpet Knife. I love the angled down razor blade and large handle for grip. I just throw a new razor blade in every so often and it glides right through leather like butter. I have come close to buying a round head knife several times just because thats what everyone else is using but I don't understand the benefits that justify the price. What are the benefits of using a round blade over a regular razor utility knife? Are the benefits of a nice round knife worth the extra cost and time spent keeping it sharp?

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and introduce myself. I started doing leather work early last year. I wanted a bushcraft style sheath for my Becker BK2. That knife has gone with me everywhere over the years and I had a very specific design in mind. I found several I really liked but the prices were just out of my price range. I stumbled upon a video of Ian Atkinson making a leather sheath and hours later found myself still watching his videos. Watching his tutorials and reading forums made me realize I could just make my own sheath. I enjoyed making that sheath so much that I ended up making them for every knife I owned. A few months later I was out of stuff to make for myself and family members. Eventually people started offering me cash to make them customized holsters and sheaths. Now here I am over a year later making sheaths, journals and misc things for people all over the world. What started off as a one off project has turned into a small business adventure and most likely a life long hobby.

That granite you linked from Amazon is going to crack the first time you leave any kind of void under it. Dont waste your money on it. Go grab you a piece of huge granite or marble from one of the dozen stores probably in your area. Just ask to look at their remnant pile. People use those remnants for all kinds of stuff and they are used to people asking about it. I had one younger guy offer to cut me a *sample* piece for free but I didn't want to impose and found what I needed out in their pile.

I use a 1/2 ton from Harbor Freight for my logo stamp and sometimes rivets. No more breaking out the sledge hammer for a clean logo! I just put a clean piece of steel on top of the revolving piece and press directly on the stamp. I have a few custom 3d hard plastic stamps and they do just fine under the press.... so I know the metal stamps are good to go unless you get crazy with the press. I regret not going with the 1 or 2 ton press though. I figured a 1/2 ton was already overkill when I bought it.

I wouldn't use rivets to secure the hardware for those dog collars unless its for a small dog. Large dogs are very rough on their collars overtime and rivets tend to bust when they get yanked on a lot. I would use Chicago Screws to secure all the hardware.

Oil dye takes about two weeks to work its way out of your skin if you let it dry.....Wear gloves or clean it off immediately Buy good leather tools in the beginning if you can afford them instead of rebuying cheap tools when they break.....expensive tools don't equal good tools Always over measure your thread before sewing everything together....Thread is cheap but the time wasted unstitching and resewing isn't