TwinOaks
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Posts posted by TwinOaks
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Dip it in a pan/pot of MOP-N-GLO, and hang to dry, blotting any runs/drips off. Mop-n-glo is an acrylic wax...so is Resolene, which is marketed for leather. Dipping it will give you the best penetration without disturbing any other layers.
You can also thin it with water as you see fit.
Do some test pieces first, of course.
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Look on the Springfield Leather site, and at the "Bag and Chap (and maybe upholstery)" leather. That is where you can find the chrome tanned leather.
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As an aside regarding beeswax: It is available in varying shades of yellow, or white. The difference is that the the white wax is only the caps of the comb, while yellow has wax from all over the hive....in short, it's cleaner. Functionally, there's no difference.
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I'll take it if you have it. Will PM you for details.
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Lizard, your last comment is perhaps the best description I've ever heard of Glocks!!! Hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna HAVE to steal it.
Nice looking holster, too,
Remember the basic guidelines for stitch line placement: half the width (in that area) plus the weight of leather. You may have to tweak a little, depending on the hide, but that will always get you close *for pancake holsters*.
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You CAN get those tools....contact Bruce Johnson, or go to his website. He buys/sells leather tools... mostly in the antique range, but all of them are good. Or you can look at some of Paul Zalasek's tools....they're very expensive, but only until you find out why.
I spoke to Paul on the phone and he spent an incredible amount of money in R&D to produce his knives. And I believe that due to his efforts, he's got one of (if not THE) best steels available, which serves to reduce the cost of the knife quite a bit when you amortize the cost over the extremely long life of the blade.
Having a nice handle is just icing on the cake, but in the same thought, most people would complain loudly if they got good steel but it had a rough shaped pine handle. Since these nice tools have nice wood, most of the copy cats and knock off artists go for the easy to copy part - the handles. So when you see what seem like 'basic' tools that still have a high cost, keep in mind that you're probably seeing a truer cost of the tool.
It would seem that enough people are interested in tools like you've described that Tandy has introduced a new set of tools - made from SS, instead of chromed zinc. I can only hope that they'll see enough interest in the nicer tools that they'll push the better quality to their other tools as well.
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Welcome to Leatherworker.net! As you progress in this addiction, you're going to run into questions and we'll be happy to help with them. We will (not 'may') ask to see pics of your work. Don't be discouraged about posting any of your work; we ask for pics to help us help you. No one here will mock your work, but if you ask for it we will give serious critiques. Now get some leather and get to it!
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No idea if it'll work....if it's comparable mop-n-glo, it probably will. If you have the time to do it, how about test on a piece of scrap and let us know.
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Yes, Bill, you can add multiple pic files to a single post. You just need to use the full editor instead of the quick reply box (see: more reply options)
After you select and open the file, simply click the 'choose files' button again and repeat as needed.
A note on the file upload....there is a maximum single file size you can use. That means max size PER picture...not for the whole post. If you try to load directly from a camera, you may run into the size limitations. The easiest way to get around this is to resize the pictures. I've found that 600x800 is a good 'universal' size. It's still large enough to see detail, but small enough to load the image on the page. If you don't have a photo editing program, you can get "IRFANVIEW" for free. It's just a basic program, but works very well for simple tasks like resizing/resampling. In its resizing section, it has most of the commonly used sizes as selectable "pre-sets". Two or three clicks per picture and you're done.
A quick example: When I use pics directly from my camera, the files are typically in the 7-12 MB range for it's data, depending on detail.....resizing drops it down to 400-800 KB. It uploads and downloads MUCH more quickly...which is very important to those of us who don't have high speed cable internet.
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The easy answer is stop 3 coats before you think you have 'enough'......
Adding too much oil will saturate the leather fibers making them soft and unable to hold shape. There are some types of leather in which this is 'planned'....specifically oil tanned leather, which is often used in hard use bags and such. The idea is to make the leather extremely resistant to the elements.
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Welcome to the best site on the internet!
Since you're specifically interested in the cowboy style holsters, I highly recommend the tutorial by Jim Simmons on how to make a holster. It takes you step by step through the process and offers excellent explanations on why to do the steps.
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Thank you for sharing this!
For some of our new members that are unfamiliar with this technique, this is kind of a variant of "block dyeing".....not exactly, but very similar. I think this method is probably a LOT easier, especially for the simplicity and small area.
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Welcome to Leatherworker.net, and thank you for your service!
There are, of course, more opinions than tool makers....and you can do some searches right here on this forum. You just need to use the search function and input something like [ "best ______"]...include everything inside the brackets, and fill in the blank.
Some pretty common answers - best stamps: Barry King; best awls: Bob Douglas;best swivel knifes...I'm not opening THAT can of worms...Best mauls: Bearman (he and his son are members here). And though I don't know them of the top of my head, there ARE several companies in Europe for the leather goods. I'm sure some of our international members will chime in for those answers.
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There's also the strong possibility that for those of us who can and will make suggestions on how to dye the logo are also holding "day jobs" and haven't had a lot of time lately to spend on LW.net.
An alternative to masking off and using an airbrush would be to carve it inverted (the style of tooling, not upside down), heavily resist the inverted sections, and block dye it.
What kind of dyes/resists will you be working on, and what kind of tools do you have available?
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Welcome to the site! When you run into questions, feel free to ask and we'll help out.
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The issue with most of the 'standard' knives is that they use a "cup on a point" - pull one apart and you'll see what I mean- and over time, the knife can/will develop a "less than smooth" feel to it. It's not just the blade, it's the yoke as well. A good bearing supported yoke will allow the knife to turn with no added resistance or choppy feeling from the yoke. To give an example, I can hold one of my tandy knives by the blade and lightly thump the yoke....it might go ONE full revolution. I do the same thing to a bearing supported yoke (different knife obviously) and it spins for just under 10 seconds. Completely free spinning. Heck, I can blow on the yoke and it'll turn....it's so much smoother that you really do have to feel it to understand it.
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Since you are just learning, go ahead and buy pre-made lace. It'll save a lot of time on learning how to make lace, and give you an idea of how lace should lay/handle. Start with 'Pro-lace' or goat lace, and get to braiding. Then, once you've got the hang of it, you can see about getting a lace cutter/strander, and cutting a hide into lace, then dyeing, stretching, and beveling it.
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Welcome to Leatherworker.net!
I absolutely agree with the above post. Go ahead and order some blanks for your first belts. It is the most effective way to get the right sizes without investing a decent amount of money in tools you won't use for much else. If you insist on getting a side or double shoulder (the sizes you'll need to get decent belt lengths), look for at least 8oz leather, veg tanned. After that, you'll need a strap cutter or a large table and cutting board....and a very long straight edge...and an extremely sharp knife. That's just to get the straps. You'll also need an edger, a slicker, a burnishing cloth, dye, antiquing medium, wax (edges), top coat/sealer, conditioner, hole punches, any stamping/carving tools you intend to use, and hardware. As you can see, you've got a pretty decent list of tools to get. Starting with precut blanks will save you some time and frustration...(How the HHH did I get this end of the strap 1/4" narrower than the other?!?!? #$%^@$#%!!!!!!!!!)....and I assure you, it's possible when you start cutting long strips.
Spend the first few belts working on technique of tooling the belt, layout, and assembly. This will also give you a good reference for how to skive the belt for a buckle, and the correct spacing/location for the keeper, and other hardware.
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Kevin, that is an amazing piece! However, I must inform you that I am officially reclassifying you as a full blown Neurotic for detail sewing.
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I agree with "the smallest needle you can use". Going by your "rule of thumb" request.....if you can push both needles and threads through the awl hole with no problems, the hole is too big. Needing pliers to pull the needle through is just fine. That said, when I hand stitch, my holes are such that I can push/pull the first needle through with a little difficulty, but I need the pliers for the second one. I'm using an old Osborne awl (the one Tandy used to sell) and 3 cord linen.
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Your best option is to click the "sign up" button and become a member here. There is no cost to join. This will allow you to see more of the forum than you can as a guest, as well as give you access to not one, but several thousand leather workers. Not only will you be able to contact members via the forums and private messages, but you can also reach many of us in the chat room for real time help. This site IS the largest compendium of leather knowledge on the planet, with membership from pretty much every corner of the globe, covering all aspects of this craft.
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Since I don't do facebook, I can't see the image you linked, but from dirtclod's link it appears that you're talking about Clay Banyai.
He has been a member here for a long time, and has graced us with several excellent tutorials. You can do a search for him and pull up all of them at your leisure. One of the most prominent ones that he's posted is called "buffalo feathers", and is a high detail embossing. Here's the tutorial that's hosted on this site: http://leatherworker.net/bufffeathers/index.htm
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Yes, you certainly CAN use gold leaf on leather. No issues of it cracking when flexed, but this piece turned into a wall hanger, so over time, the finish will be more critical.
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Some good thoughts there, Trekster. There is also the issue of leather thickness and even type of leather.
I also think that some form of 'common' tool would be easier than using a trigger gauge. Not many people would be too receptive to spending pretty large chunk of money on a machine, then having to go buy another tool just to set it up. Once a person has initially set up the machine, they should get the hang of the tensions pretty quickly. That means that it's possibly a single use tool. However, I'm in agreement with Michael that if there's an easier way to demonstrate the tension, or the ratio between the two, then it would dramatically cut down on the initial set up time. So...any suggestions for a common, around the house tool?
Bubble Marks On Backside Of Leather - Feeddogs.
in Sewing Leather
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It's the result of a combination of the pressure of the presser foot, the firmness of the leather, and the size of the needle. Basically, the leather is being pushed into the little hole where the needle goes into the arm. You can lighten the presser foot a bit to see if it helps....or you could just hammer the threads down if everything on the machine is sewing well.