CrazedLemming

Uline tends to be a lot more expensive than other suppliers. Example: I sell a lot of little items and go through a bunch of zip top bags in a year. 4"x3" 2mil Reclosable Poly Bags [1000 per carton] + shipping to my zipcode Uline...$17 per carton + $13.54 shipping = $30.54 Papermart...$7.56 per carton + $8.56 shipping (+ $3 small package fee for an order under $15) = $19.12 Same specs but 37% less. Stepping the example to 2 cartons makes an even bigger difference. uline: $48.25 vs papermart: $24.04. Uline might have a slight advantage by having a warehouse that's closer, but most of the time I can wait an extra couple days if it means a 50% savings on packaging costs. And there are probably a few dealers on ebay that are even less if someone wants to go that route.

I've gotten a lot of different packaging from Paper Mart ( http://www.papermart.com ). I know they have a section or two with poly bags. Their pricing is usually decent. Shipping costs can be a little screwy at times, but you can at least get the site to calculate that before ordering to see if it's going to be ridiculous. I'd love to know what other bag and box suppliers people have had good experiences with.

The standard vs rounded is probably personal preference. I have two cheapo knives* that I swap between; one with a 3/8" and one with 1/4"angle. One was the basic crappy tandy model and the other was a slightly nicer model with a rounded yoke. Luckily the yokes were interchangeable and I snap the rounded yoke onto whichever knife I'm using because it's a lot more comfortable in my hand. It makes the basic knife more beareable. *Someday, I'll get good swivel knives. Until then the cheap ones at least get the job done and left more budget for other things.

Related to the blow dryer recommendation, you might try giving your paint a day or two to cure before putting a finish over it. An acrylic paint might feel dry after a couple hours, but it's not completely set yet.

I have a weight I set on things while I'm working. It's a 1in x 4in x 4in rubber block with a similar sized steel block stacked on top. (They're jewelry and metal working tools.) Parking those on an edge that I'm not working keeps things in place without having to glue or tack my piece to a larger object and the rubber is pretty good about not damaging things.

What machine are you running? I love what's possible with a laser. I keep drooling over the machines but never seem to come up with the extra cash for a decent one that will do everything I want.

Beautiful stuff. How are you cutting them? Laser?

You might take a look at these threads on homemade jigs that people have put together. There's probably more but these were the first couple interesting ones I spotted in a quick search. Up Dated Jig for Belt Stamping by mike6642 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=60015 Letter Stamp Jig by JoeSnuffie http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=53629

Has anyone else tried these chisels? I grabbed the 3mm 9-prong (88056-09) to play with. The handle feels nice but the prongs are so coarsely ground that it's like stabbing the leather with a barbed spear. It works, but the rough texture on the prongs makes getting the chisel in and out of the leather harder than it should be. I felt like I was spending as much time wrestling the chisel out of the leather as I spent actually stitching my test pieces.

Made some more flask covers over the last couple months. Someone asked me to make something with Freddy If you make a Freddy flask, you might as well make a Jason themed flask Bigger on the inside? Poe went a bit wonky, but the man had a potato shaped head anyway.

I don't know about fixing a piece that's already streaky, but thinning Resolene with water makes it go on a lot smoother. Most people seem to recommend a 50/50 mix.

I had some photos of flasks I've been working on over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd share.