JAZZMAN

Yes wolflower, i have been there, when i ask someone for an honest opinion i need to start saying please be honest as long as it is what i want to hear, otherwise please lie.lol

My apologies Bob, as usual i am not paying attention properly and got confused, it does not take much with me.Peace.

What a lovely gift, i truly believe that the best art is always created when the only motivation is love with no financial reward, your mum is going to cherish it. Peace.

Hi so i have been using tanners bond leather cement for my projects when i need to just hold something together until i stitch it. Now my wife bought some gorilla wood glue for a craft project and it was half the price for 4 times as much. In my opinion the leathercraft cement seems to just look and smell like pva glue anyway. So i stuck a couple of pieces of scrap together with the gorilla glue and they seem to have stuck just fine. Can anyone tell me why i should not just use the gorilla instead of the dedicated leather cement. If i was using the glue as a permenant fix i would understand why i might use leather specific glue, but when it is only until the stitches are in place i cannot see why it will not do the job just the same, unless anyone can tell me any different. I do live on a very low income and so am always looking for ways to save money on my leathercrafting, but not at the expense of making lower quality items.

Hey Bob, you did nothing wrong my friend, i liked the story, thanks for posting. Peace.

Hello Frederiek, i think this is a very nice project, i know what you mean about the stitching being difficult on small gussets , but you seem to have managed it ok in the end, keep on posting pictures of your work you will never bore me with them. Peace.

Looking forward to the tool pics here as well, i am also a tool geek, no disrispect intended.

It is true what you say about always needing more tools, but i love buying them so it is ok with me.

Hey buckeye, it sounds like you need a bit of help with regards to sewing, as camano said above you need a diamond awl for stitching, if you have not seen them yet look up Nigel armitage on you tube, he is a master leatherworker and he has some fantastic videos about hand sewing leather. Hope they help, it can be frustrating being new to any craft but stick with it and the rewards will come.

Welcome buckeyeguy, you do not say which awl you have, my guess is if it is a wooden type then yes normally you can fit a new blade by putting the new blade in between two copper coins in a vice and then tapping on the handle. If you take it to tandy i am sure they would help you with this.

Hey wolflower, as i have learned with turned edges you really do have to keep your stitching chisel straight , otherwise the exit side really can go of course, i recently posted how i have got over this with an engineers square stood behind my work to bone it in.

Well in that case , WOW , the dyeing effect is great.

Hello macmandr, i think it is admirable you want to tackle such a challenging project so early on, but as a recent beginner myself i would have to agree with what has been said above about maybe building some simpler projects first, unless of course you feel you already have all the skills needed for such a project. I personally was shocked how much harder leathercraft is when you actually begin to do it rather than just watching on you tube. Maybe a belt or two and a card wallet to get the feel for working with leather and getting all the different skills together that will be needed for such a project. Just my opinion of course but good luck with whatever you decide, one thing is for sure there will be no shortage of good people on here to ask for help if you decide you need it.

Hi leatherlegion, these are really nice, very original design. I too need to get my skills together and fit some zips, thanks for sharing.

There might not be an answer to this really, but i now have quite a few different coloured bobbins of thread all in a tray rolling around and unravelling themselves. So i was wondering if anyone had come up with any cool ways of storing thread rather than just putting them in a draw or a box.If it sounds like a really silly thing to ask i would like to apologize , but there really must be a better way.

Please could you talk a little about your dyeing process , do you use an airbrush?

Well thank you kaerkes for your words of encouregment, the truth is i do have every intention of putting in the work and hopefully one day becoming a skilled leathercrafter and tooler, i too believe hard work is the only way to achieve this and am under no illusions about that. I still say that you have done very well in those two short years of study to be achieving this kind of standard of workmanship, thank you for the inspiration and advice, take care my friend. Peace.

Right that is it, i have had enough, can people stop posting such incredibly amazing works of art, it is making me feel very inadequate perhaps we could have some pictures of people who do really terrible carving work then i could join in too. This is absolutely amazing, you are a true artisan

No problem tugadude, i am glad you like my idea, that will most likely be the only good idea i have for a while, i tend to only have one good idea a year or my brain starts to hurt

So i have only been doing leathercraft for about four months now so i am in no way an expert, however i was having trouble keeping my japanese made stitching chisels vertical when punching them through items like wallets where there were multiple layers of leather and it was important for the back to remain as straight as the front. I have managed to find a technique that has helped with this and thought i would share it with the forum in case anyone else has the same problem. What i do is stand my engineers metal set square behind my work and then eye in the stitching chisel with the squares edge this gives me a pretty good idea of what is vertical and after a few times you kind of get a feel for where vertical is, this might not be a problem for other people i dont know, but it has really helped me out.I have put a photo of me demonstrating this in my gallery as i tried to upload a photo to this post and for some reason it said file too big.

Hey barbed wire, this is a good idea posting the stages as you make it, in fact i think more of us should do this more often, it really helps us all to learn when we see how other people work, great job.

Hello eazyduz, tandy do this stuff if it helps. http://www.tandyleather.eu/en-gbp/9072-00.aspx?countryid=1032

Well tele, you are a natural, if you play guitar half as good as you make them then you really do have some talent in your hands, take care my friend.

Like those handles hun, i still have to have a go at some handles, are they padded at all?

You must be joking, if this is your first attempt then i am truly amazed, this is absolutely incredible, beautiful work, well done .