bikermutt07

Looks good.

It looks great. But as a southpaw, I would have liked to seen something a little less ambi looking. Just kidding, great job.

That's really cool. I like the green on the chain too. Really "ties it together".

+1 for the tokonole. It is great on the edges and saddle soap will remove it from the grain side. It is also super awesome on glass slicking the flesh side. I just used it on some 3oz. w&c for a wallet. It was almost no effort at all. Came out very shiny and polished looking. As far as dying the edge? I usually use full strength dye (even if the surface has been diluted). It takes me 2 coats. I do this after I sand and edge, but before I burnish. I use a small "firm" paint brush and the edge of my work table for a guide. This is not a cheap fluffy fuzzy dollar store brush. It is a firm artist's paint brush. I clipped the end to about 20 degrees. I got it from Raysouth when he was retiring. I hold the brush with my thumb, index, and middle fingers. I keep my ring and pinky fingers straight up against the edge of my table. This works for me. I also use this method to apply the tokonole. I just rinse the brush in hot water after I'm finished with each process.

I don't think I will be much help. Are you saying that you bought an unfinished "shell cordovan"? Shell cordovan takes months to make and as far as I know (and that's not much) it is finished at the tannery. I haven't heard of that brand of dye either. Most people here use fiebings spirit based dye. Also known as oil dye or pro oil dye, or even pro dye. Hint# pro and pro oil dye are the same formula. They are just now phasing out the "oil" name. Plenty of experts here that will probably chime in. I just didn't want you to think we were leaving you hanging. Good luck and have fun.

It will be much easier for you to see then me explain.... Check out Ian Atkinson's video on improving your saddle stitch. I think it's about 12 minutes long. I'm not even sure I could explain it, bit once you get it down it's very easy to do. Ok I'll try. Put your front stitch in from the top of the hole, keep it there. Put your back stitch in from the bottom of the hole, keep it there. Pull your slack almost to the stitch. Leave about 2 or 3 inches left. Now take your front side needle (that is poking out the backside) and run it underneath the back stitch. Now pull the slack out to finish the stitch. This will make the backside zigzag similar to the front side.

Yeah, just wanting to sharpen. Just finished about 6 lower end knives with mixed results. Things it did great on.... My cold steel Voyager that has a convex edge already, my rat 2 pocket knife. Both Aus 8. My cold steel Finn bear and roach belly, both krup 12 I think? Poor results on my Mora companion. Sharp, but made it ugly. Didn't try my other Mora's on it. Medicore results in my vg10 kizer. (Out of fear I only used 1000 and leather belts). I really like this knife and use it everyday. I like it so much I bought a second one. I will probably resharpen it on my sandpaper and strop. I hope I get a little better at this. 300 bucks was a big investment for knife sharpening. I imagine I will find many uses for this machine besides sharpening. It's also a lot quieter than I thought. Sorry to hijack your thread.

I've never tried them, but home Depot and Lowe's carry snaps and eyelets. They are with the staplers and hot glue guns.

I'm looking more to just sharpen. I bought Texas Knife's finishing kit of belts. I think it starts at 600 and goes up to 1000 or 1200 with a leather belt with white rouge. The 1sm speed is 1\3 HP with 1750 rpm. That is as slow as I could find for a belt system. (Within reason) Many folks praise the HF 1x30 for sharpening, but after seeing it in person, I just couldn't do it. I'm admittedly a tool snob. I will start with old cheap knives and work my way up. I won't touch my knipknives until I feel much more confident. Thanks.

We will see. It came yesterday. I plan on playing with it a little today.

I spray it into a rag or denim and rub the piece. The other day I found that it can remove tokonole from the grain side of leather. I was slicking the flesh side of some wallet pieces and some got on the grain side. It came off pretty easy with the saddle soap.

Cool.

Tips on sharpening with a belt sander.

That's really great, but I doubt I will be retiring ant time soon. On a serious note (off topic) I have a Kalamazoo 1sm on the way for sharpening. Any tips?

This little knife is great. I love mine.

Yeah, me too. I only received this advice about 6 months ago. I'm pretty tired of bracelets now.

Nice clean looking project. I know nothing of saddles, but it looks nice. Are the "tassles?" lashing points?

Look forward to seeing your stuff. Welcome to the forum. Everyone here is friendly and helpful. I always suggest to new people to start with small repeatable items. Bracelets are a great example. Make several at the same time. This will allow you to hone all the skills and techniques without burning up a lot of material. Plus if you mess up on one you just chunk it and keep moving forward. In the beginning I tried doing several one off projects. It was frustrating because I would forget a step or get my order of steps out of order. Bracelets allows you to do several at the same time. You can learn to use the strap cutter, dye, stamp and tool, laminate, burnish edges, stitch, set snaps, conchos, rivets, and other hardware. Learn how to condition and finish your leather. You could get more than a month of fun out of just a shoulder or belly of veg tan leather. Very cost effective way to learn. Enjoy.

Impressive stuff. Great job.

Thanks W.

I've never seen one.

There are small Dremel burnishers that can make it easier. http://www.proedgeburnishers.com/dremel-burnishers.html

Great as always. I would like to see a picture if you color it in.

Dangit, they got me for 20.00 on that one. Maybe it was 14.95, but still.

It's a great looking bag. My only critique is it is only a third of the size for what my wife needs in a purse.