YinTx

You can do that? Also... whats a button?

Understand, and agree 100%. YinTx

Looks like a manufacturer from India that will reproduce anything, or design and manufacture something for fee. Images show workers running what look like drill presses, sitting on the floor with no PPE. Kinda a no for me. But maybe if they make some money, they'll spend it to upgrade the facilities to provide more worker safety. YinTx

That is a great pattern. If you are interested in selling a copy, let me know! I just really liked the work, and I had zoomed in and was studying it to understand the techniques. It is well designed in my opinion. YinTx

Well, yes and no. Just because someone once made a purse, belt, holster or a wallet, doesn't mean no one else can make a purse, belt, holster or a wallet. Now, I have no clue what that is or what purpose it serves, or if it is patented, or whatever, so yes, there can be some limits there. I have no desire to make an exact duplicate/copy of someone's work, especially if they are still in business and can sell the item to the buyer. YinTx

I like it a lot. Just curious why you chose to not put decorative cuts on a single flower petal, and put cuts on one flower bud but not the other? I like the pattern. Did you do the pattern yourself or get it from somewhere? YinTx

It does for the most part. Not every effort is perfect, so in my mind little things matter. But probably not. Not sure I picked up on anyone saying that, really. But I do get what you are saying. Just note there is more than one way to do a job, and you just have to pick a way and try to get good at it. If you just can't get that way to work for you, then try another, or alter what you are doing to suit your style. Hopefully we have laid out a few techniques here that have worked for us, so a beginner should have enough info to start from. I started freehand on a small oil stone. That didn't work for me, I moved to other methods until I landed on one that did. My final style is probably a bit different from everyone else, but it works for me. YinTx

+1 on all this. I also use a bit of water with a couple of drops of dish soap for lubricant on the sandpaper. Can take it all the way to 2000+ grit sandpaper, wet/dry 3M. Finish on the 4000+ grit stone if desired, then strop for final polish. also, I don't follow the roller back and forth, instead side to side, with the roller part OFF of the sandpaper. It'll slide along just fine on the glass/granite. This keeps the grain in the direction of the cutting action of the blade, and easier to control the burr for me. I forget who I saw doing this but it was a game changer for me. YinTx

Getting the angle identical every time you take it to the stone is not easy. Bruce makes it seem easy, but that is years of practice. Using a simple swivel knife jig really facilitates getting this right. When you don't get it right, the bevel will lean, and you may have multiple bevels, instead of one flat mirror. Some of the older blades are rougher than the one he is working on, and take a lot more effort to get sharp. However, they will easily cut you or anything once you get it sharpened and stropped. Sometimes I'll use it to cut out the shape of a piece I've just tooled because it makes small complex curves easy to cut. It'll go right through 10 oz leather - I take it almost all the way, then let it dry and finish with a round knife or one of my other leather knives when I am done. I spent a few hours on these to get them to this point, while not perfect they are fun to use and cut very smoothly. The one on the left could use more work on the 5000 grit stone before stropping again. As far as I know, these are all old Tandy blades, and cut as well or better than a Barry King I tried out once. YinTx

That just looks prickly and all business! I like the style! YinTx

Try a bit more top tension, that will pull the knot further up into the leather from the bottom. Then you can tamp it with a hammer (smooth face) which will even out the dents. My experience is the bottom isn't very often very nice looking compared to the top, hence why I tend to do a lot of hand stitching. Then the alcohol goes to disinfecting the puncture wounds and for medicinal purposes to numb the pain. YinTx

Looks good! What kind of rivets are you using? YinTx

That black wallet is bang on! Lining up that armor scale stamp isn't easy. Nicely done. YinTx

That came out fantastic! what a work of art! going to be a joy for you to use. YinTx

I'm not sure I can tell which is the before and which is the after. However, most finishes will darken the color of the dye, and tend to make it more vibrant as well. Using a Pro Dye vs. the regular dye will help keep it from migrating when you apply a finish, and also spraying on the finish (like with an airbrush) can help prevent it from migrating. Nice work, btw. Block finishing isn't always easy! YinTx

I thought that is how you fixed electrical problems... YinTx

Thank you, it is Peanut Alligator from American Tanning, with Natural Chevre Chagrin for the lining. I've done a few over the years, but getting small parts to match up perfectly with turned edges is a challenge, especially with an exotic like glazed alligator. Not much stretch or flex room. I wasn't quite happy with them, but finally, I have to get something in the customer's hands! Appreciate that! although, must say I had other (not so positive) words as I was constructing it I am grateful it came out well enough in the end! YinTx

Finally managed to get this one done, nearly a year in the procrastination phase! Thankfully I have patient customers! YinTx

There are many kinds of leather, and differences even between brands of the same kind of leather. Deerskin is super soft. Armor veg tan or sole tan is super hard vegetable tanned leather. Veg tanned leather from the belly section is pretty soft. It all depends on what you are working with. Photos help! YinTx

I have a large collection of vintage tools, all of which I use - hence, they are not junk like some of the cheap import items you will find on places like Amazon. I am sure I can put together something for you, including some leather, lace, thread, needles, awls, buckles, snaps, whatever you might like. Send me a pm if you are interested. YinTx

Maybe the fly is a reincarnated dog, it thought you wanted it to roll over and play dead. I'm not convinced the bees were the only ones partaking here.... YinTx

it could be a bit grimy, say hand lotioin or just dirt/grit/grease in general. Try a light bit of saddle soap with a bit of water, work into a sudse, wipe off, let dry see if it helped at all. If there is no seal coat, you could dye it even after nfo. I do recommend a seal coat when you are done tho. YinTx

That is a lot of nice tooling that you are going to have to dye black now! YinTx

I just made one out of cheap leather, and am in the process of making one out of real alligator myself right now. Look forward to seeing what you end up with! YinTx

Also looks like the current ahem "administration" here in the good ol US of A has decided to confiscate orders of kangaroo being imported, resulting in losses to the end customers. Not sure what that is about, but I suspect if there were a way to follow the $$.... this is too bad, as I was hoping to get some beveled kangaroo lace to try out myself. Looks like I won't be. YinTx