YinTx

I don't think I've ever made any tooled leather item in a weekend, the leather wouldn't even be dry in 2 days! Usually takes me a week just to come up with the drawing. Nice work! YinTx

Truly exceptional work resulting in a very fine leather wallet. Thanks for taking the time and effort to detail the work so the rest of us can learn to improve our work! YinTx

Thanks! and Yeah, it's pretty tiny. Only wide and tall enough to hold a credit card. Thank you. That handle is pretty small, not really a handle, just decoration. No way it could disengage the snaps. And the body is pretty stiff, so it turned out to be difficult to open anyhow since I attached the liner to the body on a curve. I didn't like how that turned out, so the next version I am working on is made with much thinner components. No Pelton filler on the liner this time! YinTx also, photo with model for scale (although the model is tiny herself):

Finally got the nerve to put this together. Lots of room for improvement, open to all critique! Will be starting on improved versions soon...for sure the gussets will be different. This is actually version 2, the first one was worthy of the bin. A bit more challenging than it looks I have learned! YinTx

Not an expert, but have done a few years of work, so take my advice with the proverbial grain of salt. You could try to dye it through the top coat, but if you do that, do a trial run on a section you are not likely to see, such as the underside of the loop. Depending what it was dyed and sealed with, as to whether or not you can dye through it or effectively strip of the top coat. Either way, a pro oil dye from Fiebing's is probably your best bet to get a deep black that won't rub off. If you have to strip it, they also make a deglazer. Keep it off the stitching as best you can so it doesn't degrade the thread. You'll have to oil and seal again when you are done. If you can remove all the hardware, or protect it, you'll want to do that also. Just looking at the photo, it seems to me it was actually a deep navy blue dye, not black, and the finish coat is rubbing off, causing it to look lighter where it is rubbed off. You might just get better results refinishing with a topcoat like TanKote or Resolene, with a lot less stress and work. Again, try on an unseen spot first. YinTx

That is a very detailed design! And a lot of tooling. Nicely done. Look forward to seeing the completed project. YinTx

Also, post a photo of the front side and exit side of the hole it makes piercing veg tan and the softer leather you are having issues with. The first photo seems to show a blunted tip, the second quite pointy. You will need some cutting edges part way up the blade, otherwise it will just be forcing it's way through and perhaps tearing the leather instead of a clean cut. Those edges need to be pretty razor sharp as well. Then blunted where you just want the leather to be stretched open to allow room for the needle and thread. YinTx

That is really nice work! How do you feel about how the edges came out with oil tan next to veg tan? I like Steve's patterns, but haven't purchased any yet... almost did, but had to go through Etsy, which kinda turned me off. YinTx

How about a photo of what you have so far? I just used my awl to go through two layers of alligator, one layer of bentex, one layer of Pelton, and three layers of Chevre Chagrin. I wasn't happy with the results, but I was able to pierce all layers fairly easily. And each layer has some contact cement in there... YinTx

I think if you ask 6 people you might get 6 answers. I have a pile of awls, and they all have different profiles, and I use the one that gives me the stitch I need on the project I happen to be working on at the time. In general, I would consider dulling the upper sections of the blade, maintain some bulk in the upper section to open the hole up for your needle and thread without cutting a bigger hole. If it is only stretching the leather hole open, then the hole will close back down after you have done your stitch if you don't pull too much tension. If the sides are sharp, they will cut the hole open, and it will not close down. And on the diamond shape, you don't want 4 cuts. The shape of the point is personal preference. I have one that is a squared tip, one that is a short point, and some that are very long drawn out sword points. Important thing is to make sure the sides are equal (at least opposing sides) so you don't cut uneven holes. Equally important to all this is the final finish on the blade. High polish gives me the best results. YinTx

Not sure. I've sent them an email to see if they have a blade. YinTx

If you can, let me know if you find a source, I've been meaning to go looking since Pilgrims closed. YinTx

Punch a bunch of holes in a piece of leather, and spin that spiral on? Use a pippin punch to punch a row of holes, press it into the spiral? YinTx

That is a lot of tooling. I like the border, nicely done! YinTx

Really, Really, Really nice. YinTx

Was it Pilgrim's Shoe and Machine? I think it's been sold though, to Shoe Systems Plus or so I'd read somewhere. Paul Zalesak of Leather Wrangler's makes and sells blades, they are going to cost you a shiny copper though. YinTx edit: just went to the site, looks like mostly bench splitter blades, didn't see a Landis blade. Maybe he'd make one?

Put some Tan-Kote on a wool pad and go over it again. This will lift more of the antique out of the leather, and may lighten it up a bit. Tan Kote 50/50 for me works well as a resist when I want some of the antique color to get into the leather. Pro Resist keeps more of the color out of the leather. The old Neat Lac works well in that regard as well. Here in the South where it is really humid, I leave the resist on overnight to dry, and sometimes do a second coat and let that dry overnight as well. Do you have any examples of work that you want to be able to emulate? And I still experiment or do a "test run" on a small piece using the identical leather almost each time I do something, particularly if it is a large or difficult item to make sure I am going to be happy with the results. Surprises suck sometimes. YinTx

Beautiful. The burnish is outstanding, and the bargrounding is flawless! YinTx

Those came out fantastic! Did you do the floral pattern yourself? YinTx

It is different, and I like it. I think it fits your style well, I hope you do more like this. YinTx

Proliferous and skilled! Fantastic wallets. YinTx

Awesome. I can just see the look on folks' faces when you are out and about with that! YinTx

Really nice! I like the handle. A whole lot of stitching in that! YinTx

I have seen and tried using crayola for burnishing wax, seems to work so so. Also, Sharpie markers seem to work well, also they sell pens that you fill with dye that help with more accurate placement of edge color. If you are using an edger, doing so after the edge dye can remove some of the bleed. Sometimes, when it seems you have not put enough dye, it is enough when you start to burnish. Try putting on very very little, thinned a lot if needed, then burnishing. You will find the burnishing distributes the dye some and also darkens the edge sufficiently to look nice. Or no dye at all can look decent on edges. Just some options. Edge paint if all else fails. YinTx

Nice pattern! Did you sew the individual pieces together? YinTx