YinTx

It grew on me. The red was a perfect Santa red also.. appreciate the compliment! I ended up using it for a white elephant gift exchange. It got "stolen" and the final recipient absolutely loved it, so success! And thanks! Indeed! and thank you. heheheh. yeah, one would fit for sure. I think it is about 9" across and 17" high. As for which list, I suppose it depends on which day is used for the evaluation... YinTx

I have had luck with the following process when using EcoFlo antiques: Dye and oil leather if desired. Let dry overnight. Use 50/50 TanKote/water mixture as a resist if desired. One coat for slight resist, 2 for more. Still allows color of antique to get into the leather. If you want higher resist, use something like Pro-Resist or Resolene 50/50. Let dry overnight. Apply EcoFlo antique, wipe off immediately. Allow to dry for a few minutes or so, then apply 50/50 TanKote with cotton pad or hair on hide sheepswool scraps. Work the antique out as much as you can, allow to dry overnight. Apply Resolene 50/50 to seal over TanKote if desired. Also, I have used Angelus Acrylic finisher with success. YinTx

Contrasting blue welt is really neat an unique. Cool! YinTx

Not sure everyone is snubbing you. This corner of the forum isn't highly trafficked, only 220 views or so on your question, and not all of the folks here will be able to have an opinion on this. Not to mention, it is a bit of a tender spot for most of us that spend good money on good leather, and have to compete with marketing $$ selling not so good stuff. Thin leather can pull apart like that, belly leather can pull apart like that, cheap leather can pull apart like that, bonded leather probably also, tho I don't have any bonded stuff in my shop to tell you if it is bonded. Also, splits that are coated can do that. How much tension was required to separate it? Even really good leather will give with enough force. Whatever that is, it looks like it is there for show, so probably doesn't need to be high end high strength leather? YinTx

Possible, hence the price difference and the distance down the quality scale. YinTx

Expensive tools are nice, Bob Beard, Wayne Jeuschke, and Barry King are all nice. If you don't want to spend $50+ on a single tool, look for the recently discontinued Craftool Pro series, they were nice tools for the price and I enjoy using mine. I just completed a design with nothing but a swivel knife, beveler and a round beveler. IMO, a bit further down would be Hide Crafters tools, they would probably serve you well. As mentioned, bevelers, mules foot, pear shaders, veiners, seeders and backgrounders would get you started. Numbers on tools just depend on the size of the item and design you are working on. YinTx

Hahahah hohoho! Don't know.. but it is 9" across, and 17" tall, so fairly good sized I think...And thanks! Appreciate it! YinTx

Thanks! It was fun to put together. YinTx

Had some red leather and some hair on hide from @nstarleather, so this happened. It's version 1, I think I can do better next time around! YinTx

Pretty serious work for just messin around! Really nice. YinTx

Cool! YinTx

I like this a lot! Really nice job on the colors and the edges. YinTx

@Northmount, yes I agree, but I think it depends on how wet you make it and how much of a bend it needs to go through. Here is a bit of 11 oz or so that I've bent over after I tooled it. Hasn't suffered too much, and I could easily bend it even more if needed. But if I soaked it and formed it over something, for sure the tooling would look pretty bad. This leather is still cased, and is pretty easy to shape. So for one off's it may be easier to try this than make a matching solid shape to form and tool on. If there is easy access to something that fits, by all means the best way to go. Maybe a 2x4 with rounded edges would be easy enough to do, or a piece of pipe, depends on what the OP has available.

I'd carve, then wet, but only enough to get where you need to go. Or even better form it while it is still cased. Also follow the advice given, put some water on that bend there so the internal stress is relieved. Then get some oil on it after the water dries out. Then go about stitching on a cover layer. YinTx

It may have something to do with the thickness of the materials. Try adjusting your measurements for that and see what happens. YinTx

Here are the photos. It came with a lot of tools that I had purchased, and I had thought originally to sell it since I have so many awls, but after I used it I decided to keep it! You can see the profile of the hole it leaves-different than most. Not great for fat thread, but awesome for the tiny stuff. YinTx

That is really nice. Very well put together, great tooling. Excellent bar grounding too! YinTx

@MikeRock, it is flat. The end is squared off. The profile is not diamond shaped, but flat, think KS Blade Punch flat, but flatter and slimmer. If I get a chance today, I'll post a photo of it. YinTx

Snap! That is some fantastic tooling! YinTx

I can only speak to the one Palosanto tool that I have which is an awl. I have a lot of awls. The Palosanto is one of my favorites - for small leather goods, it is exceptionally high quality. The profile is unique and very well adapted to the more contemporary slanted style stitching. The handle is very comfortable, and made from Argentine Lignum Vitae. I am surprised I do not hear more about this brand on this forum. I'll be curious to see if others chime in on the comparisons. YinTx

Nice! and tiny basketweave too. I find that is more difficult to do than it might seem. YinTx

Am lost. How does this relate to the OP's topic?

I am sorry, this one is sold. YinTx

have a photo? is it dye or years of ... stuff coming off? Can't say if I can't see... YinTx

I have just tooled some W&C black bridle leather, worked just fine. And I must say their dye work is almost always more even than mine. It is not sealed in, though, and will get on you, your tools, your bench...until it is dry and you have sealed it yourself. YinTx