YinTx

Outstanding. Fantastic art, clean edges, great layout, perfect stitching, awesome color combination. YinTx

Thank you! Thanks, Ross. Maybe not a bad learning curve, but a painfully expensive one this time. Both in time and materials! Thank you Wedgetail, and very accurate description of the Chevre Chagrin. I was fortunate enough to get a client that liked my previous work well enough and was willing to pay for the quality materials so off to work I go. I keep thinking would be nice to have something from this kind of leather for myself, but interestingly enough, my current minimalist wallet is made from the worst scarred up bug bitten piece of scrap leather I had on hand, dyed black to hide the flaws! Works great, and I love it, expect it'll never wear out, but it's no Barenia or Chevre Chagrin! YinTx

A few years ago tried to make a dopp kit from soft leather... didn't like the way it came out. The very first thing I made was an overly complicated dopp kit that was ruined in a house fire, but I liked it. I imagine the softer leather version would be easier to pack in luggage, so all I can say is try it both ways, see what you like! My preference is the most recent version I just did - not veg tan, not soft upholstery leather, so now I'll have to make one for myself... YinTx

Ounce? and who is they? Us? Them? maybe we should be using thousandths... YinTx

I see there was a glitch in the matrix... YinTx

Sheilajeanne, The note books, 3 ring binders, padfolios etc. that I've done, I case the entire piece before I start. I use a casing solution of my own mixture, based on a variety of casing solution recipes on this board. If I remember correctly, it has liquid glycerin saddle soap, neatsfoot oil, brown listerine, some lexol leather conditioner and a lot of purified R.O. water. As I am working, if I feel it is beginning to get to dry, I'll mist the entire thing with a water mist bottle, wait a few moments, and carry on. I have seen one individual case his leather with 50/50 saddle soap and water, seemed kinda extreme to me. But, I never get hardened leather. And I don't soak it until the bubbles stop as many do. Just enough to get the leather the correct moisture content throughout, and that usually means waiting a bit for it to even out. When I am done tooling and it is dry, I'll add any dye, and after that a very light coat of neatsfoot oil if I feel it needs it. Then on to the finishing touches such as leather balm, tan kote, antique, resolene or whatever suits your fancy. I can't imagine leather so hard it'll crack after tooling. Usually it takes hot hot water to get this reaction. YinTx Sheilajeanne, The note books, 3 ring binders, padfolios etc. that I've done, I case the entire piece before I start. I use a casing solution of my own mixture, based on a variety of casing solution recipes on this board. If I remember correctly, it has liquid glycerin saddle soap, neatsfoot oil, brown listerine, some lexol leather conditioner and a lot of purified R.O. water. As I am working, if I feel it is beginning to get to dry, I'll mist the entire thing with a water mist bottle, wait a few moments, and carry on. I have seen one individual case his leather with 50/50 saddle soap and water, seemed kinda extreme to me. But, I never get hardened leather. And I don't soak it until the bubbles stop as many do. Just enough to get the leather the correct moisture content throughout, and that usually means waiting a bit for it to even out. When I am done tooling and it is dry, I'll add any dye, and after that a very light coat of neatsfoot oil if I feel it needs it. Then on to the finishing touches such as leather balm, tan kote, antique, resolene or whatever suits your fancy. I can't imagine leather so hard it'll crack after tooling. Usually it takes hot hot water to get this reaction. YinTx

Looks good! and yes, lots of skiving. The leather I had used was pretty thick. I really need a bell skiving machine to get nice and even, as well as faster. Even with the skiving, I added a cotton binder to the inside to clean up the look some, but still it was a bit much for my taste. Not sure what one could do about that. YinTx

For a "rush" job, I'd say you did fantastic! now to make one for myself... I feel like the cobbler with no shoes somedays... YinTx

Thats the one, for sure. Look forward to seeing what you come up with! YinTx

Rossr, I just did some math and sketched the pattern out myself...turns out I screwed up the math, so the dimensions weren't exactly what I was expecting, but came out ok anyhow. Since the math was off, I tossed the sketch. Here is one I just did so you can see the shape. It is stitched inside out obviously, and turned. The two matching pieces of zip are on opposite sides. Let me know if this makes sense to you. YinTx

Did I read this right, you have to pick it up? Bit of a drive for me, sadly. YinTx

The cutting edge on that mallet die/slot punch looks really rough and banged up. How long have you been using it for it to get in that condition? Also, a lot of well known makers out there like Osborne, Blanchard, etc make this type of punch, any comparison to them on price/performance? YinTx

I saw a video where they floated yellow and black paint in a large pool of water, then dipped an electric guitar in it. Removed the floating paint, pulled the guitar out, and voila, black and yellow swirled guitar. Maybe same concept? But would think dipping a piece of veg in a pool of oil is asking for a lifetime of oil soaked leather. YinTx

Looks like some mis-haps I've had on leather in the past, where the dauber dumped the dye in the first pass, then didn't really dye much after that. Could be done by applying a very diluted coat of say Fiebing's 201 Light Brown to get the light color, then streaking on the full strength dye on top of that for the dark areas. Kinda looks like dauber swipes or wet rags (wet with dye) wiped in an arc to me, but just a guess based on past difficulties getting an even dye job. YinTx

awesome, thanks for sharing this. YinTx

Generous offer, I'll take you up on it if you will take some type of leather in trade. Anything in that range you would be interested in? I have Horween, Wickett and Craig, Hermann Oak, etc., even could consider Barenia... YinTx

Sam, Barenia leather is a calf leather made by the Haas Tannery, one of the most important leather suppliers to Hermes as I understand it. Chevre is a goat leather made at the Alran Tannery, although there are others as I understand it. Both are French tanneries. Both are quite expensive, and the three wallets used up an entire side of Chevre, and most of a half side of Barenia. Companies like Fine Leatherworking and Rocky Mountain Leather Supply sell these kinds of leathers. Anyone that has better info on these two leathers is welcome to chime in. YinTx

Thanks! Yes, thefanninator, that is a Riri #4 if I remember right. I too tried pliers, even some with plastic jaws, etc. and like you found none really worked well. Having no desire to spend $60+ for zipper pliers, I discovered the easiest way to set them was simply to whack em flat with a plastic mallet over a marble slab! Course the bottom stops are pricey too, and not entirely necessary, you could just go with a leather cover over the zip as many do. YinTx

Thanks much, Sofaspud! This leather is fantastic, I'm dyin to make something I can use out of it, like a briefcase, but I have to sell more of it before I do that lol. This stuff is downright 'spensive. I have one tote and one bucket bag to make out of it for customers, and after having to do 3 wallets to get one I was happy with, I'm a bit gun shy. Zipper on version 2 came out awful, I won't show it. Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, version 2 is hiding it's worst flaws under version 1. And even version 1 you can see where I was struggling a bit keeping everything happy. So now when I see someone's awesome stitching on Barenia, I . I've restitched before, never really been happy with it. If that was the only flaw...and if the interior pockets weren't also stitched in white, I might would do it with a more subtle color thread. But alas, the zipper design and install was a fail, so I won't spend more time on it. Thanks for the suggestion! YinTx

Thank you. Yes, I did come up with the pattern, nothing complicated, just similar to most long wallets you see out and about. Took me more than a few tries to get it down. YinTx

Lol. I did this once, showed someone my work after they asked what I did for a living. I said, "Oh, I sell leatherwork." After I showed it to them, they wanted to know where I bought it from and where I sell it at.... I was like me: Yeah, no I MAKE it. them: Really, where do you get it? me: starts as a cow hide.... Another person said "Wow, that almost looks like a professional made it..." I haven't shown much of my tooling outside of the family yet, a few images of pieces have been about like on the dopp kit, the eagle, and the IPad cover. Mostly mild but positive reception I'd say. Hasn't garnered much request or orders, so I take that as a need to keep improving...most of my (not tooled) items that I do complete and show, folks really like. After they learn I can't make them one for $20, the interest kinda dwindles... YinTx

This is version 2 and 3 of a long wallet a customer ordered in Barenia and Chevre Chagrin. Only version 3 made the grade. Version 1 never got finished, not sure what to do with Version 2, not good enough to sell, and with 1/2 a side of Chevre Chagrin and a couple square feet of Barenia, a Riri zipper and hours of edge work I can't bring myself to toss it. Happy at least Version 3 came out well enough! I have a newfound respect for those that are able to work with this leather. Stitching is a challenge, and not adding your own "Patina" so the customer can add theirs is also a challenge. Edge painting is also not easy for me on this type of leather! Enjoy. YinTx

Thanks, Bikermutt! True, we always see our own flaws, I'm practicing not pointing them out right away. I've started handing my work to others and saying "hey, tell me where I messed up." If they find it, bin. If they don't, then I show it to them and see if they think it is bad enough for the bin. Thats how this one made it to completion. And thanks for the kudos. Thanks, glad you like it! BTW, camera work helps hide flaws. I'll put up the newer improved version when I finish, and reserve the kicking for others. YinTx

Neat, thanks for that info! I'll have to look for a piece some time to try out! I really like how it looks for your work. YinTx

I took it as intent to aid. For me, carrying is serious business, whether 10 minutes or 10 hours, so I want all the technical aspects of any holster I might make to be spot on so I don't have to worry about any kind of mishap. From that perspective, I want all kinds of input. But I digress, I am me, not everyone else is like that. ComputerDoctor, I see a lot of creativity in your stamp work, and I can see you put some time into your first effort at a holster. Look forward to seeing how you do your next version. YinTx