taintedelephant

yes if punching, no if tooling, stamping. I built a desk, with 2x4s and particle board, I'm thinking about filling the center void with cement, I'm moving upstairs, and am afraid of the same thing.

So this is what I was talking about. I want to stretch the straps inside of a frame, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

As far as theft goes, you could hang your barrettes from a strap with a series of holes running down both sides. That is how I display them in my work space, It works well on a wall, I'll take a picture if I get a chance. You could hang your key fobs in a similar way to your earnings.

Is that step structure provided by the people who run the show? I don't like that kind of setup. but if that is a limitation you are given, you have done quite well.

stamping, is no problem, with the 4oz wood hammer, but I like some weight when I punch, and set rivets and snaps. I work on a granite tile glued to a marble tile on top of a piece of camp pad.

I have used rubber cement before, seams to have worked fine. but if you or your clients are allergic to latex it could be a problem. I've even heard of people gluing patterns to their leather with it, but when I tried it it made a mess, I couldn't get it off even after it was dry.

Now you did it, I have a new project in mind that I don't need to do but am totally compelled to. A good source of HDPE is shopping bags, I have the whole thing planned out, my family is going to hate me

I've heard end grain hardwood is awesome, and I'm going to glue something up as soon as I get out of this apartment and into a place where I can work w/ wood. for now I use either a cheep cutting board, or a piece of 12oz scrap depending on my mood, and what I'm punching.

Yeah its from HF, I too can't get out of there w/o at least walking down every aisle. The trick with them is to know the difference between the tools and the tool shaped objects that they sell. I bought a lot of TSOs from them. total waste of money. Any way the hammer isn't the Mjolnir that I had hoped, but I still like it a lot, and way better than the wood one.

Yeah, I got the wooden one when I just got started, and only kept it because the poly and rawhide ones marketed for leather work are way overpriced. I think the dead blow was about $6. I figured I might continue using the wood one for stamping, since I don't do much anyway. Although I bet it would be good for letters, and 3d stamps.

I just got a 1 pound dead blow hammer. I just wanted to give it try and see how it would work. I haven't done much with it, but I tried it out with a slot punch, and the best thing about it is that it is super quiet, and it punches way easier than that tiny 4 oz wooden hammer I had.

I have no idea, but those are really nice. I would guess that it is a combination of paint with a brush, and then paint either dry brushed, or using a block dying type technique followed by highlighter or gel antique.

I would also like to know how the particle board tile does, I used jb weld to put a marble tile back to back with a granite tile and then put craft foam on the marble side, it is better than nothing, but I cant help but wonder if I could do better somehow. There is a stone shop between Harbor Freight, and Tandy I'm going to check on some scrap next time I'm over there.

I'm not experienced enough to help you, but I would suggest just diving in until you find someone to study under. Go on youtube, visit the Tandy and Springfield leather web sites, Go to the classes at your local Tandy store. Start simple like with bracelets and cuffs and work your way up to harder and harder tasks. don't be afraid to suck and you can teach yourself a lot.

Hobby Lobby doesn't have a much bigger leather section than Michael's, but I think both stores have a section for fabric embellishments, which have a large variety of spots, which I think have long enough prongs for like 8-9 oz leather, which is what I would use for a medium to large dog. for gems I would use the Tandy gem rivets, I have never used them, but they look nice in the package, especially the turquoise.