MADMAX22

Hey kate thanks for the input, Ive been mostly happy with there oak leaf or better grades just thought this was weird. Hey is that sale still going on on those sides do you know.

That is pretty cool actually, and she did a good job too lol with getting everything spaced correctly and all that. I have to agree she's gonna give you a run for your money if she keeps up making stuff.

This definatly would be really cool, too bad I wont be able to make it but oh well.

the tandy al stohlman one may still be on sale for $30, probably not the best but I like mine. It works great. Had to sharpen it up and also had to finish pinging the brass pins and file them off which kind of annoyed me but ahh well its working great. Must say I was skeptical of head knifes until I actually cut with one then it was like wow.

Yes actually since I started that one thread that took off a while ago I have been slicking about 90% of it. I picked up a nice piece of ceramic tile at lowes, its one of the counter top edge pieces that looks like a really wide L shape. Works great until I decide to spend the money on a glass one.

Maybe just a thought but make a form for the inside of it. Stitch it, Then really case it like you would a holster or something. Flip it back out so the stitching is hidden, now insert your form and mold it to the shape you want. Not as it drys when it gets to the proper point with the form inside do your carving and such. Kind of like al stohlman did his rifle case's. I dont know if this would work but its worth a try if you have enough scrap to make one out of first hand.

http://frogtape.com/

Just a thought, not sure where you live but try and find the series (3 volumes) of al stohlmans case making books. Tandy link He does a couple of box type things and one that I remeber with a wood interior. Shows some really cool stuff that would probably help you out alot. I would look on amazon or something may find a better deal.

It was a oak leaf side that I had gotten a little while back. Yeah Ive got my first order of WandC on the way. Gonna try them out and see how I like it. They are cheaper then tandy for top of the line stuff but to be honest Ive never scene any of the top of the line stuff at either tandy shop Ive gone too. I would probably still be going tandy for the leather but Ive been disapointed the last couple of trips (about 40min truck drive to get there 1way). I am somewhat picky but not too bad and the last couple of times I just havnt found anything that looked good enough to spend money on. I liked it because I could pick out my leather but the last two trips I passed on buying anything but oddlot suede because there wasnt any tooling veg tan that was worth me throwing my hard earned money on. Add that too the drive and its just not worth it for me, Im gonna start taking the internet gamble and see what happens.

Hey guys on a couple of projects that I had to do over a few days I noticed that after I cased my leather and then had to keep it in the fridge (bagged up) and then started working the leather that certain areas were allmost like a tacky sponge feel. When I was ready to carve I would take it out of the fridge and let it get to room temp and at this time let it dry out some to get to a good carving state. Well when i let get to the point of getting a good allmost dry looking color and started my work. When it came time to bevel I noticed at certain parts the leather would allmost stick to the beveler and fell allmost spongy. I could get it to eventually do what I want but this just doenst seem right. Maybe the leather Im not sure, its 8/9oz from tandy. Anyone had this issue before.

Thanks Dave, appreciate everyones comments.

Make little paddles that are filled with sand. Should work at the ren fair lol. Any customer gets out of line and smack!

Thanks guys appreciate it. And you are correct Jbird, antelope jerkey is some good stuff.

I traced the outline onto the leather but the inside I just looked at the picture I had and played with the leather.

Well got another rifle sling finished (finally). Its a pronghorn antelope and beasketweave. Thought it turned out ok, not the best bit it should make em happy. The back once again padded with 1/4" neoprene and covered in suede (about 2/3oz), the body and strap are from 8/9oz.

Good looking work, Ive gotta get a airbrush going, the dye job is nice and even.

Sounds good, how is the tooling/dying characterisitics of the butt's

Thanks for the info, Ill have to try some out. Good leg work esantoro

The pattern for the purse is from one of the pattern packs that tandy sells. tandy pack

So far Ive used some of the pig skin as lining. The thin stuff. Also some really thin upholstery style leather. Glue it in stitch the edges or lace and your good to go atleast so far from my experiences. Ive so far done the super 77 from 3M and Ive also used this other stuff I got also a spray, it was from a fabric craft store and Igot it to use on foam. Seems to work pretty good on leather also. Anyways I usually spray it on both items and lay the liner on the leather, give it a good rub down to make sure theres good contact and everything is smooth with no bumbs or anything, then lay it inbetween foam layers then put some weight on it. This compress's everything while it drys for a bit. Then Ill take it out and let it finish drying. Trim the excess and assemble the item. Atleast this is how I made my last purse and a couple of coin purses.

Thats a nice ride, very good job of getting the leather to fit in with the bike. That skull on the tank looks bada too. I think I got a pic of me on mine in my profile page. Ive got one of those yamaha roadliners. Keep tellin myself one of these days Im gonna get a fatboy, just havnt done it yet, dont know why but allways wanted one of those beasties.

Well while we were on the topic of clothes used in leather craft, I dont know if it has been mentioned but I use the old levis (any denim really) pants that have finally bit the big one. Personally I use them to burnish edges with. They work really well generally when your doing it by hand, kind of like the guys that use canvas. Another thing I have done is wrapped them around the little rubber adaptors on your dremel tool (the ones that hold the sand paper rounds) and drop a dap of glue on the end after Ive wrapped it several times, put a stitch on each side (gotta make them slightly larger) and dont forget to wind them in the proper direction. This works for me for doing the power slicking on the edges. Atleast until I get moved into the house with a garage and stuff.

Damn chain thats alot of miles, wish I could ride that much. I ride allmost 90% of the year but NW WA state is a pain. Really nice looking seat, my boney ass couldnt handle it for more then short scouts but the work is very good looking and nice clean application of the leather on the seat. Also is that grey or black, from the pic it looks grey, if it is grey what dye did you use. It looks about the color I am looking for if I ever get around to doing my bike seat.

My self being a beginner as well will tell you what I did when I made my gerber tool/ maglight cases. Since they were allways the same size and such I would match up where I wanted to stitch. Then I would run the wheel over the lines to get my stitching and then prepunch the holes. Trial and error but after two of them I had it down. Now I would case the leather enough so that I could bend and flex it but not wet enough for true wet forming. I would put everything where it needed to go and stitch it all together. No glue or clamps, I had too prepunch the holes for this though. Once it was all stitched I would dye it and all that stuff but you could dye before hand as well.

Great idea, looks good too. Question, did it leave much or any residue on the leather. Like if you were gonna finish the belt after you do the edges would it cause any issues.