MADMAX22

Hey thanks Dave, that brings up another question. When dying the flesh side what do you seal it with? The next one I do I have some other ideas but would like the inside to match atleast color wise and havnt had good luck with dyeing the flesh side.

Oh yeah thats nice.

Hey guys I was playing with some tejus lizard that I got off of ebay and decided to try one of the gerber multi tool sheaths with a little inlay. More of a learning experience playing with some new finishes (new to me) and dealing with alot of mistakes. Didnt really plan this one out too much but it was fun to do and I learned alof of what not to do next time. Anyways here it is. The dye is feibings light brown (unthinned, I usually allways thin my dye and I think I will continue to do so), finished with some oil, then acrylice resoline. At first I finished it with some leather balm with atom wax but ended up pulling too much dye up and got it on the lizard so had to go back and take that off as much as possible then came back in with the resolene. Anyways like I said it was a learning experience. Other issues. I used to thin a leather for the backing of the inlay side.It isnt firm enough to keep the inlay really steady, the front and back of the sheath is 5oz, I used the cutout piece for under the inlay since the lizard skin is really thin, then put some 2oz behind the inlay side. Well next time Ill just use the 5 or 6oz to go behind the inlay side.

So I read somewhere maybe it was on a website or something that talked about not putting camera lenses in leather cases because of some of the chemicals that could ghost the lense ( I guess fog it up basically). Now I dont remember if this was talking about antique style cameras which are a far cry from cameras of today. I dont even know it could of been a sells gimmick for something made of plastic. Anyways you guys ever had any issues storying your camera and accesories in a leather case. Any thing to worry about. Thanks for any info.

I have done the drilling also and thought I got a very professional appearance. It is different then using a awl to do it. WIth drilling your stitching will be all in a row, with a stitching awl your stitching will have the cant to one side for each stitch which is also why its important to pierce the leather the same way each time and when you stitch make sure you stitch the same way each one. This will make your stitching look great. When drilling I used I think it is a 3/64, use a good drill or a new bad one and they will drill perfectly each time. I did find this a little more clumsy then the awl once I got use to the awl. Now you also have to make sure that the thread your using is the right size for the hole. Tandy sells a smaller stitching awl that I use for all my stitching and it works very well. Stitching Awl With 1-1/4" Blade 31218-01

Nice looking work man, those toilet seats are a cool idea and pretty good work. I would definatly check out the holster section and get some more ideas on improving your talents. Your a lucky one, you have the artistic struggle out of the way from doing all that tattoo work.

Nice I like. What did you color with? acrylics?

Yeah that is great looking. Thank you for posting the finished product. That tooling looks like it would take forever just about.

Gotcha thanks Marlon.

Hey guys I read a while back that you can thin feibings dye (the regular stuff) with denatured alcohol. So I have been doing that for some time now and it works fine, however it doesnt seem to give me the finish I am looking for most of the time. I have heard of adding some neats foot to the thinned dye which makes it kind of like the feibings oil dyes. However with the denatured alcohol it doesnt mix with the oil. So how do you guys go about doing this. I have also heard of using rubbing alcohol to mix with your dye's. Does this mix with the oil better? Thanks for any input.

Holy .... lol thats one pricey bag. Ofcourse atleast its useful and would probably last a full lifetime. I think what I would do is try it without the strap retainers and see how it looks with your overall design, color, type of leather. In your pictures I like the way the black one looks as far as shape/form. I like your bag style better and the color but its hard to see/think of what it would look like without the certain parts on there and make up a opinion.

It seems too, I know not doing it and the odor was pretty bad alot longer but not too seriouse. When doing the baking soda wash it makes it so that you gotta get your nose right up to the piece to get a wif of the vineger.

Try a little more oil. I know that mine will do that and Ill just add some more oil to the areas that bend, I usually bend them and apply some oil and then they are good to go. Its still trial and error for me but the stregth of my solution is really good and I get a nice black in about 35s to 1min of dipping. I think the vinagaroon really draws out the oils in the leather. That and I give it a baking soda wash then a rinse so all of these probably really get rid of it. It also depends on the leather, Ive had some that got really tough afterwards and others that were nice and flexible even after all the treatment.

Thats cool as all heck. That would be perfect to inlay into the bench if you could swing it.

Hey I was wondering if there is a way that you could send out a pm to those of us whos paid subscriptions run out. I know its all voluntary to donate and I cant donate much but I can do a certain amount every couple months however I forget about it. Just an idea for the people who generally pay a little bit. It doesnt have to be a spam attack or anything just a friendly one time only PM. Thanks

Welcome, the stuff youve done is really good. The construction is outstanding. Well on your way to, and enjoy the forums.

That looks really cool, its kind of like doing filigri without the filigri (spelling). How do you get that nice light mahogany color. Mine allways ends up being way too dark.

Thanks David, I must say your seats still looked aewsome. It was great seeing your work in person, I think people thought I was a little weird because I was more interested in your lacing and such then the motorcycle. I know your tooling looks really good in your pictures but seeing it in real life I was like wow thats great. There were two other seats that I saw that were custom but I couldnt get to them to get close ups because they were roped off. Both were from the early 90's. Ahhh well.

Hey went to the motorcycle show today up here in seattle and guess what I saw. A few of David's seats and a couple of others that I have no idea. One looked really good but when I asked who did it they said it was a trade secret, lol whatever. Anyways ...... David your seat still looked great but I would try and tell those people how to take care of them. However they were still very nice and the tooling was excellent. Great job.

Hey Jbird I know that on ebay lately there have been alot of scrap lots of decent size upholstery leather. This stuff would work great for making a apron, it may just be a little bit of a funky color but after a few years it wont be the same color anyways lol. But if you got a sewing machine it may be worth taking a look at if you want one made out of leather.

That looks good. I am glad you posted this because Ive got a silver/chrome bike myself and was wondering how the naturel browns would look on it. Very good job on the seat. Do you use Windows? If you do you should be able to resize them with paint.

The boning tool that comes with the kit has a burnishing half wheel on the end of it. Basically you get from looking at the picture and from what I remember (thats what I got about a year ago, in my case should of just gotten the ultimate workshop) Plastic boning/burnishing tool strap cutter (wood) utlity knife hammer (rawhide) single hole punch wheel holepunch set of mini and maxi individual punches compass sheers safety skiver rivet/snap setting kit stitching slot punches (multi and single) edge beveler stiching groover tool awl with mutlipe blades granite slab rubber mat I think that pretty much somes it up. I could have missed something but eh. There are some things you may not use but for the most part I pretty much used all of it and got alot more but I do alot of different stuff. Thing is you will need needles and stuff like that along with thread and such.

Just wanted to add that tandy has there pro leatherworker tool set on sale right now for $200. Its a pretty good starter set if you dont have anything at all.

Thats really cool, good job on getting those guys restored. I love the look of both of them. Gotta keep us informed of how it goes.

Hey um where did you get that clasp at. That thing is nice looking. Thanks