MADMAX22

Thanks guys, Funnygirl its still a work in progress, I am working on trying to improve the design everytime I make this particular one. I think I made a how to in the how to section on the earlier style but it will give you an idea of how its built. It may be the exact or similer design as this. Here is the link I found it http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=24467&st=0&p=155389&hl=purse&fromsearch=1entry155389

Well been some time since I have completed any leather work to show off so here is the latest creation. Its the same purse design I have made before construction wise. About 7oz body lined with suede splits. Lined the strap as well. Everything hand stitched and such. Used dark brown for the overall color and cordovin for the edges to bring in the two tone effect. Then used a little antique paste over the stamping to fill that in. Sealed up with some wax/oil based stuff. Enjoy and feel free to critique Oh and yes the chicago screws on the strap are black and not antique like the rest of the hardware. I just didnt have any to match so I gotta find some antique brass chicago screws if I can and then I will replace them at that time.

Well not exactly. Tazers can drop you, these can put you out of commission for a while or permanently depending on how they are made and used. Hence why overzealous adrenaline pumped cops use to get them selves in trouble by accident or on purpose so they decided they were a bad idea. Great self defense weapon if used properly and if you know what your doing. Its just the legal aspects in todays society that tend to get you in a heap of trouble if your not careful but Ill leave that topic at that since this isnt really the place.

I commented on your gallery but will do the same here, thats freaking cool. Great job.

I only know a little about all this stuff from what I have learned from others and from experimenting. Chuck Burrows besides being amazing at making era style leather works is also the most knowledgable person I have noticed in the area of vinegaroon and similar things relating to doing leather work from the time areas he has studied. There are several post of his that he goes into great detail on the vinegaroon processes and such and is well worth checking out if you can search for his post.

Some things I learned is that make sure the baking soda rinse is just that. A good rinse then rinse it off with clean water. If you leave it in the baking soda to long it isnt very good for it. After I oil it once or twice with neatsfoot oil and it has thoroughly dried I will do a coat or two of something like sno-seal or picards or montana pitch blend or similar. Once that is done I have not scene any kind of transfer of the reaction to anything else. There shouldnt be a transfer except to maybe other leather since its a chemical reaction and not an actual die. One thing I noticed is that sometimes the leather will come off do to the flesh side being exposed and could possibly look like rub off.

Agree with Dave on everything for the most part. One thing about the benches and such, IMHO I like to make them to a good height while standing at the bench. Then get a chair that is adjustable in height or of the correct height to make things comfy. This way they will work both ways and save your back.

Yeah maybe if you know someone it could be pretty cheap or free. I got mine at Joanns where it comes in a pretty good sized brick. Its still pricey but far cheaper then the individual cakes ecspecially when they have it on sale. Its in the candle making section. Come to think of it any candle making section of a hobby store of sorts should have it cheaper then the "specialized" cakes you get for leather working and such. Be sure to look online also. There are places that sell just bees wax and related items for far cheaper.

By no means am I totally experienced with this stuff but I have really liked using snoseal, picards, and aussie wax. I like the idea of keeping the leather protected and being able to clean with some saddle soap and reapply once in a while. I do this with everything I make now. I think I will try the MPB when I run out of other stuff but more and more I am relying on my own home brew stuff. Its just bees wax, parafin wax in equal parts with some neats foot oil thrown in. It comes out like somewhat hard butter but melts nicely when you rub it in with your fingers. Has a really nice mellow finish that buffs out real well. Once this batch is run out I may try the mix with some pitch or rosin in the mix and see what happens. I know it is easier to just buy the stuff but alot of fun to use something I made on my own.

I got a couple of things, just didnt know about it till I got the magazine and by then over 2/3 of the stuff was sold. Thats alright I would have spent to much money anyways.

Sorry for late response but yeah your right its the braiding book. Hope you got it all figured out.

IMHO the two best leathers I have tried so far are herman oak and wickett and craig. WC is a nicer tooling leather IMHO (not to experienced compared to some) because it seems like the leather is almost fluffier in a way, it has a nice depth to it when you start carving. Now that being said HO is outstanding for carving as well just in a little different way. Christian (xianleather) uses HO top grade leather and as you can see from his work it is amazing and tools fantastically. For my inexperienced self it seemed easier to get depth and relief with the WC. The HO is a little firmer tannage. The WC is a little softer overall feel, not saggy feeling like some of the import tannages that you can get but softer then HO. This is where it pays to know what you will be making and go for what you need. For things like holsters and such I think I would personally recommend HO but for the other stuff WC but then again either works great for anything you wanna make in the end. Either way you cant go wrong. Now as far as the price increase, in the last 4 years to my knowledge I have not scene a price increase from them from what I remember so that seems fair to me to increase price to cover inflation which seems to be about 2% a year for the most part. If you raise the price of your work by a dollor or half dollar and depending on what you make you will easily recoupe the cost of the hide increase of 5 or 7 dollars. EDIT> ok after reading the actual pdf I guess I was just about right that they have not raised prices in 4 yrs so that seems about right.

I agree with the sno seal type stuff for the natural protection. You can use a hair dryer or similar to get it to soak into the leather. I also made my own formula that I like which is parafin, bees wax, and some neatsfoot oil. It looks very similar to sno seal and does a great job of weather proofing as much as something natural like that can.

Sorry for the late response, the 99 is like the 77 but is more industrial strength. It works very well but so does 77 so if thats what you can find give it a go. The only thing that it doesnt work as well on is things like foam where a specific spray for foam works a little better. For just leather it works great though.

Grab the book the encyclopedia of lacing, it is a wonderful book that will show just about everything related to lacing of most types. It is money well spent.

The prefinished leather shouldnt cause a issue. I finish most of my leather before stitching. I think the biggest thing to consider is awl size compared to thread and needle size. I am with twinoaks on this one, I only need pliers when I am back stitching. I found that having to use pliers all the time became very time consuming and ended up just not being much fun. It seemed to double the time it would take to stitch say a belt or something which would put you from 2 hours to 4 or so. Another thing with hand stitching is remember to do it the same way for every hole. This will lend to more uniform stitching. It took me a while to get this down but I realized even if I started out with a bad habit or doing it slightly wrong to just keep doing that till it was done and it would still turn out looking pretty good.

Over all they look excellent. Great coloring and carving. Cool design as well for construction. One little pointer I would suggest, on the inside liner make a half circle at the bottom that is cut out. Then shorten the liner by about a quarter to half inch shorter overall length then the wallet body. When you put it together dont stitch the little half circle cut out. This will help with the bulge that can happen when you fold them in two.

Excellent work Ed, love the colors and the browns all go very well together.

Some more great looking stuff Tina.

I have tried using many different finishes in my learning process and to be honest the best one I have found so far is the old school mix I made myself. Melted parafin wax, bees wax, and some oil together then let it cool. Once it cooled it was similer to sno-seal (which I also really like). It leaves a very nice mellow sheen and can be reapplied as necessary over time. If you dont feel like making it yourself then you can get several similer items on line or locally. Ones that seem to work really well are picards leather dressing, sno-seal, bees natural. I use to play with trying to use a sealer per say but found these protect the leather, look really good, and are relatively easy to use.

As Hilly has said there are several threads on this same question. Ill add my thoughts as well. The harbor freight setup is very cheap, you get the brush and accessories as well as the air compressor. It is not the highest quality but will work for over all coloring and shading some. Now that being said if you plan on doing a bunch of detail work and if you know you are going to be doing this for a while with lots of work then IMHO I would go with a little bit nicer of a setup. It will cost more initially but in the end it will last just about forever if you keep it clean. May have to replace orings and the needle and such. There are many good brands, badger, paasche, iwata are just a few that ring a bell.

Those look really good and thats a great way to make the holder for them. What did you use on the back and what do you seal them with if anything? I am thinking that something like a set of these (my own design ofcourse) would be a great gift to go with another project I have to start soon.

Looks great, really like the colors and construction wise it turned out very well.