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MorningStarL

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Everything posted by MorningStarL

  1. MorningStarL
    FredK, thanks for this. The other day I found a quart of Ecoflow's Java Brown. I love the colour and it's always blotchy and uneven. I cut it 2:1 with alcohol and used a kitchen sponge on damp leather, and got the best dye job ever. Took two coats, then neatsfoot oil, and then I used neutral shoe polish (because my Resolene's all dried up in the jar!!!). There are problems with this -- I'm out of practice -- but I LOVE the way the colour came out.
  2. MorningStarL
    What about dipping? Although I can see that might be hard with a belt.
  3. MorningStarL
    Thanks, Winn!
  4. MorningStarL
    Those are gorgeous! I have a thing about tools -- make my own when I can -- and if I'm going to use them, they should be as attractive as function permits. Thanks!
  5. MorningStarL
    Thanks. Mine are Douglas awls, and they're very sharp (and I take aspirin for a heart condition, so sometimes keeping blood off the leather is my big focus), but I'll look at these too.
  6. MorningStarL
    Yes, I see flaws all the time. It helps a lot to let all y’all look at them with a clean eye. Thanks. I do some story-writing, too. It’s also fun and nerve-wracking. Thanks.
  7. MorningStarL
    I’d have liked very much to do that, but I haven’t done it before and I didn’t want this order to be my first. It already had minor calamaities, and the knifemaker kept phoning the client and saying, “You can pick them up Saturday,” or some other day, and then I’d knock over the bottle of dye and spill it all, or get stomach flu, or some other darn thing ... And, thank you.
  8. MorningStarL
    Thanks -- it GOT stressful the night I knocked over the bottle of Saddle Tan dye, all over the basement floor. I'd ordered more cuz I knew I'd use it up -- but we had to put off the delivery date. Thank you.
  9. MorningStarL
    It looks great -- I'd like to try one some day. Great stitching and I love the colour -- what is that?
  10. MorningStarL
    I didn't really know what tags to use. I normally make one sheath at a time, for a man who makes one knife at a time, as he feels like making it in the moment. Then he got an order for 8 -- these six are for members of a military unit, and they're special. A friend of the client, who's not in the unit, wanted one anyway, so that made seven. And the knifemaker decided to go ahead and do another, with a different handle, just to do it -- so that was 8 sheaths. All more or less the same as this -- one left-handed and the rest right. 9-10 ounce vegtan; hand-cut; I make the stitching holes with the awl clamped in a drill press cuz my hands are weak and I have arthritis and trigger finger. Stitching by hand -- 1 mm Tiger thread in Havanna Cigar. Fiebing's Saddle Tan -- which wasn't always co-operative. And the knifemaker was nervous about the whole thing, so he wasn't always all that co-operative either. They went out to the client yesterday. After reading a lot about finishes, I melted mink oil and bee's wax together, 50-50. It's hard and a little sticky. Takes a lot of rubbing in, and a lot of buffing. I used a wheel for that. And I love that high-gloss it gave, after three coats of 50-50 Resolene and water. I was sick on the weekend and finished the buffing with little time before the client arrived. These are the knifemaker's photos -- they don't have the angles I'd have used, but I'm not gonna complain at this point. I'm kinda glad they're gone -- they were starting to weigh on me.
  11. MorningStarL
    I've got the six knife sheaths done. Started dying them last week and knocked over the bottle of Fiebing's Saddle Tan. Had enough to do two and more was on the way. The two from the old bottle are streaky. The dye went on or took unevenly. There's mottled patches. I've been trying to even it out, without much success, and they're already darker than I'd like them to be. The knifemaker is cranky and giving me grief. I don't know what to do. I've made a test patch with more of the dye, and I'm prepared to try sanding lightly with 600-grit (I saw that on here somewhere) and I've got some Barkeeper's Friend, but haven't tried that yet. I told the knifemaker today I thought the options were (1) over-dye them black (which the client doesn't want), or (2) start over and make new ones (and he wants to get paid sooner than that). I'll take pictures tomorrow -- too dark now. Thanks in advance.
  12. MorningStarL
    Tom, is there any way to fix them once they,'re too dark? I read this too late, and I don' t want to have to make rwo more knife sheaths. Reading about oxalic acid.
  13. MorningStarL
    They're great to go over places that might have been masked by a little too much contact cement. Or, so I,'ve heard...
  14. MorningStarL
    I finished a costom order last night for six matching lighter brown knife sheaths. I was dying the first Saddle Tan when I knocked the bottle over. Much cussin'. There was enought to do the second but they're both streaky and dark brown. Same bottle and (I think) same hide as two I did last week. I knew this order wuld run me out so I ordered more Wednesday night, but we had to e-mail the client to say, "Not Saturday now." i' m searching for a way to lighten what I've got. Was using a damp sponge on damp 9-10 ounce vegtan. Operation's too small for a sprayer topay off
  15. MorningStarL
    Do you have more pictures of this? The inside and the flaps? I want to make a couple for friends, and I have some beautiful leathers for it. Thanks! I think it looks good!
  16. MorningStarL
    Thank you! My partner has an order for 7 knives, and I don't have enough black dye for that. Thanks for the help -- the forums make my work better, and I appreciate it.
  17. MorningStarL
    Fredk, oil-based or spirit dye?
  18. MorningStarL
    Fred, thank you. That's exactly what I need to know. The lining is only stitched at the top of the bag (two pockets, side by side), so I can pull it out inside out and wash it. I can't turn the whole bag inside out. I'll do what you said. Thanks again.
  19. MorningStarL
    I have an expensive buffalo leather messenger bag, fabric lining, I've used non-stop as a purse since I got it. Last night I slipped on mud and fell into a pond. (Not deep, thank goodness.) It took a couple of minutes to get out. The purse was underneath me and the zipper pockets were open. I poured water and mud out of it even before I got me out of the pond. We wiped off the surface mud as soon as we got inside. I'm not too worried about that -- I've got saddle soaps and leather conditioners and all. Packed the bag full of paper towels and left it in a warm room, out of direct heat currents, overnight. This morning the paper towel's soaked and it's dirty enough I can tell there's mud inside. The fabric for the lining is something the manufacturer gets -- printed with the designer's name. I need to get it clean without doing damage to the leather. Any ideas? I have e-mailed the manufacturer and asked them for help. Thanks!
  20. MorningStarL
    Thanks! I'm looking now.
  21. MorningStarL
    Halitech, how did you order thread from them? I'm seeing constructed items on the website, and those and leather scraps on the Etsy store, but no thread.
  22. MorningStarL
    Thanks. I think four or five of his knives have sold this past week. That's a record. Pays property taxes and he was able to buy nickel-silver and brass, a bar of Damascus, and some yummy-looking handle materials. Next one that sells, we're buying more dyes, some new threads (and I'll look at Maine on line, thanks for that) and a couple of extra awls. I've been so unhappy with the last batch of thread I got from Tandy I keep meaning to write and tell them about it.
  23. MorningStarL
    Thank you! I've mostly been remembering to dye at least parts of the sheath before sewing -- inside the belt loops and inside the sheath, because it's easier than after. I'm going to change from applying dye to getting some containers and dipping soon. But I'm near-sighted and need reading glasses now. It's hard for me to see what I want after dying, especially when its black. I've got a couple more in process now -- I have more time with them and at least one is for someone I like a lot. I'm glad I learned how to do the belt clips, in case I have to again. I want to get better-quality threads than I've had. I'll read about stitching and see what others are using; if there's something I can get wthout having to order from overseas.
  24. MorningStarL
    The knifemaker was checking the pictures for me. It's hard to gauge colour depth and intensity on a laptop screen. He says, "The pictures of the sheath are not as good as the sheath." For which, many thanks. It's on its way now -- to Florida. I was wrong about which side of the continent it was going to. Thanks again, kiwican and snubbyfan.
  25. MorningStarL
    It's done. Not my best nor my worst work ever. I was trying to make stitching holes late at night, in an unheated workshop with the taps dripping so pipes wouldn't freeze, and was going to have to re-set my awl, when the knifemaker suggested that just this once, I could drill the holes. I didn't want to. Even with all those other reasons -- but the customer had been crude and disrespectful, so I did it. Pictures tomorrow maybe, with the dye and everything on it, before it goes in the mail. I was using thin leather, and the front and the back are two pieces each, flesh side joined together. The clip's mounted in a separate piece (thanks, Snubbyfan) and stitched to the back of the back; the strap for the stud is stitched into the front of the back. The stud's in the front of the front. I used 9-10oz for the welt, and left the top 1/2" or so unstitched. The knife has a big brass bolster and it needs room. I got the edges burnished very sweetly and dyed it all with Fiebrings Black; then Resolene 50-50 with water, and a coat of neutral shoe polish. It goes in the mail tomorrow. Thanks, everyone. You're making me better at what I'm doing. Sorry I don't know how to get the pictures in order.
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