Leatherbyelaine

Sorry this took so long!

Sorry. Try this: http://hexnhit.wix.com/hexnhit Seriously I just received my stamp yesterday. Don't have a pic but it was very professionally made and even packaged in a sweet tin case. I highly recommend.

Hexnhit.com Not in USA, but only took 3 days to receive. Great quality. Half the price of Tandy!

Like this??

Recently I've had some pretty bad carpal tunnel issues w my left hand. It always gets bad due to hand stitching my products. I had ct related surgery (for a separate part of the same hand) about five years ago- now the pain has started up in my index and thumb. Question- does anyone have any suggestions (aside from surgery and wearing a wrist brace) that they have found useful? How many others have this problem? I've had to stop all leatherwork and temporarily close my shop. Very depressing. Just want to know us anyone else has dealt w ct to this extent. Thanks in advance for any support. Elaine

I'm looking into finally getting a sewing machine. I'm a novice at machine sewing -Any suggestions on this? What's the general cost? Looking to sew mostly 1-2 oz pigskins and suedes for handbags.

Well I finally got a 1 ton arbor press! I'm super excited to use it with my makers stamp-- but now how do I get the 5" delrin rod OFF?? ANy suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks texback. This was the system I used to get the result in my photo shown on the first post. It did work, but I'm a 5'3" petite thing w not enough muscle to hold it in place! And I want my makers stamp deeper than shown in the photo. I'm looking into the arbor press. Sounds like I could use it for multiple things. Great replies- thank you so much everyone! So glad I discovered this forum.

Yes. Tandy should change their "custom makers stamp " manufacturer. Not only was this a problem, but because of the lack of communication it took THREE MONTHS to make. Thank you for the idea! I purchased a 4lb mallot. If that doesn't work I'll try removing the pesky rod!

Really? Ok. I wish Tandy would have mentioned this before buying the stamp. Thank you Bob for the link!

This is a newbie question, but I finally got my makers stamp and its a kind of stamp I've never used before. It's HUGE and I'm having a hard time getting a clean stamp that isn't "shaky". What is the best way to hammer this stamp?? I'm using a rubber mallot on granite with (obviously) tooling leather. Here's a pic of one stamp that came out right (after several mishaps !)

The finished handbag. I'm very happy w it!

Here's the photo.

Diluted water stain dyes water colored on to the raw tooled leather- then I'll follow up w serious super sheen blocking and antique gel saddle tan. Can't wait to see this!

Thank you!!!!!