huffdad

If your pattern doesn't come with recommendations as to type & thickness of leathers to use, then experience is probably your best judge for selecting. I haven't made a wallet yet, but I would guess a 4-5 oz is appropriate for the back, 2-3 oz for the card pockets & interior, and probably pig skin for the liner. This is just a guess based on my limited experiences. Like I said, I haven't made a wallet, so take my advice with a grain of salt. *edit* Pattern paper can be anything you want. It probably doesn't specify, because it's one of the things that different people prefer different materials. Like the guy above, I use poster board (heavy card stock). Some people prefer wooden templates, acrylic, bag stiffener, etc.

I love the 50/50 beeswax/neatsfoot oil. It's my preferred finish. I wish I could figure out a way to use it on a sheridan style resist instead of using acrylic/lacquer.

Dorado, I do not know if anyone makes a leather scent. To be technical, there is no such thing as a leather essential oil. Essential oils are extracted from plants, via maceration then extraction into alcohol and/or oil. I have heard it said that cod liver oil can help to recreate the smell of the original fat liquor, but I haven't been able to duplicate the smell. Maybe it's a question of how much, or maybe it's a question of which ingredients to mix for a leather treatment. Cold hard facts are hard to find regarding such recipes, as tanneries don't like to divulge their proprietary formulas.

I can get essential oils at my local "head shop". There's a store here called Earth Mother Health Food that sells all manner of vitamins, herbs, specialty foods, specialty soaps, etc. Among their inventory is food grade essential oils. Your local wal-mart may or may not have them. Candle scents are not the same thing as essential oils. Or if you are so inclined, make your own by grinding a plant to a pulp, soak it in alcohol, then strain the alcohol and either bottle that, or mix with olive oil, then bottle it. Most of the antifungal essential oils have a very low flashpoint, so it mat not be wise to heat them. *edit* A 1 oz bottle will cost approx $5-$8. I don't remember how much I used, but it is approx 1 drop per 1 oz of oil/fat. A little goes a long way with essential oils. I've never measured precisely how much I drop in. I just guess each time.

Could you (or anyone else who understands) please explain what this means? Beveling is one of the things I need to improve also. Are you talking about using the beveler by hand as a sort of modeling tool?

I've used the permanent one once. It held beautifully. Like the others have said, it will gum up your awl & needles.

Building a saddle is my ultimate goal in all this. No one in my area does saddles, but as this is only a hobby for me and not a full business, I've not set a deadine for my goal. I'll get there eventually. I wonder if there is some way you can makeep a sacrificial mold of some kind. Form & tool, then transfer it to the skull. If that's not an option, maybe there is some way to reinforce the skull on the areas to be tooled. A type of thin metal plate in between? Or perhaps you can tool a small piece then add it to the mask like a badge or patch? Good luck.

I have the same V-gouge and the same problem. Thanks for posting your "shim" solution. I had thought about doing that, and seems it was a good idea. For thin pieces, I think I'll stick to a freehand stitch groove so I don't cut right through the piece. Thank heavens I tested it on scrap first before putting it on my work piece.

I apply packing tape to the back of the piece before casing to prevent distortions while tooling. While in progress, I use bean bags to help me hold it down - especially useful on tiny pieces. When I say bean bags, I mean I made small pouches from soft scraps filled with BB's that I sewed closed as weights.

I know nothing about sewing machines, but I made a tote bag a few weeks ago with a 3-4 Oz chrome tan, and the stitches were spaced at 7spi (approx 4 mm spacing). The thread was what tandy sells as their "sewing awl thread" and it measures approximately 0.8 millimeters wide. I loved the way the stitches laid together. It was the perfect bulk, perfect slant. I hope this helps.

I am a beginner, so please take my advice with a grain of salt. For something that is going to be tooled and also formed to shape, you might have to investigate some of the techniques that saddle makers use. Specifically, where they design the swales/forks (is that the right word?). Most tooling is done flat on the table, but for the swales, it is first formed into place then tooled in place on the contours. In your case this means using the skull as your "table" upon which you will be carving & stamping. I have never made a saddle nor tooled anything on contour. I do NOT speak from experience.

Eucalyptus is definitely noticeable, although it has a very low flash point. 118 F, if I remember correctly, but don't quote me. If you apply the mixture with added heat, most of the volatiles evaporate away. Orange oil is another anti-mold essential oil, and it has an equally low flashpoint.

I'm am confused what you are asking. Could you please rephrase or better explain what you want to accomplish? I have not used the products you are referencing, so I might not have answers regardless. Perhaps clarification can help others better answer your questions.

The most common(?) homemade finish is 50/50 beeswax/neatsfoot oil, measured by weight. Rub it on, melt it in with a heat gun (careful not to damage the leather), then buff it out. This is what I use the most when finishing Veg tan.

They are a transparent quality, in that you start light and work towards dark. Each application of dye darkens the leather, even for the same color being applied. For two toned effects, you might search for "block dye method" or airbrushing / spraying dye. Hope this helps

Link to the Tandy video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB5VeMyOCew I recently purchased some of this paint, but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for this.

I did this by accident and the people I'm making belts for wanted it as their finished look, so I thought I would share in case anyone else wanted to have a go at it. I did not search to see if this topic has been covered in another post. I use neatsfoot & beeswax as my preferred finish. When I was first trying to get the classic Sheridan style resist, I wanted to know if it could be accomplished with my homemade finish. For the record, it cannot. One really needs an acrylic or lacquer to properly resist, but on to the topic at hand. I assume you would need a wax based finish that must be melted in for this to work properly. Apply a thorough coat of finish to the project. Allow it to completely cool before buffing. You want to have puddles of hardened wax in all of your impressions and beveling. Buff it lightly so as to shine the surface but not so much that you remove wax from the low spots. Now apply your antique in the manner that you normally would. Afterwards, apply another coat of wax based finish. This time, buff it well while the wax is still wet and/or soft. For the second wax application, you want to completely eliminate those puddles of excess wax. Continue your project as you normally would from here. You can see the end result in the photo of sample pieces. Instead of a hard line where the acrylic would resist, it is a soft gradual blended effect with darkened high spot and lightened low spot. It's somewhat of a pain to accomplish, but I like the effect. Hopefully I explained well enough for someone to duplicate, if they chose to try it.

I've been playing around with dip dye recently and have been experiencing something similar. For me, though, I've had a dark streak across the center of my belts where the excess runs down. It seems counterintuitive since dip dye should be the most consistent coverage. I'm curious what more experienced folks have to say about this. My best guess would be to dye your pieces oversized then trim if you feel like wasting the leather. I haven't been doing this very long, so take my words with a grain of salt. ***edit*** I just realized you said the project was a belt. I wouldn't want to pull a strap more than once. Maybe a partial or even full burnish to try and control the rate at which dye penetrates?

I prefer mixing the 50/50 by weight. It gives a better consistency than measuring by volume. It is my preferred finish, although I'm fairly new to this game and have much yet to learn.

I'm not entirely sure acrylic paint needs a sealing coat to protect it from antique (tho I'm willing to be corrected by someone with more experience). It would make sense to me that an acrylic clear coat would be the best type of product to use. I would probably oil before painting, but that's probably an either/or.