Chief31794

Don't get as much call for carving as I used to, I still like to do them and I still like em', guess I'm what the young folks call "old School". Chief

I prefer to dip dye and only dye one side when the back will be visible and aesthetically better if undyed. Your dye job will be much more even using dip dying, just my opinion. Chief

I've got Barry Kings Grooved Edgers and love em. They came very sharp, stay sharp, and do a very nice job are very high quality as you'd expect from BK. Chief

Looks embossed to me, like it may have been done with a Plate. I could be wrong, that happens a lot lately. Chief

The stain is Tandy Professional Water Stain Brown, the sheath sold for $49.95, the strap $69.95, thanks. Chief

Yep, if they're paying, they get to decide what goes on it. He said the Mushrooms were from the Allman Brothers Band and the Lightning Bolt is from the Greatful Dead. He never did say what the rose was for. He provided the graphics, I just carved them on the strap. Thanks Thor, it is Highlighter (Chestnut Tan), then it is conditioned with Feibings Aussie and then two coats of Resolene (50/50). Thanks Rohn.

These both went out today. The guitar strap carvings were a first for me, never been asked to put mushrooms and lightning bolts on a guitar strap. Oh well, long as they pay. Both are made from Hermann Oak. The sheath is lined with pigskin split. Chief

I have a 4 day show in July in North Carolina, so I'm making up some stuff to sell. These are 44" long made from Hermann Oak 9/10 oz leather. I make two at a time because they are 2-1/4" wide at the widest point, so I cut a 4" strap and reverse the template to get two from 4" X 50" instead of 1 from 2-1/2" X 50", saves money in the long run. I normally just cut two, put one a way and fill the order, however, since these are for a show I went ahead and made both of them up. Chief

I caught some excellent garment leather on sale (Clearance actually), bought 3 sides and used some of the first side to try out a design I've been working on, it is 8" high X 10" wide. See what you think? Chief

You can skive it with several tools: Bench Skiver (Best solution) Hand Skiver (next best) Round Knife (needs to be really sharp) Block Plane (needs to be really sharp) or buy some 4 or 6 oz leather, you can buy 2 square feet of Hermann Oak from SLC, get 4 oz, cut your strap from it, then use the rest to make wallet backs, money clips, checkbook covers, business card cases, phone cases, etc, etc, Hope this helps, Chief

You might try thinning it a little, use a paint brush (not the brush in the can I normally cut it off), I buy brushes for ~ $.50 each, use once, charge it to the project incidentals, they are 1" wide and fit right in the can. Then I also make sure I invert the brush after letting the excess fall away and keep it inverted until I get it over the intended area. It takes some patience. Hope this helps. Chief

Hasn't helped me any, I do get a lot of requests at shows, but I keep playing anyway, LOL. Chief

Thanks Rohn. Cheryl, that is exactly how it's done. You can get the blanks and precut leather pieces from Tandy, SLC, etc. Or you can get the blanks and cut your own Leather. This picture shows more detail of the back so you can see how it's done a little better. Chief

Thanks Jon, Chief

I have both, don't trust the scales on either so I test on scrap as well. I can't tell much difference in them but I use my strap cutter most of the time. It's an old one (wooden). Key to both is to make sure you control the tool. Chief

Thank you sir, Thanks, I measure from the tang on the buckle (that's what I call it, it's the part that goes in the hole on the other end of the belt) to the center hole. Believe it or not it is very close to the same as a normal 1-1/2" buckle. Thanks Bill. Thanks Eddie. Chief

Made from Hermann Oak, 6/7 oz top and 3/4 oz bottom layers. Musicians like these since they wont leave buckle scars on the backs of their instruments. Chief

Colt, I have one that I use to sew wallet liners, etc. I sew #69 thread on it. It is great for sewing up to about 2 layers of 3/4 oz, but I would put that at about the limit. The foot controller is "variable speed" but in reality you have to learn to control the speed. The forward/reverse lever has no lock so if you move it there is no reference for returning it to the same location and no way to match forward and revers stitch length. I normally back stitch manually or I simply pull the first and last stitch out from the back and tie them off. That being said, it is pretty sturdy, has never skipped a stitch. You can sew with it as a stand alone, although I put mine in an old sewing table (it is designed to fit in a standard "home" type sewing table). It definitely wouldn't sew holsters or belts, etc, but for liners, canvas, denim, etc. it does a decent job. Hope that helps, Chief

Really nice job, love it. Chief

You can always splice two lengths together to get really long lines. Skive each of the ends to a feather edge (about the same length for the skive as the width of the strap or 1" whichever is larger) Then contact glue them and stitch them down each edge. It shows up in the line but cows only grow so big. Chief

I use a template to lay out the buckle end, it measures 5-1/2" from the tip to the place where the folded end would be just in the skived area. So I measure 5-1/2" from the end of the buckle area and skive that distance on a bench skiver. I typically skive to about 6-7 oz thickness in the buckle area. Chief

PM Sent. Chief

Thanks Wild Bill, Chief

I use Barge, I also use Feibings White Contact cement on linings, never had either of them separate. I like the white contact cement on linings because it seems a little more flexible, but it may be just my imagination. Chief

NVLeatherworks nailed it pretty much. My rules in my shop are, if it's glued, it's stitched. Chief