Chief31794

Leatherman, Welcome to the forum. Nice to have another leather crafter from Georgia on the forum. I'm over in Tifton, not sure where you are, but if I can be of any assistance let me know. Your tooling looks pretty good for starting out, practice will get you there and paying attention to the basics. As Dirtclod said, your lacing has a ways to go, don't get discouraged, stay in there. Chief

Dennis, I don't have any confidence in Super Sheen as a resist for spirit dyes. I use Clear Lac and after 8 hours or so of drying time, nothing penetrates it that I've found. One note though, I have had a lot of trouble using Clear Lac on USMC Black, it works great on other spirit dyes, but regardless of how long it has dried and been buffed, Clear Lac seems to "melt" the USMC Black. I use Tan Kote (50/50 with Distilled Water) on USMC Black and it works great. I don't use Tan Kote as a resist though, maybe someone else can chime in on that. Any time you try a new product, test it on scrap first. Hope that helps, Chief

Most tack I've seen is done with Copper Rivets and Burrs. They are the strongest available Chief

Great synopsis, I'm a little more direct, I would have said, factory made - Bad, hand made - Goood! LOL Chief

Totally agree, Tandy Kits are bad and too expensive and the lace is pitiful, I would throw the lace in the kit out if have already bought the kit and purchase some quality lace. Bad lace will break your heart!!! Kits will too eventually. I don't like to make inners, so I buy mine from Springfield Leather Company, mostly Chaylor Fenelli, but some of their pigskin for less expensive wallets as well. My price for a tandy wallet kit is as much as $22.00, I can make a better wallet for less money using Springfield's 6 pocket inner (~ $7.00), less than $3.50 for the leather (HO at $7.69 per SQ Ft), and about a $1.00 for the lace, $.50 for incidentals), that puts my cost of materials at about $12.00 for a better quality wallet than the tandy kit at $22.00. Just My Opinion, Chief Chief

Yes, that makes it where the wallet doesn't open flat, more like 90% but it also makes it where the inners or liners don't bunch up when you close the wallet. There was a thread out here about how to calculate how much longer it should be based on the weight of the leather, but I wouldn't know where to find it, somebody provided a formula for calculating the additional length needed for one or two folds, some wallets get by this by having floating inners with the middle cut out and covering that area with a piece that is less that the length of the wallet. Chief

The liner is usually smaller than the shell (In particular wallets), the instructions say to glue the liner then lace it or sew it, forget that, when I make wallets, I don't use the kits but I cut the liner short by 2X the thickness of the leather back on the folded edge, other words in wallets the longer length, since there is no bend from top to bottom, I make those exact. Then I tie thread cut offs (from my hand sewing, I actually save them for this), one in each corner and also one on any pieces that need to be positioned off the corner. I then lace or sew up to the hole before the thread then cut the thread, take it out and continue sewing or lacing. Hope that helps some, Chief

Dennis, You might get several different suggestions on how to do this, ditto using USMC Black, it works much better. To tackle something like this I would do the following. Once the tooling is done and the leather is dry, I would carefully paint the shamrocks and letters using the Cova Colors. Then I would carefully paint the areas around the letters with a small brush with USMC black and use the technique of starting back from the item and letting the color bleed up to the design. Then I would use a larger brush once I was clear of the painted toolings. The great thing about USMC black is that it will be very consistent and the area where you used the small brush will be just as black as the open areas. Takes some practice. I never liked dying over things unless it is absolutely necessary, I always get a little "Mix", some folks are just better at it than I, but this method keeps the colors bright and clear and the black the same. Hope that helps, maybe some of the good multi color folks will chime in with other suggestions. Chief

I've never seen the one you're talking about, however, lots of times these days, I google line art images for a particular subject, you might find something there, also coloring pages and tatoo art while googling. Chief

I'm working on it in my evil labratory. Not really, I don't do chemistry, spent 6 years in college but didn't take any chemistry courses after high school. I'm afraid i'd blow the place up. LOL. Chief

I have no particular like or dislike of the smell of leather, however, I have noticed that ladies like the smell of leather, so I have been trying to develop a Leather Cologne. Nothing else I do these days seems to help!!! Seriously, when I'm at craft shows that is the most heard remark, people will pick up a piece and sniff it and say, "I just love the smell of leather". Chief

I can't believe you're talking about Facebook and Proper Ettiquette in the same quote, LOL. I have a facebook page for my work, very seldom post pictures unless it's something new or unique. My daughter has a gazillion (new word I learned from my grandchildren) friends so when she marked my site as liked it lit up pretty good with all sorts of traffic. I don't know that I've seen much sales from it, but it does mention my ETSY store and the traffic there is pretty good. Chief

My most popular item is a Bible Cover, they are pretty popular here in the "Bible Belt". Easy to make, don't take long. Chief

Try Ohio Travel, but I'm not sure they have 4" buckles. Chief

I repaied one once for a customer, I cut out the rivets, replaced the buckle and reinstalled with Chicago Screws. As I remember, this one was about 4" or more wide, but the buckle was 2" I think but could have been 3", I don't remember. It was built something like a Ranger Belt where the main belt overlapped and the strap and buckle kept it tight. Didn't take any pictures. I got the buckle from Ohio Travel Bag, they do require a business licence and a $50.00 minimum order. I know that sometimes they will waive the business license because I bought from them befor I got mine, but they are pretty well set on the $50.00 minimum. Chief

Ditto Michael's comments above. I alway oil after dying but befor finishing. I let the dye dry for at least 8 hours (usually over night), then buff with sheep's wool, then oil lightly, let set for another 6-8 hours (usually overnight), buff well again, apply Neatlac, let dry for at least 8-10 hours and then buff again. The finish has no trouble going on over the oil. Chief

I've never seen them in nickel, I only use brass and I get them from Ohio Travel Bag. Chief

Pictures of the punch would help. I have a hard time imagining hitting a punch hard enough to bend the handle. I have punches that I've used for decades and can't tell any signs of wear. Where did you get the punch from and who makes it? Tandy punches or CS Osborne or just about anyone else's should give you many years of good service with just a little maintenance on the cutting end. Chief

Welcome to the forum. Great site with lots of great info. Chief

I mentioned the three types of glue used most in the post above. Chief

Nope, best to glue the two sides together temporarily and punch through both pieces at the same time. Use a stitch groover (also available from several places) glue just the edges together with either rubber cement or contact cement, or a good leather cement. I use tanner's bond white leather glue for this then clamp the pieces together. The tanner's bond gives you some working time to align the pieces, so let it set in the clamps for at least an hour. If the edges come out a little uneven you can sand them lightly to make them neat and aligned, it also removes any glue residue from the seam. Chief

Captain, That's not the chisel you want. If you are looking for an alternative to using a stitching awl, then you want a Diamond Shaped Chisel. Tandy sells them as well. This is what they look like. http://www.tandyleat...s/88044-06.aspx. I would get a 6 prong and a single prong http://www.tandyleat...s/88043-00.aspx They come in three different SPI configurations. The first one is the six prong and does about an inch of length at a time the other is to place holes that are offset due to not quite matching up (avoid that as much as possible, but it still happens), I also use a two prong for going around curves. The thonging chisel is used to make slits for lacing. The diamond point is for sewing. Hope that helps, Chief

My bad, ok, great aspirations then. You'll be making projects like that sooner than you think. Chief

Welcome aboard, looks like you are already producing some very nice projects. Great looking work. Chief

Had another thought that a lot of folks probably never seen a mule, here are two of the ones they have at the farm. They just got a new one and I haven't seen her, but they tell me she's twice the size of these. I think they're gonna have me make a complete rigging for her. I'll get a picture of her soon with one of the others as a reference if possible. Chief