Chief31794

RoosterShooter, Don't know if it'll help, but I don't use these punches the way they were designed. I have the biggest Round and the bigget Pointed punches I could find, then I use them on straps that are narrower than the punch. If you use the punch that is the same size as the strap the ends will look funny (sides). I mark the middle ligthly, align the strap so that it is perpendicular and "square" across then cut the end. This gives a nice smooth round or pointed end. Chief

Good idea, I don't think Dixie would look good in one so I may have to trade up! Chief

X2 on waiting, I let the clear lac dry overnight usually, but at least 6-8 hours. Chief

I buy snaps all over, they will work provided you have the proper dies. If you have the dies for line 20 snaps then the line 20 snaps you buy from Ohio Travel will work, same with line 24, etc. The only snaps that won't work to my knowledge are "Pull the dot snaps" because of the indent. I could be wrong but I haven't tried them with the press and can't see how they would work. Every thing else should be OK. I set snaps, rivets, all the time and I don't buy them all from Tandy. Chief

X2 on Black River. They have a set of centering guages you might could use. There is a new video on You Tube on what they are and some of the things you can do with them. Chief

Still good practice and lessons well learned. Lining it might be acceptable as previously suggested. All of us have projects that didn't go as well as they should and wound up in the "bin". Chief

I'm pretty quick to come out here and complain when I don't like someone's service or products. I'm going to break the norm and offer some praise for a great supplier to leatherworkers. I have used Barry King's stamps for years and buy more from time-to-time. I just got my latest order of 4 additional stamps and one of them is a Basket Weave stamp (double rope), I've been doing more basket weave lately and decided to see if his were as good as the look on the advertisement on this site. They are better, it is phenominal how good they look and the impressions are spectacular. I was blown away about how much better they perform, then I remembered when I changed to his bevelers, thumbprints, lifters, and camo tools. All are head and shoulders above anything else I've used and I recommend them highly. Chief

I agree with everyone else, nothing short of spectacular. I love the color and the overall look is 1st rate. Chief

Thanks for the tip on shorter legs, I do that on projects, didn't spend much time laying this out since it was a demo tool, also I made the point in the video about doubling up on the corner to make it come out correctly. Just didn't do it while I was stitching again since it was a demo on how to do it and not a project, should have slowed down but I was doing a video for Black River Laser and took the opportunity to throw this one in quickly, hopefully it teaches someone who doesn't know how to do the stitch the mechanics of the stitch. I need to slow down!!!! Chief

I was asked to do a tutorial on two tone double loop lacing, so I did and posted it on you tube. If you would like to know how to accomplish this, here is the link. Chief http://youtu.be/OLWuYHwaDyA

Basket weave is one of the toughest patterns to keep straight. Hopefully the class helped. Chief

I do it pretty much full time, at least 40-50 hours a week. However, it is not my sole income, I am Retired from the Army, Retired from Industry, Disabled Veteran and on Social Security so I don't have to do it and I don't have to make money at it. I sell items to pay for the hobby, I use the profits to buy more leather, tools, materials, etc. If I depended on leather as my only source of income I would be on welfare. There isn't that much call for leather work in the east (southwest Georgia), no saddle making, harness or tack repair, etc. Chief

Tandy and Springfield carry a set of oval punches, they are used for belt holes. They range from extremely small to about 1/4". Oblong punches are larger. The tandy set is pictured here. Chief

If you get a business licence and provide it Kevin and/or Tandy, then the Gold from Springfield Leather and the Elite from Tandy are at no cost. If you're making and selling leather products then it doesn't cost much in most counties to get a license, in fact my business license is also free because I've a disabled Veteran (Georgia, I don't know about other states). However, to make my point the cost of a business license in most states is cheaper than the elite warehouse club cost and you get both memberships for the cost of a license. By the way, Ohio Travel Bag is easier to do business with if you have a business license. Chief

X2 on light coat, I put it on with the same cotton material very lightly. I don't think I would ever use it as a finish, just me, but I use it to return natural oil to the leather to promote flexibility and suppleness. Chief

SLC customer service is excellent and whether you order over the phone or the web you will not get the "culls", only first rate material. I like calling cause I like to place orders that way, but I've done both and both are a very good experience and you will get 100% better quality than you do at Tandy. I buy their Grade "B" Hermann Oak, it is beautiful. Chief

Got to agree there. I used their leather for a long time, then I got to where I'd only buy it if I went to the Tandy Store and picked it out, and about 5 years ago it got to where I couldn't find anything decent even if I looked through their entire stock. Buy all my leather from SLC, their Herman Oak is about the same price as Tandy's PooPoo and I can buy as little as 2 sq feet. I usually buy 20-30 sq ft at the time all 4-5 ounce, but it's nice to know that if I needed a couple of square feet of 9-10 oz, I could get it with no problems. Chief

The stamps at SLC for $6.25 are Tandy Craftool Stamps that you can get from Tandy for $6.00 (Elite Membership) or from SLC for $4.85 (Gold Membership). SLC is a Tandy Reseller. Chief

I agree, and probably still will, however, the price is only $18.00 that might make some of them worth a look, Barry is from $25-50, and they're great tools, I was wondering if anyone had seen these and what they thought of them. If I can get the same impression for $18 that would cost me $30, I might be interested, if they aren't any good, which is the case of all Craftool Stamps in the past 10-15 years, then I'm not. They do look interesting and it is interesting that they are targeting the Sheridan Style Carvers, kind of unusual for Tandy, they normally target the beginning to intermediate leather crafters. If this is a new direction, that's interesting, how about some professional edge bevelers and punches? If they are cheaper (the elite doesn't cost me anything becuase I have a business license), then I'm all for them putting out some professional type stuff. On another note, I wonder why they didn't call these the "Al Stohlman" stamps, that is what they do with some of their intermediate type stuff, this seems a level above that. Chief

I got a new catalog from Tandy and was surprised to see that they're offering "Professional Stamps" at $29.00 retail, $18.00 for business customers. Has anyone seen them, it appears they are mostly Sheridan Style stamps, including thumbprints, center shaders, leaf liners, veiners, camoflage, and "Steep" bevelers. They look good in the catalog and I don't really need any, just wondering if anyone else has seen them. The price is close to what Barry King charges and I have some more stamps due in from King tomorrow, but the business (elite) discount makes them look attractive if they're any good. Chief

I have several basket weave stamps and two of them are angled. I've not seen anything official on them but I always use them in a straight line, the angle offsets the basket weave making it appear as if it was done on an angle. Some others may have other ideas, I've never tried using them on an angled line. Chief

I've been using them for about three years, they get dull and drag, I strop them and they cut smooth and clean again. Don't understand the physics of it, but I get dark residue on the strop and as I said it definitely has an affect. Chief

One thing in this business is constant, most people have no idea what size belt they wear. I always send the attachment here and ask them to measure a belt they have that is comfortable and give me that number. Then I set that on the middle hole, it helps some, however, some people will just say, "I wear a 34 etc", when in fact they need a 38 or so. I explain how to measure and why, and of course I offer to stamp any size they want inside the belt if it helps their ego (You'd be surprised!!). Chief

I think this is something akin to embossing, it's not art or craft. My Dad was a cabinet maker and when I would ask why he cut dovetail joints with a chisel instead of a jig and he mortise and tennon instead of biscuit joints, his comment (after he gave me a disapproving look over his glasses), was always, "A craftsman makes things with his hands, any fool can run a power tool." Now I use more modern equipment than he did, but I still think putting the tooling marks on the leather should be done by hand. JMHO. Chief

Renegadelizard, I have the drill press version and I found that I had to move up the size of groove to get them to burnish completely, I would try using the next larger groove in your burnishers. I liked the press option one because I have an industrial drill press, and two all the grooves are there so I can move up or down as necessary. That may help, they do a good job and do it quickly but you do have to work with it a bit. Chief