Sheilajeanne

Seriously, so much depends on what you are planning to make, and how you usually go about it! You'll obviously need cutting things like knives for cutting out blanks, scissors, cutting board, poundo board, quartz slab if you're going to do tooling. Don't forget ruler, dividers, etc - whatever tools you use to make lines to guide your cutting. Needles, thread, your favourite punches for making holes, buckles, oblong punch for buckle hole, and stamps. I have thought of making myself a tool roll for stamps for when I travel. It would have a separate compartment for each of the major stamp types: backgrounders, camouflage, pear shaders, seeders, veiners and figure stamps. For now, I just sort them into ziplock bags, and label the bag with the type of tool. When I first started leatherworking, I remember seeing a sheet that showed us all the fancy things we could do with just SIX stamps! So, look yours stamps over carefully, and winnow out the ones you use most often! As for finishes - dyes, alcohol, top coats, etc, I'd get a small tote with a locking top that I'd fill as full as possible to keep things from tipping over, and maybe even stuff newspaper between the bottles to further prevent spilling. Throw in some swabs or brushes for applying them, plus containers for mixing, and a sponge or two for wetting the leather for tooling, and that should be pretty much it! Oh, wait - sandpaper for smoothing edges. Forgot about that! Might be a good idea to cut out some blanks for belts and holsters before leaving home?

So, could someone explain (or speculate!) on how the edge of the card pockets were done on those wallets? I'd really like to know!

Yikes! Glad to be living in Canada, then. There aren't a lot of leather sources other than Tandy in my area, and at least they are close enough that I can see the leather in person before I decide to buy! The shipping cost of leather from the States makes buying across the border a bad deal for most items.

That's ridiculous! One Australian dollar equals .94 cents Canadian. Here is the price of the SAME ITEMS from my Tandy Canadian sale flyer for September! https://www.tandyleather.ca/en/eflyer/1809rt-ca?utm_source=Tand-E-mail+from+Tandy+Leather&utm_campaign=6d08150e03-2018-08-31-WebSpecials-CA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e267c11fde-6d08150e03-76561025 They are charging approximately a 25% markup over Canadian prices. (I used the Cumberland sides to do the math on this.)

Chip clips....lol! Just bought two of them plus two carpenter's clips at an estate sale on the weekend! Got all 4 for 50 cents! Yes, popsicle sticks come in very handy too!

alpha2, no this is not a matter of it soaking in unevenly. It's a matter of the leather being discoloured in spots. I DID let it dry for 24 hours before applying the antique, so there shouldn't have been an issue. Another question: the handles for this bag are stiff as a board, so stiff and sandpapery in texture that I am afraid the leather will crack. I applied Atom Wax Leather Balm, but that only improved them a bit. My go-to remedy for softening leather has always been neatsfoot oil, but would that possibly stain clothing? What about the risk of putting it over top of dye? Would the dye maybe dissolve and cause stains? I never saw this happen with horse tack, but don't know if that's comparable to what I'm trying to do here!

I was a biology major in uni, so I can't help but think of big, hairy amoebae or paramecium when I look at it! And of course, it begs to have your own little touches added to it...like the heart and the Celtic scrollwork in a shape that was otherwise open in the center. Leather carving is still my favourite thing, but this was a pretty easy piece to bang out with all the stamping. But oh, some of those bigger stamps need a LOT of force to get a good impression!

Having been very unsatisfied in the past with Eco-flo Satin and Super Sheen as resists, I finally decided to give Resolene a try. Works MUCH better as a resist! As a matter of fact, I had to work much harder to get it into all the nooks and crannies. Unfortunately, the finish didn't turn out that great. Parts of the piece are a different colour (reddish brown) than the rest of it, and they look streaky. Any way to fix this? And what would be the cause? Here's what I did: I mixed the Resolene 50/50 with water and applied with a wool dauber. I did see some areas where it looked like it had pooled, so I tried to brush those out. I noticed that it seemed the Resolene had already started to dry on some of those areas, so I am guessing that was what to blame for the uneven finish. Antique was Eco-flow tan. Wish it had turned out a bit better but will definitely try Resolene again! It's one of those things where you probably wouldn't notice it from a distance. Am very happy with how the other portions of the bag turned out. I used Fiebing's chocolate brown for the first time, and have NEVER before had a dye go on so smoothly and evenly! It only took one coat, followed by a few minor touch-ups on spots I'd missed! Made me wonder if Fiebing's had made any recent changes to their dyes, or whether it was just that this was much better than average leather for a Tandy kit! I have been wanting to do this particular bag (Molly tote bag) for several years, and was overjoyed to finally find one of them still in stock at the local Tandy's, as they have discontinued it. Will be using it as a template for future bags!

P.S. - Rossr, I have this nasty habit of editing my posts... More info above now!

Nope. The other project this happened to was from a kit, so not the same hide, just the same casing method! I've had some iffy leather in their kits, believe me, but this piece wasn't one of them. The flesh side was nice and smooth, and so was the grain side. Also, when I buy a shoulder or side from them, it had better be good quality, or they are not going to get my money! I've been thinking of trying other sources for leather, but importing from the States is costly, and any other leather shops here in Canada are a couple of hours drive away. Tandy is just half an hour, and I like to actually see what I'm buying in person.

Rossr, it was a veg-tan shoulder I bought from Tandy. No idea what tannery. It was pretty decent leather, and cut and tooled nicely. I just think the immersion method of casing drew some of the natural oils out of the hide, and made it hard as a board when it dried.

I can't figure out if the edge of the card pockets has been left showing, or if it has been turned and glued? Gosh, oh to have that level of skill...

Of course, I don't NORMALLY use neatsfoot oil, but the leather was SO hard and dry by the time I finished my tooling, I was afraid it was going to crack. The same thing happened to another project I used this casing method on. That one is still sitting around, as I'm not sure what to do with it after the bad experience I had with the project mentioned above!

Beautiful work! What type of leather is he using for the pockets and lining?

Rossr, I had to treat the leather with neatsfoot oil. That darkened it SO much that when I tried to dye the design I'd tooled, the dye barely showed up. This was when I tried the casing method of wetting the leather in the sink, then wrapping it in plastic and putting it in the fridge until i was ready to work on it. Have since gone back to casing by dampening with a sponge.

Thanks, Rossr! Good information! What I've found in the past is wetting the leather too many times dries it out, and I was worrying about this happening with a larger project like the 8 1/2 x 10 padfolio. I COULD eliminate the problem by having separate pieces for the front and back, but I really would prefer to make it out of one piece of leather, as the spine is the part of the padfolio that gets the most wear and tear, and is usually where it will eventually split and fall apart. So, planning on one piece of leather for the cover!

Bump!

Boxboard is good, too. I save my empty Cheerio and cracker boxes!

I have a question for those of you who do notebooks and padfolios. When you are carving and/or stamping the front cover of the project, do you have to wet the WHOLE THING (including the back cover) to prevent water stains? Or can you get away with just wetting the front? This sort of project is on my to-do list, so enquiring minds want to know! I'd like to do both a notebook sized and a full sized (8 1/2 x 11) padfolio.

Did that ever clean up nice! My only lucky find like that had nothing to do with leather or sewing. I scored one of the most desirable Coleman lanterns while walking my dog on trash night. It was sitting in the top of a can, and I decided to take it home with me. Canadian C.P.R. kerosene lantern - they are worth quite a few bucks on E-bay!! :D

You actually put dye on the outside of the bottle ON PURPOSE?? Most of MY bottles have so much dye on the outside already that I struggle to read the labels! I have seriously considered labelling the caps to make sure I am getting the colour of dye I want! (Hard to tell between the different shades of brown.) One of my major beefs is how leaky the caps seem to be, no matter HOW tight you screw 'em down! I am constantly wiping the caps and bottles after i take dye out of them, and even then, the darn things seem to LEAK! Just wondering what other people used to get dye out of the bottles. Pouring rarely works - you almost always get some spilliage. I managed to get a bunch of 1 ml. syringes from my vet, and they work great! The are good for multiple uses, too, if you clean them carefully. A box of 100 cost me $20. Oh, and I (almost) NEVER EVER EVER put a swab or brush directly into a bottle of dye. Leaving one open on your work surface is asking for trouble!! I always put it into a secondary (and MUCH smaller) container and use that as my source when dyeing something. I MIGHT risk it if it's a quick one-stroke touchup on on an edge or something, but that's it! Have heard too many stories of projects, clothing, etc, totally ruined by bottles being knocked over!

I searched for that tool, and couldn't find it. Is it a sunburst stamp? The only Craftool stamps that had numbers close to 307 were sunbursts.

Very nice! You've really captured a sense of movement! What tool did you use for the border? Have never seen a design like that before! Another question: is that all the one piece of leather? If so, you've really captured an excellent 3-D effect with your carving and border!

Oh dear. You're in trouble now!

Good one, Yeti!