Sheilajeanne

Yup, supposed to look like this: Another problem with harnesses: they don't give you very much control over the end that bites! Of course, in this photo, that's the whole point of using a harness...

Akitas are strong dogs and can be dangerous. They are also difficult to train. I worked with someone who bred them, and helped her train them. It took about twice as long to teach them to walk nicely on a leash as it took me to train my German shepherds. The problem with dog harnesses is they are designed for pulling. She may find the harness doesn't give her the control she needs. She may have to go for a prong collar, and get someone to teach her how to use it. A friend brought his dog into my kennel. The dog was towing him along, totally in control. Since the dog already had a muzzle order on it for biting another dog, this was not a good scene. Fifteen minutes with a prong collar, and the dog was walking beside me, as if he'd been doing it his whole life! Once he understood the new way of doing things, they were able to transition him back to a regular collar without him starting to pull again. Anyway, nice looking harness! I use the same style of harness for tracking and protection work.

Very very nice! What does the inside look like?

That looks very professional! How do you do a turned edge? And what kind and weight of leather did you use for the interior? Looks like pigskin.

Thank you! I wonder what purpose the soap/shampoo serves. Anyone know? I know glycerin is commonly added to hand lotion and lip chap sticks, so that's easy to understand why you'd want to put it on leather. But soap emulsifies oils and grease, so not sure what purpose it would serve.

Where can I find glycerin? I think I need to start using casing solution. The leather gets really hard and dry sometimes when I case with just water! And I find that treating it with neatsfoot oil darkens it too much for my liking.

That leash is sewn throughout its entire length. Now, no one in their right mind wants to hand stitch 72 inches of leather, so this was done with a machine. Leather sewing machines, even the cheapest ones, will set you back about $1,000. So you don't want to be duplicating the leash in the picture anytime soon, unless you have really deep pockets... :D That this is the type of leash his customers prefer shows how little your average pet owner knows about leather. Stitching eventually wears out and comes undone. If this leash is stitched because it's made of 2 pieces of leather sewn together, that's likely because they are trying to save money. Two thinner pieces of leather sewn together are much more likely to wear out and break than a single thicker one, as they were probably of poorer quality in the first place. A single piece of 72" leather, treated with waxes and oils to repel moisture and stand up to daily wear and tear would be much stronger, more durable and last longer than this leash. Look for someone that can provide you with either bridle leather or latigo. That's what you want for a leash. The stitching may look fancy, but it contributes nothing to the strength and durability of a leash! Since you are in North Carolina, I'll let people who live closer to you suggest a source. I have had a 1" wide leather dog collar since early 1980. It's made from a single piece of leather, 7 or 8 ounces in weight, which is plenty thick enough for a large dog, and the only stitching on it is where the buckle is attached. It's on its 3rd dog now, and still going strong.

Going by my knowledge of sewing fabric, the only way to get an inside stitch is to turn the collar inside-out once the stitching is completed, which means the leather would have to be really soft and thin. I really don't see how you could do this if there was also to be a nylon rope down the center of the collar! You'd have to thread the rope through after the stitching was done, and the collar turned inside-out. Sounds difficult and time consuming!

Very nicely done! What language is the writing?

Just another word for the same thing. If you click on my link above, you'll see both terms used by posters on this site. I've seen bracers used many times in literature, too, as I'm into authors that do Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones/ type stories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracer I'm familiar with braces as well, because both my dad and grand-dad used to wear them to hold up their pants back in the 1950's! Edit: further research shows a bracer is actually an archery arm guard, while a vambrace is a piece of armor. However, people who do LARP don't distinguish between the two. So. 480 volt, you were right! Technically, they are different.

It looks like the carver would have used a resist on the carved areas, then dyed the background using a very fine brush. The final step would have been to apply an antique, and rub it off to highlight the carving, followed by a finishing coat of something like Super Sheen or an equivalent top coat. Whoever did this belt is a highly skilled artist, and what they have done here takes talent, experience, and lots of patience and time. The carving is excellent and the stitching along the edges is flawless. I recently completed my first hand-tooled belt, so I know from experience just how hard it is to dye the background and not get anything on the carving!

Thanks, Dwight!

Very nice! I'm sure he'll gret good use out of them. Just a bit of correction on the terminology here, though. Those are braces, used to hold up pants. Bracers are quite different: They are used to protect the arms for people who like to play around with swords and medieval armour! (LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing).

Yin Tix, I only was able to find ONE thread. The price right now is about as low as it will ever get, and I really don't want to wait for something better to come along. Saw a video of the exact machine I'm planning to buy, and they guy was saying, "WOW, that blade is really SHARP. You need to be careful not to cut yourself." There's some other stuff I am wiling to wait for, but this is something I would really like to have now, so going to take the chance on it. I never buy anything from Tandy unless it's on sale, or something that's really cheap to start with. For instance, got a package of 5 scroll stamps yesterday for $13.00, and a bottle of gold dye for $3.99. [sigh!] Okay, for better or for worse, I just pulled the trigger on this. Ordered it over the phone, and will pick up tomorrow. Edit: feeling jealous of this guy's work bench! Will have to figure out a way to mount the splitter in my rather tiny work space! This is the model I ordered.

Okay, I really NEED a splitter, unless I want to just continue using Tandy's overpriced kits! They have the deluxe splitter for same for $274.00 Canadian this weekend. Going to go for it. Being In Canada has its disadvantages when it comes to buying leather machinery from elsewhere. There's not a lot available here, and you have to pay hefty shipping and custom fees. Did find some info when I did a search, and seems it's a pretty decent machine.

Gosh, I've had SO many different jobs in my life... Started working at 15 in a factory at $1 an hour. Had a number of factory jobs in the summer while I was in H.S. Hey, anything to earn a bit of green! Also worked security (crowd control) at major public events in Toronto while in school, then spent a summer as a P.I. (loss prevention in drugstores.) Eventually got a science degree, but couldn't find a job, so bounced around doing temporary secretarial work (those Grade 9 typing classes sure paid off!) for the university and the government of Ontario. One of the more interesting jobs was working at the Best Institute at U of Toronto. I got to meet Dr. Best, the co-founder of insulin, and actually typed a letter for him once! Eventually wound up getting my teaching certificate, and teaching for a number of years. The only part of it I really enjoyed was teaching outdoor education during the summertime! I finally got tired of playing traffic cop to kids who really didn't want to learn, and decided to get my nursing diploma (R.N.) Eventually got the job I really wanted: doing visiting nursing. Then my life kind of fell apart when my husband was diagnosed with cancer and heart disease. He suffered a stroke in January of 2004 and died in November. I also lost both my mom and dad during a 10 month period from May 2004 - March 2005. After the estates were wrapped up, I tried to continue my nursing, but my heart wasn't in it anymore. A friend was wanting to try running a dog kennel, so we went into business together. She dropped out after a year or so, and I kept at it until I sold the business in 2015. I continued to work for the new owners for about a year, until we got tired of each other, and went our separate ways. Now I'm 64 years old, unemployed and wondering what the heck to do with myself! I let my nursing license lapse, and getting back into it would be extremely difficult and expensive, and take at least 2 years. Just not worth it at my age, but I don't feel ready to retire either! So, dabbling in leatherwork, and hoping maybe to make a few bucks with it. May run an ad in the local paper, and see if there are any seniors out there that could use a retired nurse to help them with their daily lives. Not really interested in going back into teaching. My next door neighbour is a teacher, and tells me stories of students coming to class high on drugs. Don't care to deal with that sort of nonsense at may age!

So, I know the Al Stohlman head knife is not something I want to add to my leather tools due to the poor quality of the steel. Has anyone good or bad things to say about Tandy's splitter? https://www.tandyleather.ca/en/product/craftool-high-tech-leather-splitter This was the one they had on sale earlier this week: https://www.tandyleather.ca/en/product/craftool-deluxe-leather-splitter It was listed at $200 U.S.

One thing I wanted to know is what's the difference between a head knife and a round knife? What's best for what task? Terry, I have a detail knife. It's one with a disposable blade, and I don't use it often enough to want to splurge on a really expensive one. Like someone said recently, even the disposable/snap off blades can do a good job if you look after them, and strop them! I suppose you could even sharpen them, if you wanted to.

I am thinking of getting a head knife or round knife in the near future. Which one did you buy, and what were your reasons for picking that particular one? As I'm female, with a small hand, I'm thinking the Texas Rosebud might be a good choice, but would like to know the pros and cons behind different knives.

A visit to Tandy is on my schedule for today! :D

Absolutely! There is no way these boots could have been fixed using a machine, as the split was where the toe of the boot meets the upper, where 3 pieces of leather come together. Sorel is a very reputable make of boot. I was surprised by the low quality of the construction. Stitching sucked, the dyeing sucked, and the boot had lost a D-ring for the lace because the loop holding the ring never got stitched! Just finished reading the thread on how to make a living with your leather work, and if this is the quality of (no doubt!) overseas mass-production going into the things we buy, there definitely IS a market for well-made quality leather goods.

A big help in sewing is a hemostat or pair of needle nosed pliers to help get the needle through the holes. I was repairing an old pair of Sorel winter boots tonight, and just about went NUTS hand-stitching a seam that was only an inch and a half long! Couldn't find my hemostat, and the leather was thick and stretchy and the holes just very small slits. I needed my strongest glasses and a very bright light to even see them! Using my awl to stretch the holes a bit did help, but it was still a real PITA! Had me wishing for a needle with a smaller eye, and sharper point!

That head knife sheathe tells me you have a talent for this, no doubt because you are already an artist. However, you may want to get a kit for your first purse. After that you can use the pattern that came with the kit to cut your own, and tweak the pattern to your liking. One thing I'd darn well like to do with the Tandy kits is get rid of all the holes for lacing, and saddle stitch the purse instead.

Hey, I know Tandy has its downside, with quality issues on a lot of its stuff, but I still like to give credit where credit is due! Interesting how most of us giving positive reviews of Tandy are from Canada! Maybe things are a little different here than they are in the U.S.

I think you did a good job, Yin Tx! I have some Tandy modelling spoons and a really small tear-shaped backgrounder that I use to get into tight spaces like that. Just ordered some Celtic Craftaid patterns, so will be doing some Celtic crosses and knotwork myself, but am NOT planning to reduce the patterns in size after reading your post! :D I also have a really powerful light on a gooseneck arm that I use when I'm tooling, plus a really strong pair of reading glasses, which I bought especially for leatherwork. Eyes aren't quite as good as they used to be when I was younger, and every little bit helps!