Sheilajeanne

All my stamps are Tandy, and i've never had one bow like that. I did have a beveler with a burr on the stamping face, and Tandy was happy to replace it for me. Take it back!

I save popsicle sticks to use as spreaders. You just throw them out if they get too messy! And Fiebing's Pro Oil Dye is LIGHT YEARS better than their regular dye! I found the regular stuff very very hard to apply evenly. It did help if the leather was slightly moist, though. Didn't have that problem with the oil dye. The regular dye also dried out the leather and made it curl.

If you're getting a lot of string slap, you need to work on your stance. Should look like this{

Biker, that bothered me, too! My husband was a HUGE fan of Ikea, and I still have a lot of the shelf units he bought there. Every time I move, a few more get left behind...but I still have lots! He was a bit OCD, and also a bit of a hoarder, so he was constantly buying more shelves to store his junk,...er, STUFF! They say 3 moves are as good as a fire for getting rid of stuff, and I've moved 5 times since he died. But still, lots of stuff...

Thought I'd post this for a chuckle... I've dipped my dye brush in my coffee at least once, and have had my rinse water half-way to my lips before realizing I had the wrong glass!

Amazing work! For those of you who haven't seen it, here's a link to Part 1! http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/73988-odin/#comment-485613

Something I'd like to add, as someone who owned and ran a dog boarding kennel for many years is that probably about 80% of dog owners have their dog's collar fastened much too loose. I'd find this out the hard way when I tried to take the dog back to the kennel, and it doesn't want to go, and it slips its collar right over its head... Some breeds are worse for this than others (e.g. pugs) because the neck is large in relation to the body. There's a very good reason I never offered dog-walking services, and my preferred tool for moving dogs that don't want to follow me from Point A to Point B was a noose, not a leash!

He meant Eco-Flo Satin Sheen, not Stain Sheen. The guy who taught the leathercraft course I took has been doing this for over 30 years, and he says it's the best. Resolene can crack and peel.

Very nice! Where did you get the hardware? I like the way the stamping sort of mimics the pattern on the buckle and end piece.

Gorgeous as usual, Tim! Is that after antiquing, or did the oil just darken it so it looks like it's been antiqued?

Yeah, it's called 'paying it forward'! Someone does something for you, you return the favour by helping out someone else. My one complaint about the above is Eco-friendly should not be capitalized, because it's not a proper noun. You'd only capitalize it it if were a brand name (for example, Eco-flo dye).

Mattsbagger, if I put it under my legs, the article I was sewing was in shadow. If I rested it on top of my legs, and leaned forward into my work table to brace it, I got better light, but the height was less than ideal. Planning to shorten it still further, then use a C-clamp to clamp it to my work table.

BTW, the one in the link is their deluxe stitching pony. Even with that one, I shake my head when I see how much they want for it at the full price... Anyone here do their stitching this way, or do you have your pony attached to your work table? As I said above, my main issue is the lighting. Unless the article I'm stitching is on my work station, I don't have bright enough light.

Damn, that is AWESOME! It almost looks like you used some sort of form in behind the leather to get the 3-D effect! How'd you achieve it?

The cheaper of the two Tandy stitching ponies dropped to a ridiculously low price for one of their Christmas sales, so I bought one. I very quickly found I'd bought a white elephant. It was WAY too tall to use for stitching. The only way I could get a comfortable working height was to rest it on my lap, and lean into my work table to brace it. When I did that, my work still wasn't under the bright light I have over my work station. The other day, I took a saw and removed the top 4 inches, then glued a shim to the inside of each side of the top so I don't have to risk breaking the wood when I tighten the nut. I still need to take another 2" off the bottom to get it to the ideal height I want. There's enough extra wood there that I can do that and still re-attach the base. If you have any sort of carpentry skills, I'd recommend making your own. I'd often thought of doing that, but was too lazy. I think the reason they make them so tall is that the traditional way to use one of these was to hold it between you legs. A traditional stitching horse (the ones I've seen in pioneer villages and harness shops) was attached to the end of a saddle horse, which you'd actually sit on while stitching. Too bad no one's ever had the sense to realize, 'hey, most people don't DO it that way anymore!'

Based on my limited experience with dyes: Fiebing's Pro dyes are the best I've tried so far. Fiebings alcohol based, and Eco-flo water based don't go on evenly UNLESS the leather is slightly damp. I had a real disaster when I tried dyeing a cell phone case with Fiebings, and also a couple of other items with the Eco-flo. Several people suggested dampening the leather, and that did the trick! Here's the cell phone case after the initial dyeing, then the finished product: The background was done with Fiebing's alcohol based dye, and the flower with Eco-flo Hmm...still need to work a bit on those edges!

Oldnslow, I'm not planning to DRINK it! How is it more dangerous than denatured alcohol?

In the winter, I use methanol (methyl hydrate) to help me get my woodstove going. Can I also use it to dilute Fiebing's dyes?

Thanks, Bonecross! What category were they hiding it under?

I knew there had to be a tool I could buy somewhere! I'm very close to Toronto, too! Thank you! Edit: can't find the corner cutting tool. It looks like they no longer stock it.

Afraid that's not going to work for me. I don't have access to a belt sander. I have to do all my sanding by hand. Must be another way of doing it...

I've reached the point where I'm now trying to cut my own projects, rather than relying on kits. I decided the Tandy cellphone kit I bought needed a window in it, so I could answer the phone without taking it out of the case. This means cutting an inside corner, and making that darn box knife do a nice corner is REALLY REALLY hard! My first efforts at a window were so bad, I decided to do the project over completely, and started fresh with a new piece of leather. Cutting the pattern out didn't go too badly, but doing the window in the case is causing me problems. I've tried several different thing - using a sheep's foot jacknife blade, and using a box cutter with a smaller blade. Neither one has worked very well. On the one corner, I cut into the good leather a small distance, and on another, multiple cuts wound up producing a very fuzzy, ugly corner. I also managed to cut one side of the window slightly narrower than the other. I am fixing this by using a beveler on both sides of the leather, then sanding. It's too small a difference (about 2 mm.) to be able to cut it with a knife. I've almost got that mistake fixed... :D Anyway, looking for some suggestions to make things easier, and and get a cleaner cut. In this case, since I'm cutting a window in leather that's part of the project, there's NO room for mistakes! I do have a Tandy plastic corner pattern, which was a big help in showing me where I need to cut, and getting all 4 corners looking the same.

Matchlock, sent you a PM.

When I was a kid, I did leatherwork using a pocket knife with a broken blade. I shaped the blade with a file until it came to a nice cutting point, and used that for cutting leather. I also used nails and other bits of metal that I shaped with a hammer and file to cut and stamp. Sewing needles and embroidery needles were used for stitching. I waxed button thread - the strongest thread my mom had - with wax I got off a ball of cheese! Lots you can do with a bit of imagination!

Tandy had their stitching horse on sale for just $20.00 over Christmas, which is less than half price, so I bought one. Don't like it: unless I sit it on my lap, it's too tall to be at a comfortable stitching height. Holding it between my legs doesn't work for me, either height-wise. It also puts me too far back from the lights on and overtop of my work bench. Need to figure out how to make a shorter one and a way of anchoring it so it doesn't move around. I often think a carpenter's vise with padded edges, attached to the edge of my workbench would work just fine, and be at the right height. Unless I am desperate, and have to have it NOW to finish a project, or the item is really cheap (belt keepers, rivets, etc.) I never buy anything at Tandy that's not on sale. And since I have a business license, I get Elite club pricing on everything. Still trying to figure out sources other than Tandy for leatherworking stuff. Getting things shipped across the Canadian border gets expensive, especially with the difference in the dollar.