fredk

Better apart and dull then still stuck together and unuseable. A good coating of a beeswax polish will bring the shine back up

What about trying a soaking? not just a wetting but a real immersion in water for a period?

The OP says he makes em; they're scarf slides SoTX; never seen any book or nuffin on making these or anything like them. Looks like you may be a leader on that. Does look like thinner leather might be the way to go tho

I would draw/mark just a guide line, then stamp the design along it then go over the guide line, cutting or stamping it wide enough to cover up any overlap. Or if the fancy stamp is cheap enough and I was going to use it a lot I'd buy another and file its corners off to suit the curves just my $1 dollar [inflation] worth

Nerver, ever 'bin' an item that hasn't turned out how you expected it to Someone else will think its great and pay decent money for it. If you have a 'bin' of rejects, failures or second-quality its not good publicity for your other work I find finishing of leather products is like art; there are no failures, just things don't turn out how it was expected to I think that holster has a certain antique & used look to it

I haven't but a client did. He showed me what a really nice shine he got. A week later he was back; the wax had dried out and was flaking off making his item look like it was falling apart. It took me ages to remove that wax and refinish the item. Turtle wax is not meant to be used on anything flexible, just unbendable surfaces like the hood or trunk lid of a car

I agree, it looks like upholstery leather Easy test; take a small cutting, use a match/lighter/candle to set fire to it - if it smells like burnt flesh you have leather, if it starts burning and giving off black smoke with small black sooty bits you have PULeather

As above; quality zippers last better than cheap ones whether they be plastic, aluminium or brass. However, in damp or wet environments the aluminium one will corrode faster and seize up sooner.eg, a case for a fishing reel; use plastic or brass for quality, but not aluminium

I bought a set of these; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172479859661?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Not used them yet but I reckon they might come in handy. As they come they're ok sharp Also bought a few of these; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hot-Half-Round-Belt-Strap-End-Punch-Wallet-Cutter-Tool-Leather-Craft-10-45MM-/391213513381?var=&hash=item0 They need a good sharpening when they come [how do I get rid of this double spacing of lines??]

I'm watching from the bleachers

I always skive a short length, just like the buckle end of a belt; from where the end would attach thru to the end of the strap

I used an angle-grinder to cut a large circle hole punch down to an arc

I'd go for the hard copy. If like me, you'll print out every page, put them into slip-pages then a file, by the time you've added in those extras and the time to do it you'd be better off just getting the hard copy. Plus [not with Tandy] with some scanned books they weren't scanned properly, missing out lines, compressing paragraphs into a few squashed squggly lines.....

What about a clothes storage bag and a vac? The clothes bag already has a vac connection and is of thicker material. Local shop to me sells clothes vac storage bags in various sizes for £1 [US$1.50?] for one or two - depending on size What would you use it for in leather working?

What about ye? Hi from me too

The press I thought of using is no longer available so that idea will have to go on the back burner

Try deglazer. I had a bit of leather that wouldn't take dye evenly; deglazer didn't make much difference so I used cellulose thinners [aka lacquer thinners to you maybe] to clean it, that did the job well, but it also took oils out of the leather, but that didn't matter too much as I just used beeswax/neetsfoot mix on it to replace the oils. For some things I brush Resolene on. Its a 1:1 mix with water. I get small air bubbles but I don't let them dry, I just keep brushing over them till they are gone.

Most excellent, very nice indeedy Better taking time and doing neat work than trying to rush it.

The bubbles will pop but leave minute circular marks looking like tiny holes.

I like it, but I'm not sure just when I could use it

I use Fiebling's Deglazer. Sometimes, very rarely, I use lacquer thinners

I either dip or use a sponge for dye. A sponge for neetsfoot. Sponges are the cheap washing-up ones 10 for 99p [10 for $1 to you] For buffing; As Mattsbagger, bits of old teeshirts or cotton rag I get from a car finisher supplier. All disposed of after a project is done. Only one not thrown away too often is my rag block for applying beeswax/neetsfoot polish finish on.

Well that just look fine so it does

50/50 = 50% of A plus 50% of B can also be written 1:1, or 'equal amounts' In the discussion earlier they are talking of thinning Resolene (a) with water (b), in equal amounts

Well, thats certainly another take on it. Polymer Clay, aka FIMO and Sculpey, are normaly available in 2 ounce blocks. It'd take a quare lot of them to make a shape for a bag tho. But each maker does a special bulk pack of around 1 to 2 pounds in certain colours at a much cheaper per ounce rate