battlemunky

I have some of the saddle tan gel antique that gets me real close to that orangey sorta reddish color from the cover of the book. All depends on the leather too, if its that super pale European stuff from Tandy vs the more russet colored on HO, you get completely different shades.

I don't do a lot of chrome tan, mainly because of edges, and I only have one edge paint I picked up from Tandy a few years back. How I've used it is just to ensure you have a clean cut edge and then paint it with the edge paint, let it dry, sand it if its clumpy/non-uniform, repaint, repeat if needed. I've heard mixed reviews enough of Fiebings Edge Kote to avoid it. Some folks have luck with it, some have nothing but ruined projects because of it. You could always pick up a few different ones and experiment. Me? I opted to mainly mess with veg tan and limit my chrome tanned usage to bags and such where I can hide the edges. On veg tan, if you use edge paint, I'd burnish first with water and nothing else and then apply the paint. The better and cleaner the edge, the better the paint will look. On chrome, just use the paint on as keenly cut of an edge as you can get.

I've made several belts so far and haven't really worried about them being supple. In fact, I kinda like them to be stiffer than softer. Unless the leather is rock hard, which I'd think maybe it's rawhide, I'd strip it up in the width you want and get to makin'. Do NOT saturate it with oil! Aside from that, I'm sure someone will come along with an answer.

I found a post on here and someone suggested that you find a thing you want to make and then make 10 of them. I think it was @bikermutt07 that I read that said it but he was talking about someone on here that he had read. I digress, so I went and found a simple leather wallet, I believe it was a freebie from @JLSleather that I made templates for and then tweaked those to allow for seam allowance and scaled them up just a hair so I'd not have any issues with cards NOT fitting and THEN I made ten of them. As simple as they are, I improved quite a bit from the first to the last. By then I was hooked and ordered Nigel's wallet making pack from his website and went a bit crazy experimenting with different wallet builds. Now its a piece of cake and they almost all turn out the way I want them to with regard to fit, finish, and stitching. I even made myself one of my own design out of shell and it is sweet...quiltily luxurious even. I'm nowhere near as classy as that wallet. Sadly, the market on simplistic minimalist wallets is pretty saturated and it doesn't take too much effort to learn to make them well and quickly so I'm a bit out of luck on the sales side of things other than local stuff, but I can make the hell out of a wallet now. And you know what else? Because of those ten wallets, I can make the hell out of a lot of other things too! So while the dream of taking over the world with wallets is dead, I can knock out a ton of other items and fulfill quite a few custom orders as well. My plan is to hobby along until I can expand more in retirement from my current career. So I'll keep on keeping on with experimenting and improving until I retire in another 15 years. Looking back, I really wouldn't have the level of improvement I have had without those 10 wallets though. I'd recommend it to anyone. It is a bit boring though but soooo worth it in retrospect. Also, I don't think I am brave enough to make a go out of a career in leatherworking like a lot of folks on here have. My $.02.

This is excellent! Definitely one of those "why didn't I think of that" kind of things. Thanks for sharing!

You can mess around with some different oil/wax mixtures and see if you can get a pull up effect at home but it's tough, even tougher to do it on a large piece. If you figure it out, share the knowledge please!

Edge paint. I've tried on multiple items and never been able to burnish chrome tanned leather. Despite what the Tandy "expert" says while they are trying to sell you the burnisher while trying to demonstrate how it burnishes chrome but isn't...

I agree with the above, great work and the accenting color makes it all pop!

That is amazing @Marius Pirvu. So much stitching! One hell of a project!

I'd never experienced tearing like that with my set of cheap diamond punches but I'd polished mine up the best I could too. I did get some ugly holes on the exit side. As far as punch recommendations, I have Sinabroks which are excellent...they are not inexpensive though but are basically perfect in every way making them worth it to me. Reasonable price, maybe not, but these exceed my desires every use. That sucks though man, that starburst looks great.

That is near perfection Sir. Excellent work.

I've used spit but never directly licked the edge.

Really nice work!

Ball. Peen. Hammer!!!!! I love it. I've polished both faces so I can peen and tap down stitches with the flat face.

I think it'd be doable but you may darken the hell out of the project between the moisture of the epoxy and the heat when it kicks off. I'd do a test piece first. As far as execution goes, hit up YouTube and search for "epoxy counter tops" and do it the same way but without the coloring additives. Just use clear but follow the part about how to do the edges. Pleeeeeease post pics when you do this. I think it'd be super cool if it works like I hope it does.

Leatherwranglers has a round knife that I ordered about 6-7 mos ago that should be arriving any day. It is $195 though but its supposed to be excellent. It's called The PERK. https://leatherwranglers.com/shop/ols/products/performance-essentials-round-knife

In all honesty, there ain't too much different in wallet making that has been discovered in the last 100 years or so. EVERYBODY has leaned on those who have come before since that one caveman made the first wallet. Having said that though, its highly uncool to take someone's pattern and call it your own. If you do decide to do that be prepared to buy the pattern from the maker when you have sold one. The way I see it is that if I'm not making my own pattern, I owe the individual that made the pattern I'm using and I expect a similar amount of reciprocation from everyone else. Give credit where it's due and ensure you scratch the back of the leathercrafter who helped you, even if they don't know they did. And if the pattern is listed as free to use however you desire, then have at it!

And now we can rest! Thanks @Forester, those blades are beastly!

Looks really good! Glad you were able to get one done for yourself!

Unless you want to go darker, I'd chalk that up to character.

Really tidy work @Forester! The finish looks great There must be something wrong with the 2nd picture showing the knives though

I'm not completely sure. The paint shouldn't really need to be seal if it is acrylic paint. Like dissolves like, so any acrylic sealer will affect acrylic paint and vice versa, but if you seal, then paint, it may be ok. Other paints, when dried, shouldn't be affected by acrylic sealer I'd think but don't know for certain. You may have to experiment some before commiting to a large piece just to make sure.

Looks pretty good! Any pics of the interior?

In my experience it has worked on all veg tan, dyed or left undyed. And yes, do a few light coats and let it dry in between. I usually wait at least 30 minutes. I just put a coat on and then go do something and come back. 15-30 min or so.

You kinda killed that. Excellent work.