battlemunky

John James needles are the best needles I've used. I don't know what they do differently in making them but they rarely break and are ridiculously smooth to sew with. I think the rest is all up to you and what you want to achieve. If you want a nice tight look with full stitches, go with a close spacing and a thick thread, if you want a gappy look to your piece, go with a wider spacing, bigger hole, and thinner thread. A lot of it is just aesthetics and most times, a saddle stitch will hold the work together just fine no matter the spacing given you are using a good thread of adequate size. I have the Chinese pricking irons and the Chinese knockoff tiger thread and they are working just fine. I'm not trying to pass off any of my work as ultra premium. Vergez Blanchard has really good tools but you pay for them. It all depends on your level and what you are willing to put into it as well. Me, I'm waiting until my skill can catch up to meet the quality of the tools. I know this doesn't answer you directly but it isn't really a simple question to answer since taste goes into it.

Looks like you did a really good job dude. Stingray sounds like a huge PITA!

You could always line it with a thinner leather but that defeats the purpose he thinks, wrongly, that he wants a liner for. I have several carbon steel knives and store them in their sheathes. Can it rust, of course, but it can rust no matter what, it's what carbon steel does. I honestly can't recall seeing too many liners on sheathes. Cloth would hold moisture as bad or worse than leather I'd think. Plastic would work if ventilated but would look kind of junky if not done right. What kind of knife is it for? Some $1000 Turley or Randall? If so, he should probably store them out of their sheath anyway. Just my thoughts on the matter, I hope it helps.

Really nice site!

Another excellent bit of work @karlova!

Yeah, I've never thinned it and get a pretty dark shade out of it as well.

Both are really nice, she will love it I'm sure!

Another great piece @Rolandranch! That horse is great! I mean, the whole think is really well done but the horse is ridiculous.

And for 7 bucks, you need to buy them a beer or so! I have rivet envy now between Plinker and Karlova.

Agree with everything @garypl said. Clean and neat sheath, seriously cool filework on the spine.

I think so too. How'd you get the folds in the flag? Looks like it is laying just about perfectly as if it is hanging at an angle. The punisher is cool too, I like the way you have the radiating points coming out on the border.

My rivets get pretty flattened too.

Really cool. See, I never think of things like this but I'm awfully glad other people are and do or else trunk making would die. That looks great!

That is a beautiful purse @Aza404. I like the corners and the hinge and the inside and the hidden smiley face Aside from the NFO and the neutral shoe polish did you do anything else to finish it? Have you heard any feedback on whether that is sufficient to keep the dye from bleeding/transferring? Nice item and great video!

Very cool. Busse makes awesome knives too. Thanks!

Beautiful! Looks comfy too.

Oh, well, swivel knives have a tendency to multiply. I have two and rarely use either and often find myself strolling through pages looking for new ones. They are highly variable per the individual using them. Comfort, feel, control. It all comes into play and then you get into different setups for ease of use/speed. Just search this site for "swivel knife" and you'll see some people with a lot more than four.

Looks good, and thanks for giving @JLSleather his credit. That dude has a ton of free stuff so a mention is just. I think the things you mention being "wrong" are fine and are one of those things that likely won't be noticed by the receiver unless they are keen on how to judge these things. Your painting looks really nice!

Yeah, you did well, or your friend did. I bought a lot half that size in not as good of shape for twice as much and still made out. When you are ready to learn carving and stamping you are far beyond a good start. Congrats on the most excellent haul!

My hand is cramped in empathy. It looks awesome though. I like the scales and then the stamping with the camoflager in each scale. Damn classy! Edges look great too. There is too much to love with this piece!

I usually don't get as nice of a rounding from the setter and end up peening the ever living hell out of it anyway. I still try every time but it never get round enough with just the setter tool. Mine look like yours does; a nice hammered look.

That looks really nice and clean. I always appreciate nice dark edges on a light top finish. Would you mind posting pics of the sword? :D

Youtube is your friend! There are some good videos about setting and finishing them. Also, those posts are bad little posts and need to be beaten into submission. I love the rivets but I hate the racket I make while doing it. It's a pleasure to me but I imagine my wife sees it as more of a punishment. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap x20, nope, not done yet, tap, tap, tap, tap x 20, nope, not quite there, tap, tap, tap. Part of my problem is that my bench isn't super solid so I make a ton of racket beating them into a nice place. Grab a scrap piece of leather and beat on one until you get it figured out. It's deceivingly simple but you gotta get through the first one.

That backpack turned out really nicely. It reminds me of a well worn pair of jeans. It looks great and your pockets are super cool. The flaps on both pockets and the main flap are really well planned with the raw edges like that. You nailed this. The only thing I don't care for is the type of rivets, I prefer the burr type, but it is quite awesome regardless.

I think your work is great and I am honored to have yet another female that I can learn from on the forum! I don't discriminate, I'll learn from whoever I can. Welcome and thanks for sharing!