CitizenKate

This is the Backgammon game I did with a carved/tooled veg-tan playing surface that I entered at IFoLG in St. Louis in Oct. In the showroom it was arranged in a somewhat chaotic manner and the lighting was not the greatest, so I decided to shoot a decent photo of it and post it sometime. Kate

Fabulous work! Thanks for posting. Kate

Love the idea, Mark, this is going to be fun! Kate

Here's one I came up with a couple of years ago that might fit your need. I've got a tutorial around here somewhere to build one... it doesn't swivel but it's simple, clamps to a bench, and stores away neatly. Kate

Nice work, Chris. Imagine that... real leather really is better. Kate

Hi Red, it is my preference for the insides. Anything heavier (like regular veg-tan that I've split down to 3-4oz) creates a pretty thick wallet unloaded. (I think azrider also made that observation earlier in this topic.) The calfskin is pretty strong and has held up well on all the wallets I've made so far. I do all of my stitching by hand as well. For one thing, I adjust the tension on my stitches depending on the material I'm stitching. If I'm stitching something very thick and firm, I really pull those stitches tight. But if I'm stitching something very thin or soft, I don't pull the stitches as tight. I just snug them down to the point just before they start to bunch the edges. It also occurs to me that you might want to consider a slightly lighter thread to stitch all the inside parts. Kate

Hi Bobby, Someone posted a great little tutorial some time ago on how to make a simple clicker die using some plywood and a used band saw blade. I'll try to post a link to it if I can find it again. Meanwhile, if anyone else remembers that post and can find it faster than me, maybe they can help us out there. Kate

Paul's got a new project underway in his studio, a carving based on a newly discovered work from Alphonse Mucha. Read his blog post on this project here. (Includes lots of photos of the work in progress.) Kate

I think you're going to have to change your display name. You don't qualify as a rookie any more. Kate PS: Nice work!

Turned out great for the first one, Adam. It functions, and it's going to last you a while. My first one was a total disaster - ha! On my first one I used some of my regular veg-tan that I split down to a little over 3oz, and even that was a little thicker than I wanted it, so now I just use calfskin or goatskin, which I get at around 2-3oz. Good job getting the zipper pouch put together right, and I really like the tooling you chose for it, too. Kate

Oh yes, it can be done, and has been done. This is what we call "embossing", and the particular technique you're talking about is "plug embossing". I think there are some topics on this already, so you might want to do a search on that. If you have problems finding anything, reply back here and we'll help you out further. Kate

Silly me... forgot to include the project photo: Kate

Back in 1996, Jan's carving of a mountain lion was featured as a Doodle Page of the Month by Tandy Leather. Back then, he used leather plugs for the embossing, a swivel knife to cut each individual hair, and spirit dye for the coloring. Jan's techniques have changed over the years and with this latest lesson, you will learn to create a very realistic looking portrait of a mountain lion. To learn more about Jan Schoonover, his work, and the Sculpting Leather Art lesson series, visit Clay Banyai's web site: http://badlandsleatherart.com/schoonover.htm. Kate

There are things you can do with an airbrush that you can't very easily with a bristle brush, and vice-verse. I like having an assortment of tools and techniques to choose from, depending on what I'm trying to do, or what kind of effect I want. For coloring broad areas, an airbrush is hard to beat. It saves a lot of time (even after the time I spend masking off the areas to be dyed), and the color goes on perfectly even. It's also the easiest way to get that attractive shading around the edges that you see on some pieces. As Particle mentioned, the trade-off is that the dye tends not to penetrate the leather fibers as much, so you would need to make additional passes to get the color saturation you want. Kate

I really love how some groups have been applying the flash mob concept to lifting the spirits of others. It's very a powerful statement, and the fact that they just seem to appear out of nowhere makes them really magical (or scary, depending on how it is used). Isn't it neat how some of the people in the crowd don't seem sure if they're supposed to be part of it or not, so they just - what the heck, I know the tenor part - and just join right in. The voices may not have all been perfect, but it was beautiful music to my ears. Thanks for sharing it. Kate

Welcome to Leatherworker, Tom! Glad to have you, and looking forward to seeing your work. Kate

I found out a while back (much to my consternation) that the leather's exposure to the "daylight" bulbs will cause the dyes to fade (especially blues, purples, and greens), just as if you left them in the sun. So I have been recommending to my customers, if they are going to display my work in their home or office, to use the soft white bulbs. I believe the reason for this is that the daylight bulbs emit more ultraviolet radiation - they are more "blue-ish" - which is the type of radiation we get from sunlight that causes dyes to fade quickly. What I don't know for sure is whether the same thing that causes dyes to fade is also what gives leather that suntanned look, but I'm guessing it is. Either way, some bulbs will work better than others. So my suggestion is, start with a daylight bulb, or a bulb with the highest color temperature you can find. Kate

Just wanted to pass along an interesting find I stumbled upon that I don't think very many of us know about. This merchant has an interesting assortment of leatherworking tools and supplies, much of the typical stuff, but also some fairly unique and unusual products (at least in the US market), including stamps, swivel knives, an interesting assortment of punches, powdered dyes (that mix with alcohol, and can be shipped by air)... those are just some of the things I noticed. http://www.goodsjapan.jp/servlet/the-Leather-Craft-Items/Categories Kate

Oops, I stand corrected... there IS a Mac OSX version of Inkscape! Highly recommended! http://inkscape.org/ Kate

Hi newf, I use Adobe Illustrator which is available for Macs, but it's not cheap. You can sometimes pick up a slightly older version of it relatively cheaply on Ebay, which is where/how I got mine. There are also lots of free design programs that are surprisingly good - my favorite free one is Inkscape, but sadly, there is not a Mac version of it. But here's one place that lists a bunch of other free design/drawing programs that run on Macs: http://www.snap2objects.com/2008/06/17/24-free-mac-design-programs/ Kate