CitizenKate

Just got mine yesterday. It looks beautiful, and works beautifully! Thanks! Kate

Good point, David. You're absolutely right. Kate

Ah, okay... that question still left unanswered... When I used acrylic finishes (*shene or resolene) I poured the remaining finish back into the bottle, then rinsed the sprayer with warm water with every use. If I did not do this, the finish would dry up around the nozzle and clog it. If this happens, a very long rinse with warm water will clear it. But it's best to rinse the sprayer with every use when you use acrylic finishes. With the wax finishes I use (mostly Bee-Natural, but I've also found the same true with others), I just leave the sprayer loaded with finish all the time, and rarely have to rinse it out between uses. Maybe once in 10 or 15 uses. When using any dyes (spirit or water based), you will want to rinse it out after every use, and spray through water or solvent to clear the nozzle of any remaining color. When considering whether this is worth the trouble, consider also how much time you spend cleaning your bristle brushes between jobs. I still use bristle brushes for various applications, but using a sprayer whenever possible, overall, has been a huge time-saver for me. Kate

You can buy cans of compressed air to plug into those things. They don't cost as much as an air compressor, but if you're going to do a lot of project with it, buying cans of compressed air will overtake the cost of a small air compressor in no time. I bought a few of the cans when I was dabbling. When I decided I was going to use it on all my projects, that's when I invested in the compressor. I have a regular 125 psi, air compressor with a 3 gallon tank that I got at Sears on sale for about $75. It is a bit noisy, however, but since I use it out in my garage, it doesn't bother me. Some people prefer the quieter compressors that are specifically designed to use with air brushes. Those start around $200 or so. Kate

Hi Clay... slow response - I've been a little tied up the last couple of days - but WOW, I really like the way you did that! It borders on photo-realistic, very life-like. I have got to start playing with those textures more. Thanks for showing us the process you used to do this piece. When I get some time, I'm going to take another stab at doing it this way. Kate

PM sent, Joe. Thanks for the referral, Johanna! Kate

Here's a vendor I recently bought D-rings from. They offer different weights of material. http://www.strapworks.com/Metal_D_Ring_p/mdr.htm Kate

There are several threads on the topic of using airbrushes for various purposes. Here's the one Deb mentioned. If I have time later on, I'll try to get back here and look up a few more that I know are there. I have a cheap single-action sprayer that I originally bought to dabble in airbrushing. I quickly upgraded to a double-action airbrush for doing dye work, but I still use the single-action to spray on finishes with, and it works great for that. Mine is a Badger 250 (just to show you as an example of what I'm talking about), but any brand will work fine. Incidentally, Badger currently has some on sale for $12 on their garage sale page. Kate

It's kind of a little photo studio to take high quality photos of your work. It gives your subject a good source of very intense diffused light. If you sell your stuff online, a photo box (or "light box", or "soft box") is a must. Kate

Sorry I can't make it to the party, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Kate

Thanks for the clarification. The one I use is from Fiebing's. In that case, if you use denatured alcohol, you may want to also consider treating the leather with a conditioner afterwards. Same thing if you use spirit dyes, which also contain denatured alcohol. That stuff really dries out the leather. Kate

Deglazer will remove a wax finish. According to the label, it contains ethyl acetate, which is not the same as denatured alcohol. Deglazer is less harmful to your leather than denatured alcohol, and is not as toxic. Acetone is also a different substance than ethyl acetate, but is used for many of the same things. One interesting thing I came across on Wikipedia was that ethyl acetate is also used in nail polish remover, and sure enough, that's exactly what deglazer smells like. If you're looking for something you can get locally, maybe nail polish remover will work. Kate PS: Be sure to test it first!

... which is why you never want to use an acrylic finish on anything that might be used outdoors. I learned that the hard way! Kate

I've been able to remove it with just water. Kate

Oh, hohohohohoh... wwwwOW! Nice work, that puts any of my "firsts" to shame. But you're applying conditioner after the dyes, now, right? I think there has been a thread on this topic before, and I may have already posted this... just can't remember, for sure. (My apologies if this is redundant for some of you.) Here are a couple of pieces I did early on upon resuming leather work after about 30 years. This is one of the first Chess boards I made. You may recognize the corner ornament I used for this design. It's from the 76560 craftaid corner pack. And this is the same design I did about a couple of years later, after getting a few dozen projects under my fingers. (Not to mention a lot of great advice from others in the craft who were willing to share.) Kate

I'm about to crash for the night, but I had to squirt in a quick comment. I really love how this is shaping up, so far. WOW! I know a lot can happen between now and the finish, but if this turns out even half as good as it looks so far, you should send a photo of the finished piece to Lora. Kate

Your wire-brand still has some possibilities, I think... Hope you post some photos sometime to show how you did that. Also, I almost forgot, there's a guy who makes mini-brands for leatherworkers. He has a web site called Grandpa's Pastime (Dale Grabowsky). He doesn't have pictures of his brands there any more, but you might want to contact him and see if what he makes will work for you. Kate

Try a heat gun instead of a torch, and whatever you do, keep it moving. Kate

This is looking great, so far. Are you planning to do any antiquing, or is all the color coming from the dyes? That looks like an ungodly amount of back-grounding. Looking forward to the next episode! Kate

That is very fine workmanship, Nomad. Very clean and professional. Thanks for showing it to us. Kate

Thanks, Scott! PM sent. Kate

It didn't come off that way to me, T. Sounds (and looks) like you've come a long way. Welcome to the forum, and look forward to seeing more of your work! Kate

I agree with what most of you are saying. The Stohlman knife is better than the stock Tandy knife, but not enough better to justify the cost. You're paying mostly for the name and the pretty look. There is one knife I know of that is under $20 that you can get from Springfield Leather that is very nice for the money. It's all stainless steel, comes with a hollow ground stainless steel blade, and has a ball-bearing swivel. It's called the "Adjustable Pro" swivel knife. I got the 3/8" barrel size, and tried to get the 1/2" barrel size along with it, but they ran out and don't know when or if they'll be getting more. So if you want one of the 3/8" ones they have left, you probably need to hurry. Kevin says he's working on having more of them made, but so far that hasn't happened. And no, I have no affiliation with Springfield Leather, just love the knife! In addition to those mentioned by the others (Barry King, Robert Beard, Henley, etc.), Hidecrafters also carries a couple of knives that are pretty nice. The Lancer and Magnum swivel knives are both nice quality knives, and according to the latest price list I got from them, they not only still carry them, but the prices have dropped. Is a better knife worth the money? I think so, but it took me several years and a few dozen projects before my skills had gotten to the point where the better quality made any difference in my work. Just one other thing to consider. Kate

That's a really interesting way of making burned impressions on leather. I have not tried this exact method, but I have tried a couple of other things. Here is an experimental piece I did with a regular wood burning iron. I've also experimented with heating up 3-D leather stamps with a heat gun and stamping it on dry leather to create a charred impression. I don't have any photos of that experiment, but that works pretty well, too. Thanks for posting this interesting topic. I'm looking forward to hear what others have tried. Kate

Now, that's what I call thinking outside the box. Those are some great effects, and that shredding you did with the hair blade looks just like cattail fuzz. Very cool! This might be a good time to consider spraying both the colors and the sealer, yes? Looks like the least little bit of rubbing would probably destroy that delicate texture you created. Kate