CitizenKate

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

I had seen that pattern on her web site, along with many others, and thought that would look great in leather. After having tried my hand at wildlife carving for the first time, I can really appreciate artists who can bring together perspective, proportion, and textures to make such a believable rendering of a live critter. I am looking forward to seeing how you went about shaping those feathers before (I presume) using the hair blade to texture them. I just tried a hair blade tool for the first time, and my first attempts to use it really looked horrible! Ha! I haven't given up, though, I just need more time to experiment with it. (Maybe some tips on that would be appreciated, too.) Kate

Hey - you finally finished them! They look really sharp. That black hair looks great with the veg-tan. I wonder if wetting the hair down a little would have made the sewing a little easier...? Dunno, just a thought. (You probably already tried that, anyway.) Kate

Heheh! Just tell her she can have a brand-new one. I've used this tool, also, and it works pretty well. I went back to the drive punches years ago for some reason I can no longer remember, but I did use snap pliers for a long time. Kate

The first thing that comes to mind is, it may have gotten something oily or waxy on it while you were stamping or cutting on it. To prevent this, make sure your hands are clean and free of anything oily or waxy while you're working on the leather. If you do get something on it, you can clean off just about anything with deglazer, which is available at leather suppliers. If the areas in question don't line up with the colored areas, it probably isn't the colors you used, but some colors do have the property of resisting antique. Kate

Is it the entire piece of leather, or just parts of it? Kate

Huh... why didn't I think of that??? We can just run a query and get those stats. Not going to do it tonight, but I'll get in there tomorrow or day next and see what's there, and post it here. Kate

Point noted. The posts are no doubt stronger if they do not split. I used the word "split", when what I really had in mind to use the tool to flair the end of the post to get it to spread out and lay down evenly on the working part of the snap. I think, though, on the female half, it's pretty hard to get the post to lay that flat on the floor of the snap without at least some minor splitting. On the other hand, I will also point out that, on snaps that I've had to try to remove, even if the post is severely split, I was unable to remove the snap without severely damaging the working part of the snap. That is far more of a load than the snap would be subject to ordinarily. Kate

I don't think I'm quite buyin' that you're a newb. I cannot speak to how well it might function as a holster, but as far as the looks go, I would have guessed it was made by someone more experienced. Nice work! Kate

This has happened to me on a couple of occasions. Sometimes it's the credit card companies that are involved. I had an unauthorized charge on my AMEX from a hotel I had stayed at 3 months prior. I called AMEX to dispute it and got the money charged back. Then, a few months later, a magazine subscription I had never ordered appeared on my statement. This time, I called AMEX and told them to cancel my card. "What is your reason for cancelling?" "The reason is, I've had two unauthorized charges on my card in the last three months, and I think you should be doing more to prevent this sort of thing." "Ma'am, give us a chance to look into it and resolve whatever issues there may be." "Okay, but if there is even one more, we're done." The amount of the subscription was charged back to me, and there were no further incidents. On further investigation, I found this magazine had some kind of partnership affiliation with AMEX, and they were offering it as a benefit of AMEX membership. Some benefit. They knew durn good and well I never authorized it. So if it happens to you, see what happens if you go after your credit card company. Kate

You must have posted this while I was working on my demo. When striking with the setting tool, be conscious of whether the tool is striking squarely. It may take some practice to get the feel of that. Kate

Scott, I'm not sure what specific problem you're having with setting line 20 snaps, but here are some photos to show one way to do it that has been successful for me, along with some tips to avoid the problems I encountered when learning how to set them. Starting with the male half of the snap, set the post face-up on something flat and hard, like an anvil. The post goes through the hole in your leather, then the snap goes over that. There are different types of snap setting tools; this is the one I use. One of the problems I had getting snaps to set right happened when the leather was thicker, almost the thickness of the post. There needs to be a small amount of the post showing up through the working part of the snap when the post is struck by the tool. If there isn't enough, the working part of the snap comes off as the end of the post as the post is struck, and the set is unsuccessful. Art made a good suggestion to thin the leather around the hole to make sure there is enough post to grab the working part of the snap. Another way to prevent this problem is to use your fingertips to press down on the working part of the snap down while you're holding the setting tool, as shown here: Tap the setting tool lightly until you start to feel the post giving way. Make sure you are striking the post SQUARELY. If anything starts to feel crooked or lop-sided, then stop, adjust and resume. Once the post starts to split, then give it a couple of hard whacks to set it. When you're done, it should look like this: You can usually see the post splitting, but for the most part, it is flat, and spread around the hole fairly evenly. For the female half of the snap, I use the concave side of my button anvil, since the cap has a slight dome shape. Again, use your fingers to press down on the working part of the snap as you strike the setter, to keep it from popping off the end of the post while you're striking. A few light taps until you feel the post starting to spread and give way, then a couple of hard whacks to set the snap. When you're done, it should look like this, with the post mashed nice and flat inside the working part of the snap, and evenly distributed around the inside of the hole. If the post on this part is not flat enough, it will be very difficult to snap and un-snap the pieces. If you do have difficulty with it, give it a few more whacks. Sometimes, I have also resorted to whacking the post with the flat end of my setting tool to make it nice and flat. If this doesn't help with your specific problem, give us more info and we'll try to help. Kate

USA Kate

I've also gotten good results with Lexol leather conditioner, with no discoloration of the leather. Kate

You can make a groove using a modeling tool with a straight blade or tip. It won't be as deep as a cut groove, though. Kate

Right there are still some, but a bunch of them that were there, no longer are. I was pretty disappointed when I discovered that, too. I was planning to take it up with my "local" manager the next time I had them on the phone. I should have downloaded them all when I had the chance. Kate

See if Kyson Leather on ebay has anything for you... http://stores.ebay.com/Kyson-Leather_White...5QQftidZ2QQtZkm Kate

Hi Anne, Welcome to Leatherworker! A good place to start is to do a forum search, as a few people here have posted links to 3rd-party hosted video on various topics. There also are several photo demonstrations posted here. My time here is short at the moment, but I will try to post some links to some of these topics this evening. Another good place to look is on Youtube... just do a search on "carving leather" or "leather work". Kate

Very nice work... nice clean edges, and the stitching looks very professional. Good job! Kate

Ihr Englisch ist viel besser als mein Deutsch, aber ich werde sagen, wir sind sehr froh, dass Sie hier sind. (Hopefully I said, "Your English is much better than my German, but I will say we are very glad that you are here.") Willkommen, Freund. Kate

Same here. In high school and college, when I got my horn out, I was into the classics and various species of jazz. When I got out my guitar, it was folk and bluegrass. I used to think C&W was what the musically depraved listened to, along with hard rock, and later rap and hip-hop. But nowadays, I can "rock-out" on any of those genres. When it comes down to it, just about any kind of music will grow on me if I hear enough of it, and start to "get" the spirit of it. The only thing that hasn't gotten through to me yet is stuff like chance music and avant garde. I don't think I'm missing out on much. Kate

Glad you're here, SOS. Those leather electric guitar pick guards are an interesting idea. Lotta good possibilities for guitar art/customization there. Look forward to seeing more of your work. Kate

It's Pandora for me! Every day I'm in the mood for something different, and I can tell Pandora what I want, and it serves up whatever I ask for. Kate