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Wedgetail

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Everything posted by Wedgetail

  1. Wedgetail
    That looks very nice indeed! I presume the case is just glued in there? You can get magnetic ones... But only found them in volume which is annoying if you are not making a lot for the same phone.
  2. Wedgetail
    Well mate, you can print any design you like very quickly from your 3d model. Which means you can make any crazy design you like, print it in 3D as a positive of what you want the end product to be, make a negative mould of that with silicone, sand, or plaster, and then pour melted metal into it to make cast the item you want in metal. You can even allow for vents when pouring in the 3d print, so you don't have to add them to your mould later. Also see the blocks printed by rockyaussie above. Great way to grab a quick template at the exact dimensions you want.
  3. Wedgetail
    I hear it is quite the investment... (pun intended). Still, amazing how they do it! This 3d printing tech though would be a great way to make the negs straight from your drawing, to make the moulds, to inject the wax, to set in plaster, to vaporise the wax and create a void, and finally cast in metal... need a few toys/tools, but it sounds heaps more fun than buying stuff from China! Kudos to Marshy for being creative, that's what this stuff is all about!
  4. Wedgetail
    Oh sure, they use plaster (investment) for jewellery making with silver, gold, etc. Pretty sure they melt around the same temperature range as brass (900-1000 deg C). Check out lost wax casting for example on how to use that. But clay should work just fine too! heck, even silicone moulds would work.
  5. Wedgetail
    My interest is piqued Planning to build myself a little furnace soon for the same purpose when the Wedgetail Nest (shed) is complete Typically these things won't stand up to a mallet. They are not very strong at all. But a good negative for popping into a sand or plaster mould, they would certainly make!
  6. Wedgetail
    Nice! Thanks for sharing that, I watched the video just now. Might have to see where I can get some tallow fat. I think I have some water based stain there too, so will cut a scrap up and try that for colour take up on the edge instead of the oil based.
  7. Wedgetail
    Hey All, Got a question and a bit of a lesson learned to share. I've just completed a belt made from hermann oak English bridle leather in Havana Brown. My first time working with this leather. Being a bridle leather, I assume I should not need to apply any finishes to it because of the waxes etc already in the leather. Though, I thought I better run that by the forum before I hand it over to the customer. Especially regarding the flesh side, do you apply finishes to bridle leathers? Next is a lesson learned. Edge dyeing bridle leather is tricky proposition! I applied 4 coats heavily of fiebings pro oil dye to one edge of the belt and it looked no different to the other side where I only applied one coat, they both looked patchy and the dye refused to take up. With the second side I burnished it with water first, applied dye being sure to apply it in both directions, burnished again, applied a second coat of dye same as the first. Then gave it a hard burnish with a lot more pressure and moving slower (I use a pro edge burnisher in a bench grinder). At this point still looked patchy, so I applied beeswax and burnished again, which really helped even out the colour. Now it looks great, and is smooth as glass. Seems like a long way around though... so I am wondering also if anyone has some tips for edge dyeing bridle leather?
  8. Wedgetail
    Looks like a good start to me! If you wanted to get rid of the grain you would probably just need to sand the surface a bit with some 1000 grit. May also get a better impression if you can apply it evenly over the whole surface, like you said using more clamps would do this for you. On to a winner mate, you can make just about anything you want with that! I've been quietly pondering the same approach, but using it for rapid mould production so I can cast stamps, belt keepers, buckles, etc from brass.
  9. Wedgetail
    Solid plan! Hahaha It's all about teamwork!
  10. Wedgetail
    Value is aaaaallll about the market you sell to. Some people will pay that, some won't. Good effort from the missus!
  11. Wedgetail
    Another quick keychain I banged out yesterday evening for a work colleague. Normally I wouldn't put the split ring on the spring clip, because I'm paranoid about losing things and that seems way too easy.... but what client wants, client gets! It is made from Tandy's Austin Double Shoulders, in tan. Skived to half thickness and finished just with Aussie leather conditioner. Edges are dyed dark brown for contrast, and then burnished. The red thread is from lekoza. It's called Slam thread, and it is GREAT stuff to work with. I hope you like it guys, sometimes the simple projects can be rewarding.
  12. Wedgetail
    Hell yes that turned out great! I like it
  13. Wedgetail
    Hahahaha, I am envious also. Your laser is bigger than mine, that's for sure. But I heard that if you keep the area around your laser clear, it makes it look bigger! The 40w is good for some basic cutting and etching. But if you want to cut thicker veg tan with less scorching, or cut reasonable size projects, the 150W and your working area would perform a whole lot better. I really like what you did here though. From experience, I know how much effort and skill it takes to make laser etched leather look that good! Great job.
  14. Wedgetail
    Very cool design mate! You've inspired me, I'll have to try and challenge you My laser bed is only 200x300, one of the $500 40W jobs from ebay. I normally just use it to cut out stencils for airbrushing or cutting acrylic or MDF templates, etc. What size bed and what power of laser are you using?
  15. Wedgetail
    Looks great though
  16. Wedgetail
    Thanks mate, I'll say one thing. The Austin double shoulders are really soft and flexible. So when you thin them down, and hit them with leather conditioner, I super easy to braid them! The stuff is a real pleasure to work with.
  17. Wedgetail
    Getting started on this year's batch of Christmas presents for the family... about 10 more to go, and then the wife will do some baking. The brown coloured are from Tandy's Austin double shoulders, which I used my bench skiver to reduce the thickness to about 1.2mm. The burgundy is latigo. Solid brass Dee rings. Double capped rivets. Brass split rings.
  18. Wedgetail
    Agreed, we tend to be our harshest critics. That looks like a beautiful outcome to me!
  19. Wedgetail
    I got it through Lekoza in the USA. http://lekoza.com/ Let me know if you want to try some and I'll pop a few metres in the post for you. If you want to order some, i may want some other colours too... could be good to combine forces and cut down shipping costs. It was about $35 shipping from memory! I have Black, white, and red.
  20. Wedgetail
    Sounds like a fun experiment! Time to go into 'mad scientist' mode, I think Normally I just airbrush, but that doesn't get the lines like that.
  21. Wedgetail
    Looks great! Nice job on the dye, good looking patina effect.
  22. Wedgetail
    NP mate, sometimes people like to know what other people think about things before they buy... and sometimes you just need traffic! I sent a book cover to a YouTube channel I follow. Not intended for publicity, but as a gift. I was already sending him something else (a miniature) for a subscriber event he was running and had to pay $30 postage to the UK anyway, so I figured I might as well send him something cool for his hobby to make it 'worth while'. He did a video on it, and I got an order from it. Considering his subscriber base is not very big, and only averages a few hundred views per video, I think that shows the power of the social network!
  23. Wedgetail
    Send one to Steve martinelli (I think that's how you spell it) He does YouTube reviews of minimalist wallets, has a decent subscriber base and could get your etsy store some traffic. They look great by the way
  24. Wedgetail
    Thanks mate, one cannot ask for a better review than that!
  25. Wedgetail
    Thanks guys I've made one or two for myself before, and learned the things that bug me about it. Those have been resolved here!
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