8thsinner

If having something to contribute means so much to you in the short term, why not give us a review of all the books you now have, or even a list and a star rating. Everyone almost knows about stohlman, grant etc, but there are plenty of others recommended to me that I had not heard of before, I am sure you can add to that list.

This has actually been happening for some time, just click the link again and it should open normally. The same thing happens it seems on any page bookmarked that needs a log in to display properly. Book marking the main page for example comes up with an error msg, then you have to click something else to fix it...

It can be that simple yes. I don't often use slits these days for anything simply because I don't have the tools anymore. My tool kit right now fits into a very small box. Most people will probably start learning using holes because that's what most of the books tell you to use on mexican style braiding, as far as I can remember one of stohlman's books shows slits for certain types of lacing. I would suggest for now you stick with round holes because they are stronger. Once you are happy with the quality of using holes switch to slits. When you are happy with that compare the two methods using the experience of all your mistakes and either change the preference for different projects based on that experience or stick with the one you simply prefer.

Beautifull work, sharp crisp lines, excellent colours and the pattern is extremely well developed. Nice

I just played around with an idea there and discovered a very fast way of navigating this or any other forum you have in your favourites. Assuming you have firefox and the all in one side bar On your favourites list, copy your leatherworker link. Right click it and go to the properties tab. Place a symbol at the front or rename it to suit for example (leatherworker.net) > (*leatherworker.net) or > (Leatherworker side) Look at the bottom of the properties tab and click, open inside bar. The best way of using this i think is to set your maximum side bar to about 450pixels, at least on my screen. And set it not to auto close. When your done, you can open the forums in the side bar, and quickly click on several different forums, or new posts etc, post your replies and change locations without scrolling up and clicking the links to go back to the main page. Extra tip. You can even do this on the lo-fi version, and keep a basic list of all the forums at hand, the screen space needed for this is considerably lower, something like 300 is loads.

Simple as the title says. http://www.chichesterinc.com/

Wow, looks so good and so simple at the same time. Can't wait to see it finished.

I mean to challenge you to design and create a piece of your art, which still carries all of my stuff that I have in my current one, but a hell of a lot more organised. And it is a lot of stuff. It will have to wait quite a while though.

Yes indeed. Mexican round braid edge lacing is about 8-9 times length needed.

Some great looking binders there. And looking through, if anyone else is wanting to draw celtic knots, theres a really simple method I found... I have one page in my note book dedicated to Dots in ink, when I get bored my partner and I either play squares on it or I practice drawing these... Have a look http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_O_0yegDdIw

I wish I could make a wallet half as good as you, great work as always. I keep wanting to give you my challenge but I can in no way afford it just yet. So you just carry on and keep teasing okay. Grrrrr

Looks to me like you started this with the right tools, plan and mindset. And in my opinion that's a great example of flawless execution. Whats next on the books? And what other crafts have you done before, I would guess something where extreme patience is needed?

I would agree with Johanna here on this, and also offer that taking inspiration from something is the pretty definition of innovation, but like every moral dilemma there is a line. Thinking more about it, when learning something, It's always better to copy so that you can compare your result to the professionals, I say this only because I will probably be looking to copy a few works of carving soon in order to work out my own design for my belt.

Holes are way easier than slots with those dimensions. If you have a triangular marlin spike that will fit the width, I would suggest dampening the leather a tiny bit, and stretch the holes with the triangle, The point of which faces the edge of the belt, Push the spike against the outside edge of the belt as you do this, unless one of your holes seems wonky in which case adjust to fit. Obviously you can't push it too much, just use common sense here. but tread carefully, damp leather as you know holds it's scars. Or chop up a bit of wood scrape and sand it smooth and use it. If your making one make one edge blunter, this is the side that would face the edge of the belt, all you want to do is round the slot on two planes. It will help your inner sides but still keep a fairly neat even flat appearance on the inner edge of the belt, It will also make room for your lace to go through properly. If you get stuck with a certain hole pull the first strand against the appropriate side which it will pull against, stick the scratch awl through wiggle it a bit on the inside and then try. If your stuck with a hole on the first entry, you need to stretch the hole more. Seems I always forget something right now. Generally speaking holes are much much tougher. Not that lacing done right should lead to the leather stretching and ripping but there you go. The round holes spread the tension all around itself, it will deform but rarely split. The bag I am using at the moment most of the holes are ovals, It needs replaced big time.

When your putting your lacing needle on: Cut the taper longer, insert, screw, undo it and snip off just below where it stopped going in. This will put the toughest and thickest part of the lace where it needs to be. If your doing the mexican braid put in a dozen or so stitches at a time, then add braiding grease, the one in grant's book has always worked well enough for me. Tighten up the stitches using the same pressure each time. If you do one stitch at a time you will tend to use differing amounts of pressure, so use the same pressure 12 times in a row then start more stitching. If you have a scratch awl, or long needle etc. As the lace is leaving the hole, use the needle to apply reverse pressure keeping it flat just out of the hole. This applies on every pass, whether it's coming out or going in. The best book to use with regards to stopping and joining the braided lace in Al stohlmans decorative lacing, theres a picture for every step. Theres also a link recently posted here with the details, I can't find it right now. But it would help a lot. Another thing, If things get tricky or you start to lose concentration just stop and do something else for a while, give your eyes and your brain a chance to slow down and relax, It's just another muscle. Hope that helps you out for the moment. Forgot to add, your holes might be too small, you punched them all first right, what size are they and what width is your lace?

I love this. I think the lace method compliments this design perfectly, and using so many different skin types in just a wallet is very creative. Where the different skins very different to work with?

Amazing clean lines there. That pouch could survive a war by the look of it. Keep up the good work.

Welcome to your new addiction. I recently joined myself and can't get enough. You will find the people here very helpful and full of talent and ideas, always willing to help out a fellow in need. Enjoy your stay.

Thanks for all the great information, thats enough to sort out things in my head. And the reason I want D2 is because to date it has the best edge holding and sharpness qualities that I have used to date, Not because it's a designer steel, If I wanted to use a designer steel I would probably opt for S30v cryo tempered. But when it comes to a new tool type I prefer to stick with what I know and I know D2 is good enough for my needs. I do not mind that it will take a while to sharpen it initially to the way it seems to need to be, I love sharpening and polishing blades, to me it's just another hobby. And it seems like the thinner the blade the better, convexed from a fair way back really, and highly polished. I think I will opt for a quarter blade (well just over) with two different shapes of curves for each side of it. Even though I do not do a lot of skiving, being able to do so more safely is a high concern, Practicality and versatility is what I go for. Thanks again

I have thought about doing something like this a few times myself, for more of a hunting vest type thing going. but I have always stuck to my belt or thigh pockets on my combats...Doubt I will get around to it anytime soon though.

Yeah D2 is great, I especially want it because it's the steel used on one of my camp knives, it's a convex blade and I can still shave with it. And yes I know Bob Dozier, His books are good too. But yeah he would be very expensive and his waiting list is probably about a year long. I am a little more confused now though, it seems that a head knife is sometimes a half circle knife and sometimes a quarter circle, I guess it's just one of those terms. So in really practical terms the quarter knife is actually more useful but the edge doesn't stay as sharp for as long, a problem which is resolved somewhat by using a harder high quality blade. Is that right? Bruce, the edge of your blade is it flat ground or convex, I can't believe that it would be concave? Does the taper in the stock of the blade start right from the spine and go fine or is the stock thicker until the last 1/2" or so, then go finer into the grind?

I have several questions on round knives. I have not really used the old fashioned type before, I was using rota knives. Anyway How thick should the blade steel be for optimum performance? Does any one have an old one they are wanting rid of that I can modify? Where do you guys go to get yours made custom, Preferably in D2 or similar? Assuming you look at a round knife as a half circle, Will a quarter circle version have any downfalls? Slightly over a quarter really but you know what I mean

I recently mentioned maybe trying to get a new belt done. I have sort of come up with a nice what I think is a really simple design (well I have the principle I want to use in my head) It's almost floral but not like a western floral pattern. Anyway. If I am wanting a black belt will it be easier to carve on the black, or carve on clean veg tan and then dye it black, according to what I have read here dying black is hard enough. I am not sure if there will be a difference between the two with the end result and with each style I suppose you could find an expert but this will be my first attempt at carving anything. So if carving on black can result in lines just as clean I definately want to try it that way. Any tips? I got myself a basic stamping kit, with what seems to be to me a large blade swivel knife, and about eight or ten stamps. Also there will be elements of braiding involved, so how do you go about getting say two stems crossing over each other with like even tapers... I haven't yet but will be looking over as many tutorials as I can closer to the time when I tackle this project so it's all fresh in my head but any other help will be much needed and appreciated.

I too am no expert but I like the fish a lot, once it's dyed it should look really good. The skull though, it's tooled well enough but I do not like the pattern all that much, I am not sure what it is about it but the jaw area seems kinda cartoonish or something. But thats me own personal preference. WHe

If anyone has a few bits of horn lying round measuring larger than the above, I actually need more than two bits if possible. I want to try and make a few edge slickers with it's own seperate handle so I can change them out, like awls and things. Thanks in advance.