HellfireJack

They've also had a steampunk craftaid out for quite a while now. It would definitely be a niche market for finished goods. Steampunk is more of a maker culture so stylized conchos and hardware is a fairly safe bet.

I love your work.

In order to create email addresses for a domain you have to own the domain name. It costs 10 dollars to buy a domain from Google with a 10 dollar yearly renewal fee. They give you a basic website set up and you can create your email addresses. If you decide later that you want to host your domain/website elsewhere it doesn't cost anything extra from Google. If you're interested you can find more info here http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html Just read through the features and click get started and then click on 'I want to buy a domain name'. I have no affiliation with Google other than using them previously and never having a problem with them.

Your link is broke

I agree! There's a taxidermy shop about 2 miles from my house that I've been meaning to stop in at for a while now. I know they sell capes and skins. The only problem is every time I drive by they're not open. They don't seem to have set hours.

Thanks. Looks like I'll have to take a trip to my local Tandy and ask about their new items. I've asked them a few times if they had carried a pebble backgrounder but they've never had one.

Got a link to the Tandy pebble backgrounder? I've not seen it and can't find it on their site.

I know Google did it but that's a pretty funny translation Spinner. We may have to move this to the adult section.

I couldn't agree more.

You can buy powdered pigments at most craft stores. You can get Rit and a few other brands in powder form off of Amazon.

Search for JohnBarton on the forum. He's posted a pattern for one type of case. His work is amazing. http://www.jbcases.com/casesbyname.html

Rawhide1, if I had more experience in braiding and cutting lace I'd have answered him myself rest assured. You want me to post more in the braiding section? What the heck, I don't do a lot of braiding but I guess I can do more just for you. I don't want to have the same problem as the OP though so perhaps you can answer so I can do more braiding and ask more questions? The "negative talk" you refer to happened 3 hours before you even posted by the way. So you were apparently done with this discussion before you even started.

You can feel however you want about me rawhide1. I have no problem with it. I've never actually discussed anything with you so you can make any judgements you want about me. Feel free, I welcome it. If there's any other opinion you'd like to give by all means share it. To have an opinion on something and to share it doesn't make one a trouble maker. If it did you'd be the trouble maker right now. It just means we have opinions and we can give them. The poster is getting his questions answered now at least. That's moving forward. There's no dead horse here. Just people with questions and some good people helping out.

The guy asked legit questions and asked for help from anyone and showed deference and respect to three people whose brains he obviously wanted to pick. You guys effectively shot that down. Wow.. Just wow. It's all I can say. You're serious not going to allow him to have his own favorite posters? It appears leather panties get twisted much worse than the cotton ones. Wow, you guys are REALLY sensitive if you're all being serious here. If I didn't know better I'd assume you three were trolling for a flame war on a new guy out of spite for not naming you in his post. Seriously, that's not a joke. That's what it looks like. If I were a mod I would delete your guys' posts for purposely dragging the guys thread off topic.

Have you tried printing with no print scaling rather than at 100%? Set it to none if possible and give it a try. Also what's the file type you're printing and in what program?

Fiebings has a white dye but I've not heard anything good about it.

That's a fabulous piece of work. Very nice.

Oh my.. Righteous indignation does not suit anyone Lobo. I'm not being argumentative at all. There's no anger in me at all towards you and I can't find anything within my post that even suggests emotional distress or even rudeness. I merely asked you to give us the actual story(s) that supports the chain of events you claim happened at a funeral. If you can't do it it's OK friend. There's obviously a lot more to the events happening in Houston than being mentioned here. I'm quite sure the VA didn't go into someone's funeral and make a scene. I'm positive that they have spoken several times withe the VFW and other groups about conducting ceremonies and that what you're speaking of is the culmination of the back and forth dispute between them rather than actual events that have occurred. No family's religious representative was forbidden from doing anything at a funeral. At least none that you nor I can show. The only people who were told not to do things were third party groups who who deal with the VA on a regular basis and should have the duty of respecting the dead and the loved one's for whom they perform these actions rather than just doing as they please because they think they have a right. No need to make false assessments of my emotional state though in either case. If you think I'm angry I'd suggest you just ask me rather than making accusations. I'm quite positive that I bear you no ill will. You take care.

If it were me I would deglaze it first then dye and buff to the hue you want then. I've never used resolene on top of leather balm with atom wax so I don't know what the results would be. Some people use a mix of neetsfoot oil and beeswax as a final finish. Search the forums and you'll find the ratio. I think it's 1:1 by weight but don't quote me. This may be more along the lines of what you're trying for instead of resolene.

You're saying that these are events from one actual funeral? I think you're pulling our legs here or just asking us to accept many events that happened over a period of time, or not even at an actual funeral, as occurring during one funeral. What funeral did this happen at? Can you show us the story? I think you're confusing these people's outrage with being told how the VA wants these private groups to perform their free volunteer services with actual events that occurred. The pastor who said a prayer was simply not allowed to do so "in Jesus name" at a public event. This wasn't at a funeral as far as I know. It was a Memorial Day service at the cemetery. He was allowed to say the prayer just not to attribute it solely to his religion. Prayers at public events by private groups should be all inclusive.

You need to buff out any excess die to start with. Buff and buff until barely any die comes out and then buff it some more. Then you'll want to seal it with something more waterproof. Leather Balm with Atom wax isn't very waterproof. I think it's more of a protector/conditioner than a sealant. I would suggest Acrylic Resolene. Saddle-lac or wyosheen. Even when you apply the final finish some dye will come out but once it's dried and sealed it should be ok.

Wishful, Me either. Bearman, I kind of figured there would be something similar in use by people. There had to have been. It sounds like the moisture in your type of box comes entirely from cased leather? Was any other added? Mine isn't anywhere near as large. It's about 14x12 with the cylinder top about 14 high. I took these last night after I posted. I plan on changing the cups out with something smaller and more permanent and securing them to the floor of the box and adding a platform to go over them. I'll also be finishing the box off with stain.

I'm glad you and Wildrose are devout in your belief that your own funeral should be the way you want it. I don't see the VA stopping that from happening and I see them as actually working towards ensuring it happens the way you want by not allowing others to make your funeral what they want. To be duly authorized to do something doesn't give you a ability to do it anywhere and at any time you wish and it doesn't necessarily grant you any rights. Priests are authorized to perform marriage ceremonies and yet they cannot force a marriage ceremony on two people who don't want to be married by the priest. It's easy to show that authorization has nothing to do with this situation. I'm authorized to act as a notary. I can't run around forcing people to allow me to notarize things and then force them to pay me a dollar each time it happens. Pretty much all of us are authorized to drive a car and yet we cannot drive that car down the sidewalk of a public street. There are limits to all authorization. It seems to me you're thinking entirely about your own situation and completely forgetting the situation of millions of other soldiers who will fall and be buried. Do they not have a say in how their funerals are done because you're OK with some third party group praying at your funeral? All other funerals for fallen soldiers must have third part prayers because you wish it at yours? Are you saying I don't have a say in mine when I don't want something to happen? This seems to be your implication. Just because you want something to happen doesn't mean every soldier does. I don't care how many people in your family served. That doesn't change the fact that you do not share the views of every American soldier. That's easy enough to show. You do have a say in your own funeral. I completely agree with you. That alone implies you or your family wants something to happen. Not a single person, the VA director included, is saying it's different or forcing it. Sometimes these groups do not consult the families on their wishes. It doesn't matter who chartered them. They will perform their services whether asked or not. So the VA is ensuring a problem doesn't happens. Obviously a problem has occurred where it was necessary to enact this. I kind of see it as a gray area that has been un-"gray"-ed and some people who were using that gray area just don't like it. The situation is exactly the same as any other disruption or demonstration though. Their appearance is entirely voluntary and if the family does not wish them to be present then they should not be present. If the family does not wish them to talk about their gods then they shouldn't be talking about them. Any complication arising from one of these groups' involvement falls on those who run the cemetery who are basically forced to allow these volunteer groups to perform their services. The only injunction the courts have out stopping the anyone from acting is about not stopping a reverend (connected to one of the groups) who is purposely forcing the issue. That's rather non-Christian if you ask me. I don't recall anywhere Jesus told his followers to go disrespect the dead by forcing political action at their funerals just to make a point. When it comes down to it no right of ours, including our first amendment right, allows us to just force our religions onto others if they do not want it. Either way that's about it from me on the matter. I've lain my opinions pretty cleanly. I can see where you're coming from but knowing not everyone thinks and acts like you keeps me from agreeing with you on this.

I've tried using plastic bags in the fridge to manage the moisture content in leather but to me it seems really harsh on the leather. I decided to try a humidor to see how it works and wanted to know if anyone else does. I searched but only found one non-cigar reference about braiding. I figure that before plastic bags and refrigeration this is probably similar to how they maintained a work piece. I purchased a simple humpback pine box from the craft store and coated the interior with a good amount of beeswax to make it water tight and cemented a "gasket" of leather around the rim of the box where the lid sits. I wet a sponge to the point of dripping and put it inside a wax paper cup and added half a wax paper cup of baking soda to hopefully keep any mold under control. I fully cased a scrap piece last night and waited about an hour before putting it inside. It still had not returned to the original color. Today, 24 hours later, it's still the same "wet" color. It still felt like leather though as opposed to the feel of a cold piece of cardboard after sitting in the fridge. I took it out and let it sit for an hour and noticed it starting to dry and lighten in color so I assume the box is doing it's job. I'm going to arbor press a 3-D stamp into it every day just to see how long it remains tool-able and to see if it acquires any odors, mildew or molds. I'll be taking pictures of it during the process and I'll try to post them later.