mendedbowl

Hi Clair, thanks for all the links. the 2 videos are very interesting. it looks like the artist is tattooing on thin wet rawhide with a folded towel for padding below. but all the shoes and furniture were made of leather not rawhide. now i wonder if a soft upholstery leather would work better than veg tan. on many of the flat pieces of leather that have various tattoos, you can see an ink stain halo around the tattoo. as if ink had been wiped past where a protective top coat had been applied. i would love to learn more about how these were done. Frank, thank you for speaking with your friend about his tattooed leather. He told you the ink bled through the grain, do you know if he was using veg tan or chrome tan? thanks, ken

Hi Frank, Your friend did beautiful work. it's really amazing how well an artist can do with just about any tool. I'm not knocking his work at all, it's just beautiful, but it looks less like a tattoo and more like an engraving or etching. I'm guessing he used his tattoo machine without applying any ink. Since he's a very experienced tattoo artist, can you ask him if he has any hints about how to get a good nice ink tattoo onto leather? I'm really interested in this and have been looking at cheaper tattoo machines, but before I buy anything I'd like some more information. thanks for any help, ken

Thanks for posting this Spinner. Please give a review of the white liquid mask if you buy it, that sounds very interesting. ken

Now those are just nice! I like the second one a little better. did you make your own pattern for that? what kind of sole do they have? thanks for sharing, ken

Wow!!! Tree Leather!!! They can call it Treather!!! (insert random tree hugging joke here )

Beautiful work! Chuck I've stopped by your website several times to enjoy all your pics. I'm always amazed how you can make something new seem so well aged. Do you explain your aging techniques on your holster DVD ? I already have the one you did for knife sheaths (enjoyed it very much). Any other DVDs planned for the future? ken

Looks good to me Jimmy. ken

Nice work Chris. the gray and white came out looking sweet. I think it looks better against the natural back ground too. I"m thinking the original art work with the red celtic knot work with two tone red and gray lace. sounds like you did good on the trade. ken

Allen, Man, I wish you had a picture of that patch to share. it sounds like a real beauty. ken

Thanks for posting this! ken

three laced cuts may be over-kill. i seem to remember seeing some at a ren-fair once made with a single cut at the bottom to give it a nice shape. sounds like a nice way to use up some small scrap pieces. good luck, ken

Label your product what you will, whether it be "Slaughter Free", "Natural Selection", or "Happy Cows", and when your customer asks for the details about this wonderfully humane product what are you going to say? Will you tell them the truth? That "dear old Bessie was in line for the slaughterhouse just like all the rest of the cows. She wasn't treated any better. She just happened to drop dead BEFORE she reached the killing floor, and for that I get to charge you more for your new wallet, and you get to have the erroneous belief that you've made an ethical purchase " Or will you tell them something less than the truth? If your potential customer wouldn't normally buy leather goods because of their personal moral beliefs, and you tell them anything other than the truth, you're attempting to trick them into breaking their own moral code. While I may not agree with their beliefs, I respect their right to have those beliefs, and I'm not going to lie to them just to make a sale. I sell products made from the skins of animals. These skins are by-products of the meat industry. End of story. If someone can't buy leather goods because of some moral objection to those conditions they need to look elsewhere for alternatives. My integrity and my reputation are more important to me than selling a product. ken

George Hurst made a DVD titled Carving Oak Leaves he talks about many different styles of oak leaves, and demonstrates how he likes to carver his own style, which is more realistic than many traditional carved oak leaves. I got my copy from Hide Crafters. ken

I use a double action Paasche. I've tried cheaper single action kits, and they're fine for spraying dyes for leather work, but I like the control of a double action airbrush because I use it for other things as well. I've only used Fiebing's pro oil dyes, but i've also sprayed resolene, super sheen, and satin sheen in mine. They will spray just about anything that's thinned to milk consistency, and do it much smoother than you will every achieve with a sponge or wool. I agree with Troy, get the Harbor Freight kit, spray whatever dye you've already been using, and I'm sure you'll be pleased. Just remember to clean it well after using it. ken

great work! i really like your detail on this one a lot. ken

Great Video! love it! beautiful leather work. love the song and the fast pace, you did wonderfully well. ken

Thanks for posting this! great info. ken

Beautiful seat David. congrats, i'll be watching for that issue. I have some of that black leather too. have you tried to slick an edge yet? it's like a hard wax, but looks good. ken

beautiful work! i like it. as far as the inside goes, it has a nice appearance, but it looks like the pockets are a little deep. is it hard to remove cards from them? ken

20% variance in their mixture?! They must have lost their measuring cups and just eyeball it.

Very nice! gotta love some good skulls. great colors. ken

You can, but you may not get the results you desire. How small with your numbers be? swivel knives have a thicker blade designed to lay the leather open for easier beveling. a hobby knife cut will be very thin, and tend to close up, making beveling a little more difficult. with lots of practice, you will be surprised how small you can make numbers and letters with a good sharp swivel knife blade. good luck, ken

very nice, elegant and clean. I like it. ken

Beautiful work, love the colors. ken

Hi Kevin, very nice design! only in white? ken