mendedbowl

Ray, I'm happy to explain my comment, or at least attempt to do so. I'm not sure which part you didn't understand. Was it the first part about "unwarranted assertions" posted within this thread? If so, then I would say that there have been a few people make untruthful statements about how the beef, dairy, and leather industries work (whether they believed them to be true or not I can't say). Those misunderstandings have already been addressed above by capable and professional people who have first hand knowledge about actual practices within those industries. If that part is still unclear, I can only ask that you please read the thread again. Or did you misunderstand the part where I wondered how many members of PETA had joined LW? That's about as clear as I can think to say it, so I can only say it again. I wonder how many members of PETA have joined Leatherworker.net. Maybe an analogy will help: If I hear mooing in my back yard, it is only logical that I will wonder if cows have somehow found their way into my back yard. If the same "mooing" that is heard from members of PETA begins to show up in LW forums it is only logical to wonder if PETA members have wandered into the LW forums. The last part of my comment was that PETA loves to do undercover work. They themselves call them "undercover investigations". Their investigators have no problem bending the truth and pretending to be someone they're not, telling lies so that they can gain entrance into universities and private locations for the purpose of their "investigation" work. Although I hate to direct anyone to their website, that's about the most direct way to prove my statement. If you doubt that PETA loves to use undercover investigation videos to spread their propaganda, just go and look. They seem to be proud of them. PETA hates the leather industry. They don't believe in using leather or fur from any animal for any reason. Their view is if you support the leather industry in any way, you are sentencing animals to a lifetime of suffering (all of this can be found on their website). So if they hate any supporter of the leather industry, it's safe to say they aren't happy with LW. If any of my comments have offended you Ray I'm sorry, that wasn't my intent. I'm a straight forward person. I believe honesty with friends, colleagues, and customers is always the best policy. If I post a compliment or praise for someone, I mean it wholeheartedly, if I offer any advice, it's truly an attempt to help someone, and if I have an opinion about a subject...well, I'm not ashamed of it. ken

Wait a second....there's something fishy about that holster. sorry...i had to say that. seriously though, you did a beautiful piece of work ken

I believe you've just redefined the meaning of "book press"

Very nice work, very unique! where do you get your spots and conchos? ken

Tap Tap Tap, Beautiful work! clap clap clap ken (the above wasn't meant to look like a failed attempt at a Haiku)

I've never done any kind of tattoo work, but I would love to learn how those who are successfully tattooing leather are doing it. is it veg tan or chrome tan? if they are sealing it, or treating it before tattooing what are they using? how are they keeping the ink from bleeding or staining when wiping it off the surface? newfiebackflip would you be willing to share a pic of your work and explain a little about how you did it? thanks for any help, ken

JC, I would recommend that you find the cheapest adjustable knife that you can get, until you find out which size fits your hand best. Since you said your hands are long, slender and tender, you may want to stay away from the heavily knurled and grooved barreled knifes. This link to the tandy adjustable knife would be a good starter knife for you i think. Once you find out what size fits you best, then you can move up to a better, more expensive knife (if you wish to) without wasting a lot of money. Like Ferg, I favor the SK-3. I wouldn't trade mine for a dozen of the other knives i've tried. It's very adjustable, you can order different lengths, barrel diameters, yoke styles, and of course color; but it's a little pricey, so it's better to know exactly what you want before ordering one. Along with deciding which size knife fits your hand best, you also need to find which type blade works best for the type of work you wish to do. Blades come in different widths and thicknesses, some are straight, while others are angled. hollow ground, ceramic, steel, and high carbon steel. (are you having fun yet?) The bottom line is that it needs to be comfortable to you. If it's too small or too big for your hand it will make your work harder, and you will have less control of your cuts. hope that was more helpful than confusing, ken

Howdy Hank, Glad you found LW. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here. Lots of good people and lots of good information. If you have any trouble finding your way around the site just holler. one good navigation button that i find useful is the "View New Content" button on the upper right (with the orange square) just below the advertisement banners. if you click that button it will show you a list of all the new posts since the last time you were on the forum. Have Fun! ken oh...i forgot....WAR EAGLE!!! the other Alabama team

Hey Tim, I like this a lot! gotta love Crumb's Keep on Truckin' dude. Thanks for showing it, ken

nice trade! i would love to see some pics and explanations about the changes made to the original plan. ken

Reading some of the unwarranted assertions that have been posted in this thread ( and a few others ), makes me wonder how many members of PETA have joined LW. They do love their infiltration "undercover" work. ken

very nice work! beautiful colors. ken

Hi Kate, Thanks for doing this tutorial, beautiful work on your clock face! I've never tried this before, i like to airbrush my dye and i would love to use this technique. I see this thread is 3 years old, so I would like to ask a few questions please. Are you still using this technique? if so have you had any problems during the time since you posted this? You mentioned that the latex product you used had thickened on your shelf, how about now, is it still good, or have you replaced the original bottle? I guess what I'm asking is have you found out what the shelf life is for this product? have you learned any additional tricks or tips for this technique? Thanks for any help, ken

I agree

Hi Dolphini, I just googled images of Gordons Bay. Looks like it's a beautiful place. Having a custom framer do the picture frame for you would be your best option. But if you really wish to do it yourself, then the best tutorials are probably on Youtube. try this the video is part of a series. the rest of the series can be found in the right hand column. hope this helps some, ken

Hi Andrew, Here are a couple of instructional DVDs that i have found useful. "Making Custom Knife Cases & Sheaths with George Hurst" you can find this one at HideCrafter try here and "Custom Knife Sheaths with Chuck Burrows" Mr. Burrows shows how to do a wonderful snake skin inlay. you can buy the DVD at Wild Rose Trading Co. here Also you may like to check Al Stohlman's book "The Art of Making Leather Cases Vol. 1" it gives instruction for several different sheaths. Tandy has this book on sale right now here good luck, ken

Hey Scott, Glad i could help. Actually you weren't too far off from how the old timers used to do it before craftaids. They would make their own templates called "tap offs" by cutting just the outlines of the designs (in reverse) in thick leather and letting it dry. Then they would seal it really well so that it couldn't absorb moister. After placing it face down on the damp leather they "tapped" all over the back of it with a heavy mallet to leave the outline impressions in the wet leather. Those tap offs could be used over and over just like a craftaid. You have one big advantage of having a large collection of good tools available. Learn how to use them and take good care of them. There's plenty of instructional material in books, DVDs, and especially on this forum that can help you. Lots of great people here. practice, practice, and practice some more, and you will be amazed how fast your skills improve. good luck, ken

Hi iamasmith, It sounds like you already know a great deal about keeping blades sharp. The next step is to determine exactly what you want your swivel knife blade to do. The following is just my opinion, others, much more skilled than me, may see it differently. The cross-section angle of your blade edge can be made more or less acute depending on what you wish the blade to do. Will it be used for filigree work? will you be carving thick leather or thin leather? Do you want your swivel knife cuts to lay open wide, or be more closed? Do you wish to use it to shave hair? Answering those questions helps you decide what angle you want your edge to be. Then use any method you wish to make that edge as sharp as you can, while maintaining that angle. There are jigs made just for swivel knife blades that help keep that angle precise while sharpening. For best results for cutting leather, the edge needs to be polished to a mirror surface regardless of what angle you choose. Also while you are using the knife, you will get better results if you stop to strop the edge from time to time. Not to sharpen the blade, but to remove residue from the leather that builds up on the edge. Personally I keep several different blades so that i have one to fit each need. hope this helps some, ken

Craftaids are clear plastic with the design raised on one side only. you dampen your leather, lay your craftaid over it with the raised ridges facing down against your leather. looking through the clear plastic you position the the design where you want it on your leather, then rub across the smooth back of the plastic. this pushes the raised ridges of the design into your dampened leather, leaving an impression for you to follow when you carve the design. the catalog is showing what the design looks like after it's tooled into leather. that's an example and not the actual craftaid. sounds like you have a good start already, good luck, ken

Hi Skald, Sorry to hear about your workspace situation. I can imagine pounding on a wooden table top with no granite or rubber mat would sound like you were beating a drum. You've already said what would help your noise problem the best: a granite slab on a very sturdy surface (a tree stump would be very solid) if you can't afford a granite slab there are cheaper ways to get nearly the same effect. a piece of flat concrete, a flat rock, or heavy piece of metal. you can cover any of these with thin cardboard to give yourself a smoother surface. if you have a closet or small room to work in, you can try to soundproof the walls some to reduce the noise for your son and neighbors. layers of corrugated cardboard boxes, pieces of foam rubber from old furniture, or foam board all work wonders in reducing noise. just a few ideas, i'm sure there are others. good luck, and don't give up, best wishes, ken

Kate that's a beautiful set! you really have an artistic eye for details and colors. ken

Suze their naughty bits section is why i remembered the site