mendedbowl

LOL are you volunteering to find out?

Dave, can you explain how you use Lexol while tooling? do you use it in a casing solution? or just straight from the bottle? i mix the casing solution that contains Lexol, but when i use it i have a little trouble getting an even dye job. (i air brush fiebing's pro oil dye) i wonder if i should be using a deglazer after tooling, but i worry if wetting again will dull the tooling impressions. also, how do you apply neatsfoot oil? can that stuff be air brushed on? thanks for any help, ken

Hi Bobby, wow! that's some beautiful scroll work painted on that truck! I don't know of any direct source for fire truck scroll patterns, but i would suggest searching for scroll work in general (maybe a google image search) the beautiful examples you've posted remind me of work i've seen on antique carousels. or you could just take pics of the truck scrolls you like, adjust the size with photo editing, and print out your own tracing patterns. ken

beautiful work Casey! i really like everything...the tooling, the finger cuts, the chess piece, even the hanging gallows... ken

this is very interesting thanks for the links cem, almost makes me want to buy a tattoo machine and learn something new. Alex has done some nice work. i know jay posted over a year ago...but i would like to know why it's harder to tattoo leather than people? ken

Nice videos and nice work. i once owned an old mare with a back almost as long as the three saddle horse pictured. ken

Beautiful work all around. what did you seal it with? ken

If it's on a motorcycle that gets ridden much, there will be a lot of rubbing on the seat. denim jeans can be pretty abrasive (that's why denim is good for slicking edges). So if the paint doesn't penetrate into the leather but only sits on top, it won't take long before it starts rubbing away. i think much of the color on the seats you posted is from dye. but my guess is all of the white is from acrylic paint. and my opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it. ken

Your new site looks good. I really like the drop down boxes for order options. I remember reading at studio 2-dawgs how they offered customized order processing. it's good to see how it looks in operation. i have only one suggestion: you have a bunch of wonderful items pictured in your "custom work" gallery, but all that work is hidden behind that one little link at the top of the page. i know those items aren't for sale, so they don't really fit in any of your "shop online" categories, but viewing those items might be what it takes to entice a potential customer to ask for something a little different. my humble suggestion is to consider making those items a little more prominent some how. your leatherwork looks very professional, and your new website reflects that image. i wish you well with it, and i hope it brings you many new customers. Kate you did a wonderful job. ken

Frank Is Bag Kote very durable? if i put it on a wallet will it crack at the fold line? and can it be used as a resist? thanks, ken

beautiful art work...but it doesn't look very durable. i guess for show bikes it doesn't matter too much. which website did the last pic come from? ken

You do beautiful work...and now I know why. every detail is important to you. If i were you this is what i would do: First i would take out the stitches where the dye darkened it, and restitch that part and see how it looks. If that didn't look good i would take out all the stitches in the black leather and redo that. If i was still unhappy after that, i would remake the whole project for the customer, and keep the first one (which would now be stain free) for the flea market or gun show table. ken

very nice. the horns are a nice touch...how are they attached to the mask? ken

I love it Tina, just wonderful. may i ask what you use to seal your work before antiquing? you always get a beautiful antique. ken

the box is neat. I've never seen one that rolls open like that. (but then i've not been around many old singers either) it's a very interesting design, how does the latch work? ken

Ed you do beautiful work! Your attention to every detail is an inspiration. I've admired how you do your coloring for some time now, and i would jump at the chance to buy an instructional DVD of your process. Your instruction on working with layers of transparent colors, and the chemistry involved would be a big asset. I already own over 25 DVDs by other leather artists, and i would be proud to add a BearMan to the bunch. I favor a DVD over a one day class because it's hard to remember everything the first go around, and as my brain gets older i find myself refreshing my memory more and more. ken

there's no way anyone's gonna miss seeing these. do the spur straps glow in the dark? the workmanship looks good to me. but the colors look kinda wild...not that there's anything wrong with that. ken

Hi Ed, thank you for the for the quick answer. I've got the torch, the wire brush, and a bunch of old craftools collected off of ebay that i'm looking forward to cleaning up. and thanks for the warning Biggundoctor, i'll be sure to do it outside with adult supervision (another way of saying my son will be standing by with the garden hose, ready to put me out) thanks, ken

what's the safest and best way to remove the chrome platting? thanks, ken

I've been wanting to try my hand at motorcycle seats, but haven't had a request for one yet. So i did this job for a little practice and for advertisement. (there are a lot of bikers working at this manufacturing plant) the maintenance and control persons use industrial tricycles to haul themselves and their tools from place to place quickly inside this large indoor facility. the one pictured here is used by a friend of mine, and you can see from the before picture just how badly his seat was in need of recovering. he had gotten tired of it chewing on his tender parts and he thought i would just do a simple little recover job. I wanted to do it right, so i redid the foam and personalized the seat for the department he works in. i wasn't able to take the seat home, i had to install it there at the plant in a rush, so i was a little unhappy about some puckers that i didn't have time to work out. but my friend was so happy with the end results that he offered free website development (his hobby) when i finally get ready to put up a site. the first day i received eight inquiries about other work. I'm working on two of those projects now. thanks for looking, any advice on how to improve will be greatly appreciated. ken

LOL then i probably have a picture of you. I attend with him and a few of his friends. were you there when they caged the Templar? Pennsylvania was nice... but there's nothing like drifting off to sleep with the sound of drums at spring valley. ken

very nice work. i built a nock down quiver earlier this year, for my son to use at Ragnarok. i like your setup better than how i did mine. ken

thank you very much. the picture was perfect for explaining. i like this a lot. ken

very interesting case. i like it a lot. do you mind telling how you did the loops for the neck string? thanks for sharing. ken

very nice is that a treble clef? it has nice textures can you show the newer one too? ken