Mattsbagger

I'm originally from Scandinavia,WI. Used to do the Tomahawk fall ride every year, Northern WI is beautiful. The Leather Crafters Journal is based out of Rhinelander. I live in Colorado Springs now. Being a sculptor you might find carving and tooling easier for you than a non artist person like me.Dye and finish are an art in themselves so practicing on bracelets and key fob are a good idea. Have fun.

Better bet is to get contact cement. You can get a small can of Weldwood at Walmart or Home Depot or Lowes or Fleet Farm or Menards or Big R. Depending on where you are at.

Those looked carved with a swivel knife to me.

It's a veiner. There are many different styles of them.

I think it's personal preference as opposed to rules of use.

Couldn't you just make the strap that the loop is attached to long enough to go down inside the bag? Then it would be it's own reinforcement strap? You could also then use 2 rivets for extra strength.

If you want gloss go with neatlac or saddle lac.And less is more with neetsfoot oil. It takes verry little to do a lot.

I've never seen UHU here in the States. I might look for something thing thicker than regular contact cement. Fanks! (That's my London accent lol)

Idk about filigree. The difference between hollow ground and angle is mainly preference. Straight blades you have 2 cutting surfaces as you mean it so only the point is in the leather. Angle blade has only the one point. I don't carve a lot so this is my understanding.

I thought about that. But I worry about separation at the edge. It's sewn at 1/8 inch at about 8 spi. Also I burnish the edges not paint and worry about seeing the tape. Sounds like experiment time.

I've been making simple mouse pads with felt glued to the back. Then I saddle stitch around it and edge finish. I use contact cement but some time it seeps through the felt looking bad. Also when I'm mounting it to the leather i roll it with a rolling pin to get it stuck good at the edges. More than once I didn't see any seep but wen I flip it to roll the leather side contact cement has transferred to the unfinished leather. Is there a better glue to use? I'm not sure spray contact adhesive will work good enough on the edges.

I agree with Mutt. Look up Jlsleather he has some free patterns you can print off his website. They work well and you can do a few at a time with little invested into leather. He also sells small leather pieces to do projects. Since he is moving again he probably having another clear out.lol

Mexican round braid. There are a few vids on YouTube and a few books out there with all the different types of braiding.

I read a lot of people here use sno seal. But I still would never put anything on the back side of the leather. You never put in your boots did You? Hard on the socks.lol

You can dye through the saddle soap but not the gum trag. Finish burnishing with the saddle soap then dye. Then burnish again with beeswax. I don't use gum trag so I can't speak to that.

Sheen is a clear top coat. Dye it with a dye as close as you can then burnish and I use a beeswax/parifin mix as final burnish. There is also this. https://youtu.be/dUV5-dOjVFA

The sun came out in the Springs for a couple hrs today. Emily Roeler just keeps getting it wrong!Lol Hopefully it will be nicer this weekend. Welcome to the forum. I've learned a lot here in the last year.

No experience but as you say cut into rectangles and stitch together (baseball stitch) then attach to a thin leather with contact cement. That would give you a large one piece section of leather to work with. That's how I would do it.

Mutt! Where ya been?!And i agree with ya.

Glue the rough sides together and sew it. Smooth out on both sides.

Very nice!

I put them by the buckle. Them it isn't obvious when being worn but still prominent if they are showing someone.

NO BELLY! Get a back or bend.

How's the shop going? Can't afford the machine sorry.

Tandy has them. Also buckle guy and many others. But without pic of what you are trying to accomplish it's hard to tell. You might need T nuts and 6/32 screws.