Vikti

I had that problem when I had a safety skiver and I got tired of it and got myself a super skiver and haven't had a problem since. It cost a little more but I think that it's worth it. Damon

My wife started up a small business last year and she sold less than $600 last year and we had to pay about $50 in taxes. Damon

Just checked out your new site. While I know that it's a work in progress for some time to come, I like the changes . Navigation is much quicker compared to your old site, not that there was a problem with your old format. Damon

Sweet! I've heard of some rings that are made of a single piece with no stitching but I haven't found out how to do that yet. Keep it up. Damon

Some of us were talking with George Hurst about that a while back and he told us that ranchers are trying to get their cattle to market faster than ever and that the average head of cattle is about 20 months old and you simply cannot get a thick hide at that young of a age. I'm sure there are several other factors out there but this could help to understand why. Damon

I think that oak leaves are some of the best things to start off with. They're simple yet can have a ton of detail of you want. My opinion is that my first good carving was an oak leaf which can be found here Keep it up. Damon

Kind of hard to tell with the angle you took the picture, but are your pancake holsters ambidextrous? Damon

That, my dear, is an awesome trade off as well as great tat. Damon

How about a rounded mules foot? Damon

No I don't. I just have a few random ones that I wanted from the construction section. D

I think that it might be a Mac issue. I have several of his patterns and the only problem I have is that a couple of his patterns have graphics close to the edge of the page and my printer had a permanent margin that seems to always fall where there is a corner and once I put the pattern on leather I have to make the corner by hand. Damon

I'd be interested. Let me recover from replacing the alternator in my car, but we may be able to work something out. I live down in Cleburne and can travel to whereever. Damon

Love it!!! Damon

Hi all! Can anyone tell me if there is a stamp out there of a dogs paw print? I found several wolf paw prints, but no dog. Any leads? Damon

New project to take me out of my comfort zone. Thanks for the link Damon

Ask the machine shop if that is an hourly fee. I was quoted $85 but it was done in about 20 minutes so I walked out of there with spending only $40. I got a 1/2" hole drilled 1 3/8" deep with a 7/16 set screw to hold the tools in. So far I there is only 1 tool that I need a bushing for and I cut about an inch off of one of my snap setting tools. Now that I've experimented with it for a bit I would recommend that you get a 9/16 to 5/8 inch hole make to fully accommodate the handle for your letter stamps. Damon

If your starting out then you should get some Tandy tools. They are excellent for beginners for their price, the reason some people don't like them is that the quality of the impression isn't there, but they are good enough to learn with. Once you get to a point where they don't produce the quality that you desire then look at upgrading if you have the money or find someone who can teach you to modify them to suit your needs. You can get the basic 7 tools (seeder, beveler, pair shader, camoflage, veiner, backgrounder and swivel knife) for $40, a poly mallet for $25, jewelers rouge ( for stropping your swivel knife $4, and a granite slab for about $45. (all prices are form TLF web site) Now if you rummage around this site you'll find links and tip to cut down this cost. You mentioned an overstitch wheel, I started out with a wing divider and for almost a year I used it in place of a stitch grover and overstitch wheel. Yes, it's slower because you have to measure out your stitch holes but you can still get the job done. Hey, that gives you a reason to stay at the work bench a little longer. But like everything else in life, shop around until you find a good deal. Damon

for not having any plans they look great Damon

While the workmate is sturdy, wouldn't you get a lot of bounce back when tooling? Damon

I'm going to try my hand at making a couple of cross draw sheaths similar to the one found in this thread and was wondering for those who have have made them before, on the rivet that the blade pivots against to open do you use a leather washer or something else? And can these be made generically or do I need to make them based on the knife in question? Damon

I have a mixture of Craftools and Hidecrafter/Craft Japan tools and a few USA Tools. I have nothing bad to say about any tool I bought from Hidecrafter. My Craftools are a mixture of new (less than 4 yrs old) and old (pre 1983) tools. I love the old Craftools that I have but with the newer ones I have have come out to be utter an they lay in a drawer in my workshop now. I've never had any of them bend, break or mushroom on my but after a few uses they don't give me the impression that I was wanting. About a month ago I was in one of the Ft. Worth Tandy locations ranting about that to the store manager and she started showing me some of the new tools they are selling now. I was told that now that George Hurst is back with them one of the things he is working on is improving the quality of the tools they sell and I must say that there is now a noticeable improvement, even though you will still get a bad one from time to time. Now, for the flip side of this story. Once, I was talking to Mr. Hurst about not liking the impressions that some of my tools were giving and he took the tools in question and made a wonderful piece of art. But then here was a master who can adjust his technique on the fly to make a crap tool give pretty results even though he agreed with me that the quality wasn't there. My opinion is that if the only thing you can get is low quality tools is to go ahead and get them and learn how to use them and when your ready to progress, if you don't have the money to upgrade your tools, rub elbows with someone who's been at it for a while and ask him or her to teach you to file your tools down to get the desired results. Most of the best leather workers have modified their tools at one time or another. Who knows, it may create an additional hobby to your hobby. Damon

Where would one get some poly at? I've entertained making myself a small maul also. Damon

Is it steel or aluminum? Now that I have a press myself I was starting to think of ideas for something similar. Something to talk to my machinist next week when I take my press ram to him for making me my holes. Damon

Not bad, not bad. I like how the dye job came out. Damon

I just picked up my new arbor press today and now I gotta ask, how much would it cost to have a machinist drill a hole big enough and deep enough to hold my tool handles? I'm looking to use my all my snap setters as well as my alphabet stamp handle. Also, has anyone ever tried to use a lacing chisel on an arbor press? I have an 8 tip lacing chisel that I was thinking about using to help make holes faster. Next weekend I get to put my new workshop together and then I have no excuse for not producing anything. Damon