uncleSteve

Has any group been formed in San Diego yet? I'm searching and finding nothing as well. Cheers, Steve

This question is so that I can try and make a project for my sister. She's awesome, but alas, she is vegan, so I inquire about alternative materials for embossing, stamping, and tooling (except carving) [Think of a vegan as 'vegetarian+', who will not use any animal products-e.g. Leather.] Will standard upholstery (PU) fabric work? Can I succeed using tools that are slightly warmed (say in a pot of warming water on the stove...) to create imprints? Is there an optimum temperature?140°? 170°? I have an IR thermometer I can use... I have no idea if this is feasible, or if getting PU fabric damp or wet from the back, and/or using hotter tools may turn this into a reality. Essentially I want to embed/emboss-downwards lines and patterns downward, without those areas resurfacing. Any suggestions about how to deal with bare edge treatment? Melting it could work, but I would want a 'blackened' edge, so should I dye that before melting it?

Fredo, Of topic, but I'm (veryyy) new to leathercrafts. Are there any groups in San Diego? I live in Escondido. I just started getting into making simple things with kits provided by HelpHealVets (healvets.org I believe). So far, leather crafting has been an enormous help for me to maintain focus and 'tune-out' from brain injury and post traumatic stress (sincerely yours, from the Marine Corps). Shoutout to Help Heal Veterans. Their staff has been awesome and send kits to thousands every year. If you guys ever want to help injured vets get involved in my new hobby, HHV does want volunteers in/around many VA hospitals. You can inquire on their website. Cheers, Steve

Ditto. There are many on eBay and Amazon. Search "Wuta Leather" on eBay. He has the largest selection, plus lots of tools and leather, too. Cheers, Steve

Can I point you all to Pinterest(.com) when looking for images and designs? It requires making an account, but you can "Pin" things to different "boards". The more you add, or "re-Pin", the smarter its suggestions get. I was dragging and kicking my way along, now I find it very useful trying to find designs and ideas. The largest advantage is that it's image-based, and you can 'search' images (even using a smart-phone) by selecting particular parts of images. Wow. I'm very pleasantly surprised. I've browsed for a few hours about leather, wood, carving, and different design patterns. The more I 're-Pin' the better it gets all the time. It doesn't know anything about me, but it knows what I'm searching and intuitive about what I want. You can also save full-sized images of every image you see directly to your computer or phone (in two fast taps). Cheers Steve

Hey, my pants and belt stretch. My first 34" (based on waist measurement at the time) Carhart belt has lasted and been around nearly 20 years. The belt has stretched about 3", and I've dropped a few inches, so it's a little long nowadays...

Thanks Jim! This will come in handy for me tooling my very first belt! Cheers, Steve