hidepounder

Ferg I'm not sure I completely understand your question but I am going to take a shot at it anyway. When I edge a piece of leather with my round bottom edger there is a very fine line distinguishing the differenc from the edge of the cut from the untouched surface grain of the leather. That is the line I try to dye to. There is no ridge or actual edge because the burnish smooths it out, but there is a visable line there. I hope that answers your question. If you are going to cover your burnishing wheel with canvas as I have then the wood used probably doesn't matter. I do keep the canvas saturated with Fiebings yellow saddle soap to help control the amount of heat and friction.

Thanks you guys.....I knew someone a lot smarter than me could tell us why I like Joy soap in my water! I'm saving this so that the next time someone asks me I'll sound like I know what I'm talking about, LOL! Is this forum not the best place to be? Bobby

Bob....I'm really glad you mentioned the Listerene because it's a great tip. I had never heard of using it until Bruce Johnson told me about it. It helps prevent against mold forming on cased leather. I can report that it works very well and whenever I think there is a chance that I might not get to a project right away I definitely add a little Listerine! Good catch Bob! Bobby

I've been told the difference between the soaps and cannot remmember exactly what they are. Someone will jump in here and explain it to us. However, Joy dishsoap works well and is what I was always told to use. I believe it has a fewer additives and I can tell you that it doesn't affect the color of the leather or your ablility to dye or antique it. I've been using it for a long time. A word of warning. Do not expect the addition of soap to your water to have a huge impact on your ability to cut the leather. The differences are subtle. Some sides have more residual acids and that is what causes them to be difficult to cut. The soap helps to lessen the chattering effect caused by the acids. Hope this helps.... Bobby

The edgers I use are old antiques made by Gomph. CS Osborne made them as well (I believe). Both are still readily available on eBay and from Bob Douglas. I believe Bob Douglas also offers his own line of round bottom edgers. His tools are very high quality! Ron's Tools also offers really nice round bottom edgers in stainless steel. I owned a set and they were outstanding. Hope this helps.... Bobby

Nice job Tim. A good working set of chinks! Dwight....chaps are worn to protect your legs and in some cases the side of the horse as well. When riding through thick brush and cactus while working cattle here in Arizona, chaps are essential to protect your thighs knees and calves. Chinks are worn more in country where a little less protection is required.

Me Too!

Tina, I'm so glad to finally be able to see your work again. I missed it! Like Ben said, it was well worth the wait! Beautiful stuff and welcome back! Bobby

Travis, I recommend using the 1/4" acrylic that the others mentioned. That is what I use whenever possible. When I can't use the acrylic I use the 3M packing tape on such things as belts and strap work where using the acrylic is impractical. I have never used poster board or cardboard for backing and can't comment about it, but I know it is popular. It has never appealed to me for the exact reason you mentioned. When I'm tooling I want a backing that has absolutely no give. That is one of the reasons I prefer the acrylic. Hope this helps.... Bobby

Ed, As I told you privately, this is the prettiest maul yet! As a Beard maul fan I am crazy about the handle design and in cocobolo it is just beautiful! Congratulations on a pretty piece of art! Bobby

Absolutely beautiful! I think the tooling design is perfectly done and I think the overall design of the bag is excellent also. Great job as always, Bobocat!

Nice looking knife Steve. I have several questions. Did you give him specs? What kind of steel did he use? I can see he created a bevel back about 3/4" from the edge which I think is good but I can't tell if the whole blade is tapered toward the edge or if the thickness is constant until it reaches the bevel. I would also like to know what the handle material is. I can't tell if it's wood or Micarta. It sure looks like he knows what he's doing.

I've been working on my book for about 4 weeks now, Johanna. I've been suffering from a little writers block however because I can't make up my mind on the opening..... "In the beginning...." or "There we were!". :>)

Darcy.....I know I should thank you for the link, however I haven't slept in two days for studying what these masters have created. I am currently in the process of grinding my swivel knife blades flat. Makes me want to take up trap shooting so that I can vent (or ventilate) my frustrations. Just when you think they couldn't top what they've already done they raise the bar again! Overwhelmed!

Kate, I think the coasters came out really well. Great idea and nice job!

David, I think that is fantastic. Your work certainly deserves front page exposure...congratulations!

Great question Todd! I often edge last, after I have finished the surface of the leather, so that any soap that gets on the face is easily wiped off and doesn't affect any finish. When I burnish before finishing the face I will remove any soap smears with water first. I also almost always clean the face of my leather with oxalic acid before applying any antiques and that removes any residue also. The reality is that I really don't get much contamination on the surface because the glycerine bar soap is only rubbed on the edge and the yellow paste soap is applied to the canvas that I burnish with and there just isn't that much slop. What little there is, is easily removed. Hope this helps.... Bobby

Duke, I'd stick to the NeatLac. If you don't want any gloss on the finish, apply the NeatLac with a piece of trimmed wool skin and rub it in. That will eliminate the glossiness and will provide a nice mellow finish. Hope this helps... Bobby

Jim, I don't care for Carve Ease personally. I have tried it and just don't see much benefit. I get as good a result by adding a few drops of Joy dish soap to my water pan. Sometimes I also will use a piece of trimmed wool skin to apply a light coat of Ivory soap lather (bar) to the surface of my leather before cutting. I think it helps when cutting "sticky" leather. Of course I case my leather when ever I have the opportunity and that does more good than anything else, in my opinion. Hope this helps..... Bobby

I agree with Billy, fingernails can make a lot of marks. I have to really keep after mine as well. If you want to rub those marks out it is important to that the area is wet enough so as no burnish marks are left. Use as large a tool as possible. I try to use wood burnishers ILO modeling tools. Modeling tools can be too small. Hope this helps.... Bobby

I might be wrong but I believe the "edit" function is only available for a short period of time after you make a post. After that you must contact one of the moderators.

Trinity and dar, I think Dragonspit's advice is excellent and is exactly what I was going to suggest. You need to find a Tandy store because so many of your basic questions can be answered there. They have a number of how to books and I would recommend any of the starter info that Al Stohlman published through Tandy. Tandy can get you started in leatherwork without spending a fortune. It is a good way to get introduced to the tools and techniques you'll need to learn. Later on if you become addicted you will want to begin upgrading tools and learning new techniques....but that is a ways down the road. Here is an article which will help you understand what Mike is talking about with regard to casing leather. Like he said there are a lot of techniques out there. This is just the one that works for me. CASING LEATHER Hope this helps..... Bobby

JW, I'm glad this post got bumped.....it's amother one I missed. Great looking saddle! Bobby

Ray, I'm really glad you asked this question! When I first joined this group I was excited to find so many people with the same disease as mine. I jumped in and responded to everything I thought I could contribute to. I quickly discovered however that it takes a lot of time to answer requests for assistance. Especially when a new member posts a photo of his very first tooling attempt and wants a critique! I used to spend hours trying to point out two or three items which need improving and explaining myself. Additionally I'd try to find something positive to say so as to be encouraging (sometimes that was the most difficult thing to do, LOL!). The bottom line for me however is that I just cannot spend two hours a day responding to questions. I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect that a lot of the "Pro's" here discovered this a long before I did and that is why we don't hear from them more often. Additionally if requests can be limited to specific questions there is a much better chance of getting help. When someone asks "what tools should I buy so that my tooling looks like yours?" my response is probably going to be disappointing! Another point worth mentioning is that it is helpful if a question is asked on the forum rather than in private email. I get tons of email requests for assistance every day from people who are too emabarassed to ask a question on the forum. I understand that, however, they don't realize that there are a lot of people out there who would like to hear the answer because they were too embarrassed to ask also. Consequently I have to repeat answers every day. One of the ways I've tried to deal with this was to develop tutorials that I can just forward in the form of a PDF file, rather than to repeat my answer. I have several I am working on and these will save me some time and hopefully help those requesting assitance. Anyway, that's my personal point of view and I think this question provides a great opportunity to discuss the kinds of requests which are most likely to be responded to. Thanks again Ray! Bobby

Hi SimonJester753. I use this method to finish the edges on everything I make. It is the same method that has been used in saddle shops all across the country for many years. Of course there are some variations from maker to maker. Some add more steps, some eliminate steps I suppose. Anyway I would use this on saddles, holsters, cases or anything that has exposed edges regardless of what it is exposed to. If you are asking why I do not dye before I burnish, it is because when the edge of the leather is raw and unburnished, I am unable to get a nice clean dye line because my alcohol dye spreads as it soaks in. However once the edge is burnished it does not absorb the dye as fast and I am able to get a very clean dye line. I hope this answers your questions.... Bobby