hidepounder

rawr66 When you say you're using glazed leather, I assume you are talking about a chrome tanned product. If that's true, you won't be able to get a nice burnish. Chrome tanned leather won't hold a burnish. Hope this helps..... Bobby

oltoot, the hair-on gusset is chrome tanned cowhide. Down at he bottom of teh bag I use veg tanned leather. Otherwise the hair would wear off from sitting on the ground. Bobby

Thanks very much! The entire bag is machine stitched and you're right, the binding is a pain! Thanks Ed! Just trying to keep up with you my friend!!

Thanks for all the great comments, everybody! They're much appreciated!

Thanks billybopp! That has sort of become a signature thing for me on rope bags. i like to incorporate celtic knots and floral tooling

I haven't posted a new project in long while so I thought I would show this one. Let me know what you think (I'm thick skinned).....

Pictures will "catch you" every time! I can't tell you how many finished projects I've photographed only to discover little "issues" which went unnoticed! Bobby

Peidmont, The right tool makes all the difference when dyeing edges. I use a modified Partner Pen (which I sell). It's essentially a chisel tip piece of felt in a PVC handle.You dip it in the dye and apply it to the edge of the leather. It allows you to get a straight, crisp dye line. They are sometimes called Ready Flow pens. snubbyfan, Nice job on the edges! I noticed you have some fuzzy leather showing on the flesh side of your holster. Here's a tip. Apply gum trag to the flesh side of the leather and slick it with a glass slicker. It will dress up the flesh side and give it a more professional "finished" look.

Weaver used to sell the machine with a cordura sleeve on a foam padded drum. I used to use that drum to apply parafin to my edges after I burnished with soap. Now I use a cocobolo wheel on a dremel to work in the parafin. The newer Weaver machines have a sanding drum on that side now, but I believe the cordura drums are still available.

AHHHAA!!! Now we're getting somewhere. I always burnish with 18oz cotton duck canvas. It's the same stuff they make the old wall tents out of. If you have a commercial fabric store in your area they will have it. You only need a piece that's about 8" square. A tent shop would happily give you a piece of scrap and it will last you a long, long time. The other thing I use are the cocobolo dremel burnishers that are made by Bear Man (on this site).At the very least, use a cocbolo hand slicker. Any of those products will produce far superior edges to your plastic slicker. Now, if you want to go a step further, let me know. I think I still have some canvas burnishing mitts ($10), a couple of cocbolo hand slickers ($30) and some canvas burnishing wheels that you chuck into a drill ($60). But picking up a piece of scrap canvas would be by the cheapest and fastest thing to do. Once you have the canvas, you'll see a marked improvement. You can start using saddle soap or Quick Slick to burnish with as well and you will be pleased with the results! Hope this helps..... Bobby

I think the gum trag would block the soap. If you want to refinish the edge, sand it and then start over. In the photo, the edges just look like they weren't burnished enough, but it's hard for me to tell. What are you burnishing with?

I never use gum trag so I'm not sure if that is a cause of what's happening here or not. It sounds like the "dark water" lines may be a result of using too much water and I'm suspicious that maybe the water/GT combination is what is what is leaving the white finish. If you're using gum trag you may not need to wet the edge with water at all. I use a piece of canvas to burnish with and I use saddle soap as my slicking agent. I've also had good success using Quick Slick by Sheridan Leather Outfitters and I don't use water at all with the QS. The rough surface could be a result of not burnishing enough or over burnishing. If you could show us a couple of pictures I might be able to help you more. Hope this helps..... Bobby

When you say glazed leather, I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to. I use NeatLac as a final finish and don't have problems with any bleed over. I still try to be careful, though. Could be the glaze finish you're dealing with just isn't that forgiving. An alternative way to burnish woould be to use Quik Slick, from Sheridan Leather. You apply it to the edge and then burnish with with either canvass or a cocobolo wheel. You won't be saturating the edge like you do with water/saddle soap, so there should be less bleed. It's a clear product as well and very easy to use. Let it dry a little before you burnish. Hope this helps..... Bobby

Great pieces Ed! Can't wait to see what's next!!!!

You're very welcome, slipangle!

IMHO you pattern is a little too intricate. Ther is a lot of detail in those designs. Patterns of that size and detail will require very good tooling skills. I would encourage you to keep practicing your drawing. I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit. Study the work of someone you admire. Copy their pattern and practice drawing it. That way you can compare your work to theirs. This type of exercise will give you the ablility to analize the problems in your pattern. There are some very simple fundamentals which you are not observing which when applied will make a huge difference in the patterns you've shown us here. As you develop your drawing skills, you can add teh fancier elements to your patterns. But what I see here is that you're trying to get too much include for the space you hae to work with. Start simple! More often thatn not, "less is more". I completely understand your frustration, but encourage you to not to buy patterns. That's just cutting yourself short. A side benefit of learning to draw your own patterns id that drawing will help you to become a better tooler. Hope this helps..... Bobby

I sand with a stationary belt sander or a dremmel. With the belt, the speed is about 3450 rpms and I have to be careful not to burn the edge. Same with the dremmel. If I amd dealing with a single layer of leather I probably won't sand at all (except on show pieces). If you are ending up with fuzzy edges, I think you need to use finer grits. Some people sand in stages ending up with 1500 to 2000 grit. When you go that far, you won't get any residual fuzz. On show pieces I often sand all the way down to 2000. I'm not sure it's really worth the effort, but on show pieces you go to extremes to try to get an advantage. When doing everyday work I sand on the belt with a worn out 100 grit belt. All I'm trying to do is get everything evened up and any residual glue removed. A somewhat fuzzy edge will still burnish nicely if you're saddle soap as a slicking agent. The heat that I get while sanding will color the edge somewhat and I kind of like that. I think I get a better burnish. The downside is if you overheat the leather edge it will become brittle and crack and then you have a mess on your hands. Hope this helps..... Bobby

You're very welcome! This method is just one of many that one can employ to burnish edges. It's what I have the most experience with and it works well, But it is by no means the only option out there. BTW, as an update, I have one of the new Cobra burnishers and am very pleased with it in case any of you were wondering about it. Bobby

That's a beautifully burnished edge!!! If I had to speculate, I suspect that edge was burnished with a steel burnisher and the clear finish coat is what's holding everything together. There is really no way to tell if a slicking agent was used or not.

I always mount my tooling piece onto a piece of 1/4" acrylic (plexiglass) to control stretch. I know that I'm going to line the project so I don't care about the glue residue on the back. When I tape my pattern on, I tape it to the plexiglass. My patterns are drawn on film which fits the size of the project and I have on occasion, just used blue tape over the edges of the leather (when I'm not using plexiglass. Hope this helps.... Bobby

When I draw patterns I usually use vellum paper. It doesn't smear and rub off on my hand while I'm drawing which is the problem with drawing on tracing film. Then I trace the pattern onto tracing film. Yes, it's double the effort, but I've found it to be time well spent. First, of course, the tracing film is more durable and can be used again. It is also much easier to orient onto the leather because I can see through it. But the most valuable thing I've found is that I always end up making little changes which improve the pattern when I'm tracing the pattern onto film. I always wonder why I didn't identify those problems when I was drawing. Maybe I get so focused on little details that I miss the "forest for the trees", but I almost always find things I want to fix and that is enough of a reason by itself for me to continue the practice. I also tape my pattern onto the leather. I try to insure that the pattern doesn't move while I'm tracing. I also make a point to trace the pattern onto the leather as perfectly as possible. For me, it's just as important to get the pattern transfered on correctly as it is to cut it correctly and one definitely begets the other. Hope this helps! Bobby

I haven't seen the striped effect, but I would image it involves dying some layers and not others. As far as the natural color goes, I think if you use saddlesoap, you'll get less color in the burnish. Hope this helps! Bobby

Of course you can learn to draw patterns! As a matter of fact, learning to draw a pattern will assist in your tooling because you will gain a better understanding of the basic principals which make up the pattern. That said, I encourage people to continue tooling existing patterns so that they have an example to follow. I would never encourage tooling someone else's patterns on items for sale, however, striving to make your tooling look like the original is the best way I know to learn to master your tools. Once you master your tools, then it's time to start drawing your own patterns. Another way to look at it is, if you can't tool it, how can you expect to know what to draw? That's my take on it anyway! Hope this helps! Bobby

Hi Terry, I have enough to last me for a while. I don't use 555 to strop my swivel knife (although it would work really well) because it just isn't necessary. Swivel knives develop corrosion from the residual chemicals in the leather and a couple of strokes on green rouge cleans it off. The act of stropping is what dulls the blade so I use the finest rouge I can find. My head knives and trim knives take a lot more abuse. I prefer to use food grade belting for my swivel knife strop because it doesn't compress and round the edge of the blade. For my knives I use a paper wheel with 555 on a grinder motor. It's really fast an easy!

I know better than to broach this subject, but sometimes I just can't bite my tongue any longer! Sheridan style carving isn't identified by drawing in circles. It has to do with the use of certain design elements and specific tools. Patterns have been drawn in circles for a long time and Sheridan style toolers certainly make use of them in their layout, however so did those tooling in the Northwest, Porter and a number of other regional styles. Unfortunately the use of the "Sheridan" style is misused broadly, much the same way that tissue is called Kleenex. What distinguishes "Sheridan" style from others is the use of extra steep bevelers, thumbprints in lieu of pear shaders, the use of flower centers and flower center bevelers, etc. Additionallly, the use of the wild rose was very prominent is "Sheridan" style designs and "Sheridan" style toolers definitely reduced the size of the tooling patterns. In my mind, "Sheridan" style tooling portrays more stemwork than other styles and the petals or "stickers" are usually very elongated and/or sharp as opposed to short, fat and blunt (as was typical in the "Porter" style. I am often described as a "Sheridan" style tooler, and while I can and have done tooling in that style (I really like it!), I don't think I'm a "Sheridan" style tooler at all. Okay, enough spouting off on my part, LOL! Sometimes I just can't keep my big mouth shut! BTW......nice layout and stamp job, Tim!!!!