hidepounder

Well...............that clears it all up for me!!!!! Wondered how that was done.......... (just kidding Allan) Bob

Vector, As you can see from the different posts, knife sharpening is the major issue here. Anything can be used to cut leather...if it's sharp! What you need to concentrate on is taking whatever type of knife you think you like to use and learn to sharpen it. What is sharp enough? A box cutter with a new blade is not sharp enough, a new knife with a factory edge is probably not sharp enough. There are many videos available on U-tube that are worth watching, and they all demonstrate different methods of sharping. It's a learning process that you must master in order to be able to continue enjoying your leather work. I personally use a head knife and a small straight knife. I don't have any problems cutting curves or corners or wierd shapes in heavy leather with a head knife. A couple of suggestions....when cutting out of a side of leather, rough cut (cut it oversized) the initial piece out of the side. Take it to your bench, dip it in water, let it dry a bit, then cut it to shape on your bench. It is much easier to cut correctly from a small piece of leather than to try to cut your exact shape out a dry side. I have to agree with Randy about using head knives and there is a good reason why most professionals use them. They are difficult to learn to sharpen, but if you get a good one and get the hang of it, you'll never go back. Good luck, Bob

Dusty, That's pretty darn good for a first attempt! Some of my thoughts are...it will look a lot better if you will elongate all the lines that form your petals and other elements. Add more petals to the design. When designing these patterns it is helpful to draw a circle around each flower. When you draw petals on the outside of the circle, elongate the lines but do not let them cross the circle. The same thing holds for petals on the inside. The center of your vine should be the circle you originally drew. I start out by laying out my circles and then filling in the flowers and vines. Add petals so that the spacing between them is the same, over and over. Try to make the amount of background you create balance throughout the pattern. All your lines should be sweeping...not blunt. It's a great first attempt. Drawing patterns takes lots of practice and study of others work. Hope this helps, Bob

Now that I think about it, I may know where one got to....finding the saddlemaker may take some doing. IF I can find her, I'll bet she would let me take pictures.....

That sounds right Jim, I had forgotten about the spring, but I think there was one. Thanks....wish I could find a pic of one.... Bob

Years ago...back in the 70's, Bill Porters Sadlle Shop, here in Phoenix, purchased some stitching horses that were made of steel. They had forged clamps and all the linkage to operate the clamps was located below the seat so that the entire clamp was open to hold leather. They were extremely strong and comfortable with padded seats. Has anyone ever run across one of these or know if they are still being made? Bob

Yes...dye, oil, then finish. You don't hve to use Neatsfoot oil....olive oil works great also. Be sure to let your oiled piece sit for a day before applying the finish. Bob

Marlon....great job on the bag and your stitching looks great! Bob

Russ...yes, that's how I do it. I often use 6/7 oz for the leaves also. Anyway, those weights aren't rules, use whatever makes sense to you to accomplish what you want. The process is probably more important than the materials, if you know what I mean. I think it's easier to use a piece of 4/5 oz for the binding, than to take a piece of 7/8 oz and do all the skiving and grooving to achieve the same thing...but that's certainly an acceptable alternative. I had to go look up exactly what that plastic is called. It's "High Impact Styrene" and you will have to go to a Plastics Supplier to find it. I think I paid a little over $20 for a sheet of 4'x8', 4 mil. Hope this helps, Bob

Crystal....that's spectacular! I think you've done an incredible job and I really like that you made some changes to make it your own style! Now we'll be looking to you for some tutorials! Congratulations! Bob

Russ, I do but stiffeners in both leaves and in the binder as well. I have been buying sheets of white plastic...I think it's polyethyline (sp). It come in different mil thicknesses...I buy 4 mil and 6 mil in 4'x8' sheets. I use this material for stiffeners and for patterns. I think I get a better project by using a little lighter leather, a stiffener and a liner. I cut the stiffeners undersize so that they don't show along the finished edge. I would rather not have a really heavy leaf...it just seems clunky to me. In addition, my tooling patterns keep getting smaller and smaller which dictates using lighter leather. On the binding, I usually add a piece of the 6 mil poly and then glue a piece of 7/8 oz or 9/10 oz over it before I put the lining in. I like the feel of the binding being really stiff. Additionally, a stiff binding helps keep the leaves square when closed. I can't stand when you close a custom organizer or photo album and the leaves flop together uneven. After I glue the 7/8 oz over the stiffener, I take a French edger and skive the edges at approx 45 degress to soften the edge as the lining goes in. I also skive the leaves where they are overlapped by the binding...again to soften the edge for when the lining goes in. I glue everything in with Barge or Masters...the stiffeners, the lining, everything! It won't come apart! Hope this helps, Bob

What a fun project and you did a great job! I noticed you had to build a brand new stand just to keep everything off the ground! I don't think I have seen a set of taps like that, that weren't wall hangers. We don't get to see that kind of gear out here, so I really loved seeing this. Great job and thanks for sharing! Bob

Dale...I think you are correct...I didn't mean that the way it sounded. It's just easier to refer to the different rouges by color. I know there is more than one kind of green...only because I ran into that question when I purchased the my first green rouge. Bob

Kate, The different colors represent different grits and are often used for different materials as well. I don't use the red much anymore. I polish with the white first and then use the green for a final polish. I use a strop loaded with green rouge for my swivel knife. When polishing with rouge, it makes a difference what grit stone was used first. The finer the stone, the less need for aggressive rouges. When buying the green rouge, one must be careful to get the one intended for steel. There are some out there that the knifemakers use that are intended for finishing wood, brass etc. Maybe some of them coud jump in here and explain this a lot better. Bob

Thanks, I appreciate it! Bob

Really nice Steve! I want to see them with the finish on them also. Great job! Bob

Now THAT'S good advice!

Mike, I'm not familiar with that one...didn't find anything when I Googled it. Can you point me to info regarding this? Thanks, Bob

He's just amazing! What else can you say? Wow! Bob

WOW Tina....WOW! That's amazing! What a great job! Bob

Really nice Elton...glad this thread got bumped, I hand't seen these before. They look GREAT! I really like the scalloped binders, they really jazz them up.....but throw away the letter stamps, you tool to well to use them! :soapbox: Bob

Hi Tina, Thanks for the compliment! I searched the Internet for free fonts and downloaded a bunch of them. So now, I go into Photoshop Elements and print out what I like. Elements is not the best program for manipulating lettering...probably should have Corel Draw or something like that...but anyway Elements lets me do some warping and stretching, etc., then you can just print out the size you need and trace them on. It's way better then drawing them from scratch like I used to do! Bob

Sorry for not replying sooner....I was out of town for a week and then lost track of this thread! MarkB, For me, the type of blade I use depends completely on what size pattern and what weight leather I'm using. For larger patterns and heavier leather I use a 5/8" barrel with a 5/8" HG straight blade. In the other extreme, on a small pattern on light leather I will use a 3/8" barrel witha 1/4" angled HG blade. In general, I do agree that a thinner blade is easier to use, however it may not leave a wide enough cut to easily apply larger bevelers. Consequently I use a variety of knives (I'm a toolaholic!). flathat4life, I like the glass slicker that Barry makes...it's edge is very smooth, it has some weight to it which I like. I also have some wood slickers, but the edge is easily dinged which leaves marks on your leather. In addition, I live in a really dry climate and have trouble with expensive wood slickers cracking. I also have an acrylic slicker and it's edge gts dinged easily also. Tim, The Ivory soap doesn't seem to effect anything like finishes, etc. I'm not sure if the soap actually lubricates the knife blade in the leather or if it prevents the crystaline (sp) build-up from forming on the knife blade which causes drag....I suspect it does both! In any case, I think it probably penetrates the leather and combines with other chemical residue which is there. I have never found it to effect dye or antique or Neat-Lac, etc. Bob

Good job Bert....looks really nice! I'm anxious to see how it looks on the website! Bob

I have never used anything but HO because I was originally taught that it is the best. What I know about WC leads me to beleve they are comparable to HO and that the differences are small and puely a matter of preference. I've always been told that WC is softer to tool and from some of the other posts, it sounds like WC is easier to deal with regarding small quantity orders, which interests me. HO requires a minimum order which means you have to buy from a dealer if ordering small quantities. I also think Raybans suggestion is a good one. Bob