azrider

I am thinking it will hold up well. If it doesn't, I will add some small brads. I like the fact that this one doesn't have any nails on it, as I had to watch the ones on my old strop to keep from nicking a blade.

One of my coworkers needed a strop for his shop. I offered to make it if he would supply two pieces of finished maple, so I could make me a new one too. I contact cemented the leather to the maple. I crushed red rouge and put into denatured alcohol. I brushed this onto the horse hide and worked it in by stropping my knives. This is the first tool I have made that not only gets the job done, but actually looks nice too.

I add a line on all my invoices for "Dye, Finish, Waxes, and Snake Oil." For wallets, its a dollar, and the price goes up as the item gets bigger. Its such a small part of the invoice that no one has questioned me on it, and it should cover all my materials.

Under the stamping section there is a how to on basketweave. I will typicly mark my edges with wing dividers, then use the wing dividers to mark the centerline. That is if I wanted it to run lengthwise on the belt. There is a great tutorial on how to do an angeled basket weave with a template as well.

I would rank Hidecrafters above tandy on all thier geometrics. I want to upgrade to the top shelf stuff, but am not quite there yet.

That should be about the perfect wieght for a book cover. The portfollio I use every day at work is 3-4oz calfskin leather, with a pigskin lining. It took about a week to really soften up. I've learned since, that if I wet the inside after its all put together, and fold it while wet, it will keep it's shape. I also use that wieght for wallets, check book covers, and key rings.

Some thing that helps me is to move my entire arm, not just my wrist. I use my pinky to keep the knife stable. This takes more control, but gives me much smoother lines. When I have a sharp turn, I am turning the leather quite a bit. The biggest single thing that helped me was getting my blade sharp. I sharpened on a stone, then used a polishing wheel with jeweler's rouge to really polish the blade. Mine is shinny like a mirror on the tip. I also strop the blade constantly while using it.

I typically do checkbook covers out of calf skin or 4-5 oz leather. I will do the inside pockets from the same leather, line the inside, and sew the edges.

Great topic. I still don't think I am very good. I have the first wallet I made for myself in 2005 hanging over my work bench. It looks like something a kid did at summer camp. Compared to that, my newest wallets are pretty nice. I still have quite a bit of the first stuff I made that I use regularly. Its funny because the stuff I make now is nicer, but I still see flaws in it. What I have noticed is that I have started getting referrals, and last year I had an independent Leathercraft store call me to see if I would put some of my items on consignment. It doesn't seem like people are just humoring me any more when they tell me they like what I am making. I don't think I will ever be happy with what I make, but I am comfortable calling myself an leather craftsman now, instead of someone who sometimes does leather work.

Waterford Leather defines Pull Up leather as: Pullup Leather: Describes the behavior of leather that has been treated with oils, waxes, and dyes in such a way that when the leather is pulled or stretched (i.e. on upholstery), the finish becomes lighter in the stretched areas. Considered a mark of high quality. They also have six colors of it. http://www.waterhouseleather.com/upholstery_leather_hides.htm (I haven't ordered any, I just ran across it on their site, and remembered this thread.)

I will usually use Bee Natural RTC as a resist. I do one light coat, let dry over night, and then do a second coat. After that I put the antique paste on, but I put it on thick. I use a dabber. As soon as I have the piece covered in antique, I will start wiping it away with a damp rag. I keep wiping until it's even, and then go back over any place that seems like it didn't get enough, and wipe down again. Once it seems even, I let it dry over night, and then do a light coat of RTC, and a second coat when that dries.

I like the waxed cord from here: http://www.mainethread.com/Improved_Waxed_Cord.html I emailed them and they sent me a sample card with the different colors and sizes. I seem to like the .035 and .040 for smaller items.

Thanks all. Determining what sized cases I can make for generic sizes to take to a show is what I am working on here. I will post back with what I come up with. I am hoping to be able to do only three sizes to cover most of the phones.

I do things the same way. I am hoping to use the measurements to make up some plugs for current phones, so I can have some cases ready if I do a craft show. I have a couple of templates for older blackberries, but not any of the current crop of phones. Yeah, I will probably have to go down to the Verizon store get the measurements.

For those that make up cell phone cases to have a stock of them for shows, what phone dimensions do you use to make them? I have the Tandy pattern that I have reproduced, but am thinking of making up some molded cases as well. I know phone sizes are all over the map, but are there some typical ones I could use that would cover the more popular phones? I still carry a dumb phone, so am not able to use it for measurements. Would anyone be willing to share the measurements on their phones? I know the iPhone, some of the blackberries, and the droids would be good places to start. My phone is an Envy 2. 4 1/16 inches x 2 1/16 inches x 5/8 of an inch.

I have done a few vinagroon things without the baking soda bath. The smell took a little while to go away, but no adverse affects. I use olive oil on mine. I did a belt yesterday that was grey, and it soaked up almost 1/2 cup of olive oil before it looked good and black. I do light coats, and wipe off what ever isn't absorbed in about 2 min. After I have done several coats, I will let it soak overnight, which evens out the black.

I have no feedback to offer to make them better. I think they look great. I really do like the one without the flowers. I haven't seen anything like that before.

I like the wallets. Did you make the chains?

http://gemosphere.tripod.com/GEMOSPHERE/Swivel_Knivesx.html I just got a knife with a Henley blade. Its like night and day between it and my other blades. They do typically have a wait for their blades though.

Try running and overstitch wheel over your stitch when its done. This removes the excess wax from the Tejas thread, and helps make the project look cleaner. I also found using canvas to remove as much as the wax as possible from the thread before I started sewing helped.

What is Propay?

From the other threads on here, it sounds like 3M spray will work to glue the leather down. Should I consider making some type of flap that I could sew to the leather on the underside, leaving a stitch line visible on the seating surface, and then attach that flap to the pan? This rider did about 15k on his sport bike last year, so he rides quite a bit. Any tips on fixing this seat the right way would be appreciated.

I live one state over from Springfield Leather. If I send my order on Wed before work online, my order will typically arrive on Thur afternoon. They send an email with an electronic invoice and a tracking number after the order is proceeded. The amount of time from Tandy depends on the store that gets the order, so can vary a lot.

The skinny copper one with the angled blade showed up here yesterday. I went through several pounds of scrap testing the knife out. All around nice knife to use. The Henley blade is awesome, and the action is smoother than any of my other knifes. Thanks Bryan!

That looks nice. I like the fact that if when you run out of slots for tools, you have the option of replacing the plexiglass with some drilled differently. Did you make a lid for it as well?