azrider

Thank you. The basketweave is from Hidecrafters. http://www.hidecrafter.com/hci/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=2702&category_id=106&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=35 I would assume that the horse leather is like cow leather, and produced as part of processing the entire animal. I have no qualms with it, and I grew up with horses. It tools and cases a little differently than cow hide.

Thanks Chris. The geometric one is from hidecrafter, X689. The back grounders are from Tandy, and are the E294 series. Thanks B. So far no one has been upset by the horse hide. My dad told me that when he was a kid, all his shoes were horsehide, just because it lasts longer. I haven't sold any of them yet, so we will see how it goes.

Couldn't fit all the pictures on one post. The first picture is the interior of one of the later wallets. Feedback is always welcome.

I haven't been posting much, but have been building up stock for shows and trying to get an online store going. Here are some wallets I have made recently. By the end of making all of these I figured out a few changes to the design. My wallet backs are now a quarter inch longer than my interior, and I cut a notch in the center of the interior. For the last two wallets, the Celtic Boar and the skull, I switched to a thiner thread size, that helped to make the handstiching look quite a bit better. The first three wallets are cow hide, and the rest are horse hide.

Would like to see if if you try it. I am curious now.

I make them in a couple of widths. I use a 16 inch strip of 3-4 oz leather, at 3/8 of an inch wide, and 6-8 inches of elastic sewn to each end of the leather. I also make a 1 1/2 inch wide one out of scraps from belts. I use the black elastic you can get at sewing shops, and trim it, and then melt it to keep it from unraveling.

I use mostly binder clips that my work was going to throw away. I have about four different sizes, and can glue several thicknesses of leather together.

I meant to try this last year, and didn't get to it. I have seen the stuff with the raised leaves. They look pretty awesome, but almost like they have been rolled. I just went outside and got some leaves and used a rolling pin. 1) Leaves don't stay still when being rolled into leather. 2) Wives get mad when you use the good rolling pin. So now I have some wallet backs with leaves on them and three pieces of granite some weights on top of them. I will check on them in the morning. For those without presses, how do yo make this work?

A really big one for getting these stamps not to bounce is the stamping surface. I just rebuilt my tooling desk, and have been amazed at how much bounce there was in the surface of my table. Now that there isn't flex there, the 3D stamps seem to go better. I have a 20 oz maul, hefty handle, and 1 inch thick stone. Tap to set, check that it's still straight, hit it hard.

In the how to section, Bob Parks did a great article on edges. All of that applies to using elbow grease as well, it just takes a little longer. Canvas or denium works well.

Totally missed the words "garment leather" in your first post. My only other thought would be a small piece of veg-tan, with the logos stamped on it, either glued or sewn on the garment leather. Hopefully someone has some more information.

Would something like a custom stamp from Laser Gift Creations give you what you need? I don't know if it would work for gold leaf, but you should be able to get a makers mark type stamp with a small logo and the Made in the USA line.

If I get the pieces oiled enough to where I don't think they will turn to dust, I will see about getting a pattern from them, Kings X. I am doing a portfolio right now, and will be using that rosette pattern on it. Its a pretty cool one, with simple tools.

So I was visiting my Dad this weekend, outside of Phoenix. He had asked me a while back if I would be interested in a set of old tapaderos he has. I know his neighbor gave them time him about ten years ago, and they have been hanging from a rafter in the tackroom since. I don't think I've seen a horse on that neigbor's place in over 20 years. They are 19 inches long, with a basket weave design and a rosette at the end of them. I will try to get a better picture of them, since the light on this one is not so good. The leather is pretty dry, and cracked in a few places. The maker's mark is simply N Porter, Phoenix, AZ. I know that the N. Porter Saddle and Harness shop was open in Phoenix from the turn of the century to the 60s. I had a couple of questions. 1) What's the best way to recondition this leather? It probably hasn't been oiled in at least ten years, and has been in a tack room that gets well over 110 degrees every summer. 2) Did Porter's use the N Porter stamp through the entire time they were open, or only the first generation of the family? Any otherways to get an approximate date these were made? 3) Were the strings on these latigo? Any other information on the N. Porter Saddle and Harness Company would also be apprciated.

I have a 14 oz maul I use very rarely, and a 20 oz maul I use most of the time. Both were made by bearman. I also have rawhide and poly mallets, and a deadblow hammer. I have some bounce from my tooling surface, so I like the dead blow for my maker's mark. The mallets come out some times, but mostly its the 20oz maul.

Thanks for the ideas. Right now, I have a hard time using it because it does not have good tips. Few of my projects need skiving, but I can see how it work work well for that. I will see if I can use it that way, otherwise will try to grind a curved edge, (agree there isn't enough metal there to make it actually round,) and see about sharpening it. It seemed a waste not to try to use this for something. It came as part of a set of tools I purchased, and it holds an edge way better than my tandy round knife.

I have an antique head knife that holds a great edge, but is no longer round. Its more of a triangle shape. I called one sharpening service, but haven't heard back from them. I don't have the grinders and sanders that would be needed to take it back to the correct shape. Any ideas what I can expect this to cost? Would I be better off just buying a new one?

I asked the countertop salesperson at home depot what they do with the old samples of granite once they aren't avalible anymore. She said they just throw them out, so I explained what I wanted to do with them. They hadn't carried any to the dumpster for a while, so she gave me 8 of the samples. They are around 9x18, but work pretty well for tooling. I use a rubber mat under them to keep the noise down in the house.

Good information. Thanks for putting it together.

So I am not a lefty, but am curious. I learned to shoot pool from a lefty, and can't play right handed. I hold my stamping tools, including the bevlers and shaders with my left hand. I use the maul with the right. Is that how right handed people usually do it?

Tim, the slicker is holding up well. I scratched one side of the edge, so spent some time polishing it again, and it works as good as new. Daggrim, I have only done one event before. I wasn't makeing the headbands at the time. I made my first one about a month ago, and have sold about 20 just through word of mouth from my wife wearing her's. I am doing a craft fair in Oct, and will have a bunch of them to sell. I hope they do well. I got my first sale off the website yesterday! Its for one of the 1.5 inch headbands. Since my brother in law is hosting the site, and my step mom did the web design, that sale paid for the website for a year. I hope this keeps up!

I am sure you will take great care of them for him! The best way to keep tools in good shape is to youse them as they were intended. Thats awesome!

Thanks Tim. Did you see the picture with the slicker you made me?

I bought a domain six or seven months ago, and started reading about web design. I was more than a little lost. Last week my step mother asked if she could help me get started. She set up the framework on wordpress, and I have been adding content and pictures for about a week. The photo albums are not done yet, but they are getting closer. I have an SEO installed, and am actually showing up on google sometimes now. I am still working on getting all the descriptions on the photos filled out. It was amazing to me how much stuff I have actually made in the last two years. I would love some feedback. Particularly on the "Pricing" page. How is that likely to be percived by potential customers? www.drygulchleather.com