bentley

If you have some place to mount a peg board that can be very helpful, also can find a lot of organizer type bins at a sewing/crafts store usually.

I have a very large collection of Tandy tools that were purchased over many years, some fairly new. Never had one bend or break on me. May want to try and get more moisture in your leather before stamping so it will take the impression without having to hit it so hard. This seems to be the most difficult part of carving and tooling for noobies. Try to find some scrap leather to practice getting it cased properly to take the impression with less effort, careful not to get it so wet it acts like a sponge and the impression disappears when it dries out. Good luck and have fun.

Nice point and I would agree on a horse harness and even a tree strap but I know that your shoulder will be dislocated before that dog collar breaks if your dog pulls that hard.

You are welcome. I think it was Tan, I used Eco-Flo Gel Antique with two coats of Resolene sealer mixed 50/50 with water. The antique will be much darker in the impressions if you put it on heavy and then wipe off excess on smooth areas. Good luck, experiment on some scraps. Mark

Yes, I leave it under the slab a few hours to get a good crease but it will still be damp when you remove it, now place inside collar and wrap both around something like a roll of duct tape to get a nice curved shape to both pieces. When all is dry start the gluing process.

You can email me at bentley.leather@gmail.com if you are still looking for help.

It is veg tan thin leather that I wet and fold over both sides so they meet in the miidle on the back side, put a nice crease in the edge and put it under my granite slab for a while. Then open up the flaps and put some glue between the layers and also glue to the back of the collar then sew. Make sure you form the inside piece to the collar when it is damp and roll the two pieces while gluing so you don't get any puckers and it will want to stay in that curved shape, I usually put a roll of duct tape inside of the two before gluing while the moisture dries to give it a nice radius. I leave it natural so no dye rubs off on the dogs fur and treat it with mink oil. So if the collar is 1 3/4" wide I cut the back piece 4" wide so there is a little overlap. I have more collars on my blog if you would like more examples, www.bentleyleathergoods.blogspot.com

I sent you a message. If you tell us where you are located maybe someone close by could help you out to avoid shipping cost.

Getting closer to finishing the bike, plans on leaving in March for a six month tour.

Finished parts, hopefully will get pics of the bike soon. Owner wanted a brand incorporated into the seat somewhere so I put it in the backrest.

You might want to see if there is a local 4H group that could use them.

Been doing leather work for many years but never did any bike stuff. Got an order for a two up full dress Harley seat, backrest, speakers, etc. Managed to connect with an 80 year old craftsman that only works in vinyl seats and is a wealth of knowledge, also loves to talk about his work, great mentor. Not sure my work is worthy of posting in this section with you great bike builders but here are some progress pictures. Bike is yellow with gold leaf on the tank, Owner did not like black on yellow so it will be a light brown when finished. Gentleman owns a Harley dealership and also rides horses, wants the seat to look as close to stock as possible in regards to stitching lines but to feel like one of his saddles. No tooling at all, likes his saddles smooth but wants natural scars and some distress. Feel free to critique and thanks for viewing, Mark

Guess that means no Christmas presents under the tree this year.

If you can send me an email with pictures I can discuss with you, bentley.leather@gmail.com Thank you, Mark

Want your leather to look like copper patina? Clean with oxalic acid and dye with Fiebings light blue, not the look I was trying to achieve but there is some reaction with the acid I guess.

Some of the banks are going to charge a fee for having a debit card, when my bank decides to do that I will turn my card in and start carrying my checkbook again.

Great looking work! Thank you for sharing.

Your welcome, if you need instuctions for a pineapple knot send me a PM with your email address. Mark

Try these sites. http://pineapple.myfunforum.org/ http://khww.net/news.php

That was going to be my suggestion, stitch a piece of leather below the loop to keep the shell from sliding down.

Very nice, try using a Pro Petal tool to lift the tips of the pieces in the pine cone.

Leathercrafters and Saddlers Journal had several articles in the past about braiding, one was 4 to 8 strand braid. They may be able to look up what issue it was in and sell you old copies. Robert Black was the author.