Freddo

As a beginner, I had trouble finding these products, and wanted to let folks know that I was able to locate them at an old fashioned, mom and pop, family-owned hardware store. I called Ace, I went to Lowes and Home Depot and I called numerous drug stores with no luck. The Oxalic Crystals came in a 16oz container. They were marketed by DAP corporation under the product name "Wood Bleach". It was $7.99 for the 16oz container. At the same hardware store I also found jewelers (red) and general purpose (White) rouge. They were marketed by Eazypower under the product name ISOMAX. Each stick was very large (1"x1" x 6"), and cost 3.99 ea. Fred

A couple more questions: 1) Someone recommends neutralizing the leather afteer you clean it with an oxalic acid wash. How do you do that? 2) How do you apply the oxalic acid wash to the leather? Can you use a sponge or paper towel? 3) Is the wash (1 tsp/pint or whatever the mixture posted above was) safe to handle with bare hands or should you use gloves?

I was hoping someone could answer some questions about edge beveling and dyeing for me. I am about to finish off some 3-4 oz bookmarks and give them as xmas gifts. What is the order when "finishing" a product? Is it: Bevel Edge Dye Item Dye Edge Slick Edge Finish Product (with Leather Finisher) If not, which order do you use and why? I read in one of my books that the felt applicators are used for oil based dyes, and that you should use brushes with the waterbased dyes. Can someone explain why? Is there any issue with using an applicator with the Eco-flow dyes from Tandy? Is Fiebing's British Tan an oil based dye or a water based dye? Should I use brush or applicator? Thanks in advance gang! Fred

Tandy stopped carrying neet lac didn't they? Does anyone else carry it?

I have a couple of questions: 1) Approximately what does Zack White charge for Shipping a typicaly 7-8 oz side? 2) Has anyone purchased the $50.00 tooling side special that Tandy currently has for it's 3-4oz side? Any opinions on this? Just curious. Fred

Is using a lace maker to make lace cheaper then simply buying a spool of lace from Tandy? Can someone give me an example of how much cheaper once you've bought the lace maker? Thanks Fred

I recently purchased a used set of leather working tools. On the positive side, there was a ruby blade swivel knife in the set, on the negative side, there was a significant nick in the middle of the ruby portion of the blade. I have a couple of questions: What is the ruby portion of the blade made of? Are ruby blades discontinued? How do you sharpen it? Just like any other swivel knife or is there a special process? Can the ruby portion of the blade be changed? By the looks of it, it looks like an integral part of the knife, not something that can be swapped out.

The website appears to be: http://www.hidecrafter.com/Home.php I just checked and they have a 2008 catalog and a holiday flyer up. Fred