sandycreek

Hey everyone Just a cross reference: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=16184 Thanks -Aaron

Very impressive! I agree that the random lines on the camo gives a MUCH more interesting pattern. One question: What did you use to cut the checkering on the bevelers? I made a beveler and a pear shader, and tried adding lines to the beveler with a leaf-shaped needle file with very little success. Ended up filing the whole thing back down smooth. Thanks -Aaron

Hey Everyone, I'm back again with more questions. ( I promise sooner or later I'll be able to offer advice instead of just questions). I cut some lace with the Tandy lace maker (the black plastic stick). No problem. When it came to dying it, I am pretty sure I ended up with about 20x as much dye on me and the workbench as I did on the lace. I was using a small dauber and dying about 10" at a time on the marble slab. Flip it over and repeat. I managed a fairly even color, not to splotchy. Does anyone have a better method for doing this? Maybe some homemade gizmo to speed things up (it took me a little over 25 minutes to get the color even over 6 yards of lace)? Thanks everyone -Aaron p.s. I'm using the homemade RIT based spirit dye if that makes a difference. p.s.s. Sorry if this has been asked before. I did a forum search on "dying lace" and came up with 15 pages of results and didn't see anything in the first 10 pages that looked like it would help.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Jordan: Nice watchband, elegant and simple. That's about what I'm picturing, minus the watch. Have to see what the wife's friend thinks. Tom: I like the wristband, especially that medallion piece. Now just gotta find some free-time to get it made. I thought I had some free-time around here somewhere, but I sat it down, and the wife must have accidentally thrown it away Thanks -Aaron

Hi All, We owe one of my wife's friends a favor, and she seemed interested in a handmade wristband/cuff (not sure what the difference is). She wants black exterior/ blue liner and she really likes the looks of a laced edge. The colors are no problem. My question is, does having a laced edge on a wristband make it uncomfortable to wear compared to a sewn and burnished edge for example? I'll probably make the lacing out of some 1-2 oz calf hide scraps that I have, and use a double loop lacing to completely cover the edges. I'm just worried that since the lacing might end up slightly thicker than the wristband itself, that it would cause excessive rubbing or chaffing on the skin. Anybody have any thoughts about this? Thanks in advance! -Aaron

Hi, This might interest you some. Cheap buffing kit. I made a few stamps out of the stainless bolts. After finish sanding, I chucked one of the buffing wheels with the red compound in my hand held drill and ran it over the stamping surface for just a few seconds (careful, if you hold it on too long it'll actually round over the edges!). IMO it made a world of difference and you can't beat the price. -Aaron

Hey everyone, I was browsing the Harbor Freight website looking for something and stumbled across these: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=98051 Just out of dread curiousity, don't those look a WHOLE lot like Craftool factory seconds? -Aaron

I'm kind of new to all this, so take this with that as my disclaimer. The project I am working on right now is a gun pouch of blue finished chrome-tanned. For the edges on the handle, etc. I rubber cemented them together, and trimmed as close to even as possible. I then applied a thick coat of sno-seal to the edges ( it was the thinnest waxy substance i had...) and hit them with the nylon edge slicker chucked up in a drill. It didn't really burnish the edges in the sense of compacting and tightening the grain, but it did melt the wax down into the grain and smoothed the surface out a bit. -Aaron Your Mileage May Vary.

It takes me about 40 minutes heading south to get to the Tandy store, of course from work it's only about 10 minutes across town. The way Peoria is growing (or at least Was growing) it won't be long before we're just a suburb -Aaron

Thank you sir for the VERY fast reply to the email. Most helpful and informative. -Aaron

Hello everyone! I'm absolutely (as of Dec. 27 2008) new to leather working. I'm 25, with a BS in writing/minor in art (which, by the way, will get you a killer data entry job ). I grew up in the country and still live within 10 miles of the family farm. I'm also a practicing blacksmith (at the serious hobby/ sometimes pays for itself level) My wife and I had our second child back in May 08, and when my wife returned from maternity leave, she found that she had been moved to a split second/third shift. Needless to say, this seriously cut into my shop-time. So, since about mid-July, I've been looking for a new hobby that could be practiced from the comfort of my own basement during the week. I stumbled into the local Tandy store two days after Christmas and happened upon their Christmas/end of the year sale (I'd actually gone in looking for some leather to repair some old tree-climbing spikes) and have successfully managed to invest over half of my Christmas gained "play money" since. In the short time I've been perusing the forums here, I've already found them to be a goldmine of knowledge. I am looking forward to contributing where I can, and learning everywhere else. Thanks! -Aaron