chuck123wapati

you don't need jap water stones to sharpen jap made tools. water stones are excellent and if you can afford them buy them and learn to use them properly or they wont help either but the metal tool simply doesn't know where it was made and japan doesn't make or use steel any different than any other country has access to in their middle of the road tools.

practice! and get rid of the 800 grit. I have never used a strop on my leather tools until recently and i'm still out on that. I have always used a piece of 2500 grit sand paper on my granite slab and it works fine. A strop if used wrong will round the edge. same with the edge bevelers I fold a piece of 2500 grit and polish with that 800 is far to coarse. Stroping is for polishing and straightening the microscopic edge and doesnt remove material. sharpening or stone grinding as you call it is creating that edge. Now if your tool has a decent edge angle with no nicks but stroping or polishing with super fine paper wont help then you need to create the microscopic edge again with a very fine Arkansas stone. rough stones are for grinding the necessary angle finer stones create the edge after the angle is cut. 800 grit paper is more like a rough stone so you have went backwards a bit more than likely.

sweet now i have this image of the old wallet full of family pictures , before i phones. "Wanna see the kids this may take awhile" lol. Great idea and good looking card holder.

Hey folks there is a machine for sale here in our local FB upcycle for sale with table and variable speed motor Its a 111w 155 walking foot machine. $500 Bucks. I dont know squat about it or leather machines at all but am posting in case someone here wants to check it out. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1956393261178259/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks

go to tandys ebook site and download all the free ebooks. everything you need to know can be found there as well as how to do it. there is not much in the line of middle of the road IMO except the older used craftools from tandy but there are tons of tools not related directly to leather work that can be used that are much cheaper than "leatherworking " tools. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/category/79/ebooks?pagenum=1

how hard or how much pressure you put on the wheel will dictate if it bogs down, you can bog any size motor down and it will result in overheating and failure. So you can also successfully grind something with a smaller motor it will just take longer because you cant push as hard against it before it bogs. I would go with the higher horse motor because it wont heat up as much if in fact you do put to much strain on it and your sanding , grinding will go much faster as a result. https://www.thefabricator.com/stampingjournal/article/cuttingweldprep/four-factors-to-consider-when-purchasing-a-grinder--you-get-what-you-pay-for

lol you can always tell a leather worker they have crappy wallets. Mine has a big dye stain right in the middle of it. Your tooling is great and the stitches arent really to bad imo.

great looking holster,

very fine work.

that is great work I use one similar that goes on my belt

Heck yea great looking!

wow that is nice indeed.

Threads may have changed but Stohlmans techniques are still spot on, everyday almost questions are asked here that are covered many times in his writings. You can get more of his stuff free on the tandy site. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/category/79/ebooks?pagenum=1

ditto and if your worried about mold throw in some desicant pouches.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/spokeshaves I have no idea really but i would think the only dif would be blade shape maybe from wood to leather but here is a place that sells them and different blade shapes.

Welcome back friend.

Just a few photos to show off my lil part of the world and help with my spring fever. March and April are hard to get thru here the day looks beautiful till you walk out side then its still colder than he**. Post some nice summertime pics for every one to enjoy. Stewart was my inspiration!

yup wood with tannins in it will blacken it some with little tannins it just adds an weathered grey look. Test first on some scrap to see if you like the outcome. you can also put a wash of tea on before to add some more tannins. i watched a cool episode on woodsmith shop where they used roon to stain a box but i cant seem to find it now.

Man your getting good at this stuff ! Those look great.

cool indeed i may have to try some i use it for some of my wood projects also.

Hope this helps https://favoredleather.com/leather-plough-gauge/

i look at your stuff three or four times a day at least. I am inspired every time. My fishin memories are from a small stream in the mountains full of Brookies have went there with my family all my life every fourth of July but haven't seen one mermaid there.

This would be simple but the cartridge's might fall out or get dirty . https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/1021269949?pid=588390&utm_medium=shopping&utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=Shooting+-+Range+Accessories&utm_content=588390&cm_mmc=pf_ci_bing-_-Shooting+-+Range+Accessories-_-Hunter-_-588390&msclkid=557099b748881a51ee06f9f7a98f7426&utm_term=1101131606244 I prefer one of these, i have used one for years hunting and my ammo stays nice and clean dry and ready to use, mine just has 5 shells in the bottom flap that falls down and out of the way of the flap for easy access. .https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101381603?pid=154219

so they wont lose it riding or while partying.