chuck123wapati

Happy New Year HS its been a long one for me and frankly I'm ready to see 2024 in the rearview mirror. Still tending my daughter twice daily. She now has a fistula that won't heal and it will be April earliest that she can have this whole mess re-done. Meaning another operation to reverse the colostomy. I Hope you and your pops are having a wonderful summer!! Its cold but not to much snow yet just our wonderful wind lol take care my friend and hope to hear from you soon. I think some nice elk steaks and homemade brandy will set the course for the new year LOL. God bless and stay safe... Chuck

OMG, really? Well, I would look into maybe shoe polish and check out videos on reconditioning and polishing leather shoes and the process. Good luck to you!!!!

You had a new portfolio. You may have ruined it, sorry, but you should always ask first. I think now the bigger problem is fixing your mistakes. It appears you have taken off some dye and possibly scuffed up the leather itself.

put on a dust mask and spray it one light coat first to help set the antique then more light coats. 8 degreees here this morn but no wind

Wouldn't they just put the coin in and steal the thing???

"Put another way, this is almost the opposite of the dream machine post " It is interesting how folks interpreted this lol.

First, you have to figure out just what you plan on making, Shoes, saddles, clothes or maybe wallets, all take somewhat different tools. You can make most anything without a machine of any kind so I would/ did start with quality hand tools first IMO. Bruce is the man for those!!

Merry Christmas and god bless friend. and get well I think it's gonna be a great New Year indeed.

You are way overthinking this drying/ hardness problem IMO to cook a steak to medium rare you pull it off the grill at 120 degrees internal temp so that at 140 your leather will be cooked. I've made a lot of hard sheathes and holsters you don't need heat, they will be plenty hard if you limit the oils you put back in. Plus if you over-dry your leather in an artificial source like an air fryer it will just suck in the natural humidity of the atmosphere as it cools back down.

I know many who dry their projects in their cars, it adds some heat and also tans/ darkens the leather. And a late comment on your first question. use a thinner welt, if you are making a taco-type sheath, one piece folded over and sewn then skive the inside of the bend along the spine so it will fold nicely. a two pice sheath just needs thinner welt.

I recommend just air drying, or using a fan to speed up the process especially in AZ. But if you're set on trying it, then do your sperimentin with some scrap and let us know how it worked. Just a reminder that leather is still skin, so it can be cooked and if that happens its not BBQ its just ruined lol.

here ya go. is this what you mean? https://tandyleather.com/blogs/leathercraft-library/how-to-filigree

yeah go get a roll of tp and ask him to explain why it has perforations every four inches.

The most water-tight seams I know of are done by the Eskimo tribes on their mukluks. They are hand-sewn but they don't use a saddle stitch nor a regular seam as we would see on a boot. As for your question It's a waste of time and effort IMO, leather isn't "waterproof" so no saddle stitch in the world will help in that respect and you can easily buy products that will make the stitching and leather water-repellent for a time. Now for a learning project, you have a great idea, shoes weren't always machine-sewn it sounds like a fun project so go for it.

I misspoke it's been a few years since I did any stained glass so I went to look at the patina bottle to get you some info and realized it is for patinating lead/lead-free lead and not copper. Sorry for that !! There are ways to add patina to copper but it won't be black.

if you cant find any go to a stained glass shop there is a product they use to create a black patina you can treat the copper rivets with.

nope, 220 is fine, at least for me, then burnish you got the idea.

NFo isn't a coating it is an oil, it is used to add some oil back into the leather as a Liquor or conditioner. Depending on the amount you use you can make your leather products vary in stiffness or flexability. I use very little on holsters for example but use more on leashes and straps so they become softer and more supple. here is a link to the instructions on the application of the dye. hope this helps. https://fiebing.com/ufaqs/how-do-i-dye-leather/

wear it for a few days. that will tell you more than we can.

Darn man that is awesome work!!

yuuum my son brines his turkey then low and slow on the cooking temp and times. I've made the blackberry cheesecake, and pecan pie for turkey day. The wife and kids get to do the rest, a nice sixer of Guinness draught is what I'm gonna finish today lol. Some nice choke cherry wine will accompany the feast to day as well hope you have a great day and a very Merry Christmas!! God bless you my friend and take care of pops for me. I dont have one to spoil so I count on you .

Here's a couple i made for a person on the forum looking to restore a very old piece of work. it was obvious by the designs that the originals were handmade as well. Simply made with a file.

making background tools with these abstract impressions is very easy. stainless steel bolts and a file or a punch, as you can see in my pic above. just round off and shape your bolt head then go to town if you do not like the impression grind it off and try again. Then guess what people will come on here and ask where you bought it lol. I will put this out there, most of the original tool stamps are copies of handmade tools from years back. I also use tools like straight-blade screwdrivers, the edge of a half-dollar etc, just use your imagination and you can find tons of designs.

I trim the flap off with an edge beveler lol. then burnish it up. I use 220 grit or there abouts depending on the leather grain.

i use a belt sander quite often for my sheathes and holsters.