JayEhl

Must've missed the sale dangit! Dollar late and a day short, as usual.

Man @Outfitrthat really looks great! What do you line it with?

As in most all things, practice, practice, practice... .and then practice some more. Learning to use your swivel knife is the basis for the rest of your work, (my opinion). Here are two good videos from Alden School of Leather I used to help me: https://youtu.be/oHx6R42NLAc https://youtu.be/JA_1tHXyf3E I'm sure others will have their own favorites. For pear shaders I've found that if I strike it first with a quick tap it sets it so it won't move when I strike it the second time but harder. The friction/energy from the strike causes the burnish. Smooth Pear Shaders won't provide AS much of a burnish as I've come to find out, as well. But just keep practicing. And be sure to have fun along the way

I'll be dating myself but here it goes: My very first concert was in Arizona when I was a wee lad, probably 1971. I remember it was Glenn Campbell and his band was playing on a flat bed semi instead of a stage. My very first concert that I attended by myself (with some friends, of course) was Boston, back in 1973 but I'd have to check. I think it wasTrapeze opened for them, too. I still have the ticket somewhere.... Wow, yep..... someone said earlier we're opening up some nostalgia .....some great memories taking me nostalgia lane. Good times to be alive back when I was a kid. And to be truthful, it's still a good time to be alive....vs the alternative.... Cheers, all!

Was going to say the same! And the work is pretty cool, too. I didn't ever think how that time period would have such beautiful decorative reins.

What a great throwback for a Thursday! Hadn't listened to Ozzy in forever. Lately, for me, I play youtube Christmas classics, especially from the big band sounds.

where are you located?

Totally. This is an absolute subjective art. Go for whatever makes your heart sing -- and with whatever tools you have! But if you want to emulate the masters, then yes, as @chuck123wapati said, you'll want to follow the instructions and study their final piece. TBH, I did that at first to learn but from then on, I add a little of all my favorite artists to make it into my own. Not sure if it's a 'style' but it's my house!!

Hi all. I wanted to revive this as it's pretty upsetting that I lost a side of leather because of how chrome tan rubbed off. Is there any way to ensure the chrome tan hide I do have is fully cured? Do I set it in the sun or can I leave it hanging in the garage? With the cold weather around the corner I didn't know what would be best or how to go about accomplishing this. I hadn't contacted Tandy yet (where I bought both the chrome tan and veg tan) to see if anything can be done but guess I'm needing to do that. As an experiment I cut off a damaged piece with the oil and applied some regular olive oil on it to see if would kind of match. That was last night and as of this morning, it kind of matched and another smear might help. I don't know. I guess if anything I can use the leather around the spots (the oil won't continue to weep, will it?) and use the chrome oil parts as practice pieces. In the photo you can see the damage. The second photo I show the cut out of the roll and it's about half of the original. Any thoughts?

notes to self in designing shop aprons..... velcro is a great design option

Springfield leather had a pretty good sale on a half cow, all black. Wouldn't have been my first choice for a color for an apron but hey, for $65, I decided to go for it. Interestingly enough, that same day i went by Harbor Freight and they had these denim apron also on sale for $5 so I thought that would make a great guide/template for mine.

sounds a bit big but best way is to make a wallet with your logo and ask around .

Some fancy carving there, for sure!

Right, I only use it as a rough gauge and it works for me. I don't do much fancy wise but maybe down the road once I get into doing more flat work.

I bought this one from Tandy and I use it all the time: https://tandyleather.eu/products/leather-thickness-gauge The site link above is Tandy Europe. I tried a site search for Tandy US but couldn't find it. I see you're in Texas. If you're near H-town I found mine on the west side Tandy store

oh, didn't see on their site that it's 5oz! yea, that's way too stiff. The stuff that lady gave me was like a stiff nylon/carbon material but thin about like cardboard from the back of a spiral notebook.

A lady gave me a roll of Bontex awhile back. I'm sure that will work great. Found this but it's probably more than you need : https://tandyleather.com/products/bag-stiffener

In the most recent issue of leather crafters Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal an article was written about how you can easily take apart those office binders and taking some scrap leather that's long enough to wrap the inside of the clamp, punching a couple of holes for the levers (or whatever you want to call it) and put it back together. I've made a bin of different sizes of these. Works great. I also found this on the omnicientweb: https://www.instructables.com/Leather-Workshop-Binder-Clips-two-Minutes-Hack/

Hi, A few weekends ago I purchased some chrome tan leather from Tandy while I was visiting my folks out of town. (Tandy was practically around the corner from them which made it an easy pit stop) Anyway, I put it up until the other night when I was ready to use it. Then come to find out the oil had spread to my veg tan rolls! Question: Is it normal for the oil to bleed off like this? Can I let it out in the sun to cure it or something? Should I take it back to Tandy?

There is a market place for selling these further down in the forum. You will need to post pictures, though.

We need to see the steel!!

That's one of the things I enjoy most about this craft, it's about giving joy to someone from something that came from your work.

shop turned out great, dude!

Sounds peaceful.