Hardrada

Thanks for the input. Keep 'em coming. I'd rather not dye but this leather isn't dyed through, there's a clear core that I don't think it'll look good on the finish product. Not really wanting an Oreo look.

Even if the gum is applied AFTER the two coatings? I know the gum trag is s'posed to seal the edge and no coating will penetrate afterwards, hence I was applying it almost last. My process is as follows: trim/glass edges, bevel, Edge Kote, let dry, sand with 400 grit, apply second coating of Edge Kote, let dry, apply gum trag, slick, apply wax, burnish. Not getting argumentative; I'm asking because I don't know. If you don't slick but sand after coating, what grit do you use? 600? 1200? When you speak of applying heat, do you mean using a hot burnish machine kind of thing? Thanks!

Well, I'm about to make some belts out of 10 oz. W&C black English bridle, and as I was running tests on it I came up with a few things: 1) Troublesome Edge finish: it seems that the edge coat is coming off after applying the gum trag and slicking, no matter which dye I use; the left is Giardini Max Edge Pro (no primer and only one coating), and on the right you have Edge Kote (one coating, sanding with 400 grit, second coating): Any ideas to prevent this or to properly dye the edges? What are you fellows using? 2) What's the best finish, if any, for this kind of leather. I applied Leather Balm with Atom Wax, Resolene w/water @50-50, and Aussie Leather conditioner to three different patches and I couldn't notice any difference really from the 'raw' product. It's my understanding that English bridle has already been treated with waxes or oils from the tannery, so maybe no finishing is needed? Thanks in advance.

Having bought Mr Armitage's pouch template pack recently, and after making a few round pouches, I decided to experiment with his oblong template and change measurements to fit my purpose: a pipe pouch with inner attachments for a lighter, pipe cleaners, and tamper. I went with a different closure, as I was afraid the glove snaps would open by themselves if someone jam packed the pouch. I enlarged the height to 7" so that it could fit a long-shanked Canadian pipe. Next time, I'm thinking about bringing the belt loop down a bit so that its bottom stitches can do double duty and hold the bottom of the lighter pocket as well Public thanks to Mr Armitage for providing such a great resource in his template packs.

Found a couple more skiving resources: https://youtu.be/GScGT44oPA0 (this is the knife I ended up getting, BTW). https://youtu.be/0MRfEKqHt_g (I think this is a cool idea, but I've yet to try it). Sorry, I dunno how to embed the videos; anybody knows?

Hmm, so gum trag and wax aren't mutually exclusive... interesting. What about Tokonole and wax?

Neat! I'm wondering, why did you go with a triangular stitching job on the belt loop? Wouldn't that put extra wear on the triangle tip? I too recently purchased the pack and modified it to make a pipe pouch with interior pockets for lighter, tamper and cleaners. I don't wanna hijack this thread so I'll post pics elsewhere, hopefully Mr Armitage will see them, as I'm not on FB. I do have a question, though: what do you do if you end up somehow with a hole mismatch on gusset and panel(s)?

I've been using used VisibleDust sensor cleaners, sans the fabric-lilke cleaning pad.

Ooops, sorry, I shoulda included a pic of the grain side as well. The grain side does have a plasticky feel, though. Even when bevelling it peeled off like fish scales.

Frustrating. Nicest word I find to describe working with this kind of leather, especially the burnishing. I applied Edge Kote and then gum trag, but I think my slicking is fuzzing rather than smoothing the edges! Is this leather simply un-burnishable? According to Tandy's description "this heavy leather will make rugged belts"... yeah, I can see that. Of course, I'm willing to blame these results on my noobishness. Hence I wanna ask you folks, is there a way to get decent results when burnishing this. If it's nigh unburnishable, what kind of things other than belts can I use this leather for? I don't wanna chalk it up as a total waste of money. Thanks in advance.

So, always line shotgun/rifle scabbards, Treed? I was wanting to make a couple for my guns, but I was thinking of leaving the interior flesh side finished (to save on leather, eh?).

Thanks, Tinkerton. How I wish Tandy specified the firmness of the leather.

Good info, thanks. Looks like veg tan is then the way to go. I was thinking of chrome tan because it's more supple and might make a better sock, but maybe firm leather is not that much of an issue.

I know by now that chrome tan is to be avoided when making goods that will be in constant contact with metal, such as holsters and sheaths. Yet, I wonder just how much should I worry about this when making say, pipe socks that will be used to carry a tobacco pipe (some of which have metal ferrules) and a tamper (most of which are made of metal). Just how long does it take for the chrome salts to tarnish metal? TIA for any enlightening input.

Yeah, I've had that experience with some stones and it drives me bonkers. Good advice on the granite, thankee.

Any way to get the marks off?

Sloppy was out for the weekend and left me in charge. As I was applying Leather Balm with Atom Wax I got some on the flesh side of the wallet: Is there a way to fix that without making the problem worse? I might have to sell this one as 'seconds'.

That's basically what I meant when I said 'how many ways can you put pieces together to make a wallet?' AFAIK, as long as it's not a clone or knock-off it should be alright. A big problem is the Internet: it makes it very easy to imitate, and very easy to feel somebody who's never seen your products has imitated them. Frankly, I'm inclined to limit myself to local markets.

Are those cut offs polished? I've been thinking the same thing: going to one of the countertops places in town, but haven't yet. The Tandy slab does look expensive, especially when you factor in the extra charge to shipping due to heavy weight.

Well, I hope the common sense, which is becoming less and less common, remains in said laws; and that it won't happen as it did with the Big Ben red bus photo case. I once watched one of Chartermade's youtube videos in which the creator provided a link for anyone to buy the pattern; and he especified that it was for personal use, and that if the viewer wanted to sell the wallets he should come up with his own design. Totally fair. I respect that. If I find his design so efficient, I can redesign the idea and create my own version. That too is fair use.

Now, don't get me wrong, I did see those Samsonite et al. posts and I wasn't impressed. I don't like knock-offs, but if I'm gonna attempt one, I'd at least take the time to reverse engineer it and make mocks. The cavalier request to get ready-made patterns was indeed infuriating. Basically, you have several categories of copies: The shameless clone: identical, ergo also known as counterfeit. The (shameless) knock-off: not quite the clone, but close. The pastiche: a.k.a. competitive alternative. Think Windows which 'lifted' lots of elements from MacOS and just switched them around. The 'inspired-by': because sometimes you just can't improve on a good design: do you see anyone making cars with 5 wheels to avoid being sued by Daimler? Of these, I oppose the first two. Those are indeed stealing; furthermore, they are intended to deceive and to fully take away sales from a creator/manufacturer. The last listed, nay; they're fair game. As for crApple, I can tell them where the can put their monopolistic BS. Would I copy an iPhone? No, because it's too common for any clone to garner attention. Illegal, wrong... they're not always the same thing.

Thing with intellectual 'property' is that it's been taken to extremes. Now, as a professional photographer, I'm all for copyright, but frankly, how many ways are there to put things together and make a card wallet? At this rate, we won't be able to have round corners of radius X because someone else 'owns' that design.

Ah-ha! That's one thing I'm doing wrong: too open an angle. Thanks, Arashikage; I had watched the first video but not the second one.

Second the suggestion about avoiding the 4-in-1 awl: I got it as part of the Tandy sewing kit (hence my previous suggestion about avoiding kits) and the blade is duller than my teeth. Get an awl that already comes sharpened. Yes, eventually you'll have to get your sharpening stones if you stick with the craft, but if you get the Tandy awl you'll have to buy them NOW.

Ian Atkinson has put together a nice list of basics: Recommended Leather Tools. Worth checking out since he seems to focus on what you too want to focus. I'd buy items individually and avoid kits: with kits you're likely to end up with tools you won't use, in addition to the low quality issue if you buy the "budget" ones.