gtwister09

Ed, I must say that they, LCI Inc., have the dubious honor of being the very first company that HAS NOT sent me an MSDS when it was requested. I know that they don't have to send it to a consumer but they are the first company to ever refuse sending one to me in almost 20 years and most likely over 1000 requests. Interesting to see your comments below. Regards, Ben

Tina, He did that grape picture (2003) and also had an uncolored picture as well. I have both of them but we might have to get permission or check with his secretary, Marlon.... Just joking Marlon! Of course it is the same picture that is on his web site (except for the uncolored picture). Regards, Ben

Tina, This looks really nice as always! Peter had some great grape and leaf designs that he shared several years ago and he also used the modeler to mold the leaves. Regards, Ben

Kevin, Could you send me the Clear lac MSDS? I have requested it from LCI bit have not received one yet. Tandy/Leather Factory sent me 3 MSDS's from various eras. Both of the older ones list James Day as the manufacturer and none of them listed LCI here in Dallas as a manufacturer. The new one lists James Day as the distributor and Custom Pak in Germantown, WI as the manufacturer. Regards, Ben

Drafting supply stores have many types of these as well as ellipses, french curves, flexible curves and such. Here's several types of circle templates. Drafting Circle Templates The lighter weight ones work well on the swells but steer clear of the Radius Templates. They are heavier plastic and work really well for drafting work but they don't bend enough for swell work. Regards, Ben

Bobcat, Extremely nice work and well laid out design. Like Bob the seeder combination jumped out at me. Great job. Both of these recent pieces are great. Regards, Ben

Kevin, Very clean inside...nice! I would not want to do that much intricate stitching... Some of the boot makers do that kind of stitching work. Red is never my favorite color so I can't comment on the contrast. I would probably never use it in the first place. It looks nice and as several mentioned it is a great piece. What's next? Regards, Ben

Kevin, I purchased the large sheets for the thickness sander and cut them up and use them for all sorts of things like that. My son had to pull stitching on an old holster once and was complaining about it. So I gave him on these small ones to help get the stitching out quickly and his grandfather (on my wife's side - that's my story...and I'm sticking to it) said it was great for rolling up booger balls too (rubber cement). My son laughed a lot at that. Regards, Ben

Ed, I did archive that post that you are speaking about... Regards, Ben

Badger, Count me as a Firefly fan also. As others have said it's a nice job and a very good vintage look. Regards, Ben

Ditto to what Marlon said about Hidecrafters. One of the items that "fell" off the list. Jeremiah's scratch compass is what Weaver carries. Regards, Ben

Ed, Hmmm. The one that really caught my eye was the offset cluster one. That's not the normal style - it's different and neat. Another unique feature that jumped out at me but had nothing to do with your bargrounder pattern was the rather unique pattern of holes along the shaft of the tool. Regards, Ben

Ditto to what Bruce said..... Without people attempting other styles and such we would not have what we have today. Today's traditions will not be the same in 20-30 years. Styles, methods and materials will progress and we have to keep up with that...Just look at the issues with finishes in the last 20 years as one such example. With that said...There is also a lot of wisdom in some of the older traditions and methods. We have to make informed decisions/choices when we move forward. Regards, Ben

Dave, Great looking seat - color and braiding! Regards, Ben

Ed, I like the result even though it doesn't fit the traditional or purist standpoint for Sheridan style carving. The cover is sharp and clean. It has produced a beautiful cover. Regards, Ben

Bob, Great looking gear - as always! How many years as a repeat order? Regards, Ben

I have an older Tandy groover that I have used a bunch. However I also have a Versa Groover and an old Osborne one as well. The problem with the new Tandy ones is that the center toe is much shorter than the older Tandy groover. It is about 1/8" to 5/32" shorter. The toe would not stay on the edge of the leather without skipping off,. This would then ruin your stitch line. Regards, Ben

In doing some research into the Neat lac replacement, there is some interesting information that I have been able to gather so far. I have visited with some manufacturers and even some of the paint engineers that I worked with in the past. I am still in the process of gathering more information, brochures, technical data sheets, MSDS sheets and some more detailed information on lacquers for comparison. I have been able to locate the three different MSDS's for Neat lac over the years. In reviews of types of lacquers, there are generally only 3 types. Nitrocellulose CAB Catalyzed Nitrocellulose is the original type used by Neat lac (per the MSDS and brochures from James Day, the manufacturer). Catalyzed lacquers are rarely used except for specialty purposes where they want the ease of nitrocellulose but want some additional properties also. These always contain some acid catalyst for curing. Sometimes they contain urea and other compounds for these properties. Therefore they have an relative short shelf life. Since they are never used on leather (or I should say most people haven't used them on leather), I won't provide additional information on them. Looking at the pros/cons of Nitrocellulose and CAB shows a couple of things that are interesting to say the least. Nitrocellulose Pros for nitrocellulose is that it is an inexpensive material that flows easily and was originally used as a shellac replacement. It sprays well and can be easily built up with bonding to previous layers. It is also moderately resistant to water, heat, abrasion, and certain solvents such as alcohol The cons are that it can crack when bending and has a tendency to yellow slightly over time (some mixtures have reduced - NOT ELIMINATED that to a degree). CAB - Cellulose Acetate Butyrate CAB-acrylic lacquer dries to a less brittle and more flexible film than that of nitrocellulose lacquer. It has the same general features/characteristics as nitrocellulose but doesn't have a tendency to yellow over time. One of it's inherent flaws is that it is not quite as clear as nitrocellulose. Therefore many times an acrylic resin is added to compensate for this and gain both benefits of not yellowing but gaining the clarity back. In woodworking, CAB-acrylic lacquer is often used as a protective topcoat over colored pigment nitrocellulose lacquers to make them wear better and to enhance their resistance to scratches. Solvent Note Another very interesting thing that I have found in reviewing many of the "wood" lacquers is that several of them HAVE LESS solvents in them than Neat lac does. Obviously there were some that had more but that surprised me especially since many thought that the specific "wood" ones would drive the lacquer deeper into the leather due to the solvents. On the other hand there are several that line up on the MSDS lists almost verbatim with Neat lac. Another item is that there is some misunderstandings in describing airborne pollutants, VOC (volatile organic compunds) and carcinogens. For instance looking up Toluene, it is an airborne pollutant but not a carcinogen. Falling on one list doesn't automatically mean that the materials fall into the other lists. Many of the MSDS lists will list if the material is on the carcinogen list. There are various places that will list carcinogens. One of them is a potentcy list at Berkeley. Berkeley Potency Toluene. There are many others such as OSHA, NIOSH, etc that you can also look on. Will post some more when I get some more information. Regards, Ben

Weaver's Top Coat #200 is actually Leather Coatings Top Coat #200. Sorry haven't tried it. Regards, Ben

Josh, I would suggest that you design around the snaps. The snaps on top of the rose detract from the bracelet slightly. Maybe moving it about 1/2 would have made the snaps fall outside the rose. I have included an old tutorial on rose leaves. Another suggestion may be to work on the swivel knife cuts on the large roses as well as the rose buds. The stitching could be a little more recessed to keep it from being abraded. Regards, Ben

Bruce, the comedian, hit the nail on the head... Regards, Ben

Kathy, VERY nice! Look forward to the finished item... Regards, Ben

It's fair to say that some of you received the Celtic treatment... smoke blown up your backside.

Here's a strop, burnisher, maul and a couple of weights that my son make 3 years ago for Christmas(2006) for my Dad. The strop has 2 oz leather on the backside. As seen it is out of 1/2" oak. We sent green compound with it as well as some 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper and some 3M adhesive for this side. The maul is out of mesquite that was sent to us specifically from New Mexico. It is not a design that we normally would have made but it was done specially shaped per request. The leather weights weren't quite finished. They needed to be slicked and dyed on the edges. The burnisher is out of a small piece of Brazillian redwood that we were given....A very special piece of wood since you can't get it anymore. Regards, Ben

Bob makes a great suggestion with the use of casters. I probably have more wood tools in our garage than should ever be in there. We have the cabinet saw, bandsaw, dust collector, sliding compound miter saw, midi-lathe, drill presses, grinder/sander workbench, layout benches (essentially everything) on casters or rollers. We jokingly call it the tool corral because they are all on casters and all pushed up together when not in use. Some of the adjustable metal ones work great for dollys. Regards, Ben