OLESKIVER

lol, yeah, 1800 for a hand punch, it would have to be gold plated and come with a girl to use it, but I did enjoy spyros instructions, he was on a roll. was getting into it myself. lol, good luck ya'll.

the only baklite mallet I know is one offered by tandy, on mallets, usually 10 oz. to 16 would be your average weight, or used too any way. I guess your talking about using it for regular tooling, yes? for other things, you might want to go to a heavier mallet, that would be personal choice or maybe you are not getting the effect you are wanting. I use a rawhide mallet I've had for 50 yrs. still works good. was thinking on getting me a couple of more in a little heavier weight. say, one in 16 oz. and one in 20 oz. from C.S.Osborne tools.you want something you can use for extended periods of time.so it won't fatigue your wrist or arm. hope this helps.

Ian, have you tried visiting a tandy store close to you? the Al Stohlman books would tell and teach you anything you wanted to know. the people that work at most of these stores are pretty good folks. they might even let you trace one of the patterns for free. at the least they might be able to steer you in the right direction. normally you could use one of their " open tables" but I understand because of the virus they have closed the " tables" for now. the books are not that expensive, you might look at them at least..

that would be correct. When I was starting out I had someone tell me or read it somewhere that the compound over time deteareates the leather. so personally, I haven't ever used it. I will caution you on the use of the neatsfoot oil. use it sparingly. a littlke goes a long way and you can always add more but you can't take it out. I use it on all my tack and saddles. and my boots, since they are oiled, not polished. hope this helped

is this a bad thing or just me practicing my typing?

out of curiosity, why did you use mink oil instead of pure neatsfoot oil? and did you let your project fully dry before putting on finish, oh wait you skipped that part. well, that might be ok. I always put top coat or finish on before I oiled something, but I also only use pure neatsfoot oil. am not that up on some of the new "techniques" you might have to start over, if you didn't tool it you could just get you a piece of black leather and use that and not have to worry about, bleeding or rubbing off. When I started doing this the old adage was " If you screw it up you can always dye it black." of course that was for tooled leather.

sorry to hear of your loss{ tools} I think if you go to Tandys and get thier Deluxe leather carving set, this would help you alot. it comes with the 7 basic tools and a swivel knife, plus 6 projects, some finish and instructions. Al Stolman's books on leather working are IMHO, the best leather teaching books you can get, at least on figure carving and floral basics and basic style. it seems to me that a lot of the new people to this craft/art are getting confused by all the info on the internet since it doesn't differentiate basic from inter mediate to advanced. like sheridan style, it is something for intermediate to advanced, a bit of an investment too. jesse smiths '" Northwest carving" would not be bad as a start either. hoped this helped and not confused you.

huh! I used to use grocery bags {brown paper ones} and would use rubber cement to hold the leather. now you would have to use brown shipping paper or butcher paper. can also use clear shipping tape. on your 'casing' problem? I tried the soaking it method once, ONCE! well, use it still on big project but on small to average size stuff? you might want to try using a bowl of water and a sponge. sponge not loaded of course. this method will have you tooling in a shorter time. hope this helps

I agree with everybody...no rivet. But, I am curious about your stamping. It looks like one of sergys border stamps, is it? just curious. he has a lot of beautiful stamps, not bad price either. got two of his swivel knives. one of them is skull and skeleton hands. nice work though.

you might also want to go to YT and watch the Don Gonzales video on awl sharpening. he explains everything in detail and is pretty straight forward. a good teacher. you might also wand to go to Weaver leather and click on the how to videos, then ask chuck to do or show how to sharpen one if he doesn't already have one. very good teacher, and very experianced.

what I get from all this is that most of you have had no experience with Tandy's before the 90's. in the early years, that was all you had { 50's 60's 70's and into the 80's} they used to make their own tools and had a tannery. then they went belly up, or atleast to the point of closing all their stores and having internet only, plus a lot of c.s. osborne tools. now their tools are made in china, {not a fan of china made tools, much less anything from there} and most if not all of their leather is imported now too. the store close to me has no one that really knows leather craft. I asked the manager if he did leather work and he said " only when he was at work" really? as for the new CEO of Tandy? personally I don't think she knows that much about it personally. Why would you drop 99% of your figure carving tools, which by the way makes half your how to books obsolete? don't understand that one. I started this hobby/trade when I was in Jr. high. all my craftools are from the 60's 70's and 80's. have bought a few a few yrs ago but then found out they were made in china, so haven't bought any more. Oh, and when they had their " Professional Tool" line of stamps? they had them miss labeled. they were their stab at making sheridan tools. that is my 2 cents worth, but due to inflation... well never mind. amy buying a bunch of C.S.Osborne tools right now. then get some of sergys tools then, since Sheridan style is the flavor of the month, I guess I will have to bite the bullet and start buying BK tools.. and one of the problems about getting new people into this hobby is that most of what I have seen are trying to do the Sheridan style instead of something more geared to their inexperience like Tandy { al stohlman} or maybe the northwest style.} I taught this when I was in high school. and I do miss Tandys magazines, craftsman and later Make it with leather. lots of nice patterns and useful topics.

well, I just ordered two new sergys swivel knives, but...... do they come with or without blades? and what is the adoption fee? thanx

IF i CAN PUT MY TWO CENTS WORTH IN, EVERYBODY SEEMS TO BE FORGETTING THE OTHER THING TANDY USED TO OFFER { I SAY USED TO BECAUSE THE STORE CLOSE TO ME DIDN'T HAVE AMYBODY THERE WHO KNEW HOW TO DO LW} CLASSES IN LEATHERWORKING. THE VIDEOS ONLINE ARE GOOD BUT THERE'S NOTHING LIKE ONE ON ONE TO SHOW WHEN THE LEATHER IS ACTUALLY RIGHT FOR TOOLING, GETTING A GOOD TAPING ORDER{STAMPING} AND OTHER THINGS THAT ARE BETTER WITNESSED LIVE AS OPPOSED TO VIDEO. BUT THE INTERNET IS CHANGING THINGS. I THINK THE CEO OF TANDY DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LEATHER CRAFT. WHY WOULD YOU CLOSE OUT 99% OF YOUR FIGURE CARVING TOOLS, WHICH MAKES THE AL STOHLMAN BOOKS, WHAT? KINDA OBSOLETE? EVEN THOUGH THEY DO HAVE OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION IN THEM. JUST SEEMS FUNNY TO ME. I HAVE BEEN GOING TO TANDYS SINCE THE 60'S. THEN THEY WERE CALLED TANY LEATHER AND AMERICAN HANDICRAFTS. WE'RE IN STRANGE TIMES MY FRIENDS.

also you mentioned the " Al Stohlman " book on saddle making. this would be an absolute must have if saddle making is something you really want to do. learn from the master. He even found that the way the saddle is built. and the style or type of tree used affects the way it sits on a horse plus effects the horse, ie biting, bucking, saddle sores, etc. very, very informative. plus Tandy offers a pattern pak on horse gear, breast collar, headstalls, etc. oh, and in the stohlman book he also gives you a saddle tree type you can use as a practice piece if you just want to learn how to make saddles but not use them. hope this helps, oh and you might want to check out osborn leathertools.com

you might try going to osbornleathertools.com they can send you a catalog. they offer all the different punches and more for leather working. am fixing to buy some of their oval punches but personally can't see going over a size 10 ( they go to size 16 ) as they say " the right tool for the right job" but it does speed up your work. hope this helps.

tANDY OFFERS A PAIR OF THEM. A THREE PRONG AND A SINGLE PRONG, PAGE 71 OF THIER CATALOG. HOPE THAT HELPS YOU.

ok, I am guessing that the sheath you have traced out is about the size you will be making? the first thing that comes to my attention is the irregular inside border, I would think you would want it about the same size as the front of the sheath, all the way around. and so saying you want to pick stamps that are proportional to what you are putting them on. It looks like to me that your border tool is a little too big, plus you want them alot closer to each other, touching actually. I think you did a good job on the basketweave tool, hopefully you did scribe a line in the middle of the sheath for a starting point for your stamp. maybe scribing an inside border would also help keep it a bit more orderly. over all it is not a bad job, you might also toy with the idea of a smaller basketweave tool. personally I don't see why it wouldn't work. hopefully I understood the question properly. hope this helped.

you can try osborneleathertools.com and see if they will work for you. they have been in business for 190 yrs. for tools? there is tandys, and I believe I saw mention of a starters set in weaver leather. barry king has really nice stamps but is mostly geared for sheridan style, not sure you would want to try that as a novice. plus some other small ones that are indivigidly owned. I think you have to call them. plus there is sergys in russia. but he mostly makes border tools and background tool. I say tools butr they are stamps if I am confusing you.. I [lan on getting some of his stamps, and a pair of his swivel knives. so will see what the international shipping thing is. hope this helped you.

silly me. I just bought all of osbornes spring punches. fell into the al stohlman line of thought and got them instead of the revolving punch. plus you can replace the anvils too. will see if they match my earlier osborne buys...uhh, the ones I bought 50 yrs ago.

I have noticed same thing, went with c.s. osborne tools. for them, osborneleathertools.com might be more to your liking.

I think what they are trying to tell you is if you invest in quality tools { yes a little more moo-la} but you will probably have it for the rest of your life. my early osborne tools are 50 yrs old and still used to this day.

ok, I will give this a shot. the under-cut beveler is used with a hammer, the lifter is like a push beveler, actually it is more like a deer-foot, you push it under the edge of the flower petal and work it back and forth and gradually deeper till you get the result you are looking for. on the under-cut, I generally hit it in the center of where you are using it { ie middle of lip on petal} then turn tool a little left then right as I am striking it, but not as hard as initial fist tap, then soften blows, {fading} it out on either side. if nothing else you can use your modeling tool {spoon end} to smooth it out. hope this helps.

sooo, none of you thought of or tried the table top lace cutter from Tandy or weaver leather? originally it was a strap cutter, but here recently they have added a piece to have it make fringe and lace. it uses the same blades as a utility knife with a bar that goes on top of your leather to keep it down. personally I am fixing to buy me a new C.S. Osborne draw gauge. love quality. this might give you another option. I have one and have used it to make quite a few belts, and the blades are cheap.

ALAISIAGAE, THEY ACTUALLY COME IN 8 SIZES. AS WITH ANYTHING IN THIS HOBBIE/CRAFT, PRACTICE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS WITH EACH ONE OF YOUR TOOLS, AT LEAST AT FIRST TILL YOU GET FAMILIAR WITH IT. THEN THE REST OF THEM{ IE THE BASIC 7] will be somewhat familiar to you even if they are a little bigger or smaller. I can give you a web site to go to so you can look at the different sizes and different leather working tools,..osborneleathertools.com they are not cheap in price or quality but if you compare to other leather shops, they usually cost less. but this is probably a little farther down the road for you, just don't get discouraged . try adjusting your pressure you are using on the tool, and or vary your angle, plus it needs to be really sharp. but like the other guy said be careful where your other hand is. osborne also makes sharpening stones for the french edge tools and the edge bevelers. and I would stick with the tandy stuff till you get better and more comfortable with the tool and you can afford to up grade. remember! there is no race on. hope this helps you some. oh, the stohlman books from Tandy will help a lot. especially at this time his book on leather tools and how to use them and sharpen them. happy tooling.

if you are wanting something that will last and do an exceptional job you might want to check C.S. osborn leather tools, but for the other guys...and if they got an osborn catalog? it would be like a kid in a candy store. they have them ion sizes from 1/4 in. to 2 in. billet and buckle end plus they have 5 of them in a square end with rounded corners, from 1 in. to 2 1/2 in. hope this helps