Tkleather1

Just remember, in leatherwork there is no such thing as a mistake, Just unplanned practice and or experimentation. by the way I agree with luke and I think it is great.

Well it sure aint a ranchin rig.

That is how I do it. I use a 3/8 hollow ground blade so I dont see the need to open the lines up any more than that.

I have all of my chap patterns hanging on the wall on a nail above my cutting table. Some of my purse patterns and what not are here as well, pretty much all of my card stock patterns I geuss. My books are all vertical on a bookshelf. My tooling patterns are all in a 2'' 3 ring binder using the clear plastic sleeves, also in this binder are all of my chap yokes and side panel patterns varioius brand patterns and some of the small cardstock patterns. all of my knives and edgers, mauls, hammer, and whatnot are hanging on the wall above my layout bench. As far as dyes and finishes the are in an old medicine cabinet that hangs on the wall at the end of my oiling bench. my leather is stored in my leather closet on shelves that are 40 inches deep. I have a small shop 15x20 with a 4x8 cutting table in it so I dont have alot of room or floor space so I try to put as much stuff on the wall and off of the benches as I can.

those are all great ideas, I never use a stylus on mine I just leave the cuts alone, but I so use a seeder or a small flower center where they intersect sometimes. Another friend of mine used to use a star stamp alot on some rodeo awards he built (rope cans and bronc halters) and that looked pretty cool too. Just use your imagination and it will all come together.

Well this is called quilting or crosshatch. How I do it is usually on a 45 degree angle and with a 1 inch straight edge, I find my angle and cut with a swivel knife along the straight edge. then line it up again and cut. and so on and son on. Then find the opositte angle and repeat. I have found that for me it is easier to start in the center and find the center of the project and work "backwards" in both directions. I am not real good at 'splainin things so I hop this helps at least a little bit.

Well thanks lindsay, I saw the one you made the other day and you did a real nice job.

well thanks to all I sure do appreciate all of the input.

i too have had a basket a pear shader and a cam tool all bend on me at different times. I too thought that it was my fault ( and some of it was I amsure) but it is the tools.

shoot bob are you selling any of your "skills" cause I could sure use them. I can save to buy the tools,I just dont know how to properly use half of em anyway, I need help with the refining and just flat learning the right and wrong way of doing things and there arent anyguys in my part of the world that I can go and sit in with that are near as good as I hope to be someday.

I agree, uncover them and go buy some sort of dessicant and place it near the tack.( beware dont let kids or animals near the dessicant eating would cause severe problems.)

I too am a wrench puller on heavy highway construction equipment and logging gear for the local CAT dealer. My question is where the hell do yo ufind a Snap-On wrench for 35 bucks the cheapest one I have is well over that. maybe my tools are larger I dont know. LOL

could one of you guys post a picture of a plough gauge? I think I know what you are talking about but I need to be sure. I have an old draw gauge that was given to me that is the handyest thing. I dont remember what the name on it is I will go out to the shop today and look at it, If it quits snowing.

Heres the latest since the sling came off. Dont be too hard on me it has been a while. and this is my first attempt at fillegree

well I am always takin orders or if you want to pm me I will help you however I can. you know I have thought about doing something like that but she likes to change the buckles on a moments notice (women). this so far has worked out pretty well for me but I want to refine it some for sure.

It is Kind of hard for me to put into words as I am a visual hands on type but I will do my best. there is a slit in the hair where the loop of the buckle (where it would attatch to the belt) goes through, and there is a belt inside the purse thats about as long as the buckle. so you put the bucke on the outer belt (the one you can see) put the loop through the slit in the hair, and then just put the inner belt through the loop as well, when you first fit it up you pull the outer belt somewhat tight and punch your hole for the pin so there is a little bit of tension and it will stay. I have done five or six of these purses now and havent had any of the buckles come loose yet. if you have another way that you think might be better I sure would be interested as I am always trying to learn another way to do things. Thanks for the kind word as well I too like the ranchy look. I was trying to figure out a better way to attatch the rope handles but that is what I came up with. I am open to any and all suggestions.

This is a purse that I made for my wife. This is my first attempt at fillegree, i dyed the backgrounds and they were way darker than I wanted and you couldnt see the brand. I need to work on my tooling I know but this is the first project after being in a sling for 6 weeks for the second time. Since two shoulder surgeries in the last six months I get real sore and shaky real fast and I got real rusty real fast but I had to post it since I said that I would, even though I am not real happy with it. The next one will be alot better since I get a little stronger everyday and it is coming back to me, slowly but it is gonna come back(I hope). Let me know what you all think as I have fairly thick skin. I hope you enjoy.

WOW thanks for all of the input I will definetly have to try it now. I was affraid that it was harder to even out and what not but now I will give it a whirl. Thanks to all

Looks really good but I agree with randy I like the bar grounder with sheridan. What is that matter though I think it could look really cool on some other projects.

I have often wondered if that flaring tool would work.

interesting, nice but interesting. I cant imagine carving all of those ants.

one thing I have done in the past, I use packing tape alot to back my cased leather I sould leave the tape oversized and the pattern oversized so I could stick the pattern to the tape. But beware as it still has the ability to bubble up and move a little bit. that is why I now just use my hands. There will be way more proficient toolers chime in and be way more help thanI am

I use my other hand to hold the patterns

Well Bob I hate to cut a guy down but I see a major flaw. In the top right picture the breastcollar on the right the little Dee ring is not pointed in the same direction as the others, it is flipped up while all the others are flipped down. boy you really need to work on this. I am Joking I promise!! All joking aside those are the most beautiful breast collars I have seen Once again you killed it. I too would like some sort of a tutorial on your finger cuts if you ever get around too it. I know you are a busy man but you really do inspire me and that is one of the many things that I would love to figure out how to lay them out. Bottom Line GREAT JOB.

this stuff is frickin amazing. how did you color the case based on the body art?