Tkleather1

All of those are awsome some day I strive to be creative enough to learn how to lay out a finger cut pattern like hidepunders. again VERY good work

I failed to share that I have a pair if plain steel oxbows that I really like, they were made for me by a good friend. Like I said I really like these in the way that they fit but they dont look real nice. I would also take any info on how to wrap them with rawhide. Thanks

I am looking for some good wrapped steel oxbows. I like the real wide and round ones but I am having trouble finding anything that is round. I have found alot of the more pear shape. If anyone can help me out with this I would really appreciate it.

It will darken some leather different than others. What type of leather is it and where did you buy it? it should even out a little bit. With some Veg tan leather that I have purchased from Tandy leather factory have done this to me as well and for that reason I will not be using them anymore.

Wow that was very informative but I do have one more question. Could you use a wool dauber to "roon" just the edge of a peice or will it seem too far into the leather? Sorry for the silly questions I have never tried any of this "witches brew"

that helps but I dont get why not jsut use dye? and does it stink when you are done?

Sorry guys this is off topic but I have heard of this "shoptalk" and was curious if someone could give some info on where to look into it. Thanks

I keep hearing about this vinegaroon but I still dont totally get what the heck it is. If someone could take the time to go through this process of making and using this product I would greatly appreciate it. Why would you use this over black dye? what is the baking soda for ? Please help as I dont get at all what this is for.

Amen big brother thats oneof the best from you so far.

on my bench I use a grinder with the wheels removed, I cut leather discs about 3" in diameter and stack them where the grinding wheels were. I stack them about two or three inches thick, when you first spin it up you will have to even them out with a rasp or something, then I apply the green rouge to the wheel and using caution not to over heat anything it works excellent. That and I am too cheap to buy stuff that can be built.

LOL!!!!

Yeah I got hurt at work and have had two somewhat major shoulder surgeries in 6 months. I get to take the sling off tommorrow and then the FUN physical therapy begins, I am told i probably wont be able to lift my arm above my head for 12 to 18 months. What is this stabilized wood and any suggestions on where to locate some?

I too am very disabled at the moment but trying to get things in order for when the sling comes off and can start again slowly

I am also interested in either purchasing or making a slicker. Are the best ones made of glass? where would I find one and can one be home made? does this help alot in the tooling? I do quite a little bit of tooling but have never slicked leather before tooling or carving. I hope that Hidepounder and others like him can help me in the process that they use to prep the leather before the tooling process as their work is outstanding. I know that there is more of you than just hidepunder but he is the first one to come to mind. I hope I dont offend anyone by not mentioning you by name but all of you outstanding carvers I would sure appreciate it if you could walk me through your whole proccess of casing and slicking and what not. I think it will help me get to the next level as I am still a lot of steps away from your levels. Thanks

I am interested in trying to make and edge slicker and have seen some discussion on this recently, My main question is where do you find these exotic hardwoods? and is cocobolo a descent choice for an edge slicker. if not let me know what would be a better choice and where do you find the wood? Thanks for any info that can be shared.

that is what I was trying to say, but you say it better

I have had this same problem with my cutting surface, I use a hdpe sheet for my cutting surface and found that less muscle was the answer. If you get your knife very sharp then you shouldnt have to use wo much downforce to cut the leather. I fought and fought myself for a long time trying to figure out what was going wrong and found that I was jsut using too much down pressure. Hope this helps

Now I am not speaking for Bruce in any way shape or form but I dont think that he meant it in that way at all. I know that I as well find it hard to believe only because, Well Igeuss I just cant believe I have been wasting all my money on all this High dollar leather glue.

Well that explains half of the shoulder problems, Cat mechanic,Riding bulls, and cowboy work probably explain the rest. You know I think I might get one of the tapered mauls next time and try it out for more than 2 minutes. All of what you guys are saying sure makes a whole lot of sense. I find myself with my round maul getting so tired in my shoulders that I cant hardly hold them up any more. and then in turn have a lot of glancing blows and beat up fingers and knuckles. Thanks for the insight even though I am not the one who started the post.

If it was just a tooling catagory, you could send out the same tooling pattern to everybody that is interested and have them tool it on a specific size and weight of leather. it wouldnt have to be an entire project, as that would probably fall into another catagory anyway. Just a thought it might be way off of what you guys are doing.

You will probably want to invest in a peice of marble. I use a chunk of headstone material.

I dont have a tapered head but I tried one at the pendelton trade show last fall and didnt care for it. that part of the equation is totally your feel and preference. I like the Barry king tools www.barrykingtools.com I think. They are very nice and very resonable in price in my opinion. He has many different weights and head sizes.

I am not as versed as alot of people on this site, but I prefer a poly, I had a rawhide for a while and granted it was a lower end maul but I went through a head very fast. So I went out and bought a Barry King poly head maul and absolutely love it. The head has a nice texture to it so it wont slip while striking a tool. but dont buy a cheap ploy though as they dont have as much texture on the face and slip if you dont strike the tool just right. Wich happens to me quite a bit. Just my opinion

I use a 31-15 singer and totaly unkooked the motor. I stick my finger in the flywheel and run it by hand. Dually thinks that I am an idiot but it is the only way that I know and it works great. I can stitch an entire pair of rodeo chaps in about an hour. beats the heck out of poking holes with an awl. and I can easily stitch two peices of eigh oz this way. just go slow.