BlackDragon

Really cool! Just add some shearling on the inside and you have nice winter shoes. Just watch out for ice lol.

It's hard to say really. Can the error be viewed by a potential customer as a scratch because of use? I wouldn't worry about it. I tend to focus on my mistakes and I don't like something that's glaring to me. Other's may not see it but I tend to catch it and it bugs me. If I want to show off a purse that I'm selling for $250 I don't want something obvious showing up. It's my name on the bag and the price tag warrants redoing a strap that will cost me $5 to replace.

When you say groove line are you meaning an indentation with something like a compass or an actual groover where you're taking off the top layer of the hide? If it's the first one I would do it as Bruce said. You may be able to undue the indent and it won't be noticeable. If it's the second I'd start over. I would keep that belt for myself or someone that doesn't mind a blemish but I wouldn't give that to a customer that's paying top dollar for a belt

Thank you!

Thanks! Generally when I mention The Silmarillion people don't know much about it, this is why it's in a separate clamshell. Everyone knows The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings so it makes sense to have those 4 books in one box. I like to joke The Silmarillion is for the Tolkien nerds lol. Thank you, I really appreciate it. After taking a few product pictures I find that it's missing something to make it more cohesive. On the back cover especially, everything just looks to be floating there. I think a border will bring more balance to it, like putting a picture frame on a photograph. Making the borders gold on all the covers will tie the books together while the other things, like end pages, being different will state that you're in a different part to the story.

Wow great job!

Each book will have different color marbled end pages, speckled page edges, and ribbons to match. Each of those colors will reflect the mood of the book. For instance, The Hobbit will have light brown marbled end pages, a dark brown ribbon, and light brown w/rust speckles page edges. It gives the feel of the earth because Hobbits like to grow things. As to the border lines around the covers I still haven't decided but I want to be consistant with all the books.

The single star on the front and the 3 on the back are holographic so they change color. The silver may work because one of the trees on the back is silver but it would break continuity with the other Tolkien books I plan to make.

Thanks! No issues with copyright. With rebinding as long as I dont make changes within the text block I'm safe. So I can't add my own art or any extra pages inside the text block. I can add things on the back and front though. I can't recreate any Tolkien, Warner Bro, or Amazon art. Even their elvish script is protected. Thankfully a guy made his own "elvish" script that he gives permission to all to use for private and commercial work.

Like Chuck said neatsfoot oil will soften and darken. Adding to much oil can turn your leather into oily mush, so take it slow. Do a few test pieces from the same leather you'll be making the headstall. The dye looks to be Fiebings Pro dye in dark brown When I do a vegtan headstall I tool it then add pure neatsfoot oil, you dont need a lot just enough to dampen the leather. I let it set in for a few hours then apply dye. The neatsfoot oil will act as a carrier for the dye and help it spread evenly. Let that set for a day. If its still stiff I work the leather a little. I roll it up with the skin side up and again flesh side up, I do this a few times. If it's still stiff add a little more neatsfoot oil. If it's not dark enough add another coat of dye. After dying it a second time it may be stiff. Just work the leather and it should soften. If not add a little more oil.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate the feedback. The thought process was to make it to sell. If it doesn't sell it was going to go on my bookshelf. Before I put the leather on it I showed it to a friend and he wanted it for his son. He just really liked the page edges and end pages. Lol Do y'all think I should put a 2 line border on the front and back covers?

I started a book rebinding project. It's going to be JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion in a clamshell box and after the holidays I'll do a box set of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. I started by tearing off the paper covers from the text block. I painted the page edges black with white specks. I added a vellum title page, a black silk ribbon, burgundy headbands, and black marbled end pages. For the cover I used 2-3oz vegran goat hide. I gave it 3 coats of Fibing's green Pro dye, .095" binder's board. For the cover art I used gold and holographic heat transfer vinyl (htv). I sealed it all with a few coats of a mix of Resolene and carnuba wax. The clamshel box I used .095" binders board, burgundy book cloth, black marbled paper, and the art was htv.

Just saw a post on Facebook that Cobra Steve from Leather Machine Co has passed. Their website states: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Steve Tayrien, lovingly known as Cobra Steve. As one of the founders of Leather Machine Company, he believed deeply in people and dedicated his life to helping others grow and succeed. His kindness, vision, and unwavering faith in those around him made a lasting impact on our community." My prayers go out to his family and friends.

There are a number of ways to make this but like Bland said it depends on the current design. You can make one that has elastic bands on the bottom, a slip cover style, I replaced mine by taking the old one off and using it as a template for a new one.

I going to throw out a guess and say there is a backing, like what you see on the inside of a ball cap after it's been embroidered, and since this is just a patch it's not really going to have much strain put on it. It look pretty cool I would like to see it in white against the black leather. It would really pop and give it a heavy metal vibe.

I use Barge cement and I don't use the cement as a fastening agent. It's more to hold in place until I stitch it together type of thing. When I glue up larger projects I use the can brush. When I want to do more refined work on small projects I use a plastic spreader. They're made of plastic and easy to clean. Even if the contact cement has been on there a few days I can use a rubber eraser and it comes right off. When gluing I pull the brush from the can and use the spreader to pick up some glue. I then spread the glue by pulling towards the inside, away from the visible edge. If you pull towards the visible edge there's a good chance it'll be seen when finished. When starting out you can draw a line where to stop pulling your glue. After a while you'll get the hang of it. Let it set until it's tacky (about 10min) then put the two together. This is kind of a one shot deal. Once the two pieces touch it's going to be tough to get them apart cleanly. After putting them together I let the cement finish setting. How long it actually takes I'm not sure. I go to another project and work on that then come back. So maybe a couple hours. This would be a box stitch and if I was actually doing this I would have punched my holes and finished the visible edge before gluing.

I aquired this a couple years ago from an estate sale where I bought a few things. Honestly I've only used it a couple times. I'm not in a hurry and my knife works well enough. If I was cutting large amounts of thick leather I can see it being useful.

I was working on a prototype on Friday and did this three times in one row. Admittedly I was using thread thats to thick for the project. Just keep one keeping on.

This is what I do. I use 1/4" (6mm) double sided tape, if you don't have thin tape you can cut wider tape down the center long ways.

This is why I keep a pair of channel lock pliers on my bench.

There are a couple way to do this. 1. Resolene/water 1:1. Do a couple coats then put some type of wax over that. It'll soften the shine but it doesn't stay, they would have to wax it every so often. 2. Resolene/water 1:1. Do a couple coats let it cure 24 hours. Add a 3rd coat and lightly knock it down with either #0000 steel wool or a Magic Eraser. Again you have to do this lightly 3. Go with a different finish like Satin sheen.

The leather paste conforms better to the shape of the embossing.

I've seen leather dust mixed with cement to make a filler or packing for the back of 3D carvings.

Be very careful when repairing a saddle. If a shoe repair fails a person will walk funny for a little bit but if saddlery fails it can lead people to severe injuries. If a stirrup fails a rider can slip or completely fall out of the saddle, if a billet strap fails the rider can wind up under the horse. With that out of the way since you've done some repairs you know a little bit about it. What I've done is bought some cheap saddles. I bought 3 saddles for $150 at auction and I tore the worse of the three apart to learn how it went together and to experiment. I highly recommend Don Gonzales' videos, he gets really in depth with his breakdown and repair videos. TomE makes good recommendations. Also look at some of Springfield Leather Company's video on saddle reconstruction. There are a few videos out there that are horrible for saddle repair so be wary of those. One says she is a master class cobbler but the repairs she make on an English Saddle are really... bad.

I use NFO before dyeing, it helps carry the dye more evenly and makes it more pliable when it dries. I let the NFO sit for a least a few hours I have done NFO after dyeing and used Resolene/water 1:1 ratio and it comes out fine. One trick I do after the leather dries, in this case a belt, I work the belt into a coil in both directions and inside out to make it pliable before adding the Resolene mix.