Tandy Did Me Right, And A Mistake I Think

[caaront]

I had a basket weave stamp from their deluxe kit break on me, and the camo tool handle bend.

I was working with the leather atop a steel roller bearing, I believe it was way too hard a surface.

They replaced my broken and bent tools, and I cut off a section of a large 1" thick sheet of plastic board, like a cutting board and used it, and finished all the things in the kit without any problems, and the tooling was uniform, deep, and the tools stayed in good shape.

I am remodeling my home so can't invest in a quarts plate quite yet so I'll make do with the plastic.

I will never again do another check book cover as I don't have the patience to do all the fancy lacing, I will do wallets and book covers, etc... Stuff I can lace with the waxed thread with the saddle stitch, I think the other lace looks very corny anyway.

[electrathon]

You can't have too hard of a surface. Always the harder the better. The tools bent/broke besause of poor quality metal/improper tempering. The ones in the kits are the worst of the worst so it was good they they failed.

Aaron

[rblalock]

Go to a granite shop that makes granite counter tops. The sink cut-outs make great work surfaces. Some of these shops will give you the cutouts for free.

[Art]

Granite and Marble are harder than steel usually, different scales and criteria, but generally harder. Tandy tools are not the greatest, I have broken a few and bent others. After inspecting the metal (generous description) inside, it is a wonder they bent at all. They are however inexpensive, and not a bad selection if you want to experiment with a tool before plopping your money down on a Beard, Gomph-Hackbarth, King, or Miller tool. Stone monument companies (grave markers), kitchen countertop places, and tool places like Grizzly and Enco are good places to look for a stamping surface.

Art

I had a basket weave stamp from their deluxe kit break on me, and the camo tool handle bend.

I was working with the leather atop a steel roller bearing, I believe it was way too hard a surface.

They replaced my broken and bent tools, and I cut off a section of a large 1" thick sheet of plastic board, like a cutting board and used it, and finished all the things in the kit without any problems, and the tooling was uniform, deep, and the tools stayed in good shape.

I am remodeling my home so can't invest in a quarts plate quite yet so I'll make do with the plastic.

I will never again do another check book cover as I don't have the patience to do all the fancy lacing, I will do wallets and book covers, etc... Stuff I can lace with the waxed thread with the saddle stitch, I think the other lace looks very corny anyway.

[caaront]

Thanks, I am showing of my noobiness.

[Art]

We were all there once. There were more Tandy stores and there were better tools and information there back in the day. Tandy still has it's value and they are friendly and mostly knowledgeable.

Art

Thanks, I am showing of my noobiness.

[bentley]

I have a very large collection of Tandy tools that were purchased over many years, some fairly new. Never had one bend or break on me. May want to try and get more moisture in your leather before stamping so it will take the impression without having to hit it so hard. This seems to be the most difficult part of carving and tooling for noobies. Try to find some scrap leather to practice getting it cased properly to take the impression with less effort, careful not to get it so wet it acts like a sponge and the impression disappears when it dries out.

Good luck and have fun.

[caaront]

Thanks, I figured out that I was working the leather too dry.

[pyrotikigodz]

I had a basket weave stamp from their deluxe kit break on me, and the camo tool handle bend.

I was working with the leather atop a steel roller bearing, I believe it was way too hard a surface.

They replaced my broken and bent tools, and I cut off a section of a large 1" thick sheet of plastic board, like a cutting board and used it, and finished all the things in the kit without any problems, and the tooling was uniform, deep, and the tools stayed in good shape.

I am remodeling my home so can't invest in a quarts plate quite yet so I'll make do with the plastic.

I will never again do another check book cover as I don't have the patience to do all the fancy lacing, I will do wallets and book covers, etc... Stuff I can lace with the waxed thread with the saddle stitch, I think the other lace looks very corny anyway.

the tools from the new deluxe kit are made from lower quality dies and metals,

[TwinOaks]

If you're handy with tools, you can make your own stamps out of SS bolts. Grind, sand, cut, file, and polish to get what you want. Being made out of SS bolts means that they'll last considerably longer than cast or sintered metal with a poor chroming job. Checkered matters/bevelers and back grounders are a little more difficult, but for most of the items, basic work shop tools and some files will take care of the job.

[caaront]

Thanks

[Suicide]

If you're handy with tools, you can make your own stamps out of SS bolts. Grind, sand, cut, file, and polish to get what you want. Being made out of SS bolts means that they'll last considerably longer than cast or sintered metal with a poor chroming job. Checkered matters/bevelers and back grounders are a little more difficult, but for most of the items, basic work shop tools and some files will take care of the job.

I know one guy who has put just a different sorts of nut onto bolts ( so bolt won't go out from nut) , and uses it as a basketweave stamps. Has pretty good "hexagons with circles inside" (he calls it "shooted hoineycomb" ) patterns especially using small nuts

Edited January 27, 2012 by Suicide