Are there any more tandy’s in Dallas still open?
I like the one in Mesquite. (I didn’t know chrome affects metal. ) But you only really need a couple square feet of leather. You don’t need a whole side. I have aprox 25 sides and I do have oil tanned but it’s brown. You are welcome to a couple feet of you want.
There is a Tandy store in Allen, TX on the west side of 75 and south of McDermott. Faces the Target parking lot, so not visible from 75.
3 Likes
Awesome!
Thank you!
I was actually going to look it up when I finally took a break for lunch, LOL!
I second this suggestion. An oil-tanned, smooth “pull-up” leather would give a nice, distressed look with a lot of character to the roll.
FWIW, oil tanned leather is not actually tanned with oil: it is chrome-tanned and then has oils added.
That being said, modern quality chrome-tanned leather should have virtually no chrome left in it. I made a chrome tanned tool roll for my Leatherworking punches and have had no corrosion issues after several years of use.
I sometimes make simple sheaths for forged knives I make. I like oiled leather for sheaths as it helps keep steel knives (non stainless) from rusting/tarnishing. Oil-tanned or oiled vegtan both work well. This is a vegtan sheath to which I added neatsfoot oil, lanolin, and beeswax.
Harness leather is another option: it is vegtan leather with oil, tallows, and wax added for durability and water resistance. Usually only available in heavier weights, so better for sheaths than rolls.
2 Likes
Since @HankCowdog has said that chrome-tanned hasn’t given him any issues, you may be able to purchase some lovely black from Creative Arts. And, you could probably rub that with some of the oil you normally use on the knives.
I’ll try to take a pic of what we’ve got when I get to the Space tonight. Although, you’ll probably still need Tandy for the rivets. Depending on where you live, the main Ft Worth store is also open. That may be it for the Metroplex, though. Capt’s had been going to the Allen store as they closed most of the rest of them, but from the Space, it’s not much further to the Ft Worth store, and they have Everything (everything that Tandy has, that is).
2 Likes
Good information to have, thank you!
That is true.
Maybe @Webdevel or @HankCowdog could chime in here and confirm if this is a good idea or not.
I personally don’t see why you would be bad or harmful to the leather, but as has been demonstrated in this post, my leather knowledge is pretty much limited to how to care for Saddles, boots, jackets and automotive interior, lol!
Thank you, I would like to see what is available.
With care, yes. Some oils could be problematic.
I’d avoid Neatsfoot compound - low quality mystery stuff.
100% Neatsfoot oil is ok for leather but can eat cotton stitching. Fine with synthetic thread.
I use 100% Neatsfoot oil and “Sno-seal” (winter boot waterproofing with beeswax and lanolin) on knife sheaths. For a food-safe option I’d use olive oil and beeswax.
FWIW, my wife uses olive oil on her horse tack as well - learned it in Pony Club many years ago.
Note that many oils can darken leather - buying oil tanned would give you a more predictable final color bs adding oil. Obviously this would not be a problem with black.
1 Like
Awesome!
So olive oil should be okay, which is good because that’s what I usually use on my higher carbon knives after I clean them.
1 Like
I would love to learn how to do a knife roll or sheath. It would be great if one of you would be interested in teaching a class.
2 Likes
Here’s the thread from a couple years ago showing the roll I made for my Leatherworking punches. Basically, you fold in the sides of the roll to make two layers, then sew pockets out of those layers. Pockets for knives would obviously be larger.
For a knife roll you might only put pockets on one side and leave a loose flap to cover the handles on the other, or alternate the pockets on both sides so the knife handles interleaved.
3 Likes
I know in the past we’ve asked for a donation for the leather scraps/pieces, since someday we might have to buy some. I looked on the Square and it said “variable”, so I’d say $1/piece of this. The yellow tub has square pieces in various colors, and we were asking $1/10 squares…
2 Likes
I think the piece in the last picture should work!
I should be back in town either late tonight or sometime tomorrow so I’ll make plans to swing in Monday and take a look.
Thanks!
1 Like
there’s a LOT of scrap leather. There’s also an interesting amount of leather where things were just blatantly cut out of the middle of it 
I guess I’ll have to cover that in any future leather classes like, come on yall lol
2 Likes
We got some large scraps from the folks who make leather furniture. They cut the cushion pieces out of the big middle. Sometimes the scraps are substantial. Sometimes not. Matt got us a pallet load of those scraps…
3 Likes
Thank you for the pics and info.
I use a chisel roll I made out of heavy waxed canvas, after it broke in it became less stiff and is now great, I don’t have any problems with it being cut by the chisels, the wax helps with that. Would recommend, the reason I didn’t go with leather is its less thick and fits better in my toolbox
I made a tool roll from the denim leg of a worn out pair of jeans.
One of the few advantages of being 6 feet tall is having more material to work with :).
3 Likes