How will I use this #@*!# tool??

[Boothill Bob]

Thanx guys. It was a gift for my friend Shotgun Joe and he loved it, thats all that matters.

[TN Mongo]

Bob,

After watching one of Chuck Burrow's excellent DVDs, I have started drawing patterns on leather and marking tooling guides with a Pilot brand Precise V5 extra fine rolling ball pen in red.  It makes an easy to see line in red that vanishes with almost all dyes, except very light ones.  It takes extra time, but if I want precise tooling, I mark it all out with the red pen before I start.

On some of the instructional posts that Will Ghormley has made, I have noticed that he marks spots with a winged divider before tooling.  I have used both of these methods to help keep my tooling as straight as possible.

Like you and Kid Terico have both mentioned, it bugs me when things aren't exactly straight.  On almost everything I've made I can point out things that aren't exactly perfect, but most of the time, I'm the only one who sees the flaw.  I'm my own toughest critic.   

[outrider]

Mongo...aren't we all.....I see things other people don't even notice....for sure we are our own critics...

[Boothill Bob]

I can just agree 

[Springfield Slim]

Never sight down a straight line 'cause it will never be truly straight. From the side it will most likely look just fine. Have you ever noticed they are almost never straight lines in the body of a car? A motorcyle gas tank maker once told me that. Make sure everything has some bend to it and the human eye will never detect if the line is off a bit, but a straight line will be obvious. Once a person puts on the belt the line is bent, so it will look great!

[Drayton Calhoun]

I made a buscadero gunbelt, in fact it's the one I'm wearing in my avatar, that's basket weave. The top edge of the belt follows the drop of the bottom, it has a ton of glitches in it, yet I seem to be the only one that sees them.

[DUKE DEADEYE NUKEM]

Lay out marks in the leather. 

[Kid Cavalier]

The trick to using stamping tools that interlock is to stamp away from yourself while looking at the "male" point of the tool.  Continue to use a layout line to act as a reference on one side or the other.  Since I hold the stamp in my left hand and pound with the right, I like the layout line to be to the right of where the impression will go.  The stamp in question is one of the more difficult to keep from wandering.

Things to remember with this stamp.

You mustn't allow the tool to turn at all (even a little bit will lead you astray) when on the straights.

The widest part of the tool should just touch your lightly scribed layout line. This is my method, yours may be different, but mine or yours, you have to do it the same every impression.

Go slowly!  Nobody cares if you can stamp in record time.  They are going to be more impressed with a clean job.

Hope this helps....

[Boothill Bob]

Thanx Kid 
I will try that metod.. I also hold the stamp in my left hand, but I have used the stamp from right to left. Belive Its harder to hold it stright and not turn it then.
Thanx for the help.