MarshdownGoods (Look on Etsy)

You're doing all the right stuff. Those two (Ian in particular) are massively helpful in their videos. On tools, it's a case of which tool and what is the maintenance. There are two levels of tooling avaialble through Tandy, the regular stuff and the "pro" stuff. Quality is all over the map on both series and you really have to look at both options to decide. For example, all of my bevelers are from Tandy and they are fine. They require more frequent sharpening than an antique or custom set but they are dead easy to sharpen so it's not a big deal. Knives on the other hand, get the best you can afford as the Tandy round knife (even the "nicer" one) has a cheesy stainless blade will not hold an edge well and you'll spend a lot of time sharpening for the amount of cutting you get. Get a knife with a good, carbon steel blade. One other thing, you can sharpen a boxcutter blade to a SCARY level of sharpness using a leather strop and jewelers rouge. A fifty pack of blades and a nice handle that holds them in a stable way will do you well when you're starting out. Sharpen them a few times then pitch them out....just be careful, you can get them sharp enough to cut you to the bone with zero pain. Ask me how I know

Round punches and so forth, Tandy stuff is workable but you'll have to sharpen almost all Tandy stuff, including punches, extensively before first use. There's lots more to say and you can PM me if you want, I'll answer any question I'm qualified to answer but you're already on the right track and can likely find all you need with the info sources you cited.

Thanks @david. Glad you like the belt! I really like the two rows of holes on the double tounge belts/buckles. Is that some secret denim?

You aren't too far behind me. Mine have a couple months of wear but they are already fading/fitting really well. You'll love them more each day. 

Cool! I just was working on a variation of a copper roller.
It's very easy to get the blue/green patina in a couple of hours - put a couple sheets of paper towel in a bowl, put the buckle on to, pour ammonia over soaking the towels, put kosher salt on top, cover. Turn and soak,salt as wanted/needed.

^^That's a sweet-ass buckle @stevekas. Want.

I'd pay extra if you guaranteed that it would break a knife if someone tried to stab me.

Well, the good news is that you picked a Carson, the bad news is that you picked the wrong one. 
Let me know when you are producing your Bad-Ass Knife-Disintegrating Buckle of Anti-Death(tm).

If you treat it with something that has a high wax content, it will stay lighter for a longer period--at least that has been my experience with veg-tan.

wdw, I use something called Blackrock Leather 'n' Rich, but i think it's only available here (and hard to find at that), you could likely use a clear, high quality shoe polish or something along those lines.  I'd try it out in the flap area on back first (or a random piece of veg tan if you have any) to see if it darkens upon application. 

Basically, with the waxy coating, you are building a barrier between the leather and any oils/moisture that cause it to darken over time. 

Hey all, just launched a mini Kickstarter. Just throwing it out there in case anyone is in the market. I have no idea how viable this effort will be, it will be a great social networking/marketing  learning experience though.

Happy Holidays.

Is that what atom wax does?

exophobe , thanks! I definitely need to clean a few things up, I launched it in "beta" for for sure. I'm uploading pics tonight and I'll hit the points you noted, a couple of embarrassing oversights there. Much appreciated.

beeranddenim , not sure if you were asking me or stinky but I use a couple of tablespoons or so of baking soda to neutralize vinegaroon. My scientific method is to soak a while, pull the piece our, sniff, if you smell vinegar, drop it back in. Don't leave it in there longer than 20 minutes or so though, you'll end up with a soggy mess. Most of the time it takes under ten minutes. Agitation helps.