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Hey, Tilda! Welcome from northern Canada! Hopefully I'll get to see some of your collar designs.

That looks like a cool hobby. Some pals and I made up a small rocket stove and used it to forge a bit of aluminum. Looks like you have managed a lot more heat than that. Have you heard of the 'lost wax method' of casting? Ten or fifteen years ago, a youtuber copied it with the 'lost PLA method', allowing him to 3d print blanks, and cast complex shapes. Too much infrastructure needed to do anything like that in my teeny shop, but I hope to see more about yours!

Got a 'money clipper' template from Tandy, and tried a few versions of it. The hardware is a bit boring, but I haven't seen much different. Please feel free to share any criticisms, or especially suggestions for improving. Coarse language and abusive adverbs welcome, but please stick to gentle adjectives.

Beautiful work. Not the sling I usually see. Are they for a specific type of use? Beautiful work. Not the sling I usually see. Are they for a specific type of use? The hunting ones I've seen are all joined at 2 points.

Yeah, I had a pal ask me to make a bullet sleeve for the stock of his bear gun. I told him no thanks. Prefer to make wallets for now. If someone loses their money it isn't as devastating as a bear-gun being 'wrong' somehow.

I recently got a saddle into the shop for cleaning, inspection, and repairs along with a breastplate. I let the owner know about any the issues they don't know about. When it came to the breastplate I explained the bottom strap was severly cracked and should be replaced. They asked if I could just patch it and move on. I explaind that if one part of a strip is bad the rest is on it's way out. The cost to replace the whole piece and patching it would wind up being the same but with the patch there's a chance the old leather will fail. They agreed with the repair.

Finished up these Leather Single Point Slings for a couple of good friends. They wanted these for their ARs. The old girl is sewing really nice.

But the shoe polish fixed everything. Her responses to the comments tell the story.

You have a sewing machine, make cool cloth bags with your logo on them, they are eco-friendly, "sustainable", and blah blah blah LOL.

And artificial intelligence is learning from these people, don't our grandkids have a great future to look forward to? She actually replied to one person that she had been doing this for years. I love watching you tube it s a big part of my tv time. but darn you can get led into some bad info real easy if you dont have a good understanding of the subject. I've seen it here, people sign on the forum, lurk a while,ask a few questions, read a few threads and all of sudden they are putting out videos like they have been making bespoke watchamacallits for years lol. Saddles, some parts are repairable, some just arent and some saddles arent worth it to repair at all. Safety gear I won't touch at all. If it's worn out but so much of a cherished thing you can't get rid of it, then hang it in your den and polish it every day or something, but buy a new one to take its place. Bottom line the way i see it is fixing old stuff can get people hurt, so you have to think for them sometimes and say things they don't want to hear, because they won't accept the reality for whatever reason. A few bucks in your pocket for a quick repair isn't worth the risk to your customer or your livelihood, so there are some things you shouldn't even attempt, and your knowledge in the craft should lead you in that direction if need be.

This is horrifying to watch. I was cringing the whole time. The patch work is dubious, but it might work as a temporary measure, but most saddles are so heavily treated with soap/oil/grease/conditioner etc, that I can never get any glue to stick properly. The girth job... Plenty of stitches across the strap, and I guess it is just out of pure ignorance that she doesn't lift the flap all the way up and reattach some new ones at the webbing. I first made my own girth straps, but I was never really satisfied with them. I buy mine ready made now. They come from England according to my supplier, They have the right feel to them :-) Brgds Jonas

This thread contains a wealth of information about selling and setting up at events. I like the U shape table idea or if there is not room, then one table but lengthwise (not like a counter that you stand behind). Also bring lots of water+ food + snacks for yourselves, buying stuff is costly. Bring lots of change. Have fun Brgds Jonas

Thanks Bruce. Aging brain cells :(( I bought a nice set of strap end punches from him, handled, not hammered.

Don Voss - Cuba, NM Yes dlvtoys is his EBay name

CDK I have one of those. The burnisher on the front of it is what I was referencing. It's a DC motor with an on and off switch. Not variable like the rest of the machine is. I bought mine used and I think I paid $6500 for it with a new painting attachment (yeah I really needed it at the time!). New I think they're like 15k or more? I don't know....Anyway.... I use it sometimes. What I did find useful on the Galli and the Randall Burnisher (made from sewing machine motor) was the slick plastic they faced the little table/shelf with. It might be Teflon, I don't know. Low friction to be sure and seems to aid the fluid movement of the burnish process.

I've purchased tools from Don...... (not Gonzales) near Dulce, NM. Does anyone know his last name or contact info? DLVtoys? Thanks, Mike

Please write up a little set of instructions and start a new thread in https://leatherworker.net/forum/forum/33-computer-help/ Name the thread something related to your brand of phone and directions for posting directly. It may be helpful for other brands and users too. Then I can clean up this thread and get it back on topic. Thanks for your help.

Cat picture purely out of curiosity if it will post a photo direct from camera since links and direct from Google Drive won't.

It also seems to only allow me to take a picture directly from the camera, add from my Google drive, or link to an image. The link box doesn't tell me what the error is, it just turns red.

I'm using Chrome on my Galaxy S24.

@Cumberland HighpowerDid not know about the Galli Burnishing wheels and did a search and came across this beast: https://youtu.be/-hXaNNV9wGo?si=_7ke0kzdVgUQQ9iv Fascinating what machines are out there. I'm actually considering making/building a horizontal burnisher for doing the edges on larger items such as bags and briefcases. I saw such machines being used in some of the videos that I saw on utube and my interest was piqued. I have 2x 750W servo motors that came off sewing machines on hand and considering using 1 of these as I could control the speed with a pedal. Thoughts? @LomaeArts I like your thought process, many ways to accomplish what you are going for.

Exactly, do what method is appropriate for the task at hand and do it correctly else it is a failure.

I do have, if nothing else, some store-type plastic bags, though I may be able to finagle some paper bags. But thank you for mentioning them, they weren’t even on my radar. As far as refreshments of some sort, we are working with the local health department to determine if we even need a permit for fresh-brewed tea (tea blends are one of my wife’s products 😉). They’re severely understaffed though, and haven’t returned any of our emails or calls yet. If I can’t get a response I will go ahead and ask forgiveness if I have to, since I’ve been trying for permission and failing. My wife may also attempt some baked goods, which fall under the cottage foods act, don’t need any permit. The dry tea blends are also “cottage”, but for some reason, adding hot water is problematic… 🤦🏻 The book idea I had started kicking around, especially since I want to push my bookmarks out, though I am hesitant about another expense that may not sell. We’ll see though, I have a full library that I could probably part with. What do you do with your flawed (not ruined) products that people may but probably not notice, such as a scratch on a panel or overstamping? (One of my more popular stamps/patterns is notoriously difficult to maintain a line or correct once it wanders…)

I think your are right the lady should have sent the client to a someone that does that kind of work. The leather patches seem to be a stop gap measure. The straps to me hold the saddle and rider to the horse be it I know nothing about saddles the repair seems iffy at best. I think the straps should have been completely replaced as the new leather straps were scabbed onto the old leather that looked like they were gone way beyond their best before date. kgg