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JLSleather

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Posts posted by JLSleather

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Belt slot? You mean loop for the belt? Simple version, ask him how wide a belt he wants with it. Many belts these days are 2-ply 1 1/2- 1 3/4" wide. "Cowboy" rigs are often 2 1/4" - 2 1/2" wide. While he doesn't want a belt "right now", I don't like a lot of 'room' in there. Eaglestroker's pic above looks like a pretty good fit on the belt - not a lot of room to let the holster move or "rock".

    I stitch the loop down - screws are just one more thing to bang and scratch the gun. Again, pic above. He can tell you himself, but I 'guess' that the belt loop was sewn on that holster to allow for the thumb break (?). Note that if you prefer a lower riding firearm, you could just as easily sew the top of that loop first - grain side down - then fold it over the belt and stitch the bottom. Same size belt loop, but pistol rides lower.

    Oh, and Eaglestroker - nice color on that rig!

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Yeah, I gave up on SLC. Tthey replaced a hide with wrinklesThey replaced one that was the wrong cut (when you order backs, it shouldn't have a belly). They replaced hides that were clean from scars, but dry (you could actually HEAR the shears going through it). They replaced every time, but at some point you gotta ask how much time you want to spend on the phone.

    If you like HO leather, you might try this ...

    http://www.goligerleather.com/saddlery.html

    Personally, I like backs, but sides are available too.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Yeah, they gotta answer for their own information. I've had people misspell their friend's name (supposed to go on that belt). People give you the wrong barrel length for their "custom" holster (yeah, the barrel goes INTO the frame). And everybody gives the wrong measurement on the belt - some of them intentionally. Yes, even after you told them how to measure. And you asked if they're sure.

    With collars, perhaps you cut a strip the same weight as you're using for the collar. Mark it every inch. Have them put it on the animal getting the collar, and tell you the number.

    Then, you'll STILL need to be prepared for the person who KNOWS it's their fault, but will try to get you to "fix" it anyway. Add $1 to the cost of the collar to cover the strip and the note that says you really mean they need to give you the correct size.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    I'd certainly be willing to hear ANYthing about making inventory easy. I HATE inventory. I haven't used quickbooks since we had employees (that was the only advantage I saw there) and that was quite a while back.

    Just for example ... a few belt inventory "issues" for thought:

    One guy wants ONE belt, with line 16 snaps in brass, leather keeper loops, antique finish brass heel bar buckle, no tip. You'll need:

    • THAT buckle
    • brass line 16 snaps
    • carving leather in at least one weight (I would use two weights);
    • leather dye / oil / finish
    • carving tools (if tooled)

    The other guy wants TWO belts, same carving design on both, different sizes. Lined and stitched. Western buckle 3-piece sets (matching) attached with screws. Now you need:

    • two of the new buckle sets
    • 'chicago' screws
    • carving leather (likely two weights);
    • leather dye / oil / finish
    • carving tools;
    • some sort of adhesive, even if only temporary;
    • needles and thread (with or without a machine);

    Both of these orders assume that you have something to cut a straight strip with, some means of transferring the design (which I would do, since the two are expected to match); some method of applying dyes/finishes, tools to set the snaps and screws -- just to get started on these.

    Now, these orders happened this morning. Not a problem, it'll get there. Here's the issue ...

    The tax guy wants to know - at years end if not quarterly - the beginning and ending inventory. Obviously, you can't "plus" er 'minus" the same amount for these orders, as the materials are not going to be the same. The amounts won't be the same. Unless you stock the buckles requested, then you'll order them. The purchase price is "cost of goods sold", which "theoretically" would include any shipping you paid on them. BUT, how to track THAT purchase without doing every little detail on individual orders. Here's one example ... You order the buckles. While you're waiting for the buckles, the person who wanted the belts has an emergency, and it's in their interest to cancel the order. Options?

    • Refuse to cancel. They asked, they paid, and they're "stuck". If this is you, I meant this post for someone else.
    • Cancel the belts. Also cancel the buckles. You can return them, but you're likely out the shipping charges.
    • Cancel the belts. Add the buckles to inventory, you kin use em later. Course, now you gotta 'count' em.

    Now, what program can I use, that will [relatively painlessly] let me look at the page and know that I have 40' of tooling leather, 97 brass line 16 snaps, 100 nickel chicago screws (which I didn't use), 87% full bottles of leather dye and finish, two western buckle sets, carving tools, a strip cutter, a straigt edge and knife, 95% of a spool of thread, and 10 needles (though you need to dispose of 2 of em). AND that pesky partridge ina tree you hear about.

    In the end, with inventory, you either

    • track it as you go (meaning you input what you actually used)
    • count it at year end; or
    • lie (make up something)

    IF you're that last guy, you might consider fair market value before you sign your name for the IRS. Those buckles that guy wants, plated stuff - $25. Shipping on them, $6. Not a big deal? Do that 100 times this year, and your inventory is $600 different from what you actually have. If in your mind you just said "that $6 should have gone in as shipping charges", then you are beginning to get my point ...

  11. Posted · Edited by JLSleather · Report reply

    Rivets will work, they just need to be long enough that you don't "smoosh" the binder mechanism. Did the binder work in the folder you bought? How was it attached?

    I just drill the rivet head off, the rest will pull out through the back once the rivet head is gone. After that you can attach it with a number of methods. I don't care for the steel "chicago" screws in leather. Most hardware stores willl have them in aluminum and brass, calling them "screw posts"

    Oh, and I usually have the 'round' ones mounted to the spine, and the "D-style" mounted to the back -- each his own ...

  15. Posted · Report reply

    ...sellers on Etsy that get what I would deem far too much and in some cases far too little for their work. ....

    I see that time, materials and profit are key. As with any product there is a lot to say for confidence in pricing. If you ask a cheap price for something that looks far superior to its pricing, one may think it cheaply made and not to last. ...

    :)

    Etsy, like other social sites, is hardly a place to guage leather work. We've all seen the pattern you describe, things we thought should have sold or not sold, or sold for more or less than what they did, etc. So ... I've seen only one "pattern" to it (not just Etsy) ...

    Popularity contest. BS storm. Call it marketing, but it's just noise. While I think it SHOULD be that the better quality should earn better pay, I'm not clueless enough to think that's the way it actually works. Truthfully, my 'marketing skills' are pathetic - from a business standpoint.

    I don't line a facebook page with wonderful stories about the hours I put in. I have a number of things in mind that I don't make, regardless of the size of the check they're willing to write. I charge what I charge - sometimes quite high, and sometimes ridiculously low - simply because I can.

    I have a facebook page, with nothing on it. There will never be anything on it, and this is only so some freak can't create a page using my name and say it's theirs.

    My wife has some stuff on Etsy, but gets irritated when I can't be bothered to email a potential customer. Not my show = not my responsibility.

    I don't deliberately upset people, though I do sometimes upset them. Sometimes bothers people that I don't run to 'service' them. Generally, that's a 'sale' I don't make, which is okay.

    From your own post, you mention that it's based on "time, materials, and profit", but immediately begin discussing perceptions...

  17. Posted · Report reply

    That's strange, a bit. Must be a BUNCH of fellas using the same type of buckles all the time - not trophy buckles. Anybody who makes belts knows that a longer buckle makes the belt longer, so I never did "get" why they don't realize the "short" end is different too. Then, I don't get those people who tell customers (or potential customers) to measure an old belt "from the fold". Unless you're using the same buckle, that aint gonna 'git' it.

    I "usually" use 5 holes, spaced 3/4" apart. Exceptions - where the buckle tongue is large, requiring a large hole, that might not be so good for the strength or the look of the belt, in which case I have done 1" apart. On narrow straps with small buckles, 1/2" might do (example, saddle bag strap, small collars, or portfolio "belt").

    And I just checked -- BOTH of those old books describe this alteration to suit trophy buckles, so it's hardly a new issue.

    Belts Galore -- p2

    Lucky 8 Belt -- p3

    Both of these books were out by the 1950's, and it's one of the first "lessons" in both books.

    You know, for what it's worth ...

  18. Posted · Report reply

    All I was saying in my original post, was that the type of buckle used may be reason to change the belt end length. I... also measured 6 large, decorative buckles (ebay search for brass buckles if you want to see an example of what I mean).

    ... may best to know the approximate dimension of the buckle that is going to be used so the belt end length can be made long enough. Actually this type of buckle would also change belt length.

    Alex

    I take it you're talking about what some around here would refer to as "trophy" buckles. And you're right, it matters - a trophy buckle can change the length of the belt by several inches. Somewhere along 100 years ago (ish) I learned making belts with these type buckles this way ...

    Mark a fold line, add buckle length. From the "hook" on the buckle, measure the size to the middle hole. With the hook in the middle hole, cut the belt off (tip) 4" past the END of the buckle. So, if your buckle is 3", then the tip would be about 7" from the center hole. With a buckle half that long (1 1/2") then your tip would be 5.5" beyond the center hole.

    Even with this "generalized" approach, I've had boys ask for a longer tip (beyond what I thought was "right" for the belt). But, that's rather the point of 'custom', NO?

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Scribe a line around the entire zipper gusset - on the grain side - about 5/16" in from the outside (3/8" won't hurt). Stitch yer zipper in like normal. \

    Make a small mark on the center of each end of the gusset. End of a stylus will work - just a center mark.

    Then wet the gusset leather,lay it on a table (or rock) grain side up, and use what you have (bone folder, spoon, butter knife, don't matter) to fold the edges up on the 5/16: line. Fold it up 90° all around the thing.

    Make your case - carving, coloring, what.

    Fold the case, line up the center marks on the case wth the center marks on the gusset, and stitch.

    As designed, that case will not lay flat when open. You'll 'booger' it if you try to lay it out open. Slide the pistol in and zip the case shut.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Not sure what they do out yer way, likely different in each state. Simplest terms, what you're taxed on is a matter of what you have that you didn't have before (money in - cost of goods = income). I use Quicken business, and I can tell you that this one and MOST software won't be much help with the inventory.

    Quicken works okay in that I can click a button and see what I spent for carving leather, or another click er two and see how much I actually "made" in June (lots of other options, just a couple of examples). But, a lot of other programs would do the same thing.

    Idea (I think) is to keep it simple. Couple things I think more important than the actual program you use (in Iowa, I'm talking now - check yours). ....

    1.) Open a "business" bank account, and keep your purchases from there as much as possible. Even a "business" PayPal account is better than multiple places, but then you're left hoping that you can make your purchases with that (which IS possible). Not only this saves you some "other' pains, but the bank you use may be able to tell you which software works easily with their system so yo can download the transactions to verify.

    2.) Decide an an inventory "counting" system right from the start. Basically, fair market value of what you have on hand when you "start". Doesn't matter how it's done. Just don't say you have 1/2 full 32oz bottle of black dye, then at the end of the year you call it 16oz. Snaps are maybe by the "bag", etc.

    3.) If / when you decide on a software program, set it up to track (separately) -- project materials (leather, dye, oil, thread, whatever) -- tools for the shop -- 'consumed' goods (printer paper, pattern materials, shipping boxes, anything else you use yourself on the job). I can tell you I din't set this up so very well in the beginning, and it would have saved me a lot of time doing that to begin with.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    The extra few dollars you pay will likely come back to you many times in proper filing of your taxes.

    Not only this, but your "own" tax guy will be able to offer advice during the year if you have questions or concerns - since he knows your taxes. We're spoiled around here - same office for years. Mark's office does our taxes. He has all the information on file he needs (like how much we paid last year for any and all taxes, including what we paid for tax preparation). Any questions, they just call or email. When its ready, that girl brings the forms on her way home, we just sign and return it. Painless.

    Your own tax guy is well worth the time - not sure what we'd do around here if Mark ever quit. Oh, and the money -- whatever year that was, we had unemployment, and W-2's, and 1099's, and SE, and kids (with education costs), and mortgage interest, etc. Filing still under $100.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Yep, that's what I'm talking about. I wouldn't say I'm angry, just not naive. Anyone who doesn't mind paying more for a punch because it's a "leather" punch instead of a "hole" punch - go right ahead.

    Leather workers are not always the victim, though. We've all seen the ads about "handmade" and "custom" and "value", which sounds nice until you see the same people wanting a 'sale', a 'discount' or a 'deal' on the raw goods.

    I happened upon a bunch of it all at once one day, and simply pointed out that concious thought is good. If you don't prefer to actually think, "pet rocks" and 'mood rings" will always be available.

  24. Posted · Edited by JLSleather · Report reply

    The resist does not stop the antiquing from getting into the groves. The antique "fills" up the cuts and scratches and it stays dark there. ... If you dye it manually it will look as good as you can paint. If you antique it, then it will look as good as you carve.

    Actually, the dye is where I wanted it (in the shadow, not in the actual cut). Still, this is actually a better way of saying it for the question she asked. :)

  25. Posted · Report reply

    So the resist doesn't prevent the Hi Lite/antique from grabbing in the grooves?

    No, it doesn't. This is one of the main reasons I dont use it. If you look around, you'll see lots of projects with that stuff sitting in spots, loooks a bit like what's left behind when the river goes down in the spring. Sad, cuz I've seen some very nice tooling pretty much ruined with it.

    INSTEAD, I just color where I want color. And I don't put color where I don't want any. This allows me about as much contrast as I want, limited only by the shade of the leather. And I don't buy any 'resist", so there's that benefit. Oh, and I don't buy antique, so there's that benefit (though I do on occasion use antique DYE - not antique FINISH).

    Some sweatpea will be here in a minute to tell you it can't be done, so I'll just post one picture of a chunk of leather done with NO antique. Fiebing's leather dye (chocolate), then a light app of neatsfoot, followed 24 hours later with Fiebing's Tan-Kote. Idea is just to show that doing it this way, I can basically have it as light or as dark as I'd like.

    This will take a bit longer than dumping some liquid mud on there, but only until you get used to doing it.

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