camano ridge

Looks pretty good. If you make more and want the more traditional Finale like on the one I made below, let me know I have some on hand. You can also get them from Blockade runners and David Carrico Leather.

Once you get a basic breast collar pattern you like you can adapt it. cowcampsadlery has patterns for breast collars http://www.cowcampsaddlery.com/ , I believe Bob Klenda may also (have not checked). Here is a site that has several styles you can study. http://www.smithbrothers.com/breastcollars/c/1600/.

The Sno seal will darken your leather connsiderably. There are several on these forums that use Mop N Glo floor wax cut 50/50 with water. I finish most of my items with a mix of oils and bees wax.

Like this (see picture from Drewdog holsters). Or depnding on how fancy you want to get they sell metal belt buckle bezels for holding coins on belt buckles that can be mounted on the re enforcement piece with screws from the back side.

You might want to list your Etsy store and your web site as well as telling us what all a person would get if they bought your business. You might also get some information together for someone that is seriously interested, such as What is your wholesale base how many items do you sell each year to that whalesale base. You say your business has gone up each year or that you are busier each year. Give some statistics. I sold one collar last year and i sell two colars this year I can say I am busier then last year. You need some hard figures. You need to convince me that buying your business is a better deal then buying a business license astrippp of leather and making a couple of collars and putting them on my own Ebay store.

Jim, thanks for posting. Very kind of you.

Jim, on the disc would be a good way to go. All you really need to print out is the pattern. Most people have home printers that will print the instruction pages. With the disc I can view the instruction pages or print the page that I need, Even at ten to twenty cents a page for 20 pages of instructions and the printing of the larger pattern page it would not cost that much depending on the price of your disc.

Can't believe this is not gone yet. Wish I lived a lot closer to La

Are you looking at doing something along these lines.

You will not get the results with an exacto knife that you will with a swivel knife when carving a design. The exacto knife blade is very thin. THe way the swivel knife is made it gives you great control when cutting intricate designs. There is a learning curve, however you will be amazed at what you can do with the swivel knife once you learn to usit. Here is a link to a free Tandy video on using a swivel knife http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/Use-Care-of-Swivel-Knife.aspx. There are several you tube videos just search how to use a swivel knife. As to sharpening you should be able to glide through the leather without any drag. For sharpening go to leatherwranglers.com tips and tricks pages paul has a video on sharpening swivel knives. Take a piece of scrap leather make some cuts straight circular ess curve etc do the cuts with both the exacto and the swivel and compare. The biggest thing with the swivel knife is practice. As to depth it will depend on the thickness of the leather your design etc. You will find that depending on the design the start of the cut may need to be deeper at the start and shallower fading out at the end of the cut etc. Rule of thumb is to cut half the depth of the leather.

I think the easiest way to be able to answer your questions is if you post a picture or drawing of approximately what you want to make. I don't totaly agree that you can't mold and tool. I do agree that you can not detail mold without wiping out the tooling in the areas being detail molded. There are ways to acomplish tooling on shaped item to an extent. If your shot shell carrier is boxy you can gouge grooves where you will do the folds. Do your tooling between the folds, wet the gouged lines and fold to form your box. Your tooling is unharmed. I just did a case for a folder. I wet molded the front of the case around a form. I kept the piece on the form and let dry to almost natural color (pretty much casing the leather. The form supported the leather and I tooled the case using the form as backing. You can find many examles of tooled holsters that have been shaped around a gun. I have attached some examples. ALso look at theEpi pen cases on plinkercases.ca (he is a member on these forums). The epi pen cases are tooled and formed around epi pens. The first picture is of a tooled holster I am currently working on. (I know I have the decorative cuts on the acorn going the wrong way). HTe second picture I don't remember who did it so I can't give them proper credit for the excelent job they did. It makes a great example.

I have a question, you say you are casing your leather before dying. Are you just dampening the surface a little or are you actually casing? Casing is where you get the leather wet not just damp then let it dry to almost natural color. Or if you are doing the Parks method you are getting the leather wet putting it in a ziploc in the fridge over night. If you are actually casing the leather getting it wet after burning that may be a big part of your problem. When you get theleather wet the fibers of the leather expand. If you actually tool a piece of leather the get it wet you will loose alot of the defentition in the design. Since you say all you have left is what looks like scratches I am guessing your are getting it to wet after burning. Try onn apiece of scrap doing a little burning and then dye the dry leather see if your results are different.

This guy is posting a couple of places on these forums. When you go to his etsy store he has a bout 6 items belts and wallets. Looks like he has sold two items since Dec 2013.

Hello from Camano Island WA. Aaron, welcome to the forum. Lorif, I lived in Maine in the early 80's before moving back to Washington.

I don't get any rub off with the Eco Flo Pro ffessional water stain. You can finish it in many ways. SOme people use resolene cut 50/50 with water, you can also use Mop n Glo floor wax cut 50/50 with water. I do a lot of western stuff and prefer to use Montana Pithc blend a mix of bees wax mink oil and pitch, I also use Skidmores leather cream, it also is a mix of beeswax and oils.

That is some nice airbrushing. Great purse.

First of all I would throw out the Eco FLo all in one. I use the Tandy Eco FLO Proffessional Water stain it gives a good black and you buff lightly to get off excess pigment and will not get any rub off after that. if you are using white thread on a blakc holster dye first. Use a little bit longer piece of thread the first 12 inches or sew will pick up any dye as it passes through the hole, the rest of the thread should be clean for your stitches as you stitch and get down to the part of the thread that is now dingy looking cut it off get new thread and continue stitching.

Great work Josh.

The link above has the tee nuts in 8-32 and 6-32. Also the bluegunstore.com usually has them to and sells quantity. http://www.bluegunstore.com/makersupplies.aspx

This company sells all of that type of hardware small or large quantity. http://www.ifithermoplastics.com/category/fasteners

Here is a listing of several makers including Wayne (down towards the bottom). I haev had this for a while not sure how accurate the numbers are. http://saddlemakers.org/id130.htm

Jim, if you put your patterns on disc and market them yourself Amazon etc. I am sure you will sell them in fact put me at the top of your list for one if you do put one together I would be interested in purchasing it.

It is a basic four Plait braid here is a tutorial http://myriam.dakotabraiding.com/Tutorials/Leash/Leash.html also if you do a search on the braiding forum the biker get back whips have been discussed befor and there is a tutorial video on doing this type of braid, just found the link http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=31990. I found a few pictures that show the finish at the end is a wrap. Whoops it looks like the same tutorial.

I do not have a diffinative answer for you either however I think what was being said is not that we don't want you to ask the questions it's just that it might be days before the right person sees your question and you would get answers with in minutes through google. One other place that you might ask your question on the leathershop forum on cascity.com there are several on there that tan hides, also the muzzleloadingforum.com there are several there also that tan hydes. A few things i do know be careful handling something that has been soaked in formaldehyde many people have a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It can cause dermitits also prolonged exposure can cause other helath effects. How long has the skin been pickled in the formaldehyde, is it just the skin or the whole snake?

Dwight, the holster is pictured in post #12 of this thread.