Ferg

I wrote the previous version of this on the 17th pf April. On the 20th I discovered Godaddy had deleted my entire web site for the Leather. I had discovered the day before, they had charged me $450+ for Top Tier SSL for the two sites. When they deleted that coverage, they also deleted the entire site as I said. Told them I wanted a refund of that $450, they wouldn't give it to me, would give Company Credit towards other product from them. Decided to use the credit to extend some of the coverage for more years. Evidently ticked them off! Imagine that. I sent an e-mail to my previous "agent", didn't answer me. I waited 24 hours and made contact again. Still didn't have my site back. Actually, they wanted to charge me $150 to restore it. Won't say what I replied to that. No site. I wrote again saying that I would make them a deal. Get my activations back on line with the correct settings etc. and I would rewrite the site myself. No answer. I got on the Chat again. (I am essentially deaf so I cannot communicate on the phone even with my hearing aids) Asked for my previous agent, mysteriously he wasn't in the office. My account was all screwed up. Wrong settings etc on the wrong site. One and half hours later, I had the sites reactivated. Monday or Tuesday of this week I finally finished the leather site enough to get it back on line. Search engines I had connected to weren't active now because the site had been de-activated. That will start all over again. Some of the items I had written are gone from my brain, may never get them back. Lol Changed some things I hadn't liked before. Discovered a number of things you cannot change from their offerings. The Info Bar at the top of the page can only be changed to either a very small Logo or the name of the site. Everything else is controlled by what you do in other areas of the site which makes sense if you don't know enough to do that yourself. They actually asked me for a recommendation. Ferg "fergsleatheronline.com"

Well, I wish you were closer to Ohio. I use a wide belt sander in our woodshop. If you want to load them in a pickup or trailer and get them here. You and I could do them pretty quick. Cost would be $20 per hour. Ferg

Keep your finger nails cut very short. Ferg

Obviously I done this for the 1776 celebration. I was prepared several years ago to put it in the trash bin. Kept thinking about it and decided to keep it around although we don't have it displayed anymore. Thought folks might like to view it. Ferg

We moved our wood shop from 10,000 sq.ft. to 5,000 sq. ft. and finally downsized to about 1300 sq. ft. We built the shop onto our log home. It has three sides open to the weather plus a little. Ceilings are 12 feet because I wanted to be able to turn a 4 x 8 sheet of material end over end if need be. Fluorescent lighting, used kerosene space heater for several years. Finally hung an electric heater on the ceiling just out from the wall exposed to the North, with 8 x 10 overhead door and service door to outside. Can't remember what the BTU is on the heater but it required a 30 Amp Breaker. When below 40 degrees we turn the heater on the night before we are going to work in the shop. I have thermostat set at 55 degrees. Chilly when you first begin working. Large air compressor and Vacuum pump helps heat. When really cold, below 30 degrees, and windy the electric bill climbs pretty fast. At my age I can take the bill to be reasonably comfortable plus that heater stabilizes the moisture in stored material. If I had my leather shop out there, it would be way too cold. Shop has 8" logs on a portion of it with remainder having 2 x 6 fully insulated walls with six inch batts in the ceiling. Shop is drywalled, no windows and we don't air condition in summer. Not practical. We use fans and open the overhead and service door, also have a small spray booth with a 24" exhaust fan we turn on in summer. BTW: My leather shop is on second floor of home with heat and air with a carpeted floor, two large and two small windows. ALSO: Shop has never dropped below 40 degrees with no heat turned on. We have temps in the teens to twenties in the winter. Ferg

Thank you, I always done either lacing or hand stitching until my fingers and hands met Mr. "Arthritis". That will make you begin to save pennies for the first machine, then another, then another.... You get the idea. Lol Ferg

I am curious about the bottom of your bag. Did you simply leave it the thickness of your leather or did you place a "hard" material inside the bag for a flat bottom? Noticed you stitched the bottom ends from the outside, hand stitched? I have an idea manufacturers of great numbers of these have a "Post Bed" machine to sew the bottom from the inside of the bag. I would be interested in any and all ideas as to how folks are handling the bottoms of these. BTW: Take a look at some of "Moore & Giles" Tote Bags. Ferg

I have finished my new website for selling a few leather items plus I done another site for our main business at the same time. I used GoDaddy. Dug deeply into the five most highly regarded Hosting, Domain Regstrars, Site building companies on the Net. After much fussing and fuming I decided to use GoDaddy. It wasn't easy. These companies have one thing in mind, make money. I have no problem with that as I like to do that also. My problem with them is how they approach getting it. There are hundreds of little traps in the programs to either convince you that you must have so-and-so or they require you to "sign Up" for trials that will automatically Renew unless you figure a way to get out of them. Approach these with extreme caution. If you are not at least an Intermediate User of a computer, have someone else do the site for you. If you are adept at writing the different nuances of WebSite Code, by all means use an editor and a program you like, don't go this route. I have written several sites with code. It has been several years since I done it and quite honestly, I simply did not wish to refresh my memory and dive into it again. Secondly. This is not cheap. I have Hosting for my two sites, Top Level SSL with McAfee, GD holds the Domains, I have WebSite Builder with Online Store for both. I can change/edit anything I wish at any time. Use my photos or theirs, redo their suggested layouts, etc. they will give you a dedicated e-mail Free for one year, you pay for after that. I can set up Search Engines from my sites, we will see how much good that does. I never pay for Search. I have done it myself for years after finding the money spent with most done absolutely nothing. When I learned how to do it with Meta Words etc. I was consistently within the first ten to twenty sites listed. If you are beyond that you will get very few "Clicks". Which BTW, you can buy from the "Slicks". They amount to absolutely nothing in my opinion. They can make your site have "Hits" if it rains. What it boils down to? You must have something to sell that is either unique or better than what is available and at a price at which you can afford to manufacture plus offer impeccable service. If they say a Swivel Knife cut is out of alignment and you know it isn't, you replace the item and ask for the item to be returned to you in original condition and in the original packaging. Then you send a new item with a smile. Price: !!!!!!!! For the two sites I just finished enough to put them On-Line, I have between $800 and $1000 invested. That breaks down to parts being for one year, some two years. I may never sell enough leather items to cover the cost of that page, I know that. The Puzzle Site will pay for both of them in one year. It is established and we have had that business for forty years. I am not advertising for anyone nor trying to sell to any of you. I sincerely hope my experience will help some of you that are riding the fence to make a decision. "fergsleatheronline.com" "namepuzzles4kids.com" Good Luck! Ferg

Well, you done a nice job on the belts. What is the material you have on the backside? You may have a problem with those not being sewn on the edges. Ferg

As thin as you can make it and still retain the strength of the leather Ferg

I am sorry. I forgot to post that the stamps have been sold. Ferg

Chain, Tried to place situations close together until I get a feel for what I really want it to look like. There will be several pages that is for sure. I am also rewriting another business page of ours. Transferring Domains etc. Ferg

Fine looking group. That photo of my brothers and I was actually taken five years ago. When you get into our age group five years makes a lot of difference although, my next younger brother and I look ten years younger the other two. LOL

Mutt, Two very good suggestions. I wrote that description before I decided to include a blog. I worked and argued with Web software folks so much this week I didn't finish some of my editing today. Paragraphs: That isn't the way I laid it out. Not sure what is going to happen with that piece. I am dismayed by the lack of basic writing, reading, understanding, knowing our history, etc. of so many folks these days. When I write something I try to use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Thanks for your comments. They are well taken. And, Thank you to those who have visited my post. Ferg

It actually has the best themes etc. Chat is better than most. Oh, I'm sorry, you asked about the software didn't you? One of the most aggravating things I have ever decided to do. I fought with them for three days. Went looking for another, they were just as bad if not worse so I returned to GODADDY. Will probably start fighting again since they don't have any note whatsoever saying I paid for the blasted thing. Ferg

I have been doing leather so long it seems I would be better at it than I feel I am. In the Autumn of my years I try to be better than when I was young. Having one or two other full time businesses to handle restricts the time to practice and "Fiddle" with whatever I doggone well want to do. We decided to do a Web Site. Actually, I have so much leather in the closet that I need to get rid of,,,,,,seems maybe I could sell a few things. I have THREE ITEMS in the inventory at this moment. I have been fighting and fussing with people from a half dozen companies who supposedly have the easiest and most comprehensive software to build a site in "ten minutes" !!!!!! Yay Have done a number of Web Pages for us and other folks. I wrote the code for those. Decided I would do it the easy way. What a joke! All of them have their sites written so you can get hooked into a hundred things you don't want nor need if you don't watch very carefully. I can do a fairly decent job of photography, don't have much equipment to make that better and don't intend to buy any more. My wife almost fainted when I bought two cameras that exceeded $1000 each, you can imagine what she said when I ordered a lens that cost twice what the camera cost. I am working on photos of some of the items I have made to get them onto the site. The couple Vintage Items I have on the site have interiors I bought at least 50 years ago. I dug them out of a drawer full of "stuff". They were in their original plastic bags with the Tandy tags on them. Take a look and don't be too hard on me, I am OLD! LOL "fergsleatheronline.com" Ferg

Ryan, It is good you started this thread. I love to read what others have done and become. This is normally a very humble craft. Reading through some of the old "How-To" books will jerk us back to what folks have become. You keep up the good work. I can tell you have been raised "right" and know at least some of what you want in life. Ferg

I certainly don't have any photos of my first attempts since they were sixty four years ago. I was in the Navy and stationed in Key West, Florida. Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron HS-1. Made wallets and purses for members of our squadron and others on the base. I got $5.00 each for the wallets. My brothers still have theirs I made for them. Tandy store in Miami told me one time, "You pay our rent every month, don't stop!" That was a long time ago and I am still working with Leather. Ferg

Very Nice! I like to see young "Whipper-Snappers" doing great leather work. BTW: A number of years ago we made Black Walnut cases for a company who made Pens and Pencils. I kept one set for myself, haven't been able to find them in years. LOL Ferg

Beautiful work. Take physical photos and put them in a safe deposit box.Your grandkids won't believe it 10 years down the road. LOL Ferg

Said better than I. KingsCountyLeath Ferg

Well, you ask what we think. I think you need to do a lot of internal training before you try to teach someone to make the afore said "Card Holder". It is good that you are working on the craft. Your expertise simply isn't there yet. Don't wish to hear from anyone thinking I am "Mean". No one will ever learn if they aren't criticized as well as praised for their work. Ferg

First off: I have absolutely no connection with the company in the address I am going to give you. This is an excellent article for just what you are wanting to know. https://www.sailrite.com/Selecting-the-Right-Thread-Material Ferg

My guess under the circumstances would be $1000 to $1200. Depends a lot on what you may be including with it. Ferg