Ferg

Welcome to the site. I am sure you are not the only one wishing to have plain leather on your product. Personally I go in the middle, I am not real fond of the entire piece tooled but I do like some tooling. Look around in the archives, you will probably see many pieces you like. ferg

Holly, I have the Al Stohlman book mentioned below. It has lots and lots of Oak leaf patterns, certainly they could find something they like in this book. ferg

I have been making a notebook cover. Hand stitching of course. Due to the length and width of the piece it is impossible to place it in my "normal" size stitching horse. Considered revamping the small horse but decided to build an entire new one. It is 28" high with the clamp length of 19". I used a piece of 3/4" plywood for the bottom making it long enough so when sitting in a comfortable chair I can place my feet on the end towards me. First image is the side towards me. I used two "quick" clamps, fastened them with a screw so they stay put. Second image is the back side. I can hold the leather piece I am working on in my hand while reaching around the side to tighten the clamp. Works like a charm. Changing clamps isn't a problem since I only need to do it one time when sewing the long side of the cover. I used lumber I had in the shop. No finish and no sanding, strictly utility. If anyone is interested in building one let me know.

Now that is my kind of Workmanship. You done a fabulous job with this. Question? Did you make the leather look like silver or is that just the photography ferg

I will certainly keep you in mind, Thanks. ferg

Chris, I realized there were other companies available. I was simply offering info on small pieces at a reasonable cost. ferg

For those of you that would like to use Stainless Steel bar stock for making your own tools here is a URL for a company that has no minimum. You can buy a 12" piece if you like. They also have explanations of each type. https://www.onlinemetals.com/index.cfm ferg

Yes. ferg

I have Lonnie's catalog for Hackbarth tools. This basket tool is in the catalog. Seventy five bucks unless Lonnie has updated the pricing. ferg

I am sure your friend is looking upon you and knows he had a great friend. Thanks for sharing. Your items are very nice. ferg

Hi John, My wife and I have had a business for 34 years making wooden items for children. We do no retail, everything is wholesale. In these years we have been copied from on the other side down to the exact color of paint. We quit making anything they can copy. We have become the largest manufacturer of wooden Name Puzzles in the world. We work many long hours when other folks are having fun or going to ball games. We stay competitive because we have the best SERVICE, notice, I shouted that word. Always remember that word and never let your business get so you do not service your customers. BTW: We make any child's name through nine letters, sell it for an average $6.20. The companies we do business with resell them for up to $30.00 each plus shipping and handling. BUT we sell between 15,000 and 20,000 any Christmas Season. May not make you feel better but think about what we get for our product!! ferg

Joel, The stitching "Poneys" like Tandy has are not very handy. The Al Stohlman book on stitching illustrates one with a sit down seat. I made one similar to it, works great, especially since you can sit any way you wish on it. ferg

No, I was referring to the vertical seams. Yes, I realized they were not Welts. ferg

I bought 11 x17 inch vellum at Office Depot (In a tablet form), printed with Epson Ink Jet, works great but I wouldn't try to use it more than once. I simply place several copies of the pattern on one sheet if it will fit. ferg

You can get large marble tiles at Home Depot or Lowe's. I assure you, if you have a nice flat table/bench with a piece of cloth under the tile you will not be disappointed. The price is right. LOL ferg

Have bought several tools from Lonnie, they are very good. While speaking to Lonnie the other day I forgot to suggest he assign numbers to each of the tools on the catalog sheets. Difficult to order without. ferg

There may be a lot of folks on the forum that have never heard of Shell Cordovan. For those: There are two pieces of "Shell" on each horse hide, right over the rump. I bought the Cordovan Shells almost 50 years ago for $10.00 to $15.00 each, they are now right at $150.00 each. You can make one pair of shoes from each shell. You couldn't tool or stamp this but I use to place names in gold leaf on it. One of the most beautiful leathers I have ever had the opportunity to work with. I bought a piece of "Horse Butts" from Siegel this last week. That is a strip from the shell toward the neck and close to the spine. This is vegetable tanned, you can carve it. Anyone had experience with this leather? I attempted to case a small piece but it did not "Take" well. Anyone using it like to give some information on how you cased this? BTW: Seigel is selling these pieces for $13.95. They had a Friday special this last week for $10 I believe. They are moving and trying to unload a bunch of inventory. Don't bother to send them an e-mail, they don't acknowledge them. ferg

I only just recently ordered from SLC. Received two beautiful pieces of 6/7 oz Double shoulder. I told them since it was my first order with them I wanted to be impressed with the quality. Cannot say how it tools yet. I clipped a "leg" corner to practice with, it was okay, will reserve my thoughts until more has been done. I ordered leather from Tandy for years, never anything much other than "Live Oak". Loved working with that leather. They don't have it anymore. ferg

Thanks for the comments folks. Glad you enjoyed perusing the piece. Our family business will gear up shortly for Christmas Rush, the leather work will be put back in the chest until after first of the year 2011. Have several things in mind to do along with the "Honey Do's" I have promised. ferg

Thirty plus years ago I put my chest of tools, boxes of patterns, Al Stohlman and Ken Griffin books in the storage closet and other than practicing some machine and hand sewing I have done very little leather work. Until the bug bit me again about two or three weeks ago. All the years I spent working with leather were fun times, mostly because I didn't have the pressure of making a living with it. In those thirty plus years I built some furniture with leather inlays and never got completely away from the "Gotcha" smell and feel of fine leather. I took the following work from a "Dover" book of flower images. Was not intended for carved leather, I had no carving pattern to follow, I just winged it. The piece was carved on a piece of leather I had cut 40 years ago for a Christmas scene that just got put on the back burner. I am halfway pleased with it. Mostly since my hands have some of that old "Arthur" creeping into the joints, I cannot handle the knife and tools real well anymore. I'm working on that Never done a lot of free hand molding with the molding tools until this piece. Just played around with some things. You will notice that I done different actions on some of the same type pieces. I could probably point out a lot of mistakes and whatever else. Two coats of NeatsFoot Oil, allowed to dry 48 hours. Two coats of "Neat-Lac" , my last can. Thought about using a dark antique stain, decided not to. Leather is 8 oz. and measures 11" x 13". Thanks for visiting an old man's playground. ferg

Access this URL: http://apps.webcreat...ProductID=17816 No Minimum. They are located in Brooklyn, NY ferg

Since there doesn't appear to be any Live Oak anymore I would assume the Royal Meadow has taken it's place. Haven't tried any yet, sorry. ferg

+1 To the other suggestions. I have another. When you get a domain make sure you have meta words and names if applicable. Everyone should take note when building a website. If you use the same word more than three times in your Meta Text, the Robots will pass you by. The first nine words (average) on your main page is what the robots read. Then they check to see if you have any Links to other sites. That has another quirk, You need to ask, and hopefully get folks that own the sites you linked to, to reciprocate, the robots check that also. All the search engine lists etc. are for the most part hogwash. Save your money for tools. If you follow the main rules your site will get listed in the top 10 or so in three months minimum. Improve your site at least once per week. If there are no improvements, the robots will ignore your site therefore placing it further down the list when someone is searching. Your product looks nice although limited for a full line. BTW: I think your product pricing is too low, you aren't making any money. I forgot to mention, you should make your photos on your web site about 3 1/2 to 4 inches in height and 4 to 6 inches wide if applicable. Photos should be 72 pixels per inch. If you include thumb prints make them about 120 X 120 pixels. ferg