BIGGUNDOCTOR

I met this lady at a local art festival, and thought some of you might like to see it too. She sews leather onto a backing, and frames them like pictures. I saw a couple sell while I was talkingto her, and she had lots of interest in her designs. www.Dawnmountainleatherart.com is her website.

Probably find some other uses over in the adult section =)

It really depends on the band saw blade. Some are all tool steel (carbon steel, high speed steel, etc), others are bi-metal blades that have a soft back and a hard cutting edge. Then it depends on how wide, and thick the blade is, and what you may want to make with it. My blacksmithing forum members uses it to make billets of pattern welded steel for bigger projects.

I have a leather Kepi, and it is too hot to wear in the summer months here in NV. The bill actually gets soft, and droops down when it is 100+ outside.They must have used an oil tanned leather for the bill. Sweat soaked leather isn't a comfortable item either. The front eventually rotted after 30+ years of sweat, and elements attacking it. When I repair the front sweat band area, it will have a cloth insert that can be removed.

Cover some chairs?

This subject was covered in my blacksmithing forum Iforgeiron.com . Time, and materials are easy to figure, what isn't is the perceived value. This is the value that the customer feels it is worth, and really comes into play with artistic items. Then there is the Walmart affect which sounds like " Why is that ( hand thrown custom glazed ) ceramic mug $30? I can get one at Walmart for 99 cents." Some people just don't realize, or appreciate craftsmanship. Personally I hate time and material quotes, and preferred giving a set price with a possible 10% overrun when I had my machine shop. From a buyer's point I also don't like them, as I like to know what my final cost is for budgeting. This will also help to avoid starting a custom item that the customer may say later is now too expensive for them. Now what do you do? Set a price, stick to it. If you missed it, learn from it, and move on. BTW I NEVER charged enough when I had my shop. Example; when I worked at the Jelly Belly Candy Company as a mechanic I was asked by the purchasing agent how much I would have charged to make an item they just got in. I looked at the simple aluminum plate, and asked "how many?" 20. "OK after setting up it would take less than 1 hour each to make with minimal material cost, I would have a hard time telling you $100,and it probably would have been closer to $60 ea." Then he tells me that they paid $300 each, and it was less than the OEM wanted. So I was willing to quote $1,200 on a job that someone else got paid $6,000. I charged for my time , and materials. Someone else got the perceived value on top of that. Another method is described in one of my gunsmith kinks book. Say a guy wants a recoil pad installed. Watch his face and start by saying that will be $25 for the pad, no reaction, $10 for disassembly, and reassembly, no reaction, $40 for refinishing the stock, see a twitch - stop there, as you have reached his pain level for price. Some will be lower, some will be higher. It is the sliding scale of pricing and perceived value. Some folks are leery if you don't charge enough, as they believe $$$$ = quality. I agree that you need to let your customer know that their price is not what you will be charging others, so please do not quote that to others who are interested in getting one made.

Look up vegan leather, leather that has been made from naturally deceased bovines. There is an extensive thread on this from last year. One of the suppliers was carrying it, and may still have some available. Hope this helps.

You may want to take a look over at iforgeiron.com there are some guys there that are SCA armor makers. I would lean towards lead shot, you can get reclaimed from some trap / skeet ranges for less than new. Most ranges are mining the lead now for scrap. Lead will provide more resistance to the blows, and is not as abrasive as sand is to the leather bag. Don't worry about a funnel, as you shouldn''t need to refill any time soon.

How about no filler, and just taper the sides down on the back side? That is what I was planning to do myself for a dress belt.

It may help quite a bit, if you could post a picture, or a link to the one you want. I know some blacksmiths through my smithing forum that could make custom hoof picks.

A summer camp I worked at had some mail bags donated to my handicrafts area. Most were pretty well worn out, and had holes, or dry rot. Those got cut up,and the good parts used for projects. I used the good ones for storing paperwork, and other items in my area, and they allowed me to keep one for myself. Hmmm, I may have 2 stashed away, I will have to check.

Thin leather will shrink, and wrinkle, when heated in this way. Do you have a burner with a heat adjustment on it? If so, you can dial the temp down to alleviate some of the wrinkling. Having the leather temporarily mounted will help too. There are some 3M adhesive products out that should work for this.

Welcome to LW. What part of CA? I am originally from Fairfield.

I try to avoid use Ebay, and PayPal due to their anti gun policies. Why use them at all when you can sell them here? There have been a few people looking for the A.S. Leather Case books recently.

Nice job, I really like the overall look of the piece.

CL is free, and I have bought and sold a lot of nonleather stuff on it, other than buying leather, and tools off of it. I try not to use Epay, nor Paypal due to their anti firearm policies. And if you don't know, Epay owns Paypal. It does work for some, and my old business partner has an Epay store for motorcycle parts, and accessories. Even with the fees, around 30%, he says it is still less expensive than operating a brick and mortar store; rent ,utilities, etc

Have you tried Sno-Seal? It is a beeswax based snowproofing for boots. I have used it for years on my hiking boots.

Look for a product called Sno-Seal. It is beeswax based, and is excellent for water, and snow proofing leather. Yep, there is a difference, you can have boots that are waterproof, but not snow proof due to the snow not having any surface tension like water has.

I can relate. It is the same with my blacksmithing forum - iforgeiron.com Lots of good info, and friendly people in the forums. Instead of dealing with a move though, I need to change my career so that I can have time too do my hobbies. 8.5+ hrs at work added to 4 hrs commuting back n forth to a location that isn't conducive to social activities doesn't leave me a lot of ME time. I end up spending my weekends doing the things I can't get done during the week. Forums like LW, and IFI allow me to at least be somewhat engaged with my creative side.

Depends on where it is, and why you are moving it. Are you moving it across town, or across the shop? 1,500# isn't that heavy by my standards - my big welders are 1,000#, and my big lathe is 7,000# which I have moved by hand with pinch bars and rollers. Pictures would also help determine the best way to move. Some equipment has holes, or hooks built in for moving. A chain, or sling is used on the hooks, or the bars that are passed through the holes. If you can get it onto a sturdy pallet, a pallet jack will make short work of moving it across a shop. Without better info from you, we are all just speculating, and tossing answers at you. If you have not moved something like this before, find someone who has IE; a friend, or hire someone. Things can get ugly real fast if you make a blunder moving this. I have been moving machine shop equipment, and other heavy awkward items for around 30 years now, so it just kind of comes second nature to me as to how. I have seen machines dumped over due to improper rigging after an auction when folks get in a rush. Luckily I have only seen slight injuries as a result, but they could have been injured far worse.

Search the forums more. There is a member here who does Delrin stamps who may be able to do these for you. IIRC it wa Studio-N ?s

How fast do you need it? I believe that I have the pattern of my Mom's bag that she made in the 50's. It is a little different than todays Tandy kit. I will need to dig deep to find it, if I have it, which I really do believe that I do. I can see about scanning it, or copying it, and mailing it to you. This may take some time,as work keeps me really busy, and I have been spending my weekends in Fabulous Las Vegas NV in order to socialize with humans. Preferably female ones.

I have some of these that my Mom made back in the 50's or early 60's. The swivel is made from a couple of triangular leather pieces that have been sewn together, and have3 holes in them for each of the legs to pass through. They are kept in place by tiny brass brads, one into each leg through the leather.. The seat has a pocket in each corner that the tapered leg fits into. A very simple design.

Which knife making books do you have, and how do I find your listings on Amazon? Do you have a link?

I was thinking that if you rolled out a sheet of polymer clay the size of the panel you could do a realistic mock up which could be easily changed. No hammering, or casing, just push into the clay, so it should go quick. Any thoughts on doing a little pyrography on it? With different tips on the woodburner you could do some cool stuff tattoo wise. I have thought of doing some tooled pieces for my Dodge 1 ton, but the summers here are brutal. Besides drying the leather out, I don't need fried thighs when I jump in the truck. Interior temps can reach 160+ , and I have recorded body panel temps of 177. Here it is February, and it is supposed to reach 75 today.