Tallbald

Up to last week, I had always ordered hides with the belly cut away before shipping. I am trying a new hide supplier though, and what it amounts to is this: the cost to cut away the belly on a per foot basis cancels out any savings I would see by not paying for the belly leather in the first place. The hide is to be holstered so maybe that will affect the usefulness of the belly leather, but I don;'t know much about belly leather except that it isn't good for my holsters of belts. Can belly hide be used for small purses, pouches and cases? I have I expect 5-6 square feet of belly coming. I'd appreciate suggestions. Thanks. Don.

I love making full flap holsters. I often use stud closures with a punched and slit hole in a leather tab for the stud, but I've also seen used a metal device that appears to snap over the steel stud to secure the flap tab to the stud. What are these called and where could I buy them please? Thanks. Don

HAHAHAHAHA!

Thank you everyone! Use what I came up with any way you can to improve your life working at the craft we love. Geoff the tightening mechanisms are simply T-nuts from most any hardware store or home improvement center. I used long bolts, but as a member here pointed out you can use threaded rod cut to length too. This vise has sure made my belt crafting less painful, and much faster for me. I burnish on a drill press with a rotary burnisher head I made, so I'm unsure how the vise would work. Best to everyone. Don.

This is what happens when I don't realize there's a teeney weeney hole in my disposable nitrile glove when I'm dying a custom belt. Picture perfect stopped at my wedding band. LOL oh well it'll wear off in time...Don.

Thank you all for the comments and opinions. Just yesterday I told a customer who had asked to meet with me at our visit it would be a week before I could begin his order as I have five ahead of him (custom belts in both cases). That was a first for me. He said he understood and that my work was well worth waiting for, as he had looked for a long time to find belts of the construction and quality of mine. I don't want to expand because I have owned two successful small businesses in my life and there's too much demand on me physically at my age to get bigger again. I have a spinal injury that limits me to few hours in the hobby room, but I truly enjoy the leather art I craft. I don't want to give away the work. It's good for me. I have chosen the waiting list approach for now. Costs for my materials have risen and starting in 2016 I will likely have to raise my prices accordingly. Thanks so much. Don

Thank you. My trouble is this. I glue laminate two layers together for a belt blank. Although I am careful, and use an acid brush to spread the glue thinly on inner side of both halves, glue still at some spots may run over the edge a tiny and a bit down onto the wax paper I protect my bench with. It can creep onto the smooth face underneath at the edge. I won't see this until I lift blanks up to join the glued faces. When I find the bit of glue, I have tried 1) wiping it away while still wet with an alcohol wetted pad and 2) letting it dry and scraping it off with a fingernail then a knife edge, Stains and dyes still resist at this area. I was hoping to learn a better way to remove the glue remnant that accidentally wept on my show surface. I have a good, efficient and material-saving method for crafting my belts and keeping prices affordable. I don't want to revamp my crafting sequence at this point, but rather hope to learn a different technique for glue spot removal. Just like a leather picture carver might need to remove a glue spot from an almost-finished project. Thanks. Don

When cementing belt blanks and such. despite my best efforts I occasionally get a little ooze that gets on the surface that shows. To date I've hit it with an alcohol soaked cloth and rubbed it out. Dye still though soaks in at a different rate at that spot. Any suggestions for a different approach? Thanks as always. Don.

I actually have a training history as a production machinist in a large shipyard, making multiples of 100 parts for ships. I have, for 35 years applied the philosophy to some aspects of my works. I understand the general admonitions. In my personal leather art, I can cut multiples of straps, laminate them and have them cured and on hand to immediately begin crafting a belt when the check (payment) arrives, gaining at least 24 hours in the process. Come 2016 I will have to raise my prices a bit because of escalating material costs I understand are coming. I might lose some customer base, but I cannot afford to lose money in my sold projects, or I will be essentially trading money dollar for dollar on what I sell. And my art is not some social program. I must profit or there is no motivation for me. A recurring theme in the responses I see is that I do need to raise my prices. I am thinking that the reason is that raising prices will help separate the wheat from the chafe, identifying those willing to pay a premium for true custom, handcrafted belts rather than lesser monies for "factory" made items of less quality.....Don

Please understand everyone I am so very grateful for the orders. My wife and I use our hobbies to help supplement our fixed income, pay bills, etc. But along with happiness for the business, I worry that my thus good reputation could be marred should I accept orders I cannot fill. I want to avoid getting into such a situation. I do like the suggestion of a waiting list arrangement. Don

I hadn't thought about raising prices. Early on though, I did decide that I would not try to be "everything to everyone" while agreeing to craft any request that was made. I stick to heavy, laminated and sewn belts, with a cap and ball revolver holster made during slower periods. Over the weekend I received orders for six belts, and my time this week will be fully spent on them. At some point I will have met the needs of all at the one site, and things shall slow down to a trickle. Thus my perceived need for a website, as well as my wanting to make ordering easy for future possible customers. I appreciate the answers and food for thought. Don.

I'm currently receiving as many orders as I can handle from one advertising source. That could wind down though and I've been encouraged to start having a website but fear that too many orders for me to keep up could result. I work alone and have to continue doing so, but how do you address your limits if potential customers want more of your artwork than you can supply? Contrary to some opinions, I feel it is not a "good problem to have". I refuse to sacrifice my high quality standards and "cut corners" to save time as some other areas of commerce historically have done.Thanks. Don.

I too use Fiebing's black oil dye. I cut it 50/50 with denatured alcohol, dip several seconds one or more times (to get the depth of color I want) and let dry overnight indoors. The conditioner over dry, dyed leather helps the pigments I believe carry farther into the leather. Actually after the Lexol is put on over the un-rubbed dyed leather it takes less (but still a lot) of rubbing. I'm dip dying too Dwight. Fast and even coating on my belts and straps. Belts get hung to air dry fully, and holster pieces lay flat on birch plywood indoors. The concern I have with 'roon is first the concern of damaging finely blued gun metal, despite a baking soda neutralization wash. Second, the vinegar smell dissipates over time, but remains longer than I like. I still love 'roon for personal items but it does not suit my needs making custom items larger than keychains. Just my needs please understand. Don.

I began leather crafting using vinegaroon for black coloring several years ago. The extra neutralization step of a baking soda slurry wasn't an issue for me until family started saying some of my projects still smelled like a pickle. Anyway, I too have transitioned to solvent based dyes, specifically black, brown and mahogany. Great dyes that give me nice even results using the dip-dye method.Except for a few traditional projects I don't want to return to 'roon full time. I conditioner treat my projects after dying, and before rubbing out, to help pigments sink deeper into the leather. Then I rub the projects out. Mahogany? Fine --a bit of terry cloth scrubbing. Same with brown. But get to black, and it's a very time consuming task that has to be repeated to remove any trace of ruboff. Is there a technique I can change to to reduce rub time or is it the nature of the black color? Thanks. Don.

Haven't visited in a day or so. I've been busy working on ordered belts. If it's useful, I'll say I used 32 inch lengths of steel bed frame rail because I had it on hand. The base is just 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood Penny and I pulled from a dumpster where an office was being remodeled. Come to think of it, the rails were pulled out of other folks trash at the curb too, long ago. 5/16-18 carriage bolts 5 inches long were used for the clamping screws, and threaded T-nuts, available at home and hardware stores, were tapped into the end of a through-drilled clearance hole in the hardwood blocks. I drilled round scrap wood through for the 5/16 inch diameter threaded portion of the carriage bolts, and then drilled a deep clearance hole big enough for the bolt head, leaving 1/2 inch of material at the bottom of the hole for the bolt head. I epoxied the heads down in the "handles". I did have to make some thin spacers to lift a narrow belt up above the rail "jaws", but 1 3/4 inch wide belts need no lift. Scrap leather was glued with weldwood to the inner faces of the rail "jaws". Straight hard wood could be used in place of steel rails and the whole affair would be lighter weight. I have found that little clamping pressure is needed to restrain a belt I'm working on by hand,. probably due to the large jaw contact area and the friction of leather padding to leather belt. And again, I hope the idea is helpful to others. I've had to work making adaptive fixtures and tools for myself because of my physical issues. Thanks . Don.

Dikman I appreciate your kindness. I only hope that the vise and also the modified arbor press I made and shared here some time ago help folks with disabilities like mine to keep doing what they love or need to do. Don

Not much interest in my post, but I'll say this. I got to use my vise tonight on a real project for the first time and it has reduced the discomfort a LOT for me. It also sped the edge sanding process up to less than 5 or so minutes an edge on a 48 inch belt I'm making. I'm SO very happy I took the time to figure out and make this vise. Unbelievable improvement for me over what I had been having to fight to hand sand. Just wow. Don.

Thank you so much. I hadn't thought about the hand stitching possibilities. I had to give up hand stitching due to the arthritis, and splurged on a beautiful Cowboy 3500 from Bob at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine. I just hope that what I did for my self helps other arthritis or disability sufferers. Don.

Hi everyone. I have arthritis in my spine, hands etc. and holding down my belts with one hand while edging and sanding the belts hurts. And I can't do it but a few moments at a time. I designed and made an inexpensive vise to hold my belts for these operations while I create my belts and strap goods. Here are a few snapshots of the clamping detail, and a link to my Youtube channel video. I hope this helps give others with some issues a little food for thought. Thanks for looking. Don Sterchi.

Traditional and modern crafters both have wonderful skills I admire. I couldn't create the beautiful painted ear rings of leather that some of the crafters we saw made. "Traditional" leather crafters are to me us folks making belts, belt packs, dyed and finished but not painted items. Hey. We are all crafters. I'm just trying to break areas of concentration down into specific genres. I simply saw very few folks making belts, belt packs, dyed and finished but not painted items. I had hoped to network with others of similar interests. Don.

My loving wife and I attended two large craft shows last weekend. One, the largest, was in a convention center, while the other was under a circus-sized tent Both indoors, they were well planned and laid out. And very well attended by a variety of talented craftspeople in many media and receptive audience. I was saddened though that I saw a very few traditional leather crafters creating as I do, belts, holsters, and personal accessories. There were stunningly beautiful painted leather flowers and jewelry my wife and I admired. I did get to talk with the one seen, wonderfully talented traditional leather crafter who I shared thoughts with for several minutes. We agreed that inexpensive, mass produced imported leather accessories seem to appeal to newer generations now. Unlike my laminated belts, his were single layer but of obvious high quality that appeal to concealed carrier types, and stylish renditions for those with an eye for high quality fashion. We both use USA leather, solid brass, nickeled brass and stainless hardware. Quality at an affordable price are his and my goal both. It's just seeming to me that us traditional leather crafters are sort of minimally represented in the arts and craft community. Am I missing something? Don.

My wife and I had a good craft show this past Saturday. We shared a 10X10 booth, mostly dedicated to display and sales of Penny's hand made costume jewelry. I'm so happy she did well because we are a true bonded couple and her joy is also my joy. I say publicly and sincerely that I am grateful to our Creator for bringing Penny and me together many years ago. My leather only requires a little space in our booth, and belts hang from a display rack I made on the shelter frame. Anyway, the dozen belts I had on display were well received by many, but didn't fit the folks who tried them on. The thickness, finish and quality of construction were noted and I received many compliments. Mathematically, it would be difficult for me to have in each size, one belt of each color/thread/buckle material/ embossing specifications etc I create so I must take orders. Reviewing the show, I believe that it would be a good "call to action" and a convenience to potential customers if I have made up in advance perhaps a dozen pre-addressed (but not stamped) business size envelopes containing the following: 1) A description of what goes into each belt's construction, and which points out special things about my art. 2) A simple but thorough one page order form to fill out, with a note to please make a copy for themselves before sending it to me. 3) One of my cards. I think I can make them up for under 25 cents each, and I would only offer them to folks who showed a serious interest in buying one of my belts. If others have done this at shows, could you please offer thoughts and suggestions to me on this approach? As always, thank you for your time. Don

Extremely handsome work ! A beautiful gun and equally beautiful execution in leather! Don.

I too had to switch to an arbor press I modified because of arthritic and injury. I made an adjustable fence for mine too that lets me concentrate on side to side spacing instead of having to dwell on other spacing directions. I drilled and tapped a screw hole 1/4-20 (in this photo the thumb screw is substituted for a bolt holding in the drill bracket for back when I could hand stitch) for a thumb screw retainer to secure the stamp. And made a spring/leather strap return mechanism to help raise the ram after each stroke. Don

Maybe this is old news to folks here. I have a dozen belts that I have to take to art and craft shows. I don't want them banged up. On a whim last show, I put them in a soft full length zippered rifle case. Easy to carry with the handles, padded and this time of year they can be had cheaply many places. Gander Mountain last year had Allen brand soft cases on a promotional sale before hunting season for ten dollars. I can't make them from scratch for that! They also come in several lengths. For non-shooters, know that the shotgun cases are usually a little thinner and longer to accommodate shotgun barrels. And a caution. The world is full of scumbags that would gladly break into a vehicle if they saw a rifle case and they thought they could steal a firearm, so I cover them up to keep them from prying eyes. Don