bluesman1951

I am at a loss for words here .First thats a nice collar nicely done any one with a pet would enjoy having it . Second there appears to be no substitute for "LOCATION,LOCATION, LOCATION . In the end this is all just FISHING ,a product is created the hook is baited and the wait for a customer begins . I know a man on the plaza in Santa Fe who routinely sells nice dog collars for around 60.00 no tooling just a few conchos and nice clean work . I am begining to realise that being here in the art center of the US has its pluses despite the difficult living conditions from time to time . For a quater of a century I have watched the winners and losers in this business come and go here in New Mexico . I can say there is no magic formula for sucess no magic product either . Many have sought financil sucess with this and failed . Some here say they dont wish to manufacture ,but they wish to have money . Thats a dilema because only a very few suceed at producing ART for Art's sake . Good luck and sucess to all . Bill

For wholesale leathers two places www.hidehouse.com Napa Calif .Ask for Jen she is a boss there . R.L. Cox hide and fur Albuquerque New Mexico 505-242-4980 Mike or Ellen got twenty years experience with these folks ,first class experience . They are cheaper than all the others by 2.00 a sq ft on most all leathers . Good Luck Bill

Every day here I am pausing to reflect on how different life is for others . Its easy to quit when things get hard ,then some one comes along and shows us all that quit is simply not a option . The love of the art and personal courage has given you the ability to carry on . Big round of applause for that ! You are correct this bag has some rough spots ,but they are hardly noticed when considering the rustic nature of the bag . My compliments on your courage and your ability to perserve in difficult times . I like your bag its well done and shows a great deal of planning and thinking ahead . That matters to me ,taking time to think a project through . My compliments on your project and a job well done . Thank you for giving me pause to reflect on what matters . I wish you continued happy hours at the bench . Thanks for showing us your fine work and giving us a glimpse into just what courage is . Big round of APPLAUSE here !!!!!!!! Bill

Wow ! Thank you very much for that treat ! Nice way to start my day . Beautiful beyond mere words . Bill

WOW !!!!!!!! Mighty fine !!!!! Superb craftsmanship !!!! I like it !!! Well done . Time well spent ! Bill

Excellant product should sell well . What is your price wholesale and retail ? Looks very well constructed, shelf ready . My compliments on a great idea . .Please let us know how this is recived by the public. Nothing really matters till the customer reaches for their money and says "I want one of those " Bill

Your work is clean ,sharp ,elegant,refined and just plain well done ! Thank you for sharing your work with us . Very Very nice !

I am afraid of nothing but that head knife ,everthing else is routine after this amount of time . Most days things have a harmonious out come on my bench . No longer afraid of prices or budgets ,generaly no matter how huge the mistake there is a way to make art from it . Slow steady and safe ,never work when you are tired if you have a rule dont break it period no matter what . NO BEVERAGES ON THE BENCH EVER !!!!!! NO eating on the bench , Wash your hands ,no greasy finger prints on the leather , if its open it will spill !!!!! beyond that if you dont know dont go ,ask somebody .

Very cool ,first class looking tools . I can assure you that we arent buying anything that nice at our Tandy stores in America . LOL!! Different approach but it gets the job done first class . I was very impressed with the cornors in the first picture neat way to get that job done . That gets a big round of applause from me ! I like your work and your style ,thank you very much for showing us your work and your process. My sincere compliments ,well done . Thanks ! Bill

Hi Thanks for showing us your work ! I am not a tooling person so I can offer no feed back on the tooling . As one artist to another I can appericate the time spent at the bench . I know from the first cut to the last stamp you were showing great care with your project . Nicely done ! My best wishes for much happy time at the bench . Never tried any tooling so I can assure you this work is far better than any attempt I would make . All my best . Thank you for showing us your work . Bill

Very nicely done . Very classy . I like the colour and the stitching/lacing on the edge . Time well spent ! Bill

I like your bag and looked at it for about ten minutes asking myself "What would I do "? With this thick leather you may need to make a wooden form to mold the gusset and curl the edges so it slips in between your front and back pieces ready to go . My experience with the overstitch wheels is the stitches are too close together for awl work thick leather . By hand its tough to keep the depth of penetration and straightness perfect with each stitch using awl. I use a 3/4 inch thick cutting board plastic as backing for all my pricking iron work . The problem appears that with a awl the bag is not addressed at a perfect 90 degree angle each time . This could be solved with a drill press approach then getting the bag to lay flat at the edge and set a stop for puncture depth . You are in Long Beach stop by a machine shop and see if something can be made ,maybe even a special pliers could be made to acomplish this job. I am not sure I would use the stitching groove ,that leather is soft enough that good stitch tension will bring the thread level with the surface or just below it . That gets rid of one issue ,keeping the stitch in the line of the groove . This requires some more thought for sure , Personaly the cost of the thicker leather and the difficulty of working with it would give me serious pause in production of a bag like this .All things considered this bag moves into the "Saddle Back Learther Bags " arena if there was a market for it at 350.00 plus and production was streamlined to the max it might be worth a go . That said ,I really like it ,tough solid all the things a last forever bag needs to survive the test of time . Best wishes for sucess with your project and I would like to see more of your work . Bill

This is nice work ,just fine ! I have been there many times when the edge dye gets away . I offered to myself this advise: Go slower ,burnish more I try and still mine arent perfect . Just saying I know the feeling . These will last ,give good service , and wear well . Nice job ! Dont sweat the small stuff . Bill

There is a big market for this in New Mexico . Are you native ? Nice work

I like this a lot . In fact even though I have a very nice sit down stitching horse ,I would buy one of these if the price was right . As a long time hand stitcher the only down side I see to this is your knob is going to catch a long string a million times. Sewing short stuff wallets and stuff will be a breeze . Send me a private message if you want to sell me one . Well done sir ,nice job . I am interested in one . Bill

Time well spent sir ! First class work !!! Very nice ! I could use a new belt want to be friends ? LOL . Seriosly its very nice and completely well done . I would give it a big round of applause ,no need to worry about fast . Bill

Well done ,My compliments on creating a fine project under difficult conditions . One can see this was made with love and care . Congradulations time well spent . This will give good service and last a long time . Thanks for the story and showing us your work . I enjoyed very much . Bill

Amazing work ! Impressive web site as well ,nicely done ! I really enjoyed the bags . Thanks for showing us this . Bill

My compliments !!! The time spent on this was well used . First class work ! May your projects bring you prosperity . Love to see more of your work . Thank you for showing us this fine work . Good Luck with all that you do . Bill

The only one I know of who can handle this volume is The Hide House in Napa California . www.hidehouse.com ask for Jen Good Luck . Bill

Very nice work ,clean ,efficent extremely appealing ! very markable ! Well done ! Bill

Superb ,craftsmanship ,big round of applause from me !!!! Just plain well done ,time well spent . My compliments sir ,this will last forever and take any thing life has to give . This has all the class and durability of a fine pocket watch ,timeless ! Congradulations ! Bill

I like your work very much .I belive I promised you some pictures of the stitching horse . It is my plan to clear it off and take it out side and shoot a ton of pictures this afternoon. My email is :bluesman1951@hotmail.com I think I have yours but if memory serves me we had a problem the first time . I just sent some patterns off to another member today so today I am using to keep promises . Once I have a sandwhich I am going to take a bunch of pictures and have them ready . One advantage to getting old is :After a certain day no one expects you to do anything fast any more . Hearts willing some days are full of senior moments so please know I am still getting it done . Bill

I am getting more frustrated with this new stuff every day . It dont work this used to be fun now its just ............ Hope all is going well with you . Should I get frustrated and leave my email is :bluesman1951@hotmail.com I would like to stay in touch even if this dont work here . Bill I