Cyberthrasher

I don't have any experience, but I would start by looking at the stuff on making handles since it looks to be pretty much the same technique.

Full strength will tend to streak a lot too. By thinning it you can spread it out more evenly and it will also keep it from curing into a plastic look.

I put Montana Pitch Blend on all my products, and recommend my customers do the same. If you let it sit for quite some time, the oils will soak through the finish and leave the pitch/wax blend on top to protect things even further.

Nope. I charge flat rate of $20 p/h, so if the amount of detail they want takes 10 hours, then it's $200, if it takes 40 hours to get the detail and intricacies right, then it will cost them $800. It's all based on an estimate. I tell them "we're looking at around $240" and then get a 50% down payment to start the work. I'll usually ask people if they have a budget to work with before I start designing their work so that i can design the artwork to fit their ability to pay. This is where KNOWING how long things take you is important. Most of my straps end up in the $200 range and I make sure people know that up front, with an addendum that it could be more or less depending on the artwork. Like Billy, there have been times where I've messed up further into the project than I would like and ended up re-working the entire thing from the beginning. It's amazing how much faster you work when you're redoing a project for free

Test it

I've heard of people using different wood products. I would only try it on piece that's not going to see a lot of flex and movement - like a wall hanger or coaster or something.

COOL!!!

There's a similar conversation going on up above http://leatherworker...showtopic=45505 Basically, to sum up my response, I charge a flat hourly rate that I've decided is fair and comparable to the market value regardless of what the item is. It does good at covering my costs and the value of my time. Usually when people think my prices are high, they end up looking around and realizing that it's actually pretty fair for what they're getting and then they come right back. I mention my time keeping app in that thread. One thing I didn't mention that could help you is the ability to export it and email it as PROOF of how much time you spend on each aspect of the project . I've never had to do that, but I like having the ability to if anybody decides to question my time.

That's why I chose the hourly rate. I find that it covers everything pretty well and most of the serious customers are willing to pay it. It all works out to the standard price you'll find for custom leather work. My wallets usually end up about $160, card wallets about $60 - $80, stamped belts $80, tooled guitar straps $200ish, etc.... As I get faster overall, I'll be able to increase my hourly rate while still keeping the average prices listed here relatively close. Now that I think about it, that really does nothing for my income except give me more time to take more orders

Ooops. I have several of those moments a day. Heck, who knows when you might need some thinner If it helps, I usually see the denatured alcohol in a square can, even at walmart.

Ooops. The one I meant for thinking about the design was actually the swivel knife tutorial he has on his site once you sign up. Sorry about that.

And this is just your second piece???? The only thing I see is that you need a modeling spoon to round off the edges after beveling. But, that's minor when compared to the rest of the work. I love the look of smooth bevelers and how the really make a piece pop and look natural. You're rockin' it man!! For a pebbler, I know some people grab a bit of wooden dowel and hammer the end into the concrete to make a nice tooling pattern in it. I just bought all 3 sizes of pebblers that are available and decided it works well enough for me. Oh yeah, and usually you should go through and make all your cuts and then come back to start the tooling. It's not a hard rule, but once you get used to when you might want to hold off I'd get it all done first. Also, very the depths of your cuts to match the piece as it relates to the 3D depth. I think this is the lesson from Paul Burnett that really opened my eyes on thinking about the piece when cutting and tooling. http://leatherworker...showtopic=19995 If you register here, there are some great free tutorials available. Paul passed away, but his site is still functional with lots of good resources. http://paintingcow.com/content/index.php/publications/free_lesson_sign_up/

WooHoo!! Bout time you get it finished

I usually clean with isopropyl or denatured alcohol. You'll definitely want to start with a diluted mix of 50/50 for your coloring. Lightly oil your piece first and then go over it with 50/50 dye/alcohol (or, if you're color is already 50/50, do 25/75). This will help the leather pull in the color so it actually absorbs better.

I make a lot of templates for guitar straps that are "cut to size" out of simple poster board. I like to make up a template of the guitar strap and make sure everything is laid out perfectly before I start making my stencils.

with a piece like that, I would have left the eyes and nose with no background. Just bevel them down to make the area behind the face look like it's empty. By backgrounding it, you made it look like the front of the skull is sitting there with nothing behind it. It still looks really good, just a bit of advice in thinking about the subject matter and letting it be your guide.

Me Too!! I wouldn't know any of this stuff I'm rambling on about without this forum

Yeah, I usually cover the entire project with my lightest color first. But, this isn't always the best tactic. Sometimes it's just easier to wipe on your dye then it is to brush it. So by wiping it over the whole thing I think there's less chance of any inconsistencies showing through under the black. But, with such small areas, I think you'd be fine either way.

It's Tele-style I posted your facebook post over to some of my blues buddies too. Hopefully one of them have some sweet Tele GAS right now!!

Any of the high-gloss stuff will look more and more satin the more you thin it. I hate that plastic look, but I like the mellow gloss I get with 50/50 resolene. There are examples of it in most of my work here and on my facebook page. It's the main thing I use on my guitar straps and wallets.

yes, for the most part you'll want to start with the beveler. This puts your background into relief and gives the artwork the 3d appearance. As for the books, the one's that Tandy has are still valid so there's no real need to go looking for more. Pick up the figure carving and figure carving finesse books by Stohlman, as well as Peter Main's Australian Leather Carving if you want additional materials that will take you quite a ways. But, you seem to have a pretty good handle on things right now. Keep in mind, most of the learning material out there is geared toward the western toolers, but the concepts and techniques are the same and migrate over to the cool stuff as well

with the color it might have something else mixed in too like Matt was saying. Mine's dark, but it doesn't have those swirls in it. It's pretty tacky though which helps a lot.

They're always darker in the bottle, which shows how saturated with dye the leather is. That's what I meant about comparing them. Grab a scrap piece and dip a paint brush in your dye then blot it off onto a piece of paper. NOW put it on your scrap leather and see how much lighter it is. That one step of blotting it on paper will help your brush dying a lot. I'm not saying the dye isn't too rich in pigment, because it definitely is (Fiebings is known for that), but it's a way to really help you get more control of the color coming off of your brush.

Yes it's a little tedious, but the outcome will be worth it. On stuff like this, I usually use a brush to dye my artwork whatever colors it's going to be and then brush around it with black about an inch or two away. This creates a buffer zone for me. Then, I come over the rest of the area with a rag to dye the rest and just overlap the previously dyed black spot a little bit to help blend it in. By creating that buffer zone with the brush, you won't have to worry as much about hitting the non-black stuff with your rag. I usually use the blue shop towels for this stuff, but you can use an old sock or t-shirt too. If you take a look at my facebook page, virtually all of the guitar straps there were done that way, except for the "gunslinger" which was just airbrushed. If you were to dye those letters and symbols black, they would be black. Unless you're using acrylic over them, then you may have a chance of covering the black dye.

Denatured alcohol is found in your household paint isle. It's used as a thinner for lots of things. I even use Isopropyl in a bind. If that's spirit dye though, you should be using mineral spirits instead. I usually start with 50/50 and then go from there depending on the shade I want. The bottle's can end up with different amounts of pigment, or the pigment that's there can settle over time. They'll all be fairly close, but it's good to run a test piece. But, when it's put on heavy it just builds up. If you look in the bottle and see the color of the dye, it's probably the same as what you're seeing on the leather. That's a good sign that it was put on really heavy.