Cyberthrasher

I looked at the company website and it says they're all factory made in the "about" section. Not discrediting the product though. They appear to be nicely made items.

Is he making metal ones to be used with a branding iron now? Last I knew he was only doing delrin stamps.

The M could have been something he did to duplicate the way she did her name or something - like a brand. But, the "K" does seem a little more curvy then the way he did his signature line. Looking at the "c" in Mick and Nicholas, it's hard to tell. I would go by that instead of the C in "Carved" due to the different case. But, the lower case "c" in both of those words looks like it's "possible" that they could be the same since they both almost look like little half squares. My verdict is: inconclusive evidence - we need more samples!!!

Any kind of bag, especially one that's utilitarian, should usually be close to 8/9 oz. Remember that things soften up with use, so that's something to look out for down the road. If you're having a hard time with a fold or something, just go ahead and skive it down a little bit in that section to make the fold easier.

I think a good step there would be to make it more known. Up until I went looking I had forgotten that we could have a free basic listing, and it took me a while to find it since I forgot that it was actually outside the forum portion. Maybe start with a link to it at the top of the forum. Something like the chat or calendar links. As for the galleries being public, would it be possible for us to mark our individual folders as private or public? I know sometimes we post things in our galleries that aren't top-notch in order to get critiques and such - things that we may not want potential customers to see.

It's all a matter of comfort and weight distribution. I'd say smaller framed people would probably be fine with 2.5", but someone with a heavier guitar might prefer 3" to distribute the weight better.

I don't know of any resources, but I would at least start by comparing to pictures provided by suppliers. That could help you narrow things down.

I liked what Bobby Park did with his. He has the webpage link pointing back to his gallery here. That seemed like a pretty cool idea.

Oh, it really varies. I even switch it up myself. I would never use anything less than 2 1/2 myself. A lot of my customers prefer the 2 1/2, but that's mainly because that's what they're used to. Some change their minds when I tell them that a 3" solid leather strap isn't going to dig into your shoulder like the cheap cloth ones do. As a tooler, I usually prefer 3" because it gives me a lot more room to work with for artwork Here's a good article that Paul Burnett posted here which explains what I was talking about (page 2). Also, I had noticed after the fact that there's a few spots that your line flares out as it goes underneath. This happens a lot when you bevel the line that goes under first and then to the one that crosses. It just gets squished down into that flare. Try to make sure you do your crossing line first and then come back and do the line that goes under. If you can't avoid it, come back and square things back up one more time. http://leatherworker...showtopic=19995

You have a picture of Nicholas' carved letters? I couldn't find anything in the brief search I did. Better get another set of eyes on it to verify your hypothesis

I'm really interested in the story, but I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Can anyone ask her if she's still alive?"

There's another member here, LW Leather Works, who makes them. Here's a link to their etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/LWleatherworks?ref=seller_info

That picture was of both of the "finished" products that I sent him - after I had sanded down the original. About a month later he emailed me and said that his friends all liked that one the best. First thing I thought was "Figures". It was my first time using ClearLac. It went on fine on my test pieces but ended up getting too thick in spots on the final piece and started looking like it was cracking and just bad. All the little stuff that goes into our pricing vs. the other stuff that we give away

Here's the directory we already have. It's just a little cumbersome to find if you don't know about it. I had forgotten all about it until I went searching earlier. I need to get my information added to it soon. http://leatherworker.net/pmd/category/finished-leather-goods/

Awesome write-up over there Bro!! Looks like you're one of the only ones there who TRULY appreciates this guitar!! But, I think it's time for you to put down the coffee and get some sleep already

Yeah, I just found the directory listing for leatherworkers and checked it out. I think that might be the best thing to do, then maybe just keep a list of your preferred people. But, I'm up for something more out in the open on the forum too. I'll add you to my holster list right now

It makes sense, I'm just wondering about the feasibility of it. it almost sounds like we would need a separate directory listing like we have for the vendors. Now, tell me more about these holsters that shoot spider webs!!!

Just test it to see how it reacts before putting it on a finished product. Pine pitch is mink oil. I've never worked with Aussie's. I know Spinner has used Pecards over a lot of different finishes.

We kind of have that with the "help wanted" section, but I'm always up for anything more specific between us all. If nothing else, I'll put my name out there right now as someone willing to take referrals.

The whole thing looks great!! I'm working on a similar buckle adjustment, backwards from the traditional method of the buckle being on the adjustment strap instead of the main. CC time: Looking at your celtic work, it looks like some of your lines vary in thickness. Also, if you model the edges after beveling to round them up, they will look like they sit together a lot better. One of the biggest things I see with celtic work (mine included) is the tendency for the lines to go under in one spot and then come out the other side ever so slightly off. it's something that takes a lot of practice but makes a world of difference. Even when I focus I still miss the line sometimes.

I came close to doing that once, but the customer and I both caught it in the design phase. This is the main one I'm talking about. It was Friday night and I had told the customer that I'd be sending it out on Monday, with the only thing left to do being the last coat of finish. It got screwed up and I couldn't fix it, so I spent all weekend re-working a 15 hour strap and getting it done in 11. I ended up getting it out on Wednesday - after I did some sanding and scuffing on the original to make a "road worn" strap out of it to send him for free. I figured it was a highly personalized design and he was a good customer (NO BUDGET!! ). He actually gave me an extra $60 for the rush re-work that wasn't really required in his mind.

I spent quite a while looking around at different options and eventually decided on one of Paul's. Give him a call and talk to him about your needs. He was very helpful to me. You might also look at Knipschield, but they're in a bout the same price range. Other than that, I know Bruce Johnson has several that are about half that price on his site right now, so you might talk to him to see if he has anything in stock that would suit you well. I haven't ordered my LeatherWrangler's yet since I'm saving up for it for a few more weeks. He did tell me that he's about 11 weeks out on the waiting list.

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.