a2jacketpatches

The reason I asked because it looks like a very long day. But 10 hours surprises me, I thought to be longer. I did a couple of similar but much smaller patches some time back, the price I got for them was not near enough so I don't offer tooled much and would only consider if asked for it. Hope you were paid appropriately for such a big job and outstanding results.

Very nice, very sharp detail. How long did this take?

Looks great, have you done any of the logos? I did a few Indian themed patches and the guys on an Indian forum went Banzai on me for infringement, so that's the last of that. Funny how it's OK for countless tattoo artist to do the copyright INDIAN script logo though, they even have a pinned thread dedicated to it without a single thought as to it being infringement. Only a handful of the guys had a problem with it and most were siding with me. Polaris, the mother company of Indian Motorcycles has moved a long time parts plant from Wisconsin to Mexico, and most of their patches are made on Chinese embroidery machines. Funny how they still maintain the Native American as their icon.

I sell and trade my patches to a few top jacket makers. These guys are making exact reproductions of the A-2 Flight Jacket of WW2 among others and they are in the1000- 1600- price range. They have gone so far as to buy up all old stock of zippers, hardware, etc. from the 1940's and there's even reproductions made of that stuff. They've had the finest of leather specially tanned for these jackets as well and send me an endless supply of their leftovers. 3-4oz Horse Hide in russet and seal brown is what I usually get in trade for patches or something along with some very nice heavy goat skins. There's usually a full hide or two in the pile with large matching scraps for each that would certainly cover a bag once in a while. My idea was to add features to a bag that resemble the jackets. No hand stitching for me, I use modified old Singers, the older black heavy steel ones. I tear them down to the basic machine use a heavy duty needle and a pile of old embroidery thread from the 40's that I bought at an estate sale about ten years ago. Nice, still very strong, countless colors, for ten bucks. Ten years later looking at it tells me I've got another twenty years worth. I do buy new leather and supplies but always looking to re-source just about anything I can. Here's one of the jacket makers located in the UK that I've been providing the patches for about three years, if you click on the jacket close-ups will pop up. http://www.eastmanleather.com/product_info.php?products_id=233

Yes, Hawk wings. This guy got me on a roll, living in Vegas got me thinking to do some cards hands fanned out or a pair of dice in place of the wings. A friend of mine across town wanted me to come up with some civilian ideas as opposed to my usual military insignia. He's already got the website set up. Also wanted to come up with a guy type bag, something Indiana Jones would carry. Very inspired by your outstanding work, I took a look and love that large satchel. How would you recommend I start a project like that? Never done a bag or anything like it.

Couple more and now he wants bat wings.

Yep, Indian Motorcycles. I've got a special top secret pattern making process that makes it a breeze to lay out the designs on the leather. It's a little tricky cutting out the parts at times but a nice pair of detail scissors and multiple filigree shape punches help with that. I use up Netflix shows to pass the time,

I buy and sell antiques and vintage military items so I'm at the flea market bird early every Saturday and Sunday morning. The 80's bright colored leather jacket are way out of style and abundantly cheap because they've usually been sitting in the peddlers inventory for a while already. When the price is high because it's new to them I always say " Well, if you don't get your asking price after a while I buy them for scrap at 10 bucks" Re-purposed leather jackets account for at least half of my materials and are perfectly thin for my layered leather patches. This wing thing is essentially the same construction process. Here's a patch to see what I mean. .

Flea market leather jackets. If I can get them for 5 - 10 bucks, it's better than 50- for a hide anywhere else. I make jacket patches for the most part so the small cut up sections are fine most of the time. Really increases the profit margin. Just grabbed a super deep red leather jacket yesterday for ten bucks to do Cardinal wings, cut it up, soaked and washed in hot water, then dried.

A long time customer contacted me a couple of weeks ago with the idea and this first picture. He said "just improve on the idea and have fun with it" and suggested Macaw. So I based the color scheme from top to bottom ( 2nd photo ) and left to right ( 3rd photo ) on the Scarlet, Blue & Gold, and military Macaw. There's an internal stiffener within each wing and i'm making the elastic fabric band that secures this band to the hat. It'll attach to the button loops at the back of each with. If you look closely at the photos you can just barely see the loop. He has since ordered one in a Hawk color scheme and the red Cardinal

I hit the one in Vegas when in a pinch for dye or something small, grabbed an economy hide just the other day as they were on sale and I needed one. But the majority of my leather need is lambskin. I'm pretty sure theirs is about a hundred bucks for 6' as opposed to 55- from the Hide House in California or many other sources on ebay and etsy for even less. I know Tandy has a discount system but I figure money is saved from not having to drive the half hour if I just order online. They are friendly and helpful but double the price for the leather I need. Funny because the tools and such are about the same rate as anywhere.

Just a little time will tell, as you can see. Someone with the money to pay and skills / ability to use such a wide range of materials will come along. Pay no attention to the critics and tire kickers.

Just grabbed a 2-3 myself, great stuff.

Welcome from half a Faiella from Palermo

I hear what you're saying, and kudos to you for turning negative vibes into positive ones. At 4500- for just the machines alone, sounds like he's leaving enough meat on the bone for qualified people to pull the trigger regardless of whether they can use it all or not. The rest of us can find what we need elsewhere as opposed to busting his chops for what you may be there that we could use. It's probably tough enough for him to be force into selling and the inability to do this kind of work anymore. Off hand, at 10 grand, how much would be free? It seems the offer / opportunity is for potential customers who are interested in a complete shop and not "most of us" So it may be a good idea to give the total value. Somebody out there has the money and the time and may be inspired by seeing an overall savings for a shop that can do anything. Personally, my success is due to versatility and my shop consists of countless artistic techniques focused to a specific market, I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm soon to add a station for resin casting so I can sculpt and cast super detailed 3D leather stamping tools and sell them. Will probably have to buy piece by piece but would love to find a ready made set up for a good deal. And Jeez, it's only been a month so keep plugging. Hope all is well with the medical situation Piddler, God bless and good luck.

None taken, 7 watchers now. Considering this is only a 7 day auction and a good bid already, that's actually a decent amount. My experience on Ebay tells me it'll go up a bit toward the end. If it were a buy now, up for a while, and many watchers, I might consider them tire kickers instead.

Late viewers, All please be advised, please don't take my posts here out of context. They are in response to a very uncalled for and unwelcome challenge. I was simply trying to generate some interest in this imprinter and by no means looking to compare myself to others. So as much as I thank the moderator who removed the snarky posts, I ask that this one be left to explain my elaborations a bit without pointing any fingers. I was only trying to offer a nice piece of equipment at a nice price to those interested in it.

Bump, Got a bid and double the watchers now. Still way below retail for a new one. Don't let it get away.

Good thinking with the PVC pipe. I've got a box of washers, metal shapes, etc. that I pick up anywhere and everywhere in anticipation of applications like this. I use a massive bench vice and industrial hinges for pressing. Great work!

And in the interest of saving face............................................................Nada So you better hurry and grab my imprinting machine, they're lined up out front knocking at my door and the phone is ringing off the hook

Like I said, looks simple, historically accurate, and meant to look that way. Very unique and not run of the mill. They are reproductions of a very simple art form that is very profitable for me just because it is so simple. However, the special techniques that give them the aged appearence is the trick. It's actually just one of my several specialties that I am absolutely certain you could not match. This "feeble mind" could paint your face to look like a photo, or sculpt the human form perfectly, I can airbrush vehicle graphics, paint with oils or acrylics. You name it, I've done it. And something tells me matching up to you would take the most fundemantal skills. So by all means, step up and post a link to you Ebay store, would love to see your sales, feedback, work, and how wonderful you are. As I do for you, show me don't tell me. I was just trying to sell an imprinting machine, you're Mr. Mouth. If you'd like to volunteer a little more than babbling words that you started but now claim to not have the time for, please post the link. Or in the interest of saving face, don't.

I find a lot of unusual items out at the local flea market. There's an unbelieveable amount of used clothing and belts are abundant. No matter what odd type of thing I need, I can usually find something to solve the problem there. Have any measurements or details on hand when searching. Last week I fabricated a custom made easel for airbrushing out of a spare tire rack where the set up and measurements were perfect. This easal holds the items to be sprayed in place with large very strong magnets, also found at the flea market. The result is a hassle free custom built unit that suits my need flawlessly. One of the thousands of belt buckles at your local swap meet is sure to fit the purpose. And you will most likely find a very unique item that is not widely available run of the mill like you have seen already.

Wow! Thanks for the observations, most certainly not Ebay rookies. Me either, this account is just over a year old, I created it to sell the high end military items and antiques that I find and seperate from my custom leather patch business. The other account is where I sell my leather creations and take on a huge amount of custom orders. It's about 11 years old with thousands absolute perfect feedback, well, except for a single knucklehead in England that thinks I have some control over the USPS shipping rates. That being said, guess what I mean is that a lot of people have looked and 3 watchers by all means is very good for the short time it's been up. I am very sure one of these watchers or the sure to come others will pull the trigger. Just trying to generate some interest here as I feel it's a good opportunity to share with the interested forum members. And just an FYI, I knocked the price down after doing a completed listing search showing what used ones are actually selling for and just thought to be fair once I realized my price was a bit high for a used machine. Appreciate the Ebay lesson but I'm well aware of everything there and how to use it. I've been looking for one of these imprinters for many years, the sole purpose to make simple name tags for flight jackets. My leather work is in a league of it's own with little if any real competition. Having found a much easier and effective way of producing my name tags, I no longer need this machine. I actually found it after the fact and purchased it at a nice price just to flip it because I knew what they were going for. So you are both correct, a lot of watchers would be like the 75 that were all over a very rare WW2 British Commando Fighting knife I listed a few weeks back, or the 40 plus watching a 1950's porcelan Sante Fe Wine sign that recently sold. But these are hard to find items of special interest as opposed to one of a million plus Tandy stamping machines that'll pump out another million plus very available stamped belts, wallets, etc. Here's a link to my Ebay store for leather patches, http://stores.ebay.com/a2jacketpatches/ I've developed my own stamping dies, jigs, hand cut galvanized steel templates, yadda, yadda, yadda, to create these historically accurate military patches and very much corner the market across the globe. It all looks simple, but it's a combination of all the methods for rendering artwork from airbrush portraiture, to sculpting, and my unique and self taught leather working techniques. On top of it all, a keen knowlege of Ebay and how to cross market my items has grown the business at least 2X's per year for the past 4 years. So again, thanks for the Ebay tips, I'm happy to reciprocate if needed.

Just a quick bump on this, I lowered the starting bid to 100- and the Buy Now to 200- Lots of watchers and I'm sure somebody will pull the trigger on it soon so I'd hate for it to be missed here.

If anyone here wants it on the forum, all yours for the 200- start bid price plus shipping. I'll just end it from Ebay.