Sylvia

I think it's pretty simple. Calculate the cost of the leather, and dyes and other materials. Double that... then add your hourly rate what ever you figure your time is worth.

Very cool! Glad you got pictures of the Debut.

OMG That's Funny! LOL! The holster looks awesome Dwight.

Hmmm... I've not tried it and I don't know anyone who has. I know that there is one guy who makes an embossing die to decorate Rivets. Maybe something like that would do what you need right on your silver toned snap faces?? He calls them "Branded Rivet Domers" They are expensive (IMHO) but I like the concept.

My father was a butcher and meat cutter. And much like Ferg's Grandpa... shaving the hair off his arm was one method to test sharpness and when his arms were bare ... she would call my sister in. LOL.. I learned to make myself scarce when dad got to the "shaving" stage. . Another was to test it by cutting a piece of butcher paper. Basically you want your edge so sharp and polished that it takes NO EFFORT to cut. (It's the effort required to make the dull edge work is what makes it dangerous... And to make matters worse the dull edge tears instead of making a clean cut.. which complicates the healing process.)

Hi Jake: Yes... I've noticed that some of the finishes "for" leather smell like other things... like floor cleaner and Elmer's glue. I'm sure if you look up the Safety sheets for Mop & Glow and compare them to other "leather finishes" you'll find they are very similar.

Somewhere I found a set of "Daddy's Rules for Leather Carving" One of them was to wrap the leather in brown paper bags before you put them in the plastic. Ah... here it is. http://www.legendsandlies.com/docs/pdfs/Ben_Greg_Moody_Rules.pdf I think the purpose of brown paper is to protect the surface of the leather from sweating and creating an environment that mold loves.

I would say that's just about perfect, Winterbear. Great find.

One thing you must consider is versatility, and size of the "harp" of your machine. Take a look at any "cheap" home machine these days and you can barely get your hand under there to sew... let alone a big gob of fabric. The same thing goes for leather machines. the longer the arm the more reach you'll have and the more material can be placed to the right of the sewing area. Also the arm allows you easier access to tight areas. I can tell you that I've sewn on a flat bed industrial and it can be very frustrating to try to get into tight spots and sew a clean line. (Like top stitching around the outside shoulder of a jacket, or sewing on a cuff) I vote for the cylinder arm machine you can always buy the bed attachment later or just have one made for you.

LOL. Very cool and it is very exciting to sell your stuff to total strangers. Congrats.

Hi: I looked for "horse shoe" font but didn't find a font that was constructed from horse shoe shapes. When I shortened it down to Horse font. I got this... http://www.fonts101.com/fonts/view/Uncategorized/49508/HorsePose_Becker I did find some "western styles" that sort of reminded me of horse shoes. Let me know if you want me to find those again for you.

That's called block dying. (done a lot back in the 70s) Take a soft cloth, wrap it around a block of wood. Apply dye to cloth, dab off excess and apply dye with block to your collar. Apply a second coat as needed... until you reach a desired color. easy.

Gum T can act as a mild resist but it is NOT water proof. If you use to to slick the back... dye first, then Gum T.... then seal with Resolene or at the very least Tandy's Super Shene.

Looks like the one on the right is some sort of press/punch type tool. Have you unscrewed the L-shaped handle to see what the end looks like?

LOL Mike, you old edge licker, you. ha! I've used Gum-T and the same method Mike uses. I sand, dampen, burnish, dry sand, dye and reburnish with glycerin soap, then either beeswax or finish. I like Gum-T okay, for slicking the backs of belts but I would always seal them. And you have to make sure that nothing gets on the front of your project. I've sort of moved away from it for most things because I can't stand the smell of the stuff. (smells like pinesol to me, Yuck!)

Thanks to both of you. I have some wet/dry in some pretty fine grit... and some emery cloth strips. I might try that before I go buying something.

that's pretty slick!

Rawhide: Do you have a great place for getting those ultra fine stones for a reasonable cost?

I have read here that those that love those ceramic blades have finessed the blade on them. The use an ultra fine stone and sharpen it so that any visible lines on the blade are gone. Then they strop it silky smooth. From that point on it's just a matter of maintaining the strop... I have a couple of BK blades, for my BK knife... I had a huge amount of trouble trying to sharpen the hollow blade (at least until they fixed my keen edge barrel by drilling out the other end for me) Even then when I sharpened the hollow blade it changed the angle some. It cuts very nicely now. I look at it this way.... sharpening is part of the job... because a dull blade is a dangerous blade.

That turned out awesome, Cheryl. I would be really proud of that if I were you.

LOL I like it! It's a more peachy pink in the pictures than I imagined.

Thumbs up on Dirtclods method. Keep in mind your accordion folds are going to take some extra material. So you'll need to allow for extra height.

too bad you don't have a gem setter there... you could bedazzle them too. Don't stand in front of the target. LOL

She tooled it! She used at least a swivel knife, a modeling spoon and a pear shader.