Mike516

They have free shipping on items over a certain amount (what is it, like $75?). Maybe they will be shifting their prices a bit on some stuff to accommodate the free shipping?

Fasteners were always my biggest concern. But I figured what good is it to get an ulcer worrying about rivets or whatever before anything happened. Can a rivet pull out? Sure it can. Can thread fray and come apart? Of course. I don't know that there is a truly foolproof way to fasten a buckle onto a collar. The only thing you can do is; in good faith do the best you can. The only solution I could think of was to put in my listings to contact me if there were any issues and I would fix it.

I make dog collars. I have been using 6/7 ounce sides, but I'm having an issue right now with cracking around the buckle, so until I figure that out (see the other thread regarding that issue) I don't feel comfortable recommending a leather type/quality/thickness in case any of those have something to do with it. For fasteners I have been using nickle or brass plated rivets, and just started playing around with copper. I see some collars that the buckle and D-rings are sewn in, but I don't do that so can't speak to strength.

Right now I've been using the buckle and wet forming around the bar. I don't like making the holes before I stain though, but I will use something like Dwight says.

Thanks Dwight, much appreciated. I may give that a try. Might try mink oil as well.

Thanks for the review of that machine. Did you buy it new or used? It's a little pricey, double what the one from Bunkhouse is. But it looks real well made and easy to use. If Ray ever gets back to me, maybe I'll have one myself lol.

Ok so let me get this straight...you guys who wet the leather do it before you stain, right? So the leather gets the bend but you can still sew in a lining, then bend it back for the buckle and not get a crack. Dwight. when you use resolene, obviously you use it after you stain as a finish. So the resolene would go on last, after the belt is stained and lined, just before you put the buckle on, is that right? Or do you make the fold and let it dry before putting your buckle on? I apologize for asking again, I'm really trying to avoid another belt cracking but I'm getting a little confused, and trying to figure out which of these methods might work best for me. I tried the "wet forming" which works good but makes it difficult to sew in a lining. I like mink oil, so I wonder if that would work instead of resolene.

I responded to your PM Ray, but so far no response. I might be interested, so please reply so we can discuss it further. Thanks.

Have you tried/considered any of the suggestions mentioned above?

I'm throwing this out there because I don't think people talk about this much. Not sure about dyes but this looks like what happened once to me with a Feibings stain. Maybe someone else can tell you if this applies to dyes. As it turned out, after going crazy trying to figure out what had happened and save the piece, someone mentioned it looked like what happens when the stain freezes in the bottle. If that happens, the stain is ruined forever and will never give a good coat and will crack on the leather.

Ok thanks Art. Feel better soon.

I was sick beginning of winter, got better, then sick again the next month and got better, Then I was sick again a couple weeks ago and finally broke down and went to the Dr because that time it really kicked my ass. He said I got better but never completely knocked it out so that's why I kept getting sick. I needed antibiotics, their answer to everything, but I seem to be better again. You should go to the Dr. I hate going too, but 4-5 weeks is too long. So anyway I didn't go back to bed, I'm no quitter. And I have too much stuff to do. I'm practicing my tooling and sewing. You guys are talking about wetting the grain side before it is stained, right? Did you see my picture of how I'm sort of wet forming it so it's already bent? I wet it, put the buckle where it's going to wind up with a rubber band, stamped the pups name on it. Now I let it dry and I'll remove the buckle to stain, oil, burnish etc, then I'll put the buckle back and rivet it. Is that ok, or do I need to be doing something differently?

Yes, veg tanned. And yes, it does help, thank you. I have never had this problem before. Now all of a sudden I'm having issues. Another collar cracked today and it's pretty frustrating. A lot of wasted time, money, and materials. I have never had to do any of this extra stuff before bending this leather. I'm thinking I got screwed on this hide. I really have to consider finding a new supplier and paying the extra $ for better hides. I thought I could buy cheap hides since I'm doing dog collars mostly and don't have to worry about range marks and stuff. But if this is going to be an ongoing thing, it looks like that is not the only consideration when it comes to leather quality. I should just go back to bed at this point.

I just had this happen to me with a stained, edged and oiled dog collar. I was putting the buckle on and the leather cracked on me. It was oiled and still cracked. So I want to try this wet form you all speak of. Am I to understand, I would wet the leather, put a buckle on it where I want the bend and stamp it and whatever. Then when I go to stain and oil it, I can take the buckle off to straighten the belt so I can stain it, then bend it back? I've never done this so I'm also including a picture of what I think you all are talking about.

Please let me know if you decide to sell it. I saw that eBay one, thanks. I really like the Tippmann one. But unfortunately, as you mention, they aren't an option any more.

I'm thinking of buying an embossing machine. I know Bunkhouse Tools sells one. Does anyone have one of these and how well would you say it works? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Unfortunately, sellers can only leave positive feedback for buyers. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to him. Sellers can only leave positive feedback for buyers. If you leave him a "false positive", he can easily have it removed. So, unbelievably, there is no way to warn potential sellers about this guy. The best you can do is what you have done and ignore any further communication with him. You could try and let eBay know, but it's unlikely they will do anything to this guy because he's a buyer.

I have been selling antiques and collectibles on eBay for years, but it doesn't matter what you sell, it's the same deal. There are mostly good people on there buying but there are some that know how to "play the system" and get what they want for free. It has gotten so bad that I am liquidating my inventory and getting out of eBay. I have researched other places to sell and will likely soon be making my own website. But my customer service will remain the same. I just don't want to be under someone else's thumb, especially one that has a broken system. And eBay's system is as broken as it gets. But customer service should never change no matter who the client is. And in this case, the guy says he's not happy, so he's not happy weather it be about life or his job, it probably has nothing to do with your holster. But he's not happy and there is no way to undo that so don't try. I would do this by the book....have him send the item back (the only way ebay SHOULD force a refund - but I have heard stories where they will refund without a return so the best you can do is attempt to mitigate eBay involvement) then refund his money and place him on the blocked bidder list. Then, and this is the hardest part, forget about the guy and move on. There's no point in letting him get to you. Remember the other 199 customers you have made happy. Good luck to you.

I saw this foot operated rivet setter on CL and was wondering if that is in fact what this is. There is no picture of the base of the thing so there is very little to go on, but I thought someone here might have an idea what this thing is, if parts/dies are still available for it and what it might be worth. There is no price on it and he says he's looking for offers. I like it for my shop so I don't want to insult the guy with an offensive lowball offer. Thanks in advance.

I'm looking to build probably a 6' X 3' table with 2 shelves and maybe casters. I have 2 store bought work benches already, so this would be for cutting, pictures, weighting, etc. I found plans online for a 4 X 8 table exactly what I'm looking for so I'm hoping I can modify those plans. I don't think I need doors or drawers since I keep my leather in the boxes the hides come in out of any light so they can go on an open shelf. This probably sounds ridiculous to people who do some wood working, but the plans are a big deal since when it comes to a simple table, I don't have any imagination.

I have a smallish but decent size shop, but the one thing I'm missing is a large strong table. I have a spot with a somewhat flimsy table not good for this kind of thing I think I'm going to clean off and may try to build my own. I've never done any kind of woodwork, but this may be my first or second project, There's a lot of plans to be found on the internet for tables, so that might be what I do. I might try and build display stands for my collars first, kinda like a warm up to the table. But a table would make building my display stands a lot easier. Hmm, dilemma.

Am I the only one that works without a cutting table? I feel so deprived lol!

I do not wish to argue with you, but some of the things you are saying are misconstrued. For an example; I never said I was going to cyber hunt her. If I had an inclination, which I do not, I could go look at other responses on the forum to attempt to determine if this was in fact an attempt to assert her veganness. I don't consider that cyber hunting. I thought this was a place to discuss problems, and this issue with the vegan has become a small problem for me. I was not rude to her, I didn't threaten her, and your last statement; "that can be easily and politely answered with a Sorry Ma'am, I don't work work with synthetic materials. No need for lengthy explanations or sarcasm, it's a simple yes or no question." That is basically what I told her, no sarcasm or lengthy explanation. This issue is over, I answered, she never said anything after that, so it is done. I'm sorry you think I am being unfair, but as I said, I was looking for some help here. Some people gave it, and some have turned this around on me, I'm not sure why. But I consider this matter handled and closed. Thank you to all who helped with it, I really appreciate it.

I always stamp first.

I went and responded to her with your original suggestion. I'm not sure why people see it as being venomous. But that's fine. You're right about the politics and business and I try never to mix the two.