Laban Toose

I really like this piece. The color is beautiful and your stitching is excellent ( subtle and delicate IMO). For someone that hates hand stitching you do a wonderful job

Hi all,I just wanted to right a wrong I created when creating this post about my guitar strap and the black river laser templates. I should have noted that our lovely forum member Sylvia was the one who originally discovered these fantastic resources for our community.....sorry about thy Sylvia Kind regards Laban

WonderfulThe curved front opening look fantastic against the straight edges Kind regardsLaban

Hi everyone, My latest leather craft project is a 3" wide Black Leather Guitar strap... Easily my biggest project so far. The strap is made from 4mm veg tanned leather from Geenhalgh Tannery in Hadden,Vic http://www.gretannery.com.au/. ( a fantastic family business that I was able to visit and hand pick 2 Veg tan sides from while on holidays ). I used the 3" guitar templates I ordered from Black river Laser http://www.blackriverlaser.com/ in America. ( This company is recommended by "chief" and the templates are fantastic.). The design I tooled onto the leather was one i found on the internet. The dye is Eco Flow Midnight Black all in one. The Tooling on the extension strap is a Tri basket weave with a sun burst border. Finally the entire strap is completed with a Mexican Round Braid using Black lace from the Greenhalgh tannery. The Mexican Round Braid techniques i use were done exactly as described by Chief in his Youtube lacing tutorials. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=qWuX2jZ5EzU. For anyone learning how to apply this technique these videos are fantastic...you will not find better..thanks Ken. The back of the strap is lined with black felt. All up, including drying, the project took me about 10 hrs and I enjoyed every minute. A special thanks goes out to Chief (Ken) and Cheryl (Double C) for help and advise. Kind regards Laban

I emailed black river laser they confirmed what we were saying.They are fantastic people...I would recommend their products to everyone. CheersLaban

Thanks ken,I think I understand what you mean. Therefore I think I will glue and stitch half of the piece to the underside of the main body, thread the remaining half through that hole and then emboss the exposed end to make it a feature. Once it's done I will post a pic and get your feedback Thanks to both of you for your help Kind regards Laban

Cheryl & KenThanks so much for your swift response and support. I have already watched your videos ken and the strap I posted last week is the result of that new knowledge.....thanks:) The piece I was referring to is in the attached picture 3" guitar strap In this picture you can see the main strap body doesn't have the usual radius end opposite the adjustment hole end. Instead it has a single oblong adjustment hole where I can see the extra piece would be inserted. What I can't figure out is how this is fastened to the strap. I'm guessing the piece is folded over and the punched holes matched. And by the way both of your guitar straps fantastic...I wish I could make mine as superb as yours Kind regards Laban

Hi all,I recently discover the black river templates on eBay and decided to buy the 3" template to try out.When I opened it I saw 7 pieces. 5 pieces went together to make the usual strap body and adjustment strap.The other 2 pieces joined together to make a short piece with identical radius ends. I can see that this part goes at the opposite end to the adjustment strap.My question is how does it attach to the strap body?Does anyone have a finished strap I could see a pic of?..I am a visual learner Thanks in advance Kind regardsLaban

Wow nice work. I particularly like the finish and cleanness ( if that's the right term ) of the harness...it almost looks metallic.Do you have wristbands / armbands to go with it? CheersLaban

I have enjoyed my holiday And am looking forward to another 2 weeks in 8 weeks time.The good news is that giving away my first strap has resulted in 3 new orders. ( even though I told them its a hobby not a business ). And thanks to all for you kind comments....much appreciated CheersLaban

Well its the school holidays, all my preparation for the next term is done and the tax man has paid me back so i've had money to spend and time to spend it. I went to the Grenhalgh Tannery in Ballarat and bought my first pieces of Veg tanned sides. One side was 4mm thickness for use in the making of Guitar straps / belts. I also spent a small fortune on tools required for cutting, shaping, punching, stitching and dying leather. Armed with all of these shinny new things I have made my first attempt at making a Guitar Strap from scratch.......see results below. At work I share an office with a fantastic fellow who's passion is playing the guitar. He and I have discussed guitar straps at length and he gave me an old strap that i used as a template for this project. Therefore this first strap is for him. I think its turned out really nicely considering its my first attempt. I will be a little more adventurous with my next strap but i was more focused on the process than the outcome this time. Kind regards Laban

Hi Caroline:)Seeing as your a local and clearly an expert leathercrafter judging by your website could you tell me what you think of the Greenhalgh tanner in Hadden (Ballarat). I would prefer to use local products but only if it's good quality and reasonably priced. And I'm actually a Melton lad.....Melbourne is just better known internationally Kind regards Laban

Hello all,My name is Laban and I'm an beginner leathercrafter from Melbourne Australia.Up until now I've basically been buying and making Tandy leathercraft pattern/kits to build my skills.Recently I've taken the leap ( and found the cash ) to begin making guitar straps, and assorted other products from scratch......far more satisfying than the prefab versions.I am absolutely blow away by the quality of everyone's work displayed on these forums.....it certainly gie me a standard to aim for and plenty of inspiration Kind regards LabanNote : I do have a very small blog about some of my leathercraft...it needs updating but feel free to take a look http://labansleathercraft.blogspot.com.au/