Tangent Creations

Wow! Very nice!

The people who work in the shop are mainly myself and my husband, but on occassion we have about 5 other people that come in and work. Right now my husband has an armour apprentice and that's what started this thread. I just don't want to seem like I'm nagging at him all the time. Some of the mess comes down to me being anal about my shop. Some of it creates a liability. The cat thing's been discussed and he'll be sealing up the 'cat door' hole that we made when we moved in. Seeing as the cats'll catch moths and lizards all day long but will watch a mouse run by. They'll still have the safety and comfort of his shop (which looks as though it was hit by a tornado, but we're working on that one together...) And as for my personal workspace...well, I like all my tools that I'm using for my project right there in front of me. Then when I'm done they'll either stay for the next project (if they're in conjuction) or be put away. I am organized but cluttered and am slowly getting my shop in line (big messes practically make me feel like I have to start over). I've made a sign for the metal/painting side (his side) of the shop that says 'Clean up after yourself' among other things for liability, but I think people ignore them (except the no drinking/drugs/smoking, which we simply won't tolerate in either shop, those are sure ways to be booted to the curb in a heartbeat) . Dangerous tools like shears and knives are kept up high on the peg board and out of reach of the kids. But I find my belt strap end cutters and other such tools on the floor and I get super peeved. Especially if the specific project has been completed for more than 24 hours... But, alas, I must say Thank You All for listening to me grumble and helping me feel better about trying to keep my shop in order. Next will be my paperwork.....ugh.

I never thought about the monument idea...that's pretty good! Good savings too. I use the old tandy 6x12x2 polished granite (at least I obtained it from a Tandy). I keep it flat on the floor (it's my 'in house' tooling slab) wrapped in a soft towel when not in use. I would like a bigger one for the shop though. But, like Bruce said, Give the stone a try if it's not too bad. If it is and you're willing to spend a few bucks, you can go to lowe's or home depot and buy the clear acrylic that they put on bar counters and sometimes on garage floors. It evens itself out and is pretty strong. Plus it's nifty looking If you've been to the restaurants with shells and coins embedded in the tables then you'll know what I'm talking about.

Nice! LOL

sorry, just thought I'd post this: www.hansonrivet.com

In the market we sell our belts in we are undercutting Tandy and offering a good product for the price. I feel that we may lose some business by backing our belts, because it will cause the price to rise. Or should I just offer different finish levels? Then people can still afford our product and can't groan if they don't buy the 'higher level' belt.... As it is we sell unfinished "kits' for pretty cheap.

Does anyone else here have the problem of constantly cleaning up after other people? I don't really get to use my shop, for several reasons. But it seems all the time I spend in it is cleaning up other people's messes. Do I really need to post a sign that says "CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!"???? I go out and there's tools, rivet ends, leather scrap and even broken razor blades ON THE FLOOR! My three year old son is allowed to go in there...need I say more on that end? I find old bowls of burnishing water, and today, several empty gator ade bottles all over the place. We have cats...and they are allowed in the shop because it's temperature controlled. I'm allergic to cats, I don't like cats rant rant. My shop is full of cat hair tumble weeds. I've found cat hack all over the floor, on my work bench and on the leather!!!!! :excl: They'll be getting shut out of there REAL SOON. I'm tired of it. Everytime I go to get something or put something away I see my shop and want to cry. I bought a huge beautiful chromed wire shelving system for the leather. It ends up on the floor. Sometimes it makes me want to give up the shop completely and return to doing the leather as a hobby so that it's small. *sigh* I'm just really peeved right now. And super embarrassed when people see the shop. Thanks for listening to my rant, and sorry, I just really felt the need to get that off of my chest.

Those two links were awesome for info! Thanks again! And as far as customers go, we do about everything we can to make them happy and in 3 years got our first complaint about belts not being dyed all the way around. We explained why this is and told them we'd dye the backs if they send them back to us, or we'll send them dye, but we won't be held responsible if their clothes turn red...

What is 'crocking"? that is new to me... Also, if you dye the inside of a human collar (and I get requests to dye the inside of belts as well) what do you use to keep it from bleeding? Or am I doing something wrong. But I agree, I HATE using black. Nothing I do keeps it from bleeding, no matter what finish I use. Thanks for your help!!!

Anyone else here weave leather lamellar? John (my husband) loves it. He bought a pair of dyes for making the scales. And here is his work Our instructions for this piece was a photo and "make me something like this" LOL, she loves her new armour!

Here's a question for y'all... Do you dye the flesh side of veg tan? We get alot of 'guff' about our products being unfinished because the flesh side is not dyed. The people who purchase our products are usually thrilled with the outcome of a custom piece, but when we post the pic to show our work we get flamed up one side and down the other for what some people (not the customer) consider to be an 'unfinished' piece. That is never the case. We finish each piece as it needs to be finished. We then explain why we don't dye the back. Maybe it's just the boards that we post on, or too many people that just feel better about themselves if they flame everyone else? What does everyone here do to finish the flesh side of their work? I'm at a loss. :

We Second that!! Excellent service, easy to work with. Wonderful dies and wonderful company! My husband can't say enough about the product he receives from them.

I have a dillema. I am starting to make armour for my horse (working on Chanfron (SP?)) and would really like to have a different type of saddle. My riding saddle preferences are hornless Aussie and endurance saddles (aussies fit my horse, endurance won't). I am debating wether to try to make my own saddle so it is what I want from the get go, or commissioning someone else, or buying a Portuguese saddle. Right now I ride bareback (on the EXTREME rare occasion that I have time to ride : ) because I don't have a saddle... Are they really difficult to make? What kind of tree would I use? And should I even attempt this?!

well....you do realize that the invention of the car was to put a stop to pollution from horses! LOL

Hey all. I usually specialize in medieval LARP and renfaire stuff. But I jumped on a commission for a Mountain Man Long Rifle case. It was my first ever and was a blast to make. The details: 72 inch long case (including open flap) single piece of Elk hide, suede out. Cow suede fringe in taupe and matching taupe cow suede end cap. Entirely hand sewn with imitation sinew. Then a scene with elk and mountains freehanded along with the name Pennsylvania Long Rifle which is stenciled in ink. The case tapers from 7 inches at the opening to 3.5 inches at the barrel end. I made the paper pattern from scratch too. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the complete finished project. But I do have various progress pics.

Thank You Holly, and the shield on your site is AWESOME!!! I LOVE it! Is it for SCA? Or is it RenFaire? Either way it is gorgeous, right along with the rest of your work! And thank you ALL for your nice words! I'm so used to being nitpicked about the tiniest little goof or tool mark... Sometimes I don't think people understand about something being handmade.

I used pliers for the mountainman rifle case I just made, I had no choice. Do you go to that Tandy often? I have issues with the manager there, and my old Tandy (in FL) seemed to know what I was talking about, so I still order from them (on the rare occasion I order from Tandy).

Hey Art, Thank you, I just got off the phone with Indianapolis Sewing Machine Co. and I'll be calling them back in about a week and a half to take the machine up there to have them look at it (the guy that works on them is on vacation right now...). I'll see what they have to say about it and go from there. I've also been reading some of the posts about the Boss and would like to atleast try it out. Because of the non-use of our machine I do alot of hand stitching as it is and I would like a machine for it instead. My fingers get too sore to keep this up much longer!

Thank you all! Azmal, yes, it is the one on the Tandy site. Give it a go! It was a fun project for me, but very time consuming. Now that I know more about what I'm doing, I can make these type of projects much faster. I love Celtic art and really enjoy tooling it. I'm really trying hard not to limit myself just to celtic, I am also working on figure carving as well. Here is another Tandy inspired project that I did as a wall hanging.

Thank You! The full diameter of the targe is roughly 24 inches.

Thank You! I resisted the light areas with varnish then antiqued the whole thing. Different areas of the leather came out different shades (besides the highly textured background and resisted areas) for a nifty effect that I wasn't expecting. I'm very happy with how it turned out personally, but have gotten alot of guff for it being a tandy design (from some local Larp'ers) but I haven't seen anyone else attempt it... Being able to complete it really boosted my confidence in tooling as well, even though I don't do the real deep carving *yet* :biggrin:

I did it! I wanted to do this as a personal assignment and to work on my carving and highlighting skills. This was my very first completed carving project, start to finish. I did however alter some of the materials. I was NOT about to use carriage bolts on this with simple thin straps for the back. Instead I made a rolled handle and a flat folded arm strap and then used cut tacks to put them on. Much more period! Anyhoo, what do you think?

Hey all! This is probably a long shot... But I have an industrial heavy material machine and I can't use it. The stitches are too big, and it's too fast for me, though I do have the assembly for the belt to slow it down. I don't know anything about the big machines, so the bobbin cradle (can't remember what it's called) timing is off, and I don't know what needles it takes... I would like to acquire a Tippman Boss and am willing to trade for one. I paid $1700 for the industrial. If anyone is interested in trading or seeing this machine, pm me. I am in Indiana just outside Bloomington.

I just finished a commission in Elk hide Suede out that I purchased from Fox Valley. Wonderful hide! Good prices!

Absolutely Beautiful! I showed the previous pics of it to my Hubby and he was really impressed (his personal symbol is the griffin (sp diff :biggrin: )...too many ways to spell it Anyways, that is really good work! I like the airbrushing!