Samalan

By the way, I love that picture of the dog lol, he looks like he's thinking about something, what a beautiful dog.

Thanks for the information, that's pretty cool.

Those look great. The last one, what's the lettering? How is that done

Beautiful work, could you explain how you did that belt in the first picture?

Beautiful job, Tim, as your work always is.

I would say, seeing as it's a Cobra machine, I would give Steve a call at Leather Machine Co.

Additionally, it's built like a tank and is worth every penny, and Toledo Industrial Sewing is a great company to deal with.

Just recently, I got a box-style reducer from Bob Kovar, bearings, yes, it has them.

I made a case very similar to that for a guy who wanted it for his truck key, which was about four years ago. I saw him a couple of weeks ago, and there was the case on his belt. I said, 'You wear that every day?' He said, 'Every day.' I gave him a good price @ $50; he's a friend of my brother, so I took $10 off. The way I see it is that you can't make money making one thing at a time. You know, when the glue is drying, you're stitching or cutting something. If you are standing and watching glue dry, you have to consider the money you are losing on something you could be working on; people often overlook this, and it's an essential part of business. Never make your leather goods cheap, or that's what you will be known for, and you will quickly develop a bad reputation. Be fair, but always get paid. Anyone can make a nice piece of work, but in the end, making money is the hard part, that's just my opinion.

Nice job on that hat, it looks like a lot of work. Love the design and color, and I think you're right on the black cord, beautiful job.

Agreed, I did the same thing, just in a different way, amounts to the same thing though, way too much detail to copy by hand.

I agree, Ferg, it has its place. Sometimes I have my son make 3D printed stamps for me, then I back them with steel. With that setup, you can do things you could never do by hand. Even if you could, you wouldn't, for instance, one stamp he made was a club logo with a ton of detail, a circle about 3"dia, it had dogs, birds, fish, trees, a pond, and more fine detail on the outer edge that is glued to a piece of steel 3/4"thick over kill yes its what I had at the time worked great.

That's a beauty, love it.

For me, something tooled by hand looks so much better, and here is why I think that when you carve something by hand, you create depth with beveling, and stamping creates that certain color and shaded look that can't be replicated with a machine. Also, working a piece of leather by hand, each Artisan develops and establishes a style of their own, a style of work that people recognize. Laser engraving is okay on hats and patches, but not on something of high quality. IMHO

Wow, that's cool, all this just from the question, what do you call it? It is fun, though, thanks Johanna.

Doc, did you have a hard time with the welt being so thick that it was hard to keep the stitching straight on both sides?

Really, it was the only way I could see to make that holster do what the guy wanted it to do. And, like Doc said, the gun does rest nicely on that thick edge. The problem with that thick of a welt is the stitching keeping the holes perfect through that much leather. I did it on the second one. should have taken some pictures, but I didn't think to at the time. It was just a little nothing holster, but at the same time, pretty cool.

Now here's a guy who knows what a welt is for, it's basically a club love that Doc. I used a thick welt on a pocket carry holster, so the holster stays, and the gun comes out. It worked great because the welt was 13/16" thick with the leather reversed, rough side out. It worked out great.

Like that and a nice welt

I agree with all you said. The way I see it is if you are in this country legally, making an honest living, you already have my respect. IMHO

I remember on the Jackie Gleason show, Jackie was trying to get a new job. He said to Norton I can't seem to get a job Norton said Let me see that application Norton looked at it and said, " No wonder you can't get a job. You put in that you're just a bus driver, Norton now said. I could get that job, Jackie said, you work in a sewer. Norton said Yeah, but I'm what you call a 'Subterraneal Sanitational Engineer', so it's all in your job title.

For me, it's "leather work" at the same time. I would not call a professional saddle maker a leather worker or a leather craftsman; I would think of them as a saddle maker.

Agreed LOL Yes, that is true

That's exactly how I felt, and I didn't intend to hurt anyone's feelings. I apologize to all who are offended.

Finding the center of a line should be in your head, almost instantly, especially in leather work. Except for that rare time when the measurement needs to be closer than 1/32" Let's do one 50" divided by 2, what comes to mind instantly, 25 . Let's do another 50 and 3/4" divided by two, half of 50 = 25, and half of 3/4= 3/8", so it's 25 and 3/8" So let's do one a bit more difficult, 49.3/4" divided by two. Just think what's half of 40" = 20", then what's half of 9"=4.1/2" add them together and that's 24.1/2" all that's left is the .3/4" and half of that is .3/8" add that to the 1/2 and you get .7/8" add the .7/8" to the 24.1/2" and you get 24.7/8" When I first started in my trade, over 50 years ago, a big part of my job was measurement. My boss was a tough man, and that's being nice. After a few years, I went to him for a raise. With his gruff look and voice, he said, "Raise. What makes you think you deserve a raise?" Before I could say anything, he spat out, "How many thirty seconds in nine sixteens?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "Come back when you do know, and maybe I'll give you a raise." I was very mad, but I also knew he was right. I should know that. After a very short time, I came back, and I did know and trust me, if I can figure it out, you can too, and that's for sure. In a very short time, that stuff should be second nature to you, no special rulers or any of that. You should see the measurement and boom, the center is in your head. Sorry for the story, but what's half of 9/16"? If you had to think for more than "one half" a second, you need practice! In fact, you should not have to think at all for the answer to that.