DavidL

water works fine for acrylics, some use isopropyl (if its spirit based). If you can't tell the difference there probably isn't a reason to use isopropyl. Check with airbrushing forums as they have many professionals who have done a lot of work with acrylics. Food for thought. I think theres an additive that you can add to the paint and with heat you can fully set the paint so that it is similar to dyed leather, where it is permanently fixed. I know plastisol inks used for screen printing is heated and something in the paint melts to fully cure and lock in the paint. Im unsure if there is a additive like that, I would have to do more research. Angelus by its self can hold up well, but I'm planning to make garments that have patches of leather that are machine washable. On leather that won't be washed it may be overkill if angelus can last years under heavy abuse. Edit: The additive is called low cure additive heated at under 300 degrees.

i don't think its entirely accurate that you can't succeed with low priced leather products. Your output of leather goods should be 5 or 6 times more and typically you should be selling something that has a large market (wallets, watch straps, belts). Quality should be low because of the price and production should be cut down to using clicker dies, machine stitching and pre dyed leather. Leathers, thread, edge paint and other materials are also the cheapest, with below average quality. Buying things in bulk also is the benefit of low end production because so much material is needed and 300-400 sq feet can be heavily discounted. The other way is for high end where its the exact opposite or somewhere in the middle where there is a mix of the two.

http://www.amazon.com/Iwata-Medea-Eclipse-Action-ECL-2000/dp/B000R3C3SM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410374926&sr=8-2&keywords=iwata+eclipse http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush®-Portable-Airbrush-Painting/dp/B00BMUH8L6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410374998&sr=8-2&keywords=spray+booth http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007U92MU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A111T5BUDCP21Y http://www.amazon.com/Iwata-Campbell-HP-TH-Airbrush-import/dp/B004DUHUKG/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1410375158&sr=1-1&keywords=iwata+th they should all have the same size ends, i know paasche has different ends. the compressors all have the same ends as far as i know.

No problem. Also keep in mind if you want to use acrylics or dyes as they are different products. Dye penetrates leather and acrylics lay on the surface(if done correctly it would last years). Acrylics have brighter and more vibrant colours than dyes and most importantly cover up a lot of uneven marks. Aniline dye is something you should look into as well.

I meant to say you can spray resolene finish on perfectly and also spray dark paint around the edges to create a sunburst effect like on guitars. Sponge would not work for acrylics only dye paints. The wash technique works well, but is time consuming. At the end of the day time is money, if you spend an hour painting 5-10 wallets you have to charge that to the customer. So the alternative is spend money on an airbrush and you can spray 25-50 wallets in an hour and get a more even look. I would suggest you learn how to do the wash technique and then progress onto an airbrush, but is up to you. In terms of the machine breaking a lot of airbrushers have cheap backup brushes to get the job done. For an iwata (made in Japan) with 5 year warranty there are very few hiccups with these brushes and many have been known to last 10 years. The parts are also easy to find and cheap at any airbrush store. Siphon feed brushes can be cleaned faster than gravity as the paint is held in a container and you have to only wash the needle and spray windex through it and not have to clean the paint cup, because there is none.

if you are only going to dye 10 sq feet then theres almost no point in spending 600. If you have 3 sides (60sq) and are committed to leather working then a few hundred in airbrush equipment is a good buy for acrylics. Over 1-2 years the airbrush will have saved you enough time,paint and consistency for it to be justifiable. The cheapest you can go is $25 for badger 250 that can work straight out the box and you can see from there if you like the way an airbrush works. For around 200 shipped you can get a Iwata eclipse siphon feed brush with a no name brand air compressor off of Amazon. This is probably the most you will need to spend for a great airbrushing set. Add a 50 dollar airbrush fan if you are spraying indoors. The point of getting an airbrush is to cut down time on dyeing leathers, get a more even dye job and save dye/acrylic inks. I would think 3 coats can get a constant colour (paint coming out of an airbrush is a lot less than from a brush). You can also get resolene to lay on smooth and create fades around the edges. Acrylic paints are not mean to darken on multiple passes and has a brighter colour than dyes. For dyeing leathers you can use a sponge and get the job done quick, with acrylics the only way for a fast job is with an airbrush.

Can someone shine light on how Resolene holds up better than Atom wax or super sheen? I also hear that atom wax is a finish and can't prevent dye from bleeding off and resolene is a sealant that locks in the dye. Is this true?

I really don't know to be honest the exact amount, but the ball park would be roughly the same amount of as it takes to dye leather. With the airbrush you could probably do 20 sq feet with less than it is for dyes because the airbrush puts out a thin coat. My advice is to buy the larger angelus paint bottles and then you won't have to worry about how much paint to use. I presume your using the small bottles of angelus paint and one bottle is on the border of painting 2 shoulders with an airbrush, with a brush not likely . For long term using a cheap airbrush with a cheap compressor can save you on the amount of paint you are putting out and will have a pay off in time and eventually costs of paint overtime.

airbrush would work best, anything like a badger 250 airbrush ($25) using the aircan provided with the airbrush is a better option then hand painting the entire hide with a brush. Try thinning out the paint with water until its consistency is like milk and fire it through the airbrush allowing 3 light passes, from there seal with resolene using the airbrush. By brush you need to do the wash technique and need some degree of skill to pull off a flawless even coverage. For more info search on youtube for airbrushing for beginners. If your interested in more high end airbrushes for artwork too, a paasche talon is good for the money ($78), paasche h or vl (38-60) or a bit higher in price is an iwata th trigger action (110) which I have been eyeing for a while now. There is also another called mr.hobby with trigger action (100). I would recommend a paasche if your willing to spend more than the badger 250 as they are made in USA. Do remember that you need a compressor ($50-100).

nothing is wrong with airbrushing leather or carefully painting leather, most people will use dye, but acrylics, the proper type, will be able to withstand years of wear. Mixing dye and acrylics together may be an issue, so it should be tested on a small area first. If only mixing acrylics then something like angelus acrylics will hold well vs store brand discount acrylics. Angelus has several different shades of colours and can be tinted with white or black like you suggested.

a compass scratching the correct distance parallel to the edge of the leather is the way that works well for me.

I would look past springfield to others that specialize solely on manufacturing Made in USA leather hardware. The quality control, quality of material and finish will be more durable and stunning than the made in china goods from Springfieldleather or tandy. Some may supply made in italy and france goods and distribute within USA if you are looking for something with a palladium finish. If anything try to purchase made in USA and look for stainless for silver coloured hardware, for brass I'm not sure which is the best.

Il check the link Toolingaround, appreciate the response. I did a bit more research and think most leathers jackets can be put through the washer without it bleeding dye. So maybe any type of leather that is pre washed before assembly won't bleed or regular sealed veg will work.

I think you can collect the HST/VAT and can write off some costs of raw materials if you are registered as a business. I don't really know exactly how this works but you may want to look into it or contact someone who has knowledge in accounting.

Anyone has experience with using dyed leather for garments that are machined washed? Would the dye just bleed onto other fabrics? Can the dye be just pre washed before assembly so that all the excess dye is removed, locking the remanding dye from bleeding. The only two I know that can be used safely is chamois leather and machine washable leathers from jean patches. Slow bark tanned leathers or home made leather made from natural dyes are also in my mind for some that won't bleed when machine washed.

Exactly. The question is what is your value proposition(What makes you stand out and how to differentiate yourself from competitors in certain areas), the more you differentiate the less you have to rely on price wars. What is your demographic and buyer persona and how does your product effectively fill in the wants of the buyers. If handmade is your only selling point you are only 1/10th of the way there or in other words your company is 10 percent of what it could be. To build that perception is the hard part. Start up, filing, management is only the foundation.

Fine leather working.com has a good awl too, can't imagine anything better than a vergez once its fully stropped.

He's a member of this forum actually. I saw one of his post while searching through the forum. Pricing is around market price. Pretty smart to only use rivets,nothing special, but nothing that will prevent people from buying it. Everything else is on par - his website is done well and his photography is also nice. If you want to make products that are low priced and only focus on a price war then you will be for the life of that company underselling your products, but you won't stand out as much from the mass of people selling identical items. The ironic part of leather working is that like this product you posted it takes nearly no time to make and cost nearly nothing to manufacture. Bottom line is even at low prices you can still make a little money - no overhead. The thing is sometime people who don't know anything about the product will buy based on what they are told: "You get what you pay for". Same thing goes for wine and liquors which are overcharged and endorsed high end headphones. If the consumer thinks your item is worth 200 or if you can convince them that its worth 200 then they will pay for it. If your item is worth 60 dollars real market value and you can convince not only why you should buy product A for 60 but also why your product is better than the competition than you have a start to a good marketing plan. Whether you go for 60 dollars or 200 dollars the marketing plan should always be clear and solid. The 200 dollars item should have more perks, whether rarity (100 units), limited editions, collectors items, rare materials, collaborations, ect. Unless you intend to sell mass amounts and employ a workforce to manufacture your goods, then exclusivity should be key. Im starting to lean towards pricing things more high end, and selling something thats unique AND very easy to manufacture. There are people selling t shirts for over 100 dollars and sell out within weeks (very accomplished companies with a history). Falling into this niche of exclusivity allowed them to grow the company in a way that someone who's marketing strategy is only on lowering prices can not get to. Their core marketing and value proposition are geared in a way to cater to a select portion rather than the mass market and in segmenting themselves from the mass market they fill in a niche, which is where leatherworkers should try to fall into in terms of consumer goods.

I want to share the things I learned so far in leather working, in terms of the basics, styles of leather working, types of tools, breaking down which tools work best for what. This is only based on the tools I have used so far and doesnt include some tool as I have no reference. *Add comments and I will put them where there are question marks (?) as they are something I'm not entirely familiar with and I'm basing it on what I hear. Tools (Knives, edgers, overstitch wheels, pricking irons, heating tools, burnishing tools) Knives Exacto/Scalpel or leather knives (excluding round and english/french style skiving knives): (light to medium thick leathers): Recommended: OLFA cutters or surgical scalpels. Good for: Very light skiving, overall cutting. Bad for: Cutting thick leathers Clicker Knives: (light to medium thick leathers): Recommended: Knipschield knives. European style clicker knives. Good for: Precise cutting, turning corners. Cutting out from a template Bad for: thicker leathers as multiple passes have to be made, although can be done. Round Knives(?): (light to thick leathers): Recommended: Custom Makers, Vintage Makers Good for: Any skiving besides chrome tan. Any leather. Heavy leathers which can be cut easier because of the pushing motion or rolling motion of the knife. Bad for: Extreme curves Japanese/French(?)/English Leather Knives(?): (Light to thick leather): Recommended: Japanese branded utility knives. Vergez blanchard french knife. Good for: Cutting long straight lines. cutting leathers flush when glueing liners. Cutting a straight line that will be 100 percent straight Bad for: Not as good at cutting heavy saddle leather as round knives because it can't roll. Not as good as scalpels/ at turns. Rotary cutters: (light to medium leathers, and chrome tanned): Recommend Olfa rotary cutters Good for: long cuts with a ruler, Cutting chrome tan without stretching and distorting the material, Bad for: turns, hard to sharpen. Marking tools + awls Reg. Rulers + 90 degree rulers: I recommend to buy these rulers from art stores where you can test out the weight. Most companies make rulers thousands at a time and quality isn't a concern. Thicker, heavier rulers don't slips as much as lighter rulers. Some with cork help with slippage. With 90 degree rulers check that the edges are flat and not rounded. Scatch Compass: One of the most used tools. Useful in marking a parallel line on leather for stitching, or for measuring distances. Any decent quality scratch compass would work, preferably with a bolt to tighten the legs from moving. Groover: Cuts a groove in the leather letting the thread sit under the leather preventing it from wear. Overstitch wheel (used with a groover) and pricking iron (recommend Vergez blanchard): For the most part overstitch wheels (makes evenly spaced holes for stitching) no matter the quality will produce identical marks on the leather from brand to brand. More expensive overstitches are more polished tools. Pricking irons are different from overstitch wheels . They mark slants as well as space the stitches and are hit with a hammer, also creating an indent in the leather. In my opinion pricking irons create a better stitch (more pronounced and slanted) than overstitch wheels. Creasers: In the form of a hand tool, or wooden tool. Creates a slightly indented line parallel of the edge for decoration and is sometimes used for marking a line for an overstitch or pricking iron. Awls: Most used tool in your tool box. Vergez blanchard sells awls in several sizes and are superior to tandy(not remotely usable), osborne, japanese brands, ect. They do need a good sharpening out the box. Different sizes correspond to different stitch lengths. More to come... Dyes, finishes, storing, smoothing out, moulding leather, tooling leather, Skiving, burnishing edges, hot seal edges, misc. tools. Essentially, any thing that is used. *Do add your thoughts on dyes, finishes, moulding and skiving especially. There are some finishes that I haven't used before, and I haven't moulded any leather or tooled any. *Common beginner slip ups, habits to prevent headaches. Techniques to get a consistent end result. Please share your thoughts.

There is a lot of hand stitched shoes coming from maine actually, maybe around the industrial area there are places where leatherworkers meet.

thanks bob. I added them to my bookmarks.

I don't think Singapore has too many suppliers for leather craft. Most buy from japan, try leathercraftools.com. Etsy is okay too, you may want to buy from China as they are closest and China usually has cheap shipping.

Id like to hear your thoughts on projecting brand image, more so on what to absolutely not do. Also on ways to better connect with the customer and make every single customer understand what the company stands for. Ex. Company manifesto - to provide unique, sleek, classic handmade goods to the local and global community. Made of the best quality supplies and craftsmanship with an emphasis on quality. Marketing - whatever medium it is whether magazine, online, forums, blogs, or social media, video promos. Physical product Product packaging - presentation, packing... customer service 1.How to keep everything inline of the brand image and in the eyes of the customer. What are the areas in that are most important in projecting your brand manifesto?How to get your brand to fall into everyones radar and gain social acceptance? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New product Lines. (not really too sure what I'm asking, I mostly want to know any do's and Don'ts of adding new product lines that are entering new markets. Current products are wallets, bags, belts and basic leather accessories. New products are basic Made in Canada T shirts, hoodies and clothing or another example is like shoes, or furniture accessories. When should you just create a sister brand and sell under a different name for shoes or whatever? 2.Best way to gauge the acceptance of a new product line that is still inline of the company, but is entering a new market? Besides surveys or seed launches. 3.How to add new product line and not have it "upset" (for lack of a better word) the rest of the products and confuse the brand image.

pin vice looks perfect for an awl handle. Made with wood would be best, especially for small stitching. Some one with experience could reply, but a 1mm or 2mm round awl filed down into a oval shape might fit the bill?

i agree, he has a lot of knowledge and it very well could be a waste of time. Im just trying to figure out if its possible to create a similar result, with the all the different types of paints, dyes and countless other products on the market. I may just play around with it for a while because I would be getting an airbrush and screen printing screen anyways and it is worth a try.