cmantz

I went ahead and did it like #7....we shall see how it looks when i get it back from my "sew" guy

Is it possible to sew stringray that is an overlay vs. an inlay? I am working on a halter for my daughter and was just planning on doing an overlay but now I am concerned about the stitching line staying nice and straight due to those little beads. I am wondering if I should just go ahead and put another layer on top and turn it into an inlay.

I think that one that was for sale for $2000 has been sold. Apparently someone from the forum made arrangements to buy it and drove up there (250+ miles) and when he got there the seller decided to sell it to his buddy instead!

Thank you all for your input. Wish I could find a used Cobra or Cowboy out there!

I am using Angelus paint to paint a noseband for a halter. This is fairly light colored veg. tan leather. I am not sure if I am doing something wrong or what but I can't seem to get good coverage using the Angelus paints. For my current project I am using yellow, lt green, lt blue, magneta and purple paints. I put a white underbase under all the colors. But I can't seem to get the white to go on even. I don't know if I am putting too much paint on my brush and trying to lay the white down too thick. I wanted the colors to pop good so I figured I need the white underneath but maybe I didn't. As it looks now I am going to have to put on at least three coats of the colors to get good even coverage over the white. I look at items that I see on the internet that have been painted and surely they aren't doing 3-4 coats of paint on these designs...or are they? Just seems like the designs that I have seen are too intricate to have to do multiple coats of paint in order to get good coverage. For example, I have seen sugar skulls painted on the leather breastcollars...are they really applying multiple layers or are they using a paint that is more opaque? If anyone out there is painting horse tack and would be kind enough to offer some guidance on what I am doing wrong, I would be forever grateful. Thanks in advance Chris

I am in the market for a used leather sewing machine. Right now I will be sewing horse tack....halters, nosebands, breastcollars, headstalls, etc. Nothing too thick....the majority would be under .5" thick. At some point I might want to sew leather corners onto wool saddle pads and they are usually about 1" thick...but I do have someone that can do that for me and this is not something I expect to do too often. I was looking at the Cobra Class 4 machine...long arm but wonder if that is really overkill for what I need. I talked to a local machine guy and he recommended the Adler 467. I can get a refrub head with new table, motor, speed reducer for $1195. My thinking is that I could always start off with a flat bed machine and then sell it, if and when I need to upgrade to a cylinder arm. thoughts? suggestions?

I see horse tack made with LV material...I assume it is fake. So it is available for purchase somewhere.

I am just getting started also, but all of my daughter's tack is 2 ply. I have seen it backed with latigo leather and I have also seen it backed with just HO leather. In fact, a friend recently bought a new set from Luan's Leather and all of theirs is 2ply HO leather...looks to be about 8 oz. for each layer. I am going to try my hand at a breast collar and headstall soon...my daughter is patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for me to figure it out As far as patterns...I know some recommend the one that Tandy sells. I haven't bought it. I was planning on just using an old breast collar we have as a pattern.

I am considering buying a spot setter. Does anyone have input or suggestions? I will be setting spots (1/4" and 3/8" mostly) into leather halters, bridles, breastcollars, etc. I have seen the Weaver Little Wonder in their catalog but also ran across the hand/foot machine that Standard Rivet offers...just wonder if I need to spend $600 when I can buy the one from Weaver that will be less but do the same thing. Would love some input from those of you that have used these machines. THANKS!!

Which of the Liquitex paints do you use? Professional Colors (soft body or heavy body) or the Basics Value Colors? I am only painting areas of the leather (I am first laser engraving and the following up by painting a name or some scrolls for example) so I can't really mask it to apply a base coat. Since I have to hand paint with a small brush, I would like a product that will give good coverage with only one coat of paint. Thanks! Chris

Art...I am curious if you have any tips on how to achieve very bright colors with acrylics on dark leathers. I am VERY new and have played with the Angelus silver on veg. tanned leather (not even a dark color) and really wasn't happy with coverage...but then again, maybe I am doing something wrong. I have seen some pretty intense designs painted leather. I can not image the artist putting multiple coats of paint on it to achieve good opacity.

Love the look of the case you uploaded today. Mind me asking how you got the "sponged" look?...and what kind of leather you started with? Oh..and I do LOVE the items with the horse hair!!!

My suggestion...keep your business card CLEAN and SIMPLE. With today's full color printing capabilities and companies like Vista Print (UGH!!) you can get nice, full color, two sided cards inexpensively. REMEMBER..your business card is your FIRST contact with someone. DO NOT go handing out homemade, flimsy cards! BAD, BAD idea. Make sure it is a card that feels good in your hand. Cheap, thin cards I just want to pitch. I mean, if someone can't at least pay for nice cards, what does that say about their business? I like to keep the front pretty clean...logo and tagline, contact information (address, website, phone numbers)...use the backside to list what you do. If you can incorporate pictures of your work...especially for the background of a full color card, that would be ideal. To me, business cards are like any other form of promotional items...if you just buy them because they are cheap, people won't use them and they will throw them away. Invest in better promotional products that people will actually use and you will get a better RIO (return on investment). Just my opinion...

I am very new to leatherworking and have only messed with bronc halters. I am ready to try some stamping and figure spur straps should be an easy project. I downloaded the free Tandy patterns. I have a couple questions: What thickness leather would be best (I have some 5-6 oz and some 8-9 oz)? Do I need to line the straps? I have seen some that are stitched...is this just for looks or are these made with two layers of leather? As for the billet, if I use the 8-9 oz. leather, do I need to skive the leather where the buckle will go? It seems like it will be really thick if I don't. Where do I find pattern that has the newer style spur straps with the strap & bib?

Where does someone find a pattern for this type of strap?

yes, laser is a fun toy to play with as it can do so many things. We have had ours for probably 6-7 years and have always wanted to try leather. Finally gave it a try this last month and WOW...so cool. I will say that I like the horse butt lasered better than the veg tanned. I uploaded two pictures in the gallery of our first attempts at lasering. I have another that I am about finished with that I will post. I did try to laser cut an outline (basically in place of the swivel knife) and then tooled and I think it can work...although my first attempt I think I cut too deep. I am not great with the tooling and TERRIBLE with the swivel knife. But as with anything...I need to practice, practice, and more practice. I have a Universal 30 watt laser.

Oh...let me know how that goes. I have a laser engraver so I have been playing with lasering leather. I am going to try using laser mask (that we use for sandblasting) on the top of the leather and then paint as a stencil.

I will say I haven't tried it but I wouldn't have expected it to leave a residue. Interesting that it did. But yes, definitely pricey.

Yeah..I was thinking DTG (direct to garment) also. I have seen the digitally printed heat applied vinyl being used on leather. It is fine for the promotional portfolio a company wants to give to customers...but I can image it working too well for garments, shoes, purses, etc. Sublimation would require the leather to be treated first in order to accept the sublimation ink and would only work on light color leather as sublimation ink is transparent. Edited...my bad...didn't realize this thread was old! LOL

I don't know how many of you have cutters out there to cut your templates. But for those that do you might want to consider a product called Sticky Flock. It is used for making rhinestone templates for apparel. The nice thing about Sticky Flock is it is fairly thick and it has a sticky back that is repositionable and won't leave a residue on your item. Another option is oil board. Some people have mentioned cutting this in their cutter. I have not tried it but I have cut it in my laser. MUCH less expensive than acrylic. You can get oil board from Uline.

I found Standard Rivet and for spots, they definitely will be who I order from when I need to reorder. But the the rim set rhinestones, they were REALLY expensive. If you are ordering their "bling in the ring" then you probably want to check out Dreamtime Creations out of Springfield MO as they are the ones that make them and they are about 1/2 the price.

DWC...that is an awesome idea!!! I hadn't even considered that. Now just need to figure out how to find one and how to contact them

Yeah..I saw them but thought the price was kinda high considering I can get Weaver halters online for $12-$15

Thanks Mike!

Yeah..that is the supplier I found but instead of using the rivets (too expensive)...I will go with the "bling in the ring" rim set stones. I did figure some pricing based on buying the stones in bulk and then putting them in the rim sets myself and I can do that for about $.14 each per stone (and that would be a slightly lower grade stone). The "bling in the ring" I can get for about $.21 each (Preciosa stone) for the same quantity so probably not really worth my time and effort and added shipping to ship from two suppliers (stones from one and rim sets from another).