Boriqua

Hey Martyn where did you get your cams? I have vacillated about the cams .. mostly didnt want to spend the money but yours seem to have a higher lift than the rockler ones might offer just judging by the cam shape. Still ... If I cant get those in the states I think I will pick up the rocklers. http://www.rockler.com/cam-clamp

Floor Vs Knee is a personal preference thing. I used the Tandy knee held stitching pony for a good many years and was fine with it for the most part. If you are doing smaller items and space is an issue it worked out great and would be all you need. Lately as the years wore on and my eyesight is getting weird and my belly gets larger I decided a floor model would be better and made this one about a year ago. LOVE IT! I too would like a sit down stitching horse but my place cant support another piece of furniture so this being only 3.5 inches deep I just put it off to the side when I am done. Cool thing is I can work with it under my grapefruit trees, out on the porch or in front of the tv. Anyplace I can stick a chair I can work and its very comfortable to use and it is stable enough that I can leave my work in it and walk away and not worry about it falling over. However if you are in a small apartment its hard to beat something you can stick in a closet or under the bed so the knee pony might be a better choice. Hey Bob the spring hinge was a great idea! I used an old gun spring for tension.

One more bit of advice Jess even though I have already said to much. Dont look at your emails during the day. I know that now with text and "insta"gram and insta everything else it feels like we have to always be available for communication but what I did when I was slammed was set aside time at the end of the day after everyone had been sent home to update everyone. The place was quiet, my day was done and then I would get on the computer and send out my email updates to our clients. This way it didn’t interfere with the normal flow of the day. PS .. That company had the best client retention and repeat business the years I was there than any year before that. Just sayin

Thank you so much guys!! Off to research everything there is to know about beaders. Found the horseshoe and turns out barry king makes both the blades and the push beader at what seems a reasonable price. D.A. That saddle is amazing!

Oh I dig it .. but part of my strategy IS to remove stress. My previous job paid well and was exciting and I was blessed to get it. All I ever wanted coming up was to work with and among creative people and I got to do that. Lucky me! but it was HIGH stress and long crazy hours with impossible deadlines I had to make possible. So now that I am a semi retired leather bum I have tried to remove as much stress from my life as possible. Getting an email pressing me would send my now raw delicate nerves into a tailspin. That little update I send not only makes my valued clients feel good but it stops the frantic concerned emails that would otherwise remove my fun and cause me stress. Its a little anti pressure pre-emptive and it works. Just something to think about. I also never want to come off like these movie stars... sheesh what it must take to get to be a well known actor. Then after all those struggles all they do is complain that they cant get any privacy. WAIT .. you struggled and did all manner of things to become well known! There are probably more than a hundred people on this board who would love to sell their first piece. I know that when I picked this up full time about 3 years ago I did all manner of things to get my name out there. Now that I make a few "very few" bucks regularly .. well I am appreciative and remember I wanted it. Your successful brother ... Bask in it!! Sometimes ... we don’t realize how lucky we are.... until its gone Beer up to your continued success Alex

Hey That is pretty hot! I like the way the flap shape matches the holster shape. Nice touch!!

Hey Ron I apologize .. I should have been more specific. It is a heavy waxed hand sewing thread. I am figuring it is about .045 thick comparing it to my other threads. I cant imagine any machine this stuff would go through! Again .. sorry about that Alex

I have been rabidly absorbing information on tooling for weeks now. I have done some but never considered myself very good so now it is a mission. I particularly like the layering some people are able to achieve and at this point I think its just time for me to pick up some additional stamps and burn through my scrap box but I have a question. Below are two examples I like VERY much. One is from a forum member who posted in another thread .. here is my question. Those lines that I noted with the red line. The raised portion between designs that is about 3/16 wide ... are they cuts to either side or are they creases? They dont look like cuts with a swivel knife so how are they made? I thought I would take one of my junk swivel knife blades and dull it way down and then use it as some sort of creaser to create those lines but .. well ... that cant be right? Any help would be appreciated.

I make it a standard practice to update everyone who has outstanding orders with me every few days. Now I probably dont have the same kind of volume you do but I am about 3 weeks out on anything. I let them know what the lead time will be and when I have something important to share I send a quick photo update and a sentence or 2 about progress made and next steps. I guess if I had 50 backed up orders it might be difficult but then ... I wouldn’t take 50 orders. I do it after dinner when I will no longer be working and can sit at the computer without feeling like I am neglecting anything. I want to treat people like I would like to be treated and it is somewhat uncomfortable to send off a wad of money and then not hear from the person for 2 months. I was beat by 2 knife makers who took my money in advance and then never delivered so I understand the fear. Its a little thing for me to sit down and type out a quick email to make someone's day and make them comfortable. I feel like Santa and they are always so happy to hear the progress update. Truth is I am thrilled someone is so excited about getting one of my hand made creations. How cool is that! Once upon a time I was a GM of a large Display design and production house. 7 day a week job a bunch of the time and always 30 projects and 100 clients to wrangle. Company made millions a year and I managed a staff of up to 50 and that didnt count the loads of outside contractors and the logistics of staging shows throughout the country ... Even then I kept people abreast of where we were on there project even if it meant I had to stay late to do it. I just think its good customer service and it was included in the price. YMMV Alex

For the kind of heavy outdoor use that is going to see my suggestion would be mixing up a paste of 50% neatsfoot oil and 50% beeswax by weight. Another gem I picked up on here a couple years ago. In a double boiler set up ... I put the contents in a jar and then place the jar in a saucepan on the stove gently melt the bees wax into the neatsfoot oil. When it is nice and melted I give a quick stir with an ice cream stick and you set it aside and let it congeal. It will harden to a bit harder consistency than good shoe polish. When you are ready .. soften it slightly by putting the jar in the microwave for a few seconds and rub into the leather. I then take a hair dryer and melt it in gently into the leather and allow to dry. Then buff and repeat until you are happy. It makes for the most beautiful shine! and I cant swear that anything but gortex is 100% water proof but I can run water over the item and it just runs off. It absorbs so it will protect against further abrasion and help to "paste Down" the abrasion that is there and if you do manage to put a healthy scratch in it just take out your jar and a rag and treat the area like you would with any shoe polish and the scar is gone. I love it but .. With some colors I can get some rub otherwise it would be my one and only final sealer. Its that durable and beautiful. In your circumstance, its outdoor gear and rub is less an issue than say a holster you may wear on your khakis. Apply your dye. Let it dry a couple of days. Buff it until you are about ready to pass out and then go with the Neatsfoot and beeswax paste and I highly doubt you will be disappointed. Alex

Simply amazing! Very nicely done!

I sold a western studded style holster and the gentleman contacted me and would like a matching belt and mag pouch. He is specifically looking for an over the pants type belt and not one threaded through his pants belt loop. I usually shy away from belts because they are a WHOLE lot of hand stitching but I would like to make him the matching belt if I can. Here is my dilema I would like to make it 2.5 inches tapering down to 1.5 near the front. My plan was to buy a 2.5"w Heavy blank from tandy and a 2.5 light blank as a liner and to cover the back of the studs. Problem is that after much discussion it was determined that the center hole needs to be at 47" and the longest blanks are 50". I figure 3 inches for fold around the buckle, 2 holes at 1.25 a piece above then 4 inches for tail and I am at about 57" I have shoulders I just received but they are not long enough. Is there a source for the straps I am looking for? The lighter leather liner I can do with a seam but I need something solid for the outer layer. Alex

It is about 27" L x 19" W x 19" H I have been using it this way because it fits nice on my black board but if I had the extra space I would probably go 24" wide for a little more depth for larger items. Alex

another one with the cheap point and shoot camera. Not great but if you want to show your work I think its more than suitable.

Thought I would share my cheap set up. It requires virtually no skills to set up and I bet you can even get home depot to cut to length. Its just a simple PVC frame which I throw a white sheet over and attach those cheap clip lights to. I only use incandescent bulbs for the photography but better cameras will let you set the white balance for Fluorescents if that is all you can get your hands on. The picture below and most of the ones on my site were taken with a Cheapy 5 yr old Kodak Easyshare camera. Turn off your flash and away you go. I just got a better camera but I am fairly happy with most of the shots from this inexpensive camera using my quick and easy light tent. I live in kind of a smallish place so when I am done I fold up the sheet and stick it in a bag, pull the legs off the frame but leave the top frame area as one flat attached piece that I lean against a wall in my work room and put the light back out at my work table. With all the stuff you are buying when you start up your new hobby its nice not to have to rush out and buy a camera if you can make the one you have work. PVC about $7.00 Sheet ... $2.00 Lights ... I think I got them on sale for $7.00 each None of the pvc is glued so the only other expense is bulbs.

Im not really in "Business" in that I make what I want when I want and I try not to make a terrible job of a fun hobby but I do sell stuff. I hope its helpful but I have taken to handing out just my business card which contains my web address, my email and most importantly my etsy account. I have really come to love working custom orders through etsy and when I get a contact from someone via email, phone or Ebay messaging looking for a custom order I encourage them to order through etsy. Now I know etsy takes their cut but I enjoy communicating with potential buyers and I wouldn’t have the same feeling if I just got an order form. It would remove some of the pleasure for me. I am also not very comfortable with taking deposits directly but etsy handles that since the client has to pay for the custom order before you produce it so it removes that little bit of awkwardness for me and I think people might feel a little more comfortable sending a payment off to etsy since there is some form of coverage rather than sending payment to some dude they met at a show or through the internet. They get to see examples of past work and I would say about every other person who buys something remembers to leave feedback and its nice for others to see those positive reviews. So far I have been happy with the arrangement. They collect the money, produce everything I need for a shipping label, I get discounted shipping, I get to have a running convo with potential clients and all I have to really think about is making cool stuff that makes people happy. Makes their fee ok for me. Just something to consider ... even at shows you can just say oh please visit "X" page and request a custom order. I am pretty sure at this point I have sold more Custom orders through etsy than stuff I put up to sell.

I went in a different direction after I bought these. I stitched maybe 2 inches with each of the Maine threads just to see what they looked like and the Spool of weaver is new and unused. I would like to sell them all at once but would be ok with breaking it up. Maine Thread .045 Natural, Scarlet and Golden brown $4.00 each plus shipping Weaver thread White. This is HEAVY thread. doesn’t say on their web site or on the spool how many feet it is but its a large spool 15.00 plus shipping Ship to CONUS only and I am fine with paypal. If you take them all I can ship it priority for 6 bucks. Thank you for looking!! Alex It

What type of projects are you sewing with it. I just received a roll today and am a little concerned that it may be to thin for holsters which has become the larger bulk of my work. I have been using Maine thread at .040 which measures out to 1.0160 on my hand dandy chart so I thought 1mm thread would be fine which is how the ebay Chinese thread is listed but it feel more like my .035 stuff. I am looking to save a few bucks on thread and 7 bucks for 240m was hard to resist. I tried the Tandy braided poly and like it very much and it looks sharp but even that is heavier than the Chinese thread. So I am curious what people who are using the Chinese thread are using it for. I like the amount of wax, It stretches less than the tandy braided when using it which is confidence inspiring and in reality .... .035 is more than enough for holsters but would like to hear what people are doing with theirs. Next I will try some of the Twin Eagle. Below is a few stitches I threw down today when I received it. The top is the Ebay Chinese Thread, the middle is maine .040 and the bottom is the tandy braided. Edited to add: that is 6spi

Oh yes .. the welt is a touch thicker than the blade itself and I made it snug so the knife doesn’t rattle around in the sheath. It pops in and out.

love the color! I have now made 2 smart phone cases, well 3 if you count the fail that went to the garbage, and the biggest problem is figuring out how to make it just loose enough so it doesn’t activate the buttons when you insert and remove the phone. How did you handle it?

I love my wife. I actually think she is cool! Professional gardener for 30+ yrs and even at 60 she works outdoors everyday digging in the earth and wrestling cacti. Can move wheelbarrows better than most guys I come across. So I bought myself a new knife for skiving. If any one is interested I picked up this kiridashi in left hand grind and it has been working out WONDERFULLY! http://www.ebay.com/itm/381561193109?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=650673354017&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Bought one in right hand too for general work. I think the right hand 21mm was about $15.00 and the left a bit more and the seller got it to me in about a week from Japan. Anyway .. my wife saw the left hand Kiridashi and said " that would be great for when I trim Aloe's" I have to take her word for it but I went ahead and ordered one as a surprise and then made her a little personalized leather sheath. Hope she will love it! Gotta love a woman who says I need a new knife!

Sweet those came out great! and Thank you for introducing me to Psychobilly which it turns out is right up my alley! Alex

I was thinking the same thing .. the bag looks to be about 10x10 or 12x12 and even if your child uses it for a few years I think the stretching would be minimal. Plus they are removable so you could always replace them. I was going to suggest that instead of webbing for yours you just run a perimeter stitch which would minimize stretch also but the bag feels like it might want smooth straps aesthetically. I like stitching and I like the look of stitching so I may be a glutton for punishment.

I think it was smart to make an age appropriate size. I have one child .. a daughter and on her first day of school when I saw her lined up and marched into school with her huge backpack on full of supplies ... I will admit I cried like a baby!! They grow up so fast. Beautiful work!

Those are gorgeous and the craftsmanship looks absolutely first rate. I have several pairs of boots the cheapest being around 300.00 and yours rivals their construction in every way. Cant wait to see your next ones!!