horseplay

I'm more of a newbie to the business but my dremel is a must have! I actually had a cordless one but have since upgraded to a variable speed corded dremel with flex arm. I use it to sand edges and then burnish them with the dremel burnishers made by leatherburnishers.com. It takes a little practice but I now have beautiful edges with much less time involved.

I've been asked to make a plain belt for a custom buckle. Seems easy enough but the buckle has a straight post for the belt holes. All the buckles I've ever worn have a curve to the post so that it hooks into the belt hole and stays in place. With the straight post I'm concerned that the belt will easily come undone when the customer moves around. Any ideas?

I do alot of hand setting of spots and would second what Jake stated above. I also use a piece of heavy leather underneath. It works very well overall. I do have more trouble setting brass spots vs steel spots though.

Well think I've got it organized for now. I got a new 3 shelf rack and baskets. Sorted all the scrap while throwing out the true crap. Taking this bit of time to organize has already made a huge difference in making better use of my scrap. I also have a couple items that I make regularly so if I have leather that fits a certain pattern piece I will cut it and store it for future use.

I use mostly Barge contact cement that I get from Weaver Supply. And when I need a little help with holding the leather together while it sets I use bulldog clips from the office supply store.

My current scrap bins are overflowing and taking over. I was thinking getting a shelving unit with several boxes to keep things a little more organized. So curious as to what others do keep their scrap material under control.

I'm new to selling my leatherworks and having a hard time pricing things. I get the general equations used by most but I have one problem. Most often I'm working on multiple projects at one time. It makes it difficult to really know how much time it takes me to make an item and therefore how to price it out. Anyone have any tricks they use or ideas how to get an accurate production time when creating more than one item? Thanks!

So what to do with the left over leather from chinks...Make some treat bags! The black on is my favorite!

I am looking for the elastic or fabric material that can be used in making chaps. This piece usually goes down the leg along the zipper line to make the chaps fit nicer. (or can be used to extend chap sizes) The problem is that most all elastic is 2 way stretch in the wrong direction and most 4-way stretch fabric is very thin. There is an old post on here about the subject but no real answer and reviving it hasn't brought any new ideas either. So I'm trying a new post here. Anyone have any info they can share on this?

Just completed 2 pairs of chinks. The black ones are mine and the lighter ones are for a customer.

So I found this old topic and hoping to revive it in attempts to find an answer. I would also like to sew in a stretch piece into my chaps and can't find the right elastic or fabric for it. Anyone ever solve this?

Here's mine.

Hi scottk1967, These are bags for a horse and saddle. I'm sure they could be adapted easily to a motorcycle but I don't have one to try them on. The pattern is one I got from Tandy a while back and then make small adjustments depending on what I feel like.

Thanks all! The Pfaff will get used again I'm sure but I need a new table for it and I'm running out of room. My hubby told me to sell it but there's no way. It's really nice and works like a charm. Right now all my work has been in heavier leathers.

That's an old Pfaff 30 I bought a few years back to sew lite weight leathers with. It helped get me started in this whole journey but I quickly figured out it's not really meant for leather. Now it's just sitting on the floor and has been replaced with a beautiful Cobra Class 4 machine.

Have you called the company yet? They will take care of you. I've had my Cobra 4 for a couple months and love it! The wrong belt was sent and they overnighted a new one. Then a couple weeks ago I had a couple questions and again had them answered perfectly.

Thanks! Pockets in the gusset are for a hoof pick and a snife. Never have to dig for them again.

Just completed my work area about a month ago. It's just an extra bedroom that I've turned into my office. I absolutely love working in it.

Made my husband some large saddle bags a while back. We put them to the test this last week in the Black Hills and they were perfect. The bags didn't shift at all even through the tough terrain!

So the workbench is now done! It's super solid so I chose not to buffer the counter top. Along the top of the 2x6 backsplash will drilled 1/2" holes to accomodate for more tools as well.

Thanks guys! I just found the top for the workbench last night and it's alot nicer and heavier than I expected so doubt I will put the rubber between the frame and top. I do use a piece of it under my marble though and will continue to do that. And my work space is an extra bedroom/office so it's carpeted. I'm really excited to finish this project and get back to work.

I'm in the process of building a new workbench and just have the top to find and put on. I have some 1/4" rubber stall matting and was considering using it between the bench frame and top to help with any vibration and noise reduction while tooling. Has anyone done this before or maybe done something similar?

Thanks for the info you'd found on chaps. My husband and I are avid riders and I've been experimenting with chap making. I've made chaps with anything from 3oz to 5oz leather. My tendancy would be to stay with a 5oz leather for everyday chaps that will take a beating but the 3oz upholstery leather works nicely for show style chaps. As far as riding in chaps...I currently ride in full length, zippered shotgun chap made of about 4 oz suede leather. (I didn't make these) I love the full length chaps for cooler days and tough trails. They've saved my legs many times from branches and brush. And along with a full length oiled jacket, I am toasty warm while riding in the rain or cold. Summers are not so great since they get super hot to ride in. So I'm in the process of making myself a nice pair of chinks for summertime riding.

THANKS! Really appreciate everyone's input. A Bear Maul it is!