Kevin King

Thanks all. This one found a home in Belgium. Thanks man. The gold leather in the strap is actually ostrich leg though. Sorry. It's all stuff from my scrap bin actually, so I can't remember where I got it all. Probably a lot from Kevin at Springfield Leather.

Thank you all. I like making thes cuffs. Got a few more on the job board. KK

I think this is damn cool man. Reminds me of the movie Jeepers Creepers. Good job.

Thanks guys and gals! The thing about all these pieces is that they were gifts of some sort. The only one I made money on was the Bushido, but it was purchased to give to someone else.

Here are a few pieces that won't fit in your back pocket. For a benefit auction for a friend with breast cancer. White lamb on black cow on black elephant. 8x8 The Bettie Page Experiment. 8x10 Bushido, white lamb on black elephant. Signed in thread. Big. Can't remember the dims on this one. Kanji for Family for a gift. Brown lamb on black elephant. 8x8

I hear ya buddy! Nice case. I especially like the magnetic fasteners you use. KK

Ya...she did. Thank you! Thanks! It's a small space, so you gotta use whatever you can. Thanks buddy! 100% polyester. Be sure and show us all the bag when it's done. Thaaaaaanks! Ya...she was. Thank you for the compliment.

Thanks buddy! Well hell! That means a lot coming from you man! Thanks buddy! I don't mind the mention on your blog at all man. Except one thing...I'm in Missouri, not California. I don't think you have anything to worry about. It'll be a while before I tackle one of these things again. Thanks again man, and if I ever have another case come up i'll be sure to hit you up for some pointers. Thank you.

Ya...Thats pretty damn awsome dude.

Well that seems a bit dramatic...Don't you think? I am not sure what you are getting so upset about. Seems to me you have a lot of people here trying to help you. I know that your specific questions have been answered.

Thank you my friend! That means a lot to me. Thank you! Thanks brutha! Thank you and that is quite a compliment my friend. KK

Thanks buddy!

For my girlfriends birthday.

Well now. Seems this thread has gotten a little of track and is turning into a pissing match real quick. Not good people. When I first began working with leather, I stopped in to a local upolstery shop that was advertising "we do motorcycle seats". At that time, that was what got me into leathwork in the first place. Anyway, I stopped into the shop to ask about foam. Very simple question. His reply to me was that he didn't appreciate the fact that I was just waltzing in to find out the answer to a question that he had spent years figuring out himself. I did not say another word and left mad. Mad that he wouldn't share. But. Now I understand more where he was coming from. I have spent a lot of time and energy to locate all the right materials, learn all the methods to get the result I was wanting. I feel like this. If I was able to figure it out on my own, without asking everyone who? how? where? then why can't anyone else do the same. There is a huge sense of pride and accomplishment knowing I have learned what I have. On my own. Now, I am willing to share nearly every part of what I have learned except for the one thing that, I feel, makes my work special. On to some other points. Ellen, I think you are off-base in accusing Al of posting rude and obnoxious. I did not read it that way at all. I think his advice is spot on for the question that was asked. As a matter of fact, If it was not for Al, I wouldn't even know this thread existed. He sent me a message so that I could have the opportunity to reply. Thank you Al. Cal, You're part right. This is an art AND an industry. While I understand what you are saying about the competition thing, that may hold true if you are mass producing items, it definitely does not with one-off custom pieces. People spend a lot of money on a wallet from me and it's not because they need a new wallet. It is because of what I am able to do. You brought up Al Stohlman that ("you people") worship. Last time I checked, his books are not free. Make no mistake, this IS an industry. I am not any smarter than anyone else, if I am able to figure out how to do something on my own, so can anyone else. I have a very good leatherworker friend in New York. He is (in my opinion) the best there is. We have talked about leatherwork, customers, girls, cars, bikes, pets, and just about everything else you can imagine. But when it comes down to a couple of secrets he has and what I have, we have never discussed it. If I want to figure out how to make end caps like his, I am positive I can figure it out without asking. I gotta get back to the shop.

Thanks man! I kept looking at this thing and felt that something was missing...so I added a strap.

Also... If you look at my profile thing at the left of the page, I have "fakin it" as my leatherwork specialty. In addition to people asking how I do certain things, I have even had people offer to pay me money to spend a time in my shop to learn how I do things. I turn these people down primarily because i'd probably be teaching people bad habits. I don't really know if its the "right" way to do something. It just works for me and thats all that matters. The end product is good. I'll probably add more as it comes to me while i'm in the shop. KK

Ok. First of all, I am flattered that my work is the topic here. Second of all. There is no secret to this binding. It is callet a french roll and is very simple. I use it a ton. While I figured out how to do it before I knew what it was called, I have no problem sharing how I do it. As a matter of fact, here is a link to a tutorial I posted quite a while ago. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=9940 As far as learning how to do things, I am about 94.33% self taught. That means that I have spent a lot of time staring at things I like, scatching my head, making templates, sewing sample (practice) pieces and alway trying to figure out "how the hell can I pull this off?" The cue case I recently posted has a lot of trial pieces made before it. I have a panel that I stitched out several color/styles of little corner pieces of things. Primarilly the pocket on the case. I eventually came up with a way to do it that worked best for me. Without having to ask anyone. One thing I have learned in my short 8ish years of working with leather is that there is no right or wrong way to do something as long as you get what you were going for in the end. I will say this though. I have been asked many times about how I transfer my designs to leather. This I have struggled with as it is in my nature to want to help people. However, when I consulted another leatherworker that I consider to be the best at making products similar to what I make. His reply was "keep the mystique brother". I always wondered how the hell he did what he did. Still to this day I don't know how he does it. I will never ask him. I figured out a way that works for me and thats all that matters. My only words of advice are to keep trying and staring at things to figure out your own way of doing it. KK

Wow! Thanks man! It's the worst bro. I saw him work harder to lift a pen to write "i love you" than I have ever worked. Thanks Dave! Thank you! Lots of work definately. Bout five solid days of nothing but this case. Now gotta get back to the paying jobs and play catch-up.

Nice work as always my friend.

As some of you already know, on October 28th, 2009, My dad died as a result of ALS (Lou Gerhigs Disease). It is quite possibly the worst disease I have ever seen. Ever. If you are unaware of what ALS is, I encourage you to look it up. I'll spare the details on this post. Since my dad was diagnosed with this disease, my sister has been very active in ALS awareness. Much more than me. It's still hard for me to think about. Anyway, she organized and hosted a 9-ball pool tournament to benefit The ALS group and help raise awareness. This was one of the prizes. Love ya and miss ya pop! Thanks for looking friends! KK

Thanks all for the kind words! Good eye man. The rest is various cowhide, one kidskin, and a teeny bit of frog in the eye. Thanks eric! I had no idea what the colors were going to be until I started making it. These things kinda make themselves, I just help em along. If you look closely, the scales run two different directions. For some reason, it just didn't look right when I had them going all the same way. Thanks buddy! I'm gonna try to get back here more, been looking around at all the new stuff and people. Very cool. Relaxed? I really wish man. Maybe one of these days. KK

The finished product...

Hey friends! I know I havn't been on in a long time. Kinda miss it around here but things have been super crazy! It's like 400 degrees in my shop right now, so I thought I'd take a minute and share my latest with you all. It's a wallet i've been wanting to make for about a year now and just decided to stitch er up. I'd also like to show a little of the process of layering the leather for the design. I'll just let the pics speak for themselves. This isn't really a tutorial, just progress pics with the final shots. The wip pics are with my phone so they aren't that great, which was kind of on purpose...makes the final pics that much cooler. I didn't use a lot of exotics on this one, just a lot of different black leathers to get a cool effect with different textures. Enough blah blah blah...on with the pics.

Hey! I know I havn't been around in a while, I hope everyone is doing well. Been super friggin crazy around here! Here is one worthy of showing off. Green cow, red cow, yellow cow, white lamb, black cow, all sewn down to a grey elephant.

Been wanting to use this "wrench head" skull for a while now. Thought he seemed perfect for the dirty-ass, hand distressed veg-tan cowhide he's sewn to. To go along with this gnarly un-dead mechanic is some red frog skin for the eyes, and whats cooler than some throw-back old skool metal-flake vinyl with my creepy-crawly tribal stitching. Stash your cash in the oversized cash pocket lined with "dirty money" lining.