Reegesc

Love your handle idea.

Sorry, I don't understand your question. For Chicago screws you use the female end with a base to solder to the coin. For rivets you use the male end with a base to solder to the coin. Then you use the rivet cap (female) or the Chicago screw (male) to attach the concho to leather. I don't think there is such a thing as a rivet or Chicago screw without a base and certainly not without a cap or screw. How would you attach it to anything without a cap or screw? Did you watch the video? Pretty much explains it.

Well, it's a start...but they have a long way to go. The key thing is to energize new blood. The ONLY business I see doing that is Tony See's Etsy platform. That guy is knocking out of the park. Please go go check out his Facebook group. All young people making great stuff and having a blast. Selling Ritza thread and Angelus is not going to do it. There needs to be fundamental change to the approach with this art form if it is going to survive.

@JhLeatherwood --- You are spot on about Tony See. He is singularly the bright spot in leather craft today. I've had many conversations with him and his Facebook group are a fanatical group of fans. Talk about creative...wow. The guy just blows me away.

@Spryos -- Agreed. Harry Rogers videos are great. He's such a likable guy, so down to earth. Another point I'd like to make is there is to much emphasis on the technical aspect of leather working. What is needed is more emphasis on creativity and freeform design and frankly that means new blood and new thinking.

@allinea -- Excellent post

Beautiful work man. Really, very nice.

I got one better than that. A Scottish joke -- "McGregor the Goat F****r". But darn it, I just gave away the punch line.

Thanks man...that's exactly what is needed. kudos to you

Hahaha..... a thinking person and funny. I like you already.

Yes, it's a salacious title but how else can one get eyeballs diverted from the ass grabbing "Show Off" section? Be that as it may, if you have made it this far then perhaps you're a thinking person. Welcome. The following is a rant about the state of the leather working craft industry. In my opinion, it's an appalling state of affairs. Please weigh in with your thoughts. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The other thing that I seem to be the only one who gets this, which means the only one to think about and be pissed off about, concerned about it, would like to do something about it. And that my fellow leatherwokring compadres is that our industry is the red headed step child of all the crafts and it's shrinking . It pains me that the craft I love so much is represented by a company as clueless and as incompetent as Tandy is. I'm specifically referring to their abdication of responsibility as the defacto industry leader. Self interest alone should be motivation enough to take a leadership position in our micro market. But honestly, in the fourteen years I've been working with leather, I cannot think of one single innovative anything that has come out of the Tandy camp. They are the industry leader, but they do nothing to advance the craft. Just the same old boring crap, frozen in time....1964. By my estimates, our micro craft market here in the US is around $300M year in revenue. That includes all the retailers and the micro tanneries who cater to us and all the handmade goods we make and some of us sell. You may not know this since Tandy looms large in our minds as the largest retailer in our micro industry, but Tandy is a tiny company at $83M in revenue. To put that in perspective, the average new car dealership in the United States does about $40M in sales per year. A car lot, for Pete's sakes, is half the size of Tandy. Wrap your mind around that for a moment. In contrast, The total US crafting industry which we are a part of is...drum roll... a whopping $50 BILLION industry. F I F T Y B I L L I O N U N I T E D S T A T E S D O L L A R S. Are you familiar with the Scrapbooking craft, that frivolous fluffy stationary craft that glues various items to stationary to decorate scrapbooks? That goofy craft is a $1.5 Billion market and that is down from its height of $2.5 Billion a decade ago. But leathercraft can only command $250M? Our craft is a useful craft. We actually make stuff that is useful and has purpose, and yet we weigh in at just one sixth the size of a useless, whimsical craft like Scrapbooking? How in the hell is that even remotely possible? And while the US crafting industry is growing and forecasted to continue growing, leathercraft is forecasted to contract 5-10% in the mid- term. Who, I ask you, is minding the ship here?

And mad respect for you too, Tugadude, the soft spoken artist ambassador. xxxooo

First off, I have mad respect for you, YinTx, so thank you for quoting my point about the old guard and how this art form is literally dying before us and that we, the artists, are doing nothing to stop it. It's a travesty.

I realize how rude my voice comes across, how it violates etiquette and sensibilities, but the issue resonates. You're thinking about it and that's all that matters. Maybe, just maybe, a few minds are now shifted toward a better way forward. ~deep bow~ You're welcome.

Nothing against Albob or what he made or even to show it off. I'm making the broader point that this art form is dominated by old guard practitioners who value technique over design and that thinking is taking the art form nowhere, killing it in fact. But I will say this, there is one person who is single handedly pushing it forward -- Tony See -- but sadly even he doesn't get it.