TexasJack
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Posts posted by TexasJack
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What happened to, "The Customer Is Always Right"?
Once you've explained why there's no warranty on her choice of materials (and perhaps that it's a premium cost), you make what she wants.
When it works out like you said it would, she'll come to understand that you know best.
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Amazing!
One criticism: You need to post more of your work on here!!
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Tandy thread is probably good as an example of what "too much wax" looks like!
Like many, I started with the Tandy stuff. When I moved to waxing my own thread, it became apparent that I didn't need nearly as much wax.
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Amazing.
So much paranoia about the way the government might screw with you while you make a holster.
All these people afraid (and confused!) by the supposed "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" and yet we can't get anybody together to try to put the same government back into the control of the voters.
Very sad.
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Welcome!
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Nice job on the pattern!!
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No matter what you do in life, somebody will not like it. You can't live your life worrying about everyone else's opinion or lifestyle.
Leatherwork is an honorable profession that dates back to the beginning of civilization. It is a way of utilizing more of the parts of an animal that was being killed for some purpose anyway. Who would say it's better to throw away the hide and make synthetic material from oil? Would that same person object to a carpenter because he's using dead tree parts? (Honestly, there probably ARE people messed up enough to say that.)
There have been some companies offering leather from animals that died from some means other than for their meat. (e.g, old age) Personally, I think that's silly, but if it makes some customer happy, well then do what ya gotta do.
Be a good person, be honest, treat people with respect, and ignore those who object to any part of that behavior.
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Sax-Sheath
in Art
Yeah, I have to admit I was curious what kind of a sheath you were making for a saxophone. Typically we see "sax" spelled "seax".
Regardless of spelling, the sheath turned out really nice! Good job!
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Very nice job!
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The more carbons an alcohol has, the more it behaves like an oil and the less it wants to mix with water.
Without the "-OH" group (that makes it an alcohol), 1 carbon = methane, 2 carbons= ethane, 3 carbons = propane, 4 = butane, 8 = octane,
20 = diesel. With each additional carbon, the compound becomes less volatile, moving from gasses (methane) to very light liquids (butane) to very heavy liquids.
If you're using alcohol as a solvent, methanol will probably dissolve anything, but it will evaporate very quickly. Ethanol will dissolve most anything but will take a little bit longer to evaporate. Use isopropyl alcohol and it will probably have that "medicine" smell for quite a while. I would suggest avoiding using isopropyl.
Fieblings deglazer is a mixture of ethanol and ethyl acetate, which is a compound made by reacting ethanol with acetic acid (vinegar). Pretty volatile, but it strips the wax off the surface of the leather fast enough that you can get it clean before it's evaporated. I add this just as an example of an ethanol-like solvent.
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As I understood it, denatured is free of any salts.
You did not read my post. Denature, according to Merriam-Webster:
to deprive of natural qualities : change the nature of: as to make (alcohol) unfit for drinking (as by adding an obnoxious substance) without impairing usefulness for other purposes
Buy Methyl Hydrate at your paint/lumber store. Low cost, 1 gallon / 4L size. Works well for thinning alcohol based dyes.
Tom
Methyl hydrate is another term for methanol. Same stuff.
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methanol
ethanol
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Oh, I knew that degree in chemistry would come in handy one day....
Methanol is the simplest alcohol and only has one carbon. It's sometimes called "wood alcohol" and it's toxic.
Ethanol has 2 carbons and is the alcohol that you find in whiskey and beer. Because you find it in drinks, it is regulated by the U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division ("The Revenuers") and is subject to a steep tax. To get around that tax, ethanol is often made toxic by adding methanol and the mixture is referred to as "denatured alcohol". You can't boil the methanol out of the ethanol, so it's undrinkable. During Prohibition, quite a few people were permanently blinded by drinking denatured alcohol sold to them as moonshine. So now they add other stuff to it to make it bitter and (sometimes) to make you vomit to reduce the number of poisonings.
Isopropyl alcohol has 3 carbons and is the classic rubbing alcohol you keep in your medicine cabinet. It usually has a lot of water added to it, which is why it's not always a great solvent to use with oil-based dyes.
Methanol and ethanol are both pretty good solvents. Methanol is a bit more volatile (evaporates quicker), and that can be a bit of a drawback in using it, as well as being more toxic (including the fumes). Both light alcohols are very flammable, so be careful.
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A guy I worked for years ago used to say, "This would be a great business if it wasn't for those damned customers!"
It sounds silly, but there were some days when we'd say that to each other (not in front of a customer) just to laugh through the aggravation of the moment.
Do your leather suppliers take stuff back? Ummm, no. Point that out to anyone who complains.
The one who makes the mistake pays for it. THAT'S GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!
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Has anyone downloaded this?
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Very nice!
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Welcome! This is a fun forum to hang out on, so I hope you enjoy it!
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Wow!
Really, really nice looking rig!
OK, you've reached the web site's limit on complements. As a result, you must continue to post more pictures of the stuff you make.
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Yeah, unusual choice, but it worked out really well! Good job!
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Hmm, I haven't considered this for a while, but knowing the excellent job that Johanna has done maintaining this complicated site, I can't imagine anyone I would recommend more.
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Worst that can happen: You end up in exactly the same position you are now without the store business.
Set realistic goals for delivery dates and amounts. Leave yourself enough time to cover things like broken equipment, late delivery of your supplies, brief illness (a day or 2 with the flu could really slow you down), etc. As others have said, consistency is a very important thing in business. A supplier that meets deadlines is highly respected - far more than one that is sometimes fast and sometimes missed the mark.
Be prepared to speak to what you'll do for special orders, focusing on delivery and how the store will profit.
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I like the color.
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Sounds like you may have chrome tanned leather and the residual chemicals are reacting with the brass. Someone gave me a fairly nice knife in a commercial sheath like that many years ago and I tossed it in a drawer and forgot about it. A friend needed a folding knife and I remembered that one and dug it out, only to find that I had to spend the day cleaning that junk out of it.
You might be able to slow down the process with some wax or other coating, but ultimately it's going to continue. If you like the knife, then toss the sheath and either do without one or make (or have made) a new sheath.
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I think it's a pretty nice looking sling!
Outfit Hunter (Caucasus Mountains). For Marlin 1896.
in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
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We do understand about the "little war". (No wars are really little when they are in your back yard.) We would be in a better position to help if we replaced our entire federal government with a goat. Sorry.
Your work is beautiful and we pray for peace.