Johanna

The dvd can be available for download w/Billy's permission. The galleries can go here on leatherworker.net w/ Billy's permission. The technique pdf explains the embossing steps needed to use the transfer technique. For those of you who don't know the story, Billy was in the US for an IFoLG show in 1995 and wandered into a Hobby Lobby or Michaels, found a plastic bottle of Plaid fabric tranfer medium, and history was born. As soon as I get an answer, I will get his work back up for all to see. Johanna

http://leatherworker.net/technique.pdf I'm going to try to get Billy's galleries moved over to here now that his website os offline. Johanna

I like the convenience of packing my laptop and being able to go online at my convenience, no logging into insecure or public connections, no pigg-backing on someone's unsecured network, and a different IP addy every time I log in. (Dave and Kate are the only ones that get that!) My Verizon aircard is faster than my at home cable connection, when I'm not at home. (It's rural here, too!) But it smokes in cities like Chicago & Pittsburgh, and the service has seldom been unavailabe. Some speed tests and other diagnostics, if you're curious: http://www.dslreports.com/stest http://www.speedtest.net/ http://www.pcpitstop.com/ Bet Dave knows some more...He's got a T-1 Johanna

Snakehorse Saddler started a good thread about basic shop tools in the saddle section. http://www.leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1637 I'm guessing you already have a basic leather tool assortment since you've been doing leatherwork for awhile? Lots of folks have commented that they started with the Tandy type tools and upgraded as they could over the years. For example, they started with Craftool stamping tools ($3-$7) each, and progressed to Bob Beard, Ellis Barnes etc tools at $30-$90 each. Same with knives. Osbourne makes a high quality assortment of blades, but they cost more than Tandy ones. Buying leather is a whole different subject. I agree with the advice about buying better quality will give you more yield. The saddlers all have their favorites, and they would be better prepared to discuss pros and cons of the specific brands with you. Johanna

Sometime between 2 am and 6 am the server (webhost) that this forum is hosted on had a hiccup, resulting in us going offline until someone slammed the server on the back, or scared the bejesus out of him. Everything seems to be working now, so let me know if you encounter any problems I don't know about. Thanks, Johanna

I'm not a saddler, but most of the leather shops I've been in have music, coffee and a big dog or two, taking up most of the room on the floor, never flinching when he's stepped over or something falls. Warning, I had a dog that mistook a 9 oz rawhide mallet for a doggie lollipop. In a leather shop, often overlooked is the business aspect of things, too. A list of accounts. Make a card for each of your customers and consult it every time they call. Write down things you need to know on the card so you don't have to ask the same questions again. Log your invoice numbers and you'll know what you did for them the last time they called. (Thank you Judy Cobb!) Invoices/reciept book A ledger or business software A dedicated checking account A big sign out front A tax number from the state w/ any licenses you need, and forms filed telephone/email/website/fax A marketing plan An pen that writes and tablet by the phone to take notes An attorney, accountant & insurance agent you trust And a water bowl for the dogs who are always in the way, and wouldn't have it any other way. Johanna

Due to a technical difficulty, Greg's post got glitched: Alan if I am analyzing this correctly standing flat a cutter should bridge ever so slightly(from the back of the stirrup slot approx. 3 "). When the horse drops his hips this bridge fills as the contact lifts from the rear of the bar pad. At any given time you would be looking at approx. 70% bar contact on a cutter, not an ideal situation but if you were to increase the rock to fill this slight amount of bridge your contact would probably be 50% or so on a cutter at work because as he rounds from the rear forward this will push the back even higher would it not.. The big question is what works best when attaching a semi-rigid form to a flexable form? Greg, if you post to this thread, I can merge your words into your next post. Sorry it got messed up during the move. Johanna

I have always tied off the parts every so far with sewing thread or bread twist ties. I just remove and discard as I'm sewing. Johanna

This is a great place to post pics your latest work. Please understand that as the threads get older, we're going to move the topics to the area they "fit", for example, bikes or holsters, just to keep this section manageable, and help the newer folks find lots of pics of the subjects they are interested in. If I have moved your post to the wrong area, please TELL me so I can fix it. Please don't be upset when I move an older post- it actually helps more people to find it. It also helps when we use descriptive titles. "Recent Projects" isn't as likely to get clicks as "Harley Saddlebags and Seat" or "Civil War Holster and Belt". To post your pics, use the "browse" for the attachment under the area you type your message after you click "add reply" or "new post". Locate the picture on your computer, and click "upload". If you want the picture to appear in a specific place, put your cursor where you want the pic and click "add into post" after you upload the picture. The forum software will accept huge pictures and scale them down for you, and display a thumbnail image. Please be responsible, though. Pics under 500K are best for most visitors. We have some folks here paying for Internet by time, and others who have very slow connections. They want to see your work, too. The forum will also support third party images (like Photobucket, etc) if you use the button that looks like a tree and says "images". These images hosted off-site will take a few extra seconds to load even on a fast connection, so please be patient. If anyone has questions or problems, please let me know so I can help. Yes, and please please keep posting to this show-off section! No need to post directly to the area your post may go eventually...the point of this section is for SHOWING OFF! and you all are great, Johanna

Hi, Tim! I wonder if we ever ran into each other when I lived in Ga. 7 years ago? I was in Macon, quite a bit south of Jasper, but I went to a lot of biker events and Pow Wows up your way. Nah, I would have remembered the leather on the bikes. I live in Ohio now, where you get 6 month insurance- April to October- and all the bikes seem to be chrome and metal. (Metal saddlebags even. sigh.) I look at all bikes (old habit) and very few catch my eye because of their leather. Looks like yours and your wife's bike would! Very nice! Welcome to leatherworker.net! PM me if it's okay to publish your link on the other side of the site, too, please. Johanna (missing Georgia in the middle of summer is crazy, I know, but I do!)

Hey, Beeze- where is your makers mark on the plain seat? (just curious!) Johanna

Where have you been getting your supplies so far? Many of the retailers have wholesale prices for businesses with tax numbers. What part of the world are you in? Welcome to leatherworker.net! Johanna

KAW, Since you control the quality of the rawhide you work with from start to finish, do you think that makes it better quality than what is available commercially, or is it more economical to do it yourself? Your work is so precise and meticulous, and I am really glad you shared pictures with us. I like the way you use the knots in your braids for function as well as aesthetics. Johanna

I think I understand the process a little better, now, looking at the pics. I knew there was a lot of work in making rawhide! It would be great if you would add a little more description of what you do, and why, because it looks like you have the whole thing down to a T. How many hides do you use in a month? Where do you get your raw hides from? Pardon my ignorance, but I'm used to leather & rawhide coming off a store shelf, and I'd love to learn more about your methods, if you have time to explain. Johanna

Dale Hietala, a gifted artist and a dear friend, succumbed to my relentless arm twisting and did a great step-by-step tutorial of how he carved a mountain lion. https://www.leatherworker.net/mtnlion/index.htm Give the page a moment or so to load. Thank you so much, Dale, for sharing with us! Johanna

See if Billy 2-Shews' explanation helps: http://leatherworker.net/technique.pdf Johanna

You mentioned the Hoosier Leathercrafters Guild as not being very active- I'm assuming you are in Indiana? The Central Indiana Leathercrafters Guild is alive and well- are you anywhere near Indianapolis? I'm near Ft. Wayne, but in Ohio. If you want to PM (private message) me where you are, maybe I can introduce you to some folks? You received some good advice above. Browsing this site is a good start, and are some good books available at Tandy. Pick a project you want to start with, a pick one of the simpler ones. Assemble the tools you need and give it a try. With each successful completed project, your skills and confidence will improve. You can always ask a question here and someone will likely know, and someone else will have something in their scrap bin to prove it. None of us got any good without a few mistakes! Welcome to leatherworker.net ! Have fun here. Johanna

Suze, Underneath the portion where you type your message is an "add this attachment" and a browse button. Once you've located the pic, then click "add this attachment" If you want it to appar in a particular part of the post, click "add into post" after putting your cursor in the desired position. Please please post some of your family's miniature work. I know everyone here would love to see it, even if it isn't "leather" talk. The folks here would appreciate all the thought that went into the details, trust me. If you don't want to take the pics, let me come over and take some, okay? Don't be shy, no one here bites. (you have to go to the adult area for that!) Post pics! It's easy! (hint hint) Johanna

Do you skin the animals and make your own rawhide, too? Beautiful braids and knots. Welcome to leatherworker.net! Johanna

Hey, Susie! Glad to see you! Now folks, I know most of you are aware of my utter lack of artistic and creative talent. That's because my cousin here got it all. She is also an active SCA member. If the leather bug does bite, Susie, you know you are always welcome in my shop. She taught me the golden rule..."there is no such thing as scraps, just stuff we haven't used yet." Welcome, Cuz! Johanna

I put the tools away when I'm done, and get them out again five minutes later, but it's easier than searching though everything to find the rivet setter or whatever. It's a few extra steps, but I don't mind. I like my kitchen the same way- when I go in to cook a meal, I don't want to clean up the last one that we ate before i can start. In the shop, I want to start each job with a clean bench, and all the tools where they belong. Since I put them away as I'm using them, clean up is never too hard. Tangent- I'm with you about kids in the shop! Especially little ones who don't know that the blade is sharp, the chemical is poison, the string shouldn't get wrapped around the neck... My kids are older, and if i go downstairs, they all want to follow. They get in my way, and they want to look at this and touch that while I'm trying to get something done. I made a rule that only one at a time could be by the bench, and the rest had to sit on the stairs, rotating every five minutes. It made me crazy trying to make sure no one was smacking my stamps into dry leather or on the marble, no one was chasing anyone with my spray bottle and someone else wasn't taking some of my better scraps to cut up and mangle. If I want to do a project with the kids, I organize it ahead of time, give each of them their own space and supplies, and try not to have anything distracting me while I keep an eye on them. It's not so much for their safety any more (my kids are 7, 9, 10 & 13) but the protection of my tools. Anyone who has ever watched someone use a belt strap cutter without scrap leather or a poundo board knows exactly what I mean. Biggest rule- NO ONE touches the head/round knives. They are all in sheathes, and there is no reason at all to get them out, for that is nothing but an accident that will involve the ER just waiting to happen. My husband says they will grow up and move out into their own homes someday. I hold on to that fantasy on the difficult days. 18 days until school starts. >YEAH!!< Johanna

Kathy had some technical difficulties. Not with the leather, obviously. Johanna

More sad news this morning. Dan Thomas, grandson of Darwin Ohlerking, asked me to pass this along to everyone: Hello Everyone, It is with a sad heart that I wish to inform the leather art community that Darwin Ohlerking passed away this morning (4 August 2007) after a brief battle with liver cancer. We did happen upon some of the posters' comments regrading my grandfather which we shared with him and he valued highly. If you wish to send words of sympathy or memories to his wife, you may e-mail them to me here and I will see to it that she receives them, or mail them to her directly at: Jo Ohlerking 515 N. Kirkwood Eagle Grove, IA 50533 Sincerely, Dan Thomas (grandson) Dan, I will be sure to send condolences to your grandmother. I admired your grandfather's work, and was lucky enough to meet him at several shows, years ago. He was generous with his time and explanations, and had many friends in the leatherworking community. He will be missed, and our sympathy is with your family. Johanna

When they judge at shows, they do look for a finished interior, but it does not need to be colored. They do expect that the flesh side is smooth. With vegetable tanned leather, sometimes water and a good burnish, or rub with canvas or deerskin is sufficient. If an item is going to be worn, I prefer to use Leather Balm or some kind of wax for the burnish, because my skin is very sensitive, and it will break out in hives when I sweat on the raw leather. If I were entering an item in competition, I would wax it just for show, for a customer, it would depend on how well the leather took the standard water rub. Johanna

I have been going through the board and fixing links in signatures to be "clickable" (My Eighth Grade English teacher would have had a cow over that word!) If you have a website, consider adding the link to your signature so that interested persons can check out your work. Here's an example of how a "clickable" link looks: abnLeather bracket url= http://addy close bracket words you want to show url w/ a bracket Anyway, if I screwed up your signature, either fix it or yell at me. I'm not going to say I caught them all, but I know I fixed at least 50 last night. If you don't have a website, and want one, send me a PM. Johanna