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

21 days...21 days...21 days... Johanna

Sandpaper? Johanna

I excerpted this from an article I found in "Sunset" written by Peter Fish. King's Saddlery and King Ropes, 184 N. Main St., Sheridan, WY 82801; (800) 443-8919 Johanna

I think a problem is that many leatherworkers are not far enough "in the black" to even think about hiring help. If you approach someone who is willing to teach, you can't exect to be paid, at least not in this vocation. If that's okay with you, then by all means ask- and take some samples or pics of your work so they can get an idea of where you are at, skill-wise, and see that you are serious. Luke is right- back in the 40s-70s, leatherworkers and saddlers were reluctant to share their secrets. Some might not have wanted competition, some would have not been able to get their price if folks knew how easy it was to sew a seam or set a rivet. I think that old-school silence is over, and this board is evidence of that. People here ask questions and get answers, and no one seems too worried about spilling trade secrets. One leatherworker told me, "Why should I care if I tell how I do it? No one can duplicate MY work!" Makes sense to me. There's an old saying, "Each one, teach one." If 400 leatherworkers taught 400 leatherworkers who taught 400 more leatherworkers...well, you get the idea. I think there is plenty of work for everybody to go around. Azmal, it sounds like you had a bad experience with your teacher. Were the terms of your agreement spelled out ahead of time, or did you just fall into a situation? I don't think you need to worry about protecting what you know any more. You've shown an ability to do your own thing, in your own style. Grumpy, one thing to keep in mind about leatherworkers is that the majority of them are solitary kinds of people. They may not be receptive to having someone in the shop, just because they would be expected to hold conversations. I suspect some folks here type more words than they actually say in the course of a day! So don't get discouraged if no one says, "Yes!" right away. It might not have anything to do with you, just that some folks like to work alone. That said, if you can possibly attend the IFoLG show in Ft. Worth in October this year, you will meet people from all over the world who share an interest in leather, and will talk for that weekend, anyway! You will be able to put faces to many of the names you see on this board. And when you assess the crowd, you will be surprised at the variety- suits and jeans, old and young, happy and grumpy (oh, wait, those are dwarves!) but you get the idea. Plus you can play with all the vendor stuff! Let us know how your search goes. Johanna

I second Billy P's book suggestions. Good choices for the basics and a little extra to grow on. Beezachoppa is here, along with some other seat makers. David Theobald and Beeze both did step-by-step "how to build a seat" posts, and I just sit here and wish I had a bike to put one on, while I clean the drool from the keyboard. I like Bettie Page, too. Want access to the adult section? Welcome to leatherworker.net ! I may be biased, but I think we have some of the greatest leather talent in the world here already, and we're kinda new. Glad to have you here. Johanna

Matthew- he's looking for a braider, not the hair. If you don't get an answer soon, Kevin, let me know- I can think of at least three people off the top of my head who could do some nice work for you. Johanna

I am looking for a leather worker for a friend to do some custom motorcycle tank consoles and tool bags. He is OLD SCHOOL and refuses to get a computer. Do you do these types of requests or do you have contact information of anyone who does? Thanks for your help. Sincerely, KV2 PM Johanna for email addy

Luke, Office 2000 is your Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook etc. It's software to run on your Windows computer. When you boot the computer, what does the splash screen say? Which flavor of Windows do you have? Johanna

Luke, what OS version do you have? Johanna

July 25, 2007 Ban on Kangaroo Hides Puzzles Australians Here

Gremlin should be very proud of her leatherwork. I see you kept her busy burnishing too! I think it's great you have such an enthusiastic partner. You and Gremlin are sharing some special time- and it's true- they do grow up fast! One of mine was a baby just a short time ago, and now has an earpiece attached to a cord that runs somewhere in his pants doing I don't know what, and he doesn't talk much these days. Sigh. Thanks for sharing the story about Wallace, too. I had three Rottweilers, and they were not the evil beasts people thought. However, I knew I was the safest woman in town at night in bed! Nice work, Hoyden, keep tapping! Johanna

X, http://www.leatherworker.net/forum/index.p...=findpost&p=289 Johanna

It's easy, Bill! Copy the eBay link to your clipboard (highlight and press control c). Use the "New Post" or "Add Reply" button (not the fast reply that automatically opens at the bottom of a thread) and type your message. Then highlight a word or phrase, click the link button (you can hover your cursor over the buttons if you're not sure which icon is which yet) and a box will pop up. The "http://" is already there, and since you copied your link from your browser, hit delete, then paste your link in (press control v) and Voila! done. Or just paste the whole 2 mile long link, who cares? I don't know enough about eBay to go searching for this Stohlman art, and I can't be the only one! Johanna PS Send us extra rain. It's too dry here, and the farmers are beyond worried.

Azmal, If you don't already have them, you may want to pick up Al Stohman's three volume set of "The Art of Making Leather Cases". You already have the skills to make a briefcase like you drew, but there are lots of tricks to gussets and flaps described in his books that might save you some time and money. Ed, I'd be happy to put anything you want to share on dedicated webpage(s) with contact info, links to your site and fifteen reasons why people should buy your bags over what they see in the store or on eBay. Johanna

"Portmanteau" is the standard spelling, for the folks here who speak other languages. (It is amazing- in chat the other day we had people from three continents, and many of them could converse with each other in more than one language!) Luke- download "Image Resizer" from MSPowertoys and install it. It will add a right click option to pictures to automatically resize them, with three different choices for size. It it very easy to use, and free. SteveJ, what have you been working on lately? I've always liked buckskinner and reenactor events, do you go to those? Got any more pics to share? (hint hint!) Johanna

The possibilities of using this technology to create patterns is exciting- please keep us informed! JustWakinUp- I can't believe Tandy has never thought of doing geometric CraftAids! It would be one way to get basketweave designs with guidelines, and make quilting patterns a snap. I'm not familiar with Corel Draw either, and I know Adobe has more features than I know how to use, but even I can create patterns like this, so I don't think this is too much of a stretch for leatherworkers. Keep talking, guys, I'm listening! Johanna (the tech side of me has my head spinning with ideas!)

The most treasured gifts I have ever received are the ones that were not bought in a store, but made by hand. That bag is beautiful, and the customization adds to its charm. When the teacher uses her bag, she will always feel a smile in her heart, because her bag radiates the spirit in which it was given. I would love to learn more about your embroidery experiences, too. It looks like a whole new world of possiblities can be done now with some software and an eye for design. I remember the guys in Daytona who had lines for just sewing patches on leather jackets, so I wonder what kind of market there would be for embroidered wings? Or a company logo on Christmas gifts? The combination of fabric and leather, like you did on the bag, looks contemporary and stylish. Thanks for sharing! Johanna

Shared by Jerome of Grayhawk Leather, South Central Leathercrafters Guild (posted with permission) Members of this list (FLASAH) have remarked about how they would like to see more competitions and for the public to better understand the value of quality leathercraft. Well here is a chance to help develop both! This is a chance to get in on the first year of what may become one of the biggest Leathercraft competitions in the USA, and all it will take to make it that is your entries! Are you game to try? It has been confirmed that entry forms postmarked August 3 will be good to go. Also competition is open to anyone from anywhere! No need for a TN address. So look over what you have and pick out a few items to send to the Fair and see how you do against the rest of us. Entry forms and rules can be found at the following link. TN State Fair Leathercraft Competition Now is your chance. Get those entries filled out and mailed by Aug 3. We have a plan for delivery of items to the fair and pick up and return shipping. The TN State Fair can be as close as a UPS shipment from your home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The South Central Leathercrafters Guild is one of the more active guilds in the US, and has many talented and dedicated members. Please contact them directly for more information, whether it's about the fair, or membership. Johanna

Oh, yuck. I remember when my insurance company wanted the same thing. It satisfied them to have a video and a list of tools and leather with approx retail value. I remember inventory was tedious, and enlightening. We found things we had forgotten about! We ended up settling on a policy of what we figured we needed in case of fire, or whatever, and a minimum liability policy to satisfy the state. I don't know anyone who appraises leather shops, or anywhere one could be certified to do that. I know a few of us could walk a shop and take a good guess. Maybe ask if a set amount can be agreed on for a price, after you figure out what your shop is worth. (That's so much fun!) The good news was that since I had documented the shop in Georgia, when I moved to Ohio, my homeowners added a rider covering the shop, not as a business, but because it is an uncommonly big asset kept in the house. They accepted the paperwork my policy in Georgia was written on as the value of the shop, and I didn't have to do it all again. (I don't run the shop as a business now, so I didn't need any more than regular homeowner's liability insurance.) But hey, for a free vacation to Colorado, I'll be happy to print you up a shop appraisal and sign it with a list of my credentials. Johanna

I could set up an area that people could browse for leather goods and makers, and categorize it by item, area, name, or whatever, put a search function in, load it with thumbnails of examples, contact info and anything else you folks think would be useful. That kind of tech stuff is easy. I've actually been working on this type of Member Gallery in my spare (ha ha!) time. I have 50 or so members on that list who want to participate. I would prefer to point the potential customer to the maker's own website where the arrangements for custom work or a purchase can be made directly between the customer and the seller. One problem: not everyone who wants leather work has a website. An online portfolio may not make you rich, but it can sure be handy, letting your customers see your work and understand your policies at their convenience, and yours. If you are serious about paying bills with leather, and you don't already have a full waiting list, you may want to consider adding a website to your marketing plan. There is no way I want us to get into jurying work, ever. Visitors (customers) can judge someone's leather credibility by their websites, posts, pictures and the respect accorded by their peers. Beaverslayer's idea of a "Buy Now" area with PayPal buttons and regularly rotating merchandise might have merit though. Let's talk about that idea some more, especially the folks who do not have websites. I wholeheartedly agree with Regis, though, we don't want an e-leatherbay! Johanna Beaverslayer wrote: I would imagine that a lot of people that stop by this site and look at all the fantastic work that we show each other, wonder whether or not they can purchase something. I have also noticed that a lot of the members on here are just a bit shy about listing what it is they do in the "Leatherwork Specialty" section of thier Bio, and also listing thier website, should they have one, and also their location as to city and state/province. This would give them the added ability of making contact with you to actually come see your work in person. well said!

That's what I was always taught. If I were going to line a holster, I wouldn't use deerskin or suede either, for all the reasons given above. That said, I;'ve been known to do a few jobs "just like the customer wanted it" because I knew the check would clear. (Only exception being something that could get them killed, like slipshod saddle repair, etc) Johanna