The Major

Chickens in choppers. Oh man I needed that.

Nice Bruce. Did you line it or put any pockets inside?

Georgeous Kate. Love the design.

Welcome aboard!

Very nice work

That is a clever way of closure. Those are fun to make. Great way to make some profits from the scrap bin.

All I can say about Bob's tools is Hell yes. Very good tools and he guarantees them. As far as his swivel knives go, they are well worth the wait. I bought a 1/4" angle blade from him and a swivel knife at Topeka IFOLG show a couple years ago, got the blade immediately, and about a year later the knife was in my mail box. I know the guy who made his swivel knife components had a stroke and that is why they are taking so long, according to Bob. But I whole heartedly recommend trying one before you buy it, because he offers so many variations, you are sure to find one that feels like it is an extension of your hand.

Thanks all. I used the parafin as a stiffener rather than a finish. So I let it soak into the pores of the leather while it was melted.

You and me both. It's sad isn't it. Like the shoe maker's son who has no shoes. LOL

Thanks. I skived the edges down to make a nice matching taper on each side. and used super glue gel to bond it.

Hello all, just thought I's share a couple projects that I finished up last night. The phone cases are all for Razr's made from 4oz cow, lined with 1 oz pig skin split, and laced with hand dyed and hand cut kangaroo lace. The belt is not heavily tooled. I was playing around with the tooling on this one. Tried some inverted carving and instrade of raising the lettering, I decided to depress them using a backgrounding tool. Something different. The ring is actually a pattern I made a mold from to cast out of gold for my friend's wedding bands. I used the newer celtic border stamps from tandy for the pattern. I had this nice leather ring after all was said and done, so I figure, what the heck. Why not a leather ring. So I washed it with a light shade of green spirit dye. Boiled it, let it cool, boiled it again and added some parafin. Seems to have worked well. Now lets see it they sell.

Stingray - http://www.stingrayproducts.com/index.cfm Kangaroo - https://www.davidmorgan.com/index.php Van Amburg - http://vanamburgleathers.com Carp, Perch - http://www.sealeatherwear.com/index.php?azx=1024 Just a few. I agree the turkey was weird. A guy in my local guild made a pair of ear rings and a neclace out of it. Looks very similar to ostrich. Now hippo, that sounds like it would be interesting.

Carp, Stingray, turkey, elephant, eel. Just to rattle off a few. I really like beaver. I play around with it every chance I get. If it has skin it can be made.

Who'd a thunk it. Learn something new every day. Thanks for the info! Never thought of using them in leather. I am assuming those are #8 screws

That vest is great. Love the eagle. Welcome aboard!

I really like that case. Good job, thanks for sharing.

I would stick with the longer studs personally, you can always trim them down as necessary. Better to be longer than have to skive some of the back of the leather to accommodate. That snap setting kit is all I use for setting a couple snaps. Other than that I will use my snap press. I have seen "tee-nuts" used in wood, I have not used them in leather I guess it would work, but I would be concerned about the thickness of the prongs coming through the other side of the leather. Maybe someone else on here has used them and can offer some more suggestions.

Nice, works well.

I totally agree with that 200%. It is very liberating (for me at least) to have creative reign. I know I feel like a bird just let out of a cage when it happens. Unfortunately, he is one of those picky customers, but even worse he doesnt know what he wants, but he knows he doesn't want it like that. LOL. I guess the actual problem that I am having is not so much the issue of him making up his mind, I am used to dealing with that. But, he brings his friend along and his friend keeps changing his mind for him. His friend is a "leather expert" so he know what you (meaning me) should be doing. I have found out through an un-named source, that his friend imports the crap mass produced leather gear from China including chaps and vests. But his friend could not find a set in this guys size. Which is also why he said his friend shouldn't pay more than $300 for the set, because he "knows leather" and it isnt worth that much. ( I have had to use 2 full HIDES ((not sides)) for this project so far). Please don't get me wrong I do not claim to be the utmost expert on leather, but please at least respect my experience and don't compare my work to mass produced stuff. anyway. I like to use the pink and purple addage as tool to get people thinking. Actually I have also found out since I posted yesterday, that he doesnt even ride, he is scared to death of bikes. Makes me wonder what the chaps and vest is for. Then on second thought, after it leaves my hands, I dont' want to know about it.

I have tried to use the white veg tan that is available from weaver but I can't stand it for most projects that are tooled. You can't get that good of depth of tooling on it without "breaking the white surface barrier" and then you see the natural color under it. The white leather dye available blows. What I have found that works extremely well is using an automotive upholstry color paintdye. SEM makes a product called color coat. available in most automotive paint stores. It offers some penetration as well as a nice flexible surface coat. Once colored you can dye the background normally and do everything else you want to do to finish it. My only suggestion is to make sure you deglaze the surface and let it dry before you paint it.

Thanks for deleting the dupes, it kept erroring out when I hit the submit button.

Is it just me or are those the most annoying words to hear from a customer when making a custom leather item. What color do you want it -> I don't care, what do you think...... What kind of buckle do you want, here are some pictures->I don't care, what do you think...... How tight to you want it to fit->I don't care, what do you think...... Snaps or buttons -> I don't care, what do you think...... :wtf: Sorry just got done with a customer last night who I was fitting for some chaps and a vest. And I am a little annoyed. but the good part is I have some free creative reign. So I am going to make the vest pink and the chaps purple and put some lacy accents on it. Who's the big bad biker dude now. Ha ha. :ranting:

You will need to find out the specs on the motor first. Mainly you need the amperage draw at load. Multiply amperage x voltage.(simplified) this will give you the approximate power in watts. I say approximate because true ac wattage is calculated differently. But it will be close enough for the electric company. Now calculate your KwH usage; Kilowatt Hours = (Watts x Hours of Operation)/1000 Now look at your electric bill. Find out how much they are charging you per KwH. and multiply the two numbers. This is your approximate cost for a continuous hour of usage. So assuming your 1/2 hp AC motor draws about 8 amps (estimate). 5A x 115V = 575W (575W x 1hr)/1000 = 0.575 KwH $11/Kwh x 0.575 = $6.33/hr of continuous usage.

Your top layer will need to be around .3mm in order to get the look of that original. Goat molds the best. You can get veg tanned goat from Siegals and skive it down or get pre-colored book binders goat which is already the thickness you need but you are stuck with solid colors. I would use a 2 oz cow for the backing and 2 layers of the 2 oz for the plugs so you can sculpt them. As for the glue, Art hit it on the head - use the white tanners bond glue. Just my $0.02