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Customer asked me to make a new holster, duplicating the one he had when he purchased it in the 60s. The weapon is beautiful. He bought it for like $39 back then and $10 for the holster. It's valued for several hundred now, I guess. BUT, he is a LEFTY. Now his son has purchased a similar weapon, and he wants to give him the old holster. He asked for me to duplicate for a lefty. I thought it came out quite similar. (he wanted it darker). I've been experimenting with oil dyes and dunking lately. Without the deglazer gives a mottled look where the dyes don't penetrate the fingermarks, and such. Sometimes it comes out quite nice looking. With the deglazer, it's the same but the fingermarks aren't there, mostly a better look, some sort of marbleized finish. What do you think?

My latest favorite is the free version of Avast. Auto updates itself, and has caught lots of stuff AVG didn't. Upgrading to the paid version wouldn't hoit, but not necessary. Integrates with email, and web browsers. (www. avast.com). For a firewall, I use Comodo. Has heavy duty stuff for the nerds, and simple enough to run for those that ain't.

A side is the way to go, but expensive, unless you are going to make a dozen or so belts. Don't bother splicing anything together. Unless you've done it a few times, I doubt you'll be happy. Since you said you are starting to order, my suggestion would be to ask your supplier to cut two strips from a side (either a 6/7oz veg tan, or bridle type leather...2 6/7s=decent gun belt weight). I'm sure they would do it for you. SpringfieldLeather/Zack White's, etc..... I know Zack's sells the belly side leftovers of bridle leather, for about $30. They are about 10" wide, and probably about 72" long. Bellies are weaker than strong side, but if you lay one strap the opposite of the other, it'll be fine, I would think, for what you want.

Man, I wish I could make saddles!. I really like the wide braid, and especially like the nice touch on the strap, with the basketweave down to the slots, and then sewn around the holes...looks good to me.

Don't worry about the bottom, that's such a good field bag, it'll have stuff all over it from good use, in no time. Nice job. I always liked that kind of bag closure...guess it's the simplicity..

Welcome pino! Gee, the bag looks great. I love the expandable gusset. You've got both the old and new worlds covered. I'm sure you'll hear from a lot of people, here. Keep showing the pictures.

Ray, You have a wood floor!! A couple of L brackets for a pound, and you're stable. (Geez, I wish it was that cheap to fix me!). If you need rollers, you could do the same with adjusting L brackets on the legs, and a couple of places on the floor to put in some c brackets for the Ls to hook into. Or, you could drill a few extra holes in closer to center of gravity, and remount your machine, and add some wheels, that would solve it.

There is only one or three tanneries left in Mass. And I'm not sure they all produce rather than import, but the one last one I know for sure is a real tannery is Hawtan, I think it's in Newburyport. Check them out to see. http://www.hawtanleathers.com/products.htm EDIT: Just read deeper, their actual tannery is in the Carib, but they do warehouse here, so it would be possible to go select, I'll bet.

Disclaimer: I am not Kevin Hopkins. Ian, I grew up around tanneries, they were on every corner on the North Shore, and when I started in the Leather Trade, they were all my sources. Each one specialized on a particular kind of leather, and I would make my runs to get the various leathers. Nowadays, there are very few left in the US. And the ones that produce are even more specialized, i.e leather for Spaulding baseball gloves, or W&C/Herman.The distributors, on the other hand are buying odd lots, when they can, left overs from large orders from overseas, or when a particular leather becomes their staple, they will arrange with a tannery (mostly outside the US, with US hides) to produce a run. There is always a negotiation, in these cases, over color, temper, price and quantity. Once the negotiations have started, there are samples shipped back and forth, agreed upon results, quantity, then prices. These negotiations take lots of weeks, then the production, then, at last the shipment. Now a lot of the distributors also use these leathers to make things themselves. That means they get first pick. Sucks being us. There is also the problem with variations between shipments, one run not being as good as the last. That's where the fights begin, and distributors look for other tanneries to supply their need. Sometimes it works out, sometimes the leather still ain't right. About the only protections we have is to either, hand select from a local distributor (our best chance), or have a trusted supplier pick out from their stock for us (sometimes good/sometimes bad...mostly due to timing..low supply/fresh supply), or the best situation is for us to become the first buyer, and order our own from the tannery. This is the most expensive route for us small guys, because of the minimum order numbers. A few hundred hides is out of the question for most of us. What's on the swatches this month, will probably not be the same hides, by the next order. If you were to do larger scale purchasing/manufacturing, you get to yell louder about stuff, but not necessarily win the battle, Between China purchases, and limited modern tanneries, it's tough. Supply is limited. The tanneries are in charge. Not the distributors. This is what you get, like it or lump it. Sure W&C/Herman Oaks produce superior veg tan, but we dont all produce saddles, and tooled items. Garment, and other type leather is produced for specific things (auto,clothes, handbags, etc). If we are not the initiator of the run, we get the leftovers, the rejected, or worse, the variations from batch to batch. Still sucks to be us. I saw a sample sent to Zack's, from a tannery, and I want it bad! But the negotiations, and shipments have taken what to me seems like months, and still they have not arrived. And I still don't know if the final product will be like what I saw. None of this helps, i'm sure, but so far, this is what I've learned about it. Sometimes you get the bear.....

Well, there seems to be a little hope out there, at least from most of the people who have chimed in. But so far, the there's not much here from people who are actively trying to support themselves with just the leather trade alone. One thing everyone agrees on, try and "outsource" as many tasks as you can, not necessarily employee wise, but, for the other things. I.E. web work, accounting, partnerships with other vendors or craftsman. I have one example of that... There's a biker shop near me, that sells all the vests, and jackets etc. But they don't do repairs or odd requests. I did her some favors, and she has repaid me tenfold, by sending me those odd requests. From zipper repair to larger.longer belts, and even some seat recovers. In essence, she has become a marketing rep for me. Gawd love her, she's a wonderful woman, who keeps getting screwed over by other people, but her and me, work good together. C'mon people, there's got to be more than a handful of us in this profession, trying it full time. How 'Bout You?

It looks like you built a saddle! Cool job. What I am amazed at, is the small lettering. That looks great.

Wow, that's just great! Thank You for this, tomcat.

RECAP SO FAR: Just jbird, Ian, and me seem to be depending on leather for any and all income. I know there should be many others, we'll have to wait and see who chimes in. Bruce, and Ray, apparently, have some other income supplement. We've got Ian with a plan to undiversify, and concentrate on one aspect. Jbird is just gonna plug on, no matter what (sorta like me), Bruce is doing less wholesale, allowing him to concentrate on more customization, and Ray is building the web aspect. The ideal, i guess, is a combination of all these things, but that's hard for a one man shop. We have to be all things to all people. I suppose a lot depends on your base of customers. Rural West seems to be the more advantageous in its use of leather for the Cowboy Arts, but it probably means more competition too. Out here in the Southeast, even the bigger cities are not very big. Population is spread out, and hard to target. But the customers you do get, become quite loyal. The most successful maybe those that pick a niche, like tack, or motorcycle seats. The jack of all trades, master of none seems to be the toughest approach, even though the customer base would seem to be much larger. And LIFE always seems to get in the way. What about You???

Sounds like you need a pep talk Ian! "One man shops" is a hard life. We can't all be famous for "one thing". So far I don't think I've made a mistake by not specializing. I'ld love to be a saddlemaker, but the time frame to learn is an extreme luxury to me, plus I'm allergic to horses...lol. I've actually used this time and varied projects to hone the skills. You have less need to sharpen up, obviously. You have the skillset already to bypass the patch and repair route. It sounds like you just need some different commissions. A re-marketing campaign. You're captured by the local demands. Some kind of new scene would open a new network. The only way to find that is to put yourself in the position to meet a new crowd. That's why I drive 45 minutes to Raleigh every week. I don't make much money there, but it's steady, and occasionally, I get a challenge commission. There are people there who look for me now. Or you need a product development you can "mass market" in some small way, or sell to small industry. I've done that with the handles I make for the Amp company. I'm slowly building a base, between the small patch jobs, the local community commissions, the flea market, and the handles , for now, I have the time, you may not. Don't let em get you down bro, beat em off.

At your point, I would suggest a cookie jar. When you make something, and sell it, take all the money, and put it in the cookie jar. don't touch it. Use your personal cash for awhile to buy materials, consider it like dining out...a fun expense. Eventually your cookie jar will have enough sheckels in it to actually buy something. Figure out just what it is you sold, then go buy what you need to repeat that success. Good luck in your venture...Really! I was hoping to see just where other people are in their startups, how they got there, and what they intend on doing to make it grow... Even if you aren't to the point of startup, go right ahead and join in, though...it's all good.

Doesn't seem to be a need for a fancier version, those do right fine! I'm not sure how the ammo case works, looks like the belt covers over the ammo, inside the flap. That's a good secure method, just don't know about access to the ammo, but it's probably good, anyways. Nice job. Looks like you have a good product to promote.

Let's take a break from showing pictures, and talking politics. How about we talk business. In particular, of course, the Leather Trade. I know there's quite a few Saddle Makers, and such, who have been in business for years, and years. You guys rock! But there's a lot of us who are fairly new in these modern times. Some of us did this years ago, and put it aside, only to start it up again. Some of us are just starting out from scratch, after going through our friends and family...lol. How are you doing????? I'm sixty, and once again giving it a shot. I've got a good woman, and plenty of heart, and two good dogs to keep me on the straight and narrow. Who knows, maybe it works, we'll see. "Good Lord willing, the creek don't rise" But how about you? Are you just plain lucky, and the flood of customers is coming in, or are you just pluggin' away at it. I'm a firm believer in "Build it, and they will come", and so far, it is semi working for me. I'm bouncing around a lot, I don't have a niche like the western saddlers, or the "floggers". I find myself doing biker stuff one day, cowboy stuff the next, and in between other stuff like guitar straps, or portfolios. I don't have a local reputation enough to draw them into my home shop yet, so I go out to fairs and such to get the word out. I've tried a little etsy, web sites, etc, but the bread and butter is still networking, and word of mouth. There is nowhere near enough money coming in to branch out, or even take a wage yet, but it's steady, and possibly growing How are you handling your startup?????

nice job tomcat! she's purdy. Ingenuity wins again. A tutorial would be wonderful.

Long distance transactions stink! There's too much room for error, but a lot of us still do it. I can't offer anything but commiseration...(sp?) I was talking today, to someone who will not ship to some countries because of credit card deals gone bad. That being said, Paypal has been a convenience to me, but not a necessity. Same with ebay. I've learned to keep just a small amount in paypal for this very reason. You gave this guy every chance to back out, instead he acted the spoiled little kid, apparently. Hopefully he sees the error of his way, and this gets resolved...but in the meantime, maybe you can get a new account under some other name or email, and just rewrite the webpages to change it. I know I have several paypal accounts (because I kept forgetting the password...lol). I'm lucky enough to have several bank accounts (peanuts in them) to use for this very occasion. Flow like water, Ray, Flow like water! Don't let the b@#$&ds get you down. I also have a merchant account that allows me to take ccards over the phone. As long as I get visa/mc verification everything rolls along smooth. Paypal and ebay have grown to the point where they are huge businesses, and many people are unsatisfied with them now. They have all the business, and treat their customers like dirt. There are a few other companies that do the same online thing, the trouble is everyone is already on paypal...catch22.

ormus, you done good. I like the brown one,with the antler) the design looks like it came straight from the medieval times.

First try, and you made something that worked. Good job! Now if we could only get Union wages for doing this work...lol Woody Guthrie Union Maid Lyrics: There once was a union maid, she never was afraid Of the goons and the ginks and the company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid. She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called, And when the Legion boys come 'round She always stood her ground. Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union. Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die. This union maid was wise to the tricks of company spies, She couldn't be fooled by a company stool, she'd always organize the guys. She always got her way when she struck for better pay. She'd show her card to the National Guard And this is what she'd say You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me; Get you a man who's a union man and join the ladies' auxiliary. Married life ain't hard when you got a union card, A union man has a happy life when he's got a union wife.

First off, welcome to the Board. The more, the merrier! I think you done great for a first time. I love when a person has a need, and makes something to fill that need. That is what makes a real human. That's why leather is so cool. You can make so many things from it. As to your questions. Simple answers -You stamp first, then dye. There's a product called Dye Prep that helps the leather take the dye better. I usually finish the edges after everything else is done. The best thing you can do is scour this site for the reams of information you can find here, This place is getting to be quite the library, with volume after volume of valuable information. Read. Read. Read. Then post more pix. We love pix. There will be tons of people to answer your questions, so as you progress, don't be afraid to ask for help

When I was a builder, it was nothing for me to have to pay out FICA/unemployment/etc, in the area of 20,000 a whack, and I was a lttle guy! If you didn't put it aside, you were in trouble when it came due. So consider yourself fortunate, you are only dealing with the one employee. The paperwork alone becomes a two person job! I read the other day, that in reality, whether you were in the 15% bracket, or the 35%, when all is said and done, the percentage of our taxes, including all the extra fees, sales taxes, etc., approaches the 48% range. This is very close to the 54% or so foreign countries have. So although there is a lot of people who say things like, "Sure they have medical insurance, but look what they have to pay in taxes." In reality, it's what we get back from paying those taxes that should concern us. We pay out almost as much as they do, but get less back. Although paying out of pocket for taxes, and SS hurts, what really costs business, or the self employed is the medical insurance. $600-$1000 a month for medical insurance should be the thing that really gets everyone's dander up! With Single Payer Insurance, business, small or otherwise, would see a huge boost to their bottom line. Seems like common sense to me. 15% tax would then seem like a bargain....

shhhhh..don't reveal the secrets! Look, self employment is a tough row. Small business to the government means in the low millions, not thousands. Anything less is just considered peons scratching out an existence. BUT we are the ones that actually pay our taxes. We don't have a bureau full of tax attorneys, and have to pay just what the numbers say. The good part of starting a business, is the few years you have to make a profit. It's those years you sink everything back into the business. Paying yourself is nice, but building the business by buying equipment, and materials will help you to keep that business going for a longer time. Paying yourself is of course, exactly why we do this, and paying into social security helps you later on in life. I've only a few years left before I collect, and I wished I had paid more into it. The nickels start counting then. All the flat taxers, and such are really just deluding themselves. You are right though, the top one percent own 90% of everything. There is something fundamentally wrong with that. That's what the current administration is trying to deal with. How do we improve the situation so that all boats rise? First, REGULATE. Offshore avoidance of their fair share of taxes has been a big loss to us citizens. The Bernie Maddoxes, the AIG hornswaggles, etc. have all been rooted in deregulation. Lay down some frikkin rules for crying out loud! The free enterprise system works in theory, but in reality, people can be dishonest, and greedy. Free Enterprise needs rules. Secondly, no matter what side of the fence you sit, everything is political. We can't sit and gripe, and expect anything to change, without getting off our duffs and changing it. Join the local Party, and help get people elected that you believe in. We are America, America is not some organization run by "Them". It's the little old lady in the back licking stamps. And she's pissed!...lol

I don't make enough to pay myself anything, nevermind the payroll taxes, but you sure do seem to be enjoying this one sided conversation.ROFL.