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Thanx everyone, and I like that price on the dies! BUT, I've shown mine, now YOU show us yours...lol

I want to second that emotion. Good job jbird! Hilly, I almost spit out my Saturday afternoon beer...it cracked me up. It sure is fun watching jbird come up in the ranks!

Beautiful! You done good. Everything fits where its supposed to, and the silver is just, well, perfect to the whole thing.

That's real nice of you,.. a generous thing. Thanks for the pattern.

It looks like it was a pain to do. Ups and downs and all arounds...sheesh. Looks painful to ride too....lol Real nice job of molding, even with the 6/7. You are amazing.

Thanx everyone for the kind words, BUT where's all Yours? Blake, they are finished, waxed, and sealed, just not round beveled. Sometimes I don't accent with a dark edge, I just use the oil dye/oil mixture.(it's my photography mostly though...I think too much sharpness in the camera setting. They all shine in real life from leather balm, but nothing shines in the pic...go figger.) PS: I'm 5'7" and at 60. I seem to get shorter every day...I don't have to sell myself short,I AM short...lol.

Yeh, I heard that too, but I never look at those sections, and I am definitely not a morals cop...lol. All I care about is a good deal for my business...lol. some new searches I just tried: cobbler shop shoe shop saddle shop saddle repair man did some cool stuff come up...

Gives hope to all of us. Congrats, and don't forget to keep us all updated with news, and pix of your new place.

I search Craigslist, locally, all the time looking for the right bargains, but I'm not a shopaholic. About every 6 months, I see a sewing machine or a tool I might want to try for...it just doesn't happen very often. But then I found a small program called CraigsPalFree, and everyday, I'm chomping at the bit. With this program it's easy to search all over from one place, and see what's for sale all over. The sewing machines I see, can be incredible. I'm almost tempted to make the various trips just to see the offering up close and personal. So far I have resisted the travel, but I know it's going to happen...lol. So, anyways, check this program out, and see if it helps out. I use searches like leatherwork, leathercraft, Landis, walking foot, and sewing machines. I find it fascinating, if not outright evilly tempting..... http://www.craigspal.com/index.php

I really admire the saddler/tack people here on LW, and I wish I had more of that kind of work to drag me into that field. I especially like the spur straps, and am amazed at how much detail can go into such a small area. Well, I've been just playing around trying to come up with new ideas/products I can sell at my flea markets, and such, and came up with these keyrings. They are about 6-7" long, and 2" wide. Neatsfoot and oil dye mix, leather balm, and Hi-Lited. Bullhide fronts, Calfskin backs. Standard conchos. A special customer (Country/Western kinda guy) asked me to make something like this, so I did, and one of his friends wanted one, so...two sold already, but it might be a fluke. The stamping ain't great on these prototypes , his was much better (my pic taking makes them look worse than real life), but I'm experimenting in seeing how long they can actually take to make, and the 'how muches", etc. So far, it's about half an hour for this simple quality, and I'm thinking of charging about $20. That's an awful lot for a keyring in my neck of the woods, so before I start making better ones, I'm going to try a few of these out at the FM. Seems like an awful lot to say about simple keyrings, but I'll bet there's a lot of you out there making them... Feel free to add pix of yours, suggestions, critiques, good ideas, pats on the back, it's all good.

Welcome Aulus! Don't worry about your English, you already speak better English than a lot of us! It's nice to have so many viewpoints here, and the Europeans are becoming a larger contingent. By your intro, I see that you have over ten years doing leatherwork, so you should be able to share a lot, and hopefully learn a lot here. Post some pictures, because that's what we live for...lol!

I like the pattern! Nice job. Clean lines, nothing gets in the way of the other parts. The center flower could be bigger, to my eyes, but what the hell do I know... Wish I could draw..sheesh.

I agree with gtwister, it's beautiful, and well executed. Where the legs of the tool meet, there is no evidence of individual stamping...sheesh, that's good work. Although it's not about borders, the "pear shaded" rosette looks great. Nice touch.

TimberWolf, there isn't a vendor out there that isn't affected by the loss of American Tanneries. Most American vendors, in order to stay competitive with the other vendors, work with tanneries outside the States, having them finish and split according to their needs. The tanneries require large purchases, so the vendors put their specific requests to them. If you have to purchase a thousand hides, you want them to be exactly what you can sell. But that restricts you to specific tanneries that can make what you want. This is usually specific to certain hides, and finishes, being made at certain tanneries, too. Setting up a relationship with another tannery can be as hard as the dickens. There just aren't that many tanneries left in the US, and hides are now subject to the Global economy. From what I understand, China is buying up everything ANY tannery can produce, the rest is scooped up by our few vendors whenever they can. It's hardest on us, because we can't stock up when the hides are in. Few of us can buy that many of the same hides for inventory. I'm not really sticking up for the vendors, because they make business decisions we are not privy to, but even though we may not like those decisions, they are doing what business does to survive, including complaining to the tanneries, but sometimes with little effect. Nothing makes us madder than when we need to make something for a customer, and we can't get what we need. For your specific need right now, if you can't get a response on this board,start calling other vendors to see if they have the hide. Try some of the smaller guys, like Waterhouse. They can often suprise.

From Sweet Home Alabama to Kid Rock, it's all good Luke...

Can't wait to see the finished project Jordan. It looks real good so far. I love that buckle, where did you get it?

Welcome Bluebeard! You've come to a veritable wonderland of information, never before seen on the intertubes...lol There's a lot of braiders here, and I'm sure they'll join in to tell you of their suppliers. Check the Braiding section to see the info they have already posted, and there's usually some more added every day. We love pictures, so be sure to post your projects as they happen!

I listen to all kinds of music too. There's Delta Blues, Chicago Blues, Piedmont Blues. There's Acoustic Blues, Swing Blues, Jazz Blues. I also like all the other kinds too...lol I do listen to all the other kinds of music too, both Country AND Western. too FYI: Uncle Dave's Tips - Download Songbird. It's an open source Music Player/Playlist, ala iTunes, but without all the restrictions. It sorts all my mmusic, and has plugins that are gresat, like a lyrics one, that downloads known lyrics from the internet, and plays in a column in songbird as you listen..no more mixed up words as you sing along...like "Louie Louie", etc...lol. It also allows you to log into Last.fm, now there's an internet radio station...

That stamp is a beauty Bruce! You made it look real sweet. Jordan, a simple way is to use your adjustable creaser. At it's widest, it should clear the stitch line, and make for a bordered stitch.

I have to make a lot of things, especially belts, and I try and make each one different from the rest. When you get into hundreds or more things, coming up with something unique, becomes more and more difficult. Nothing sets a piece off quite as well as a good looking border. There is the push edger, the double bead, the simple stitched border, and even a fake stitch done with just running a stitching wheel down the edge. There are more worked edges, such as the San Carlos, and simpler stamped ones just using a sunburst/camo type stamp. Many, especially the saddlers have custom stamps they have had made to add a uniqueness to their work. There is an artistry to the border. I'm hoping you will share some pix of yours, especially the unique ones. Maybe add the whys, whens and wherefores to each approach. There is enough variation, methods, and purposes to this important aspect of leatherworking, it could probably fill a book all by itself.... I'll just throw in a couple pix to jumpstart this. Hopefully you'll hunt through some of yours and add them too.

I will NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER show that bag to my wife!

Everyone has had the same problems, at first. I noticed the rivets bend over if the holes are too big. Believe it or not, the right size, tight hole helps. Once you put the washer on, use the rivet tool hole to tighten it down, snip off the excess ( goldilocks length), then use the tool to reseat the washer again. One good strike of the mallet works best for me, rather than several taps. And of course a good hard surface, like granite helps keep the cupping controlled.

I am real glad you liked it. Thanks for the nice words. In real life the dye job did come out cool, I thought. There are aspects you can't see in the photo. My freehand "drawing" is cartoonish, but i just wanted to play with my new sheridan tools on the flower..tools before thought...lol

2-3 dollars an inch would be my guess...

yep