JerseyFirefighter

I have all but lost my custom stamp maker due to a shift in his business focus and was wondering if there were any custom stamp makers that churn out custom stamps from provided images for under $20. I really liked his stamps because he printed them on square or rectangular cut pieces so lining them up along the strap was SUPER easy. A few of the round delrin cut plastic stamps make it very difficult to line them up perfectly for the press. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I usually buy one or two a month. Thanks!

Beautiful work. I have a few hundred bucks in crystals and conchos and for the life of me absolutely hate setting spots. Your designs and work look great.

I saw that. A shame because it was very useful and simple to hit that threshold. As for order correctness, the last three have left me wanting. They've always made it right afterwards which is their status quo, but shipping the wrong rivets.. or when you order a few yards of velcro and only get the male side of the velcro it becomes a nuisance. At least I order ahead most of the time so I'm not waiting at the mailbox for material. I still do prefer ordering stuff through their website rather than other retailers sites. The shipping was fun while it lasted.

Harbor freight for a $65 drill press and a cocobolo burnisher attachment found on ebay and the like. Makes life AMAZINGLY easier for edges.. until you are doing 10-15 straps at once.. then you wonder where the next best tool is.

So thread exchange was very little help besides "check your tensions" so with that I took a video of the process im dealing with. You can see from the (now) scrap that it breaks every 10 stitches or so. Oddly enough, at a slow enough speed I was able to sew another piece without any breaks. It's as soon as I go about 20spm I encounter this issue. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the video orientation but it pretty much shows what im dealing with. Could it be bobbin tension that's screwing me up?

I went through these same mental hoops. Posted here with a $500 budget looking for a machine to sew a 12oz of leather, begrudgingly upped my budget to over $1000, then went big instead of going home and dropped almost 3x that on my machine. It is a little different because I had been selling products for a few months already, but i'm sure budget will slowly start creeping upwards (not to my extreme I gather). I'm guessing although it's a hobby you sell some of your work..I dedicated a few month or so of profit to offset the hit. Couldnt be happier with not settling.

Welcome from N. Ocean County! You'll find that aside from heading into PA that there are no leather supply shops in the immediate area. I learned a lot the hard way... buy, wait for delivery, realize it was the wrong item, buy again....rinse repeat The Al Stolhman books are a good start, this place is flush with tips and tricks for finishing edges. The "How do I do that" section is also great for ideas. Best of luck!

I agree with Colt. Skulls may not be your cup of tea but it's not inflammatory. I can agree with limiting or prohibiting profanity save from the adult section given this site can be a catalyst for young children interested in the craft, but what you deem as offensive can be quite normal to the next person. Region depending the definition of adult content varies, but I would suspect that skulls would not be on many illicit image lists. Perhaps for the more questionable posts the mods can implement a NSFW (not safe for work) tag that would limit the imagery until the user understands the content about to be viewed has been deemed inappropriate for most business settings. (Again I dont believe topics such as skulls, devils, dragons, etc are things that should be included in that list), but can be a valuable tool to protect the innocence of those not interested in questionable material.

Well perhaps it's just Elizabeth that's misinformed. She had told me I had to buy a whole drum's worth of leather to get a "special request" for it to be struck through. it was like 50 sides. I was going to try Weaver's stuff before I decide what im going to do. I like RJF's latigo and their prices are good.. but as previously mentioned aside from their bridle not being struck through I liked W&C's bridle.

I was kind of disappointed at W&C. I understand that they are just slow to process orders (mine took about 3 weeks) so plan ahead, but would have liked their drum dyed to be struck through. The Bridle softened once over felt nice, but the Latigo had almost a cardboard feel to it. I've yet to try their veg tan though so I cannot speak to their quality. If JLS is saying it's good to go it's likely good to go.

Thank you. Ill do just that

https://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/product/sewglow-white-100-yd-cone/ Thread in question...

So I buy all of my thread from Superiorthread.com. Mostly of the same size and only slight top tension adjustment is required for switching between their nylon and poly. I decided to give some glow in the dark thread a go and see how it holds up. Unfortunately, this thread keeps breaking. I get about a stitch or two in and the bottom thread gets bunched up and the top thread tenses hard and snaps. Im kinda lost considering its the same size ive been using and slight adjustment from the top either way produces same results. The bobbin tension doesnt seem too far off from the rest of the threads I use, perhaps a little more taught. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This thread has been one of those projects like my stingray skin where I swear id get around to it. Now that I finally have it spooled up and ready to go I cant get past start. Thanks for your help in advance!

Agreed with Chief. The only other alternative would be a custom set from a place like hexnhit. but im sure the whole alphabet at a larger size will cost ya.

That's pretty crazy considering they own the brand Craftool. Never been in a leather store though so I couldnt speak to what type of inventories they keep.

Springfield Leather Company sells the stamp sets. From 1/2 up to 1" in different fonts. Truthfully most if not all leather supply companies sell them.

I had the same problem with Tandy rivets and have made the switch to SLC's stuff. I feel much more confident using there rivets. I would never trust securing dog collars with rivets because im traumatized now . As a matter of fact im waiting on a collar whose rivet let loose because of those rivets. Now I have to find out how im replacing a decorative rivet with a liner already stitched on the back to cover them. :/

Im glad I asked.. I never set up a weaver accnt so all I see is retail. They're slamming retail clients at $1300 and wholesale is like $800. What a shot to the wedding tackle for unsuspecting retail customers.

So I was curious for those that bit the bullet and bought a Weaver EZ Edge Beveler. Was it a game changer for production? I feel like being able to bevel all 4 sides of a 72" strap at once would be AMAZING in terms of increasing efficiency. Aside from painting letters.. this is my biggest time suck. So I guess what im saying.. is that when you bought it was it a eureka moment about how your operations work, or just another $1300-1500 tool in the tool box. For instance their power burnisher for the price just doesnt do it for me since I use a sander and a burnisher in a drill press. I appreciate the insight from someone who made the plunge. Also any cons to the pros of owning this machine.

Facebook is a place where you can share thoughts, comments, and literal diatribes to almost anyone, or simply your friends that you add to your gorup. You may of course add pictures and videos to you post. Twitter comes along and limits what you can say to 143 letters, numbers, spaces etc in one post. A very shorthand quick delivery of opinions. Instagram takes the polar opposite of facebook where it is centered solely around photos or short videos. You may add commentary to the picture, but the main goal of instagram is to put a photo in your face. With all three forms of social media, you may use hashtags, which essentially is the pound sign followed by a subject matter you are wishing to categorize your post in.( no spaces) you want to "tag" your post so people searching for #leathercraft... adding the hashtag to the comment section will automatically include your photo in all searches for that tag. I make firefighter accessories.. If I posted a picture without hashtags mostly my followers would only see it. If I use hashtags such as #firefighter #firefighting #firefighterleather etc. Then my post will show up in all searches that contain those tags. Social media is an awesome tool because most people now use that as a primary source of non face to face communication. What once was a world where your small business would cater only to local, and sometimes regional customer base... you have to opportunity to connect and share your brand globally. My first few sales were across the country.. and I gained those sales by marketing my work on social media. Hope this helps. Id be happy to dig a little deeper into the subject if yo uhave particular questions.

Nice.. Is there something similar for a juki 441 clone? Cowboy, Cobra, Ferdco? I've been bothered by the fixed backstitch length

My instagram definitely has more exposure and followers than facebook. The mix of photos and linking them with hashtags gets you seen by those looking at similar topics. While business is business and buying likes or followers helps expand, I personally find it disingenuous by creating a fake buzz over your account. I would rather slowly gain followers by their choice and not by a bot. Hell I even get down when I see instagram bots liking my posts. I know it helps but I would rather get the appreciation from someone liking my product, and not because someone is trying to get exposure for their own company. The biggest culprit on instagram for bots are social media marketing accounts. For those not tech savy wishing to expand their marketing reach.. instagram is definitely the way to go. I would also make that list of hashtags on a word document or mobile note and save it. So every time you want to make a post you dont have to type all of the same hashtags out one at a time. And taking REALLY GOOD photos are important. Nobody wants to see dim lit, fuzzy pics. People want clean, well lit, and if possible creative photos. They like your pictures just as much as they like your product.

No sir.. oddly enough that one was taken The business is actually Ridgeway Leatherworks. I use Ridgeway Leather for insta because who wants to type that out in a hashtag? :D .Very rare to have us around these parts. I order everything because lets face it.. there is nothing save from a Tandys in Allentown PA or up into the city. Either way its worth just ordering at that point. Drop me a pm anytime if you have any questions.

Ferdco Pro 2000. Same with me. I even brought a friend to help load it and he said he got a good education. Any luck maybe I can talk him into closing up his woodshop and becoming my apprentice

Howdy neighbor! Not too many of us Jersey folk round here