TwinOaks

Wellll Obviously somebody is making a killing off of his leather work...did ya see the size of the rock on that woman's hand?!!!!! Nice work, there, I'm as impressed with the scale as I am the craftsmanship. I'm guessing workshop space isn't an issue here......

Seems like the 'know how's have answered the 'what's , I'll just stick to "welcome [insert majority of Johanna's text here]. Glad you joined up.

All this talk about night latches and the problems with using your hands....and not one person has bothered to mention to the youngin's that a horn ain't a handle. With all the interest in "western pleasure" riding I'd think that some saddle makers would just make a quick detachable horn. Nice little twist lock jobby so that if the saddle needs to be used for roping it can be, but for the 'rent-a-ride' crowd you can just take it off. I like the comment about cutting off the horn, then taking the saddle away. It seems like sometimes that's the only way to teach a person to use their butt. Now, for all readers that don't already know it, A Horn Is Not A Handle. It's an attachment point for the dumb end of a lasso, so that the poor horse ain't got to hold the rope with his teeth. There, I've said it, and I'm sure there will be dissenting opinions, but there it is. Now before anyone goes too far in their assumptions about me...No, I'm not a ranch hand; and my wife's horse died before she'd let me ride him. However, I was taught by a 'lifer' from Idaho, using an unbroken 4 year old stallion as the class room. A few moments after getting on his back, the show started and I wished to high Heaven that the horn on that saddle had never been invented. It was like the launch tab on a rubber band gun. ( I can still hear Lynn yelling "Let go of the @$%$%^$%^ horn, you idiot!") Two days, and three fifths later, the stallion and I came to an understanding- If I didn't hold on to the horn, he didn't give me flying lessons. Besides, if your hand has a death grip on the horn, you can't use it to flap with.

I forgot to mention this in the original post, but here goes- my target clientele won't really be stretching to afford anything. The money is there, and this will more or less be my break into this type of business. That said, I'm looking for a fair pricing guide. Michael Sheldon's $35/hr seems pretty fair to me, and seems to jive with other professional labor costs. This will hopefully get me introductions to folks who want more of this type work. The pieces will not be the same- I'm shooting for custom carvings- portrait style Being fairly new to leather, I may run into requests for work that I'm simply unprepared for, and if that's the case, I'll certainly post it here. The pictured piece will most likely end up as a jacket panel. I've got a source for stitching this to a jacket, and simply need to put a good finish on it ....Neat-lac? Resolene?

Hi to all, I"ve been presented with an opportunity to do some custom carvings for some people, and wondered how much $$ is considered appropriate. The work will be done on purses, jacket panels, and some may be as large as a double bend. Also, I've made a few 5x8 pieces that are frameable. I've had some input from several people locally, but none of them are in any type of leather production. So, as asked: How much is this type of work worth? The inlcuded pic is suitable for 8.5 x 11 inches, framed.

Excellent job!!

Take copies of the police report(s) to your bank(s). When my wife's purse was stolen, I called the cops and made a report. To the banks the next day, where we were able to prove, with the report, that the $400 dollars charged at gas stations wasn't done by us. The scary thing is that almost half of the fraudulent charges on the two cards were done within 30 min of the theft's time frame ( we narrowed it down to about a 15-20 minute window). And yes, it had been left in the car. CYA very well. +1 Kate, on keeping nothing in it. About 15 years ago my sis' car was burlarized. They never broke the window either- instead, they pried the window frame away from the body of the car and just reached in to unlock it. All the crooks got was some costume jewelry. It took a totally new door to fix the damage. Now, personally, I like the idea of bait and switch...in a boobytrap-ish sort of way, but I hear that can lead to all sorts of legal problems.

Have you tried burnishing the leather yet?

Ah, now I see the shield!! Excellent fit that it isn't visible in the first pic. Now, about the computer classes...to have the pic show up like this, the only thing you need to copy and paste is the part that looks like this---> blah blah blah yackety smack , and leave out all the parts with <center>, etc. here's my first, chrome tanned leather and all . I made it nap out to better grab me and my clothing. On day I'll get around to remaking it in veg tan, same patter...but neater. With a full size pistol, one thing I've learned is to make the holster a little 'fat' to allow muzzle swing on the draw. With a shorty, it's no issue at all. Notice how I "accidentally" cut my self off in the photo to hide my gut. Something to learn and remember, grasshopper.

Nice work, and welcome! I'm guessing that it's an IWB, 'cause of the loop placement, and b/c it looks like a Kimber Ultra Carry. It looks a whole lot better than mine did! One thing I added but don't see on yours is a sweat shield. It adds to the comfort factor quite a bit. Although, with a dehorned pistol it probably isn't as much of an issue ( I carry a '91A1 gov't). You might also consider on your next one ( 'cause I know you won't stop at one) adding an extra strip around the mouth- helps keep the holster open for one handed reholstering, and helps keep the general shape. If you find the holster starting to loose shape, i.e. collapsing, you might could just add the strip in. Great job, and keep it up.

Absolutely incredible work. As a beginner, work like yours is simply inspiring.

Just curious as to an effect here, but is the interior of the image beveled as well? Some of the marking on the 'left' side of the image look a lot like what I did when I used a modeling spoon to try and burnish. If the effect is to present the image 3-D, and raise it off the background, use less tooling inside the lines, and more backgrounding/matting around it. If you're trying to sink the image into the background, then reverse that- more tooling inside, less outside. Don't worry too much about it though...it's better looking than my first attempt.

Thank you Mr. Siegel, Your responses are well phrased and insightful. I am new to leather working and rely heavily on statements from others ( on and off this board) for information in numerous related topics. Your direct input here has given me ( and presumably others) a better understanding of your company's goals. While I am not at the point in my leather working career that I need specially made materials, nor answers to technical questions about tannage, it is nice to know where to look for them when I eventually do. Best of luck,

Beautiful work, Kevin, inspiring even. I really like the contrasting and the awsome liner.

Well, as of today, I've had no problems running on either the desktop or the laptop,...or both. Seems like all is well here in Leatherland. I've been able to access everything just fine- in fact, I kinda pushed the envelope a little: I logged on from the desktop with two windows active, then simultaneously visited via the laptop with 2 windows, all from bookmarks I think it's fixed. I've got some spare line 24 snaps if no one can find their ducttape for Beav's hat

I'm having an intermittant problem- some of the uploaded pics, when opened, are 3-4 times larger than my desktop, so I only get the top left corner of the pic. Before the crash, I could grab and shrink it, but now, it just clicks off to somewhere that I can't find it again. I've tried to reduce it through the control bar (windoze OS) but I can't locate the actual window where the pic is. Any thoughts as to what's going on? A suggestion for larger than limit pics for upload: If the pic is larger than the uploader will allow, go to a photo hosting site and store it there. Then in your topic here, just copy and paste the

Johanna, I know you said wait on Siegel's, but... Hilly, I've GOT to contrast you on TLF. I stopped in the nearest TLF on the way to north 'Bama just before Christmas, picked up a few things- catalogue, stamp, discount coupon... Stopped back by the same TLF on the way home and found a few out of stock items. Of the ones I was looking for I was given a voucher by the store mgr for the discount price, and an expected date for arrival of the mdse. Since I live 3 hrs away, I told him I'd just have to pass, but thanks for the voucher offer- I just didn't know when the next time I might return would be. The next offer? Discount a second item at 50% and a little off the entire order. Sold. To me that was really trying to make the customer happy ( and get some more money I'm sure) But what I got was something else I needed anyway so I came out ahead. I certainly hope your experience was a localized event, because the people I dealt with were definitely doing all they could to help the customer.

Okay. I thought 'rotoknife' and round knife were being used interchangebly- thanks for the clarification.

Alchohol based....doesn't alchohol mix with water? Could you leave a bottle of eco open and let some of the water evaporate out of it then add isopropyl back to it? Hmmmm....experiment time. :alarm: :alarm:

I haven't used a head knife yet, but from the old 'how to' on the main page, it looks extremely multipurpose. Right now, I can't afford to drop $50 or more on a single tool, so I'm making do with a razor knife. You distinguish head vs. round. Is the round knife you're talking about the little mini pizza cutter do-hicky?

+1 to other's comments on finishes. Something I've had some success with in a few belts is carnuba cream. It takes a few coats, and you have to work it in well, but it really helps the leather. Atom wax may be along the same lines, but I haven't used it. Neat-lac is a nice finish, if the collar needs to look good.

Great job on the repairs! It's great to have this back. Thank you, all, to the folks that made it happen.

Very nice piece! Only one thing I can see you could improve- At the heel side of the bevel, run a modeling tool along the ridge to smooth is out a little. All in all, a superb job.

You must've seen that bad deer drawing I did.......Cow with a coat rack....I didnt' let it get very far before deciding that, yes, the kids could join me today for some random stamping practice... Thanks all for the comments. Since posting the pic, I've burnished all the background, and the body a little bit. Even without highlighting it, or even a finish, it pops off the page more. If I can get the new .img small enough, I'll replace the pic.

I picked up "Tech Tips", by Al Stohlman, just before Christmas. It's a wealth of knowlege, and shows in fully composed pieces how stamp type "x" is used. In some, there's even pointer arrows with a (Craftool) number showing the exact use of a stamp in the compostion. Excellent book to learn with, but is only one of many. I'm sure some other members will have more titles for you.