HorseHerder

Just ask them how much they'll take for the oboe.

My dad is a piano technician; he tunes, rebuilds, buys, sells, etc. We're both big on cash, but sometimes cash isn't necessary. Bartering is fun and haggling too, for both parties... sometimes. I know a saddle maker who barters, gives gifts and asks for favours with those he knows enough to trust. It may not be very professional, or business appropriate but I still like it. At the hardware store where I work, one of these: turned into one of these: So, do you barter? What do you barter?

Welcome TT! Sounds like fun having leather close at hand. I have to drive a few hours to get leather so I just have it delivered. I lurked and gleaned the forums for a while before joining. There is a wealth of knowledge here. (But don't look at me!)

I spent two months at Brian's Saddle Shop in southern B.C. to get some hands on experience with leather. Day one I get settled at my bench and Brian says; "First thing, Band-Aids are over there in the tin on the wall."

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome! Islands or mainland?

Hello all! Been working away at home, just thought I'd post some work I've done for friends and family ordered for Christmas. Comments, critiques and advice are welcom. My Grandmother asked me to make a belt for her husband, and gave no further instruction, other than it had to be no wider than an inch and a quarter. I'm still new to leatherwork so I decided to go for a plain finish of nothing but neatsfoot oil. Don't know how it will hold up, if anything goes wrong I'll just have another project on my hands. : ) This is a closeup of *ahem* a tractor, with a little bit of doodly stuff behind it. The rest has a basketweave pattern and his initials, HM are at the tip. I finished the edge with gum trag. This one is for a friends' brother. I treated it with vinegaroon and after the rinse cycle, tooled it the next day. Does anyone have advice for tooling/vinegaroon? I thought about tooling first and rooning later, but I can't see how soaking tooled leather would be a good idea. I just find that the leather is a little more difficult to tool than normal after the vinegaroon process. He wanted an arrowhead pattern with his brother's name centered on the back. I finished this one with neatsfoot as well. I read hidepounder's PDF(thanks for that!) on finishing edges and tried to adhere to his method as best I could with what I had. As I said I appreciate all comments and advice! God bless, and have a Merry Christmas!

I'm hearing similar stories of ventures into the vast realm of leatherwork. At first I think a got in too deep, spent a lot of money all because I bought a used saddle and started tweaking it. I'd like to say my workspace was neat and tidy all the time, but my bedroom is all I can come up with for now. No pictures necessary, it's shameful... I'm actually headed back to the craft store today, don't quite have what I need and I'm not interested in 'making do' when commissioned to make something for a Christmas gift. Better get cracking! God bless!

Good job, I like the added touch of the braid and basket weave on the handle. Very smart. God bless!

Well done, they both look really sharp! I've only just begun my first attempts at hand-stitching this week, so I can't imagine how much patience the bear paw must have taken. Are those Fiebings oil dyes? Again, congratulations.

Thanks for sharing this and your methods, such great results!

Too true Colt! I was just practicing and realized that not only were my knife cuts a tad shallow, but I beveled the background - not the design. *facepalm* So when I came in with the backgrounder it was as though I never beveled at all. Lessons learned I guess. Glad the belt was a gift : ) Thanks again! God bless

Thank you all! Believe it or not, I did use a beveler. Unfortunately I wasn't sure what I was doing and I either did it wrong or I completely went over it with the backgrounder. I even thought this as I was working on it. Monica I'll definately be doing some more research on tooling, I see a lot of Tandy videos out there but I'm sure there's much more. Youtube is like opening a can of worms every time. Colt I agree that getting the pressure right is not easy especially when my arm is getting tired and I just need a break. I will try the edge/swivel/bevel technique next time. And with that, goodnight folks! God bless

I spent about a week on this project for a friend at work, my first attempt at tooling. I tried to make the pictures look professional, but I'm no photographer. I'll gladly take criticism on this, I know I really need help with the tooling. And practice!

I'm Marshall(one of three) from Sundridge, Ontario. I joined last week, but I don't think membership is official until your first post. I've taken a huge interest in leatherwork this past summer since I bought my first saddle and couldn't leave it alone. I'm quite the novice so I'll be asking all sorts of questions, and lots of them! First one: is there a list of forum rules? Such as are links allowed? I looked briefly in the forum topics... didn't use the search though : ) Also, today I completed my first tooled belt(yay!) and gave it to a coworker, who, as it turns out, did not even own a belt until today. Great success! And that's a wrap; goodnight and God Bless.