Windrider30

Thanks Chief! That really does help and will keep that all in mind as that is a great way to factor the cost, and Thanks heaps about the waste factor that is something that I have not bothered figuring in since with the chainmail stuff I do there might be less then 5 cents of waste so I do not bother factoring that in. Now as for the incidentals I always include those if there are any but I tend to include those more towards the end of the process or month. Thanks again!

Ok setting up a database for my business, the chainmail side of things is easy to figure out, how many links, type of item, type of clasp and all that good jazz, what I want to do is set up something for the leather working side of things, such as how much does it cost me in material costs (not adding the time in that is a separate spread sheet). Lets say with making a belt, the buckle, and any do-dads (don't want to get to technical here lol) are easy enough to figure out how much it costs me to add to the belt, but the leather that is another thing all together. As I do not plan on using pre made belt blanks what is the best way to figure out how much each belt would cost me? Could I simply make one belt then simply lay the strap down on the hide and simply start figuring out how many belts I can get out of one hide? Or is there a better way to figure out material cost for projects such as belts, wallets, bracelets and what not? Thanks for all the help that all you lovely people have given me, and to people like me that are very green in the field!

Great work!

hope my first project comes out as nice lol, hopeing to get started late Oct something else to go along with the chainmail I do lol.

Love the design!

I like that idea!

I like this a lot, it looks like the buckle wouldn't dig into your flesh a lot when sitting down or bending over.

Oo like what for the skin allergies? For the ones that I deal with that have the allergies I just test several different kinds of metals as I have a ton of bracelets of different metals that I use as show pieces, oddly enough I have not heard of anyone being allergic to titanium, which I enjoy working with. But I am looking into mixing and matching both the chainmail and the leather as I feel they both look nice togetherer.

I do not work specificly with just aluminium, I just work with a lot of it! and I do have one customer that is oddly enough allergic to aluminium, I have another customer that can't wear sterling silver, something in her body tarnishes the stuff with in a couple of minutes of skin contact. I have actually seen it weird as hell. The rest of the people that I have talked with that have some kind of metal allergy its either a copper thing (my wife can't wear copper) nickel or nickel plating (my lil sis can not wear earings unless the backing is sterling silver as any other metal even the so called hypoallergenic will give her earlobes a really nasty infection. That is why I am looking into what kind of backing I should use for bracelets and collars to cover the back side of the snaps and what not so that the metal does not have direct contact with the skin as I think that will stop the allergic reaction.

Thanks.

Ok since starting back up on my chainmail I have been running into a few clients, more every day it seems, that have metal allergies. Some are allergic to copper, some nickel and two clients that are allergic to all metals expect sterling silver and gold (my favourite clients as its top dollar lol). I have been telling a few of them that I will be branching out into leather work soon and wondered what kind of items they would like to see and or buy, once I feel the products that I am making are worth selling. A few want collars (for humans not pets with four legs) and a few said bracelets to match the chainmail bracelets that I already make. So my question is what would be the best kind of lining to use on the back side of the collars and bracelets to cover up the back of the rivets, snaps, conchos and the like? Keep in mind that these items will be worn against direct skin for the most part, especially the collars, so would I need to treat the back with something just to help preserve it against human sweat or should I just leave it be? I was thinking pig skin might work nicely as a backing. All thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated! The pic is just a small set of chainmail bracelets that I do, might even lay them down on top of some tooled leather once I figure out how I want to attach them.

Is there a natural water resistance that you can use, like beeswax mixed with something or would that not last as long as the resoline? Thanks all for the answers by the way its been a huge help!

That is cool!! I like them...and I would be one of those people ethat would be drooling on those!

Love it!

Cool thanks, now the next question of course is: Am I assuming right that Resolene is more for items that might get wet, such as back packs, purses and the like or should everything be hit with it?

I like it

Ok my wife and I are going to be going into be getting into leather making at the end of Oct we already have a "wish list" of the things that we are going to need and buy as we are planning in turning this into a business along with my chainmail business. Now I have read a lot on this form and every where about Resolen my question is does it work well with Tandy's Eco flow? And I know it needs to be cut 50/50, how long does it need to be truly dried time wise before we buff it again? And yes we will be using Tandy's Eco flow as its water based and a bit more friendly to the envoriment, as well as a bit less toxic should our silly boxer get a hold of something!

Yeah I agree with you Allan this is a great place for info, I am already doing chainmail and have sold a few pieces, the leather just fits nicely with the chainmail when it comes to some things, and its a way to branch out my own business so I really do love this place the information and the pictures are a great tool.

I like it I was thinking of buying some of the crocowdile hide but wasn't sure what the hell I would use something like that for, that's a cool idea!

I really love this and for some reason I really want to try and make a leather corset!

That is rather cool looking, at the end of Oct/early Nov the wife and I are going to start getting to the leather and so love the pictures everyone is posting and all the helpful hints!

First I want to say that I have never made a saddle, the only thing I know about saddles is that when doing a pony express mount, wear a cup that damn western saddle horn hurts like hell when you sit on it!...Now that being said I have seen some things that have been mentioned by Keith and a few others that is great advice. And yes I know this is an older post but thought I would add to it as its a great posting. What I wanted to mention is the marketing side of things. Which I do hold a Master's degree in so hope this helps and gives a few of you some ideas out there. First something that was touched on a couple of times, know your customers. Are you going after the "true cowboy" or are you going after those that jump horses or show horses, or are they the Urban cowboys and girls? By knowing what kind of customer you want to attract will help you make the saddle or products (belts and what not) that they will truly want. Now people are talking about base price, which by the way I have learned a lot already that can be applied to other aspects of the leather trade thank you very much! It's better to set a higher price than a lower one. Sure you will miss a few customers but what you have to remember is that you can make a great product, as a mater of fact you could make a saddle that the Gods would knock your door down to get, but if you sell it at a cheap price then you and your products, no matter the fine quality, will be labelled as a cheap product in peoples' minds even though its not a "cheap" product that is how it will be perceived as. I am not suggesting setting your prices so high that only a millionaire could afford it, but I am also suggesting not to set your prices so low that the Walmart crowd can afford to hassle you day and night. The first thing that you should truly ask yourself is who do you want your product to be seen with...and be realistic about this, we would all love to see some famous person wearing or using our products but when you are first starting out that is more than likely not going to happen. If you are going for lets say the cowboys and girls that do the rodeos then price your saddles with in their budget range. Word of mouth is a great tool to use when marketing your products but you need to always keep in mind who your customers are. I mean you will not see a Rolex on some hillbilly's wrist that is because Rolex does not advertise at the five and dime stores, which means advertise in places that the customer that you are aiming for will see your products. Always remember it's a little easier to lower your prices if its not selling then it is to raise your prices and running your customers off.

Thanks Lionfly, the underbust shouldn't be to hard as you can just start adding what ever messurements you need in the middle and stretch the pattern out that way, that is a good idea about the cellophane I will give that a try when I am ready.

Ok I am VERY new at this and there is a project that I am dying to try out and that is making a leather corset, tooling and all, I understand how to adjust the waist and hips, that is no big deal simply divide the messurement that I need and spread it evenly cross the pattern, but what I am having trouble figuring out is how do you adjust the bust size of a pattern so that it will fit any shape? This will help if I decided to make any other kind of clothing as well. The pattern that I have says it will fit a 36-28-36 and I want to be able to simply readjust it just not sure how. Thanks all