BillB

Since I am a Civil Servant, I would like to set the record straight. We don't make the laws, congress does and the president signs them. We don't get to pick the people who are put in charge of us, in most cases they are political appointments by the winning party. It they get to make the rules that we are then asked to enforce no matter how ridiculous they are. We have the same complaints that you do but when the government is based on the belief of "for the people" and "by the people", it takes the people to elect a congress that will respond to them rather than special interest groups, political agendas, etc. I also have to follow the same tax laws you do and, yes, they need to be changed.

Ken, Thanks. I have also done Totems and Totem Poles. I am doing a Desk protector in leather for a friend which has totem poles on either sides. When I have it completed I will post it along with the other totems I have translated to leather.

This is some work that I have done in translating Native American Bead patterns onto leather. The basic kit is the Tandy Revival Handbag Kit. The patterns come from a number of Native American Books I have as well as pictures of actual beadwork. The dyes are Fiebing's Leather Dye undiluted to try and replicate the colors of the beads. The last file is a scan of one of the bead patterns from one of the books to give you an example of what I have to start with. The first purse was done for my wife as a test case to see how it would look. The second purse was done to see if I could get a pattern that would work on the flap and on the front so that full pattern could be seen with the flap open or closed. The last purse was a new pattern that did not work as well in getting the pattern to show with the flap open or closed. The last two have gone as presents to friends. Some of the tooling did not turn out as good as I wanted, but that is the price one pays when experimenting to find tools that give the right affect. It is also the fun in doing this. Comments, suggestion, recommendations are always welcome.

Nice work. I too like the dragon hat.

Nice piece of work. Keep it up.

Hello Mike and welcome to the forum

Welcome to to the Leather Forums.

When gluing in a liner there are some things to consider: 1. What types of bends are there going to be: For inside bends where there will be more lining material than space you would want to consider a glue that will provide a stronger bond; For outside bends where the lining material will be stretched the tension will hold it in place so a lighter glue may be sufficient. 2. Is the liner free standing or is it attached to the main material with either stitching or lacing. If it is free standing then a very strong glue will be required to keep it in place over the life of the product If it is laced or stitched to the main material, then we go back to #1 above. 3. Thickness of liner and potential for glue to permeate through the liner and discolor the liner surface. Thin materials may require a glue that is less liquid and quick to setup. I have been using rubber cement for 3 decades without any problems but most of my products will have the liner laced as well as glued. The only product I did where it was free standing was the front of a brief case and it held up better than the brief case. The two things I have learned about rubber cement is to: 1. glue both side and let them throughly dry; 2. use a good roller (rolling pin, laminate roller, etc.) to make sure maximum contact between the two pieces after they have been joined.

Melissa, Welcome to the forum. There are two books I use as reference for coloring leather: Coloring Leather by Al Stohlman The Main Technique of Coloring Leather by Peter Main

GJMarko Welcome to the forum. Have you looked at the work by Azmal in the "Show Off" section. Wonderful armor work.

A Federal Tax Id is an Identification number that the IRS gives to business. It is one way for a company to know they are dealing with a company and not a private individual. This is important if they are in the wholesale business and not the retail business. If you are doing this as a business, then you should get with someone to understand the tax laws and how to separate you business income and expenses from your personal income and expenses. If you don't, then the IRS will tax all your income as personal.

Hello All, While browsing the web for leather supplies and Native American Arts and Crafts I came across this Forum. I must agree with the members that this is an excellent forum and I am glad I found it. I started doing leather engraving back in the early 70s and learned the basics from my Grandfather, T. E. Noren, who had been doing leather work from the 40's until he passed on in the 70s. I inherited some of his old tools. I started out doing custom holsters, belts, quivers, hand bags, and purses. As this is currently a hobby for me, I am doing bifold Writing Pads, purses and an occasional special project. Although I started out doing the western floral patters today I am trying to recreate various Native American bead patterns and other art work (totem poles and totems) in leather. In 3 years I will be retiring from Government service after 30 years and plan to do leather engraving on a consignment basis since my priorities will be Grandkids, Fishing, Grandkids, motorcycle & TR3, Grandkids, leather work. My wife and I now have 5 grandkids and plan to enjoy them. I have attached some examples. The purse is a Cree bead pattern. One Bifold is an Eagle Totem holding a Samon Totem. The other bifold was a special project for an Air Force Sergeant.