Beret

I adore Buckle Guy. They make a fantastic product, great pricing, fair shipping - they are my vendor for all of my product hardware

Heyyo! Kicking off 2017 with a LOT of open work orders. First finished collar of the new year shipped out today. For reference, collar is 2" wide. Photos below

Well alrighty then.... Website!: http://www.bullyflop.com/

My sales are all done via custom order. Now, I have two tiers of order process-options and a commerce website set up to allow for both. So I have my functionality such that you can "shop" per se, but still go through the entire fully-custom order process. Very rarely, if I have spare time and a burning desire to make something particular, I will and then I'll place it up for sale at at a bit of a discount. Typically it will sell within an hour or so. But my business is built on the idea of custom design, so that's where my time goes. And also what lets me charge what I do. I sell solely through e-commerce. I'm fairly involved in various dog show & sport circuits, so that's how I got started and built my brand. MY business is built and made primarily through word of mouth and targeted social media presences. No shows for me, and if I did, I wouldn't have an inventory to make available. I would likely have to prepare a small run of ready-to-wear items and include a photo display of my portfolio. But as it is, I'm not much interested in making the same thing more than once. So I don't. And my business model is that no piece will ever be duplicated. But again, that's my product and my model within my little niche market. How you decide to run yours is going to depend on YOUR product, YOUR core clientele, YOUR market, and your individual capabilities.

Thanks guys. I ordered the BK knife last week. I appreciate the input! Was supposed to be here Saturday, but it's that time of year for USPS to implode.. So I should have it in hand within the next couple of days!

Thank you! Looking now and.... Gah size decisions!

Are you using 9/10oz leather? For that thickness I use 1/4" screws. I'll use 3/8" too but for your purposes I'd go with 1/4".

If you decide to split them up at all, let me know. I'd be interested in grabbing the lot of bevelers, but no need for the others.

I'm sure the answers will vary like crazy but... I'm looooong overdue to upgrade my swivel knife - It's just a basic Tandy model that I've used over the past years. I strop and care for it religiously and make it work well for me but... Time for something nicer. Current blade measures about 3/8" wide and I want something ideally 1/4" or so instead. In your opinion(s).... Best swivel knife I can buy around that $50-100 range? I'm not married to those numbers though, that's just what's floating in my head. Ideally something I don't have to jump on a year-long waitlist for too. Thanks in advance!

I like to encourage customers to taper at the ends to at least 1.5". Keeps the bulk down and the taper frames the center panel nicely. Plus then I only have to stock hardware in 3/4", 1" and 1.5". Win win! Crazy Rebels offers black hardware on their collars. If you butter em up and ask nicely they may share their supplier with you

I draw all my own patterns. I create my full-color design digital mockups in AI, then convert the vector design to linework to make my pattern and adjust accordingly for cut lines, other lines, etc.

http://www.bullyflop.com/ I've put out a few more since I last visited. Shared a couple below. Thanks!

IMO, the most safest way to place a D-ring is on the buckle side. It's going to distribute the tension more reliably when a dog pulls against it and it going to warp your collar less after repeated strain.

Really lovely work!

I bought the heated stamping tool from LW. Working well for me, but takes some trial and error with different heats, times, etc on different leathers

My work is more focused in the tooling than the actually construction, so my pricing model is a bit different to reflect that, and based roughly on collar width, with a nod toward neck neck, My materials cost different is pretty negligible between size, so I opt for more of a flat rate pricing based on average time spent on other pieces at those widths. So I go 2.5 x materials + $X labor coefficient per width... Roughly. And then I tweak based on the comparables in my little niche.

Thanks again Monica Little tooling progress shot:

I buy from Buckle Guy

FFFFSSSS I could have sworn I had already scoured all of Etsy, Amazon, and the internet. You rock.

I usually mark off with tape where the taper will start and end, then I use an angle guide on my cutting mat, go from A to B and the same angle on all 4 corner with a utility knife and go from there.

OH HEY YOU!

Hi guys, This might be a shot in the dark, but my vendor (Buckle Guy) is out of 1.5" d-rings in antique brass for another 1-2 months and I need 2 of them for current orders. I don't suppose anyone has any on hand they would sell to me? I'm in a bit of a pickle here--Literally nobody else carries these. Eek! Any help would be much appreciated.

I redid my website and am in the throes of a really intensive Labyrinth-inspired project. Things are going swimmingly. http://www.bullyflop.com/

I like using a light coating of acrylic resolene

Definitely let your color dry for 12-24 hours before applying, however.