Ingrid H

I wasn't even ready to make my first sale when it was made. I just showed a few photos of some stuff I made for my own dogs on another forum and people were throwing money at me. Of course I was an active member and had online relationships with these customers, but they were willing to shell out some big bucks for collars. I never wanted to turn my hobby into a business, so I never did a real website or marketing. I didn't want to create my own little sweat shop and ruin a perfectly good hobby.

No, I don't use a beveler. I do use a slicker and dye my edges. I've never worked with bridle leather. Can you tool bridle leather at all?

I'm using Tandy solid brass double cap rivets. Most of my pics are from before I started to use a rivet setter to dome the rivet a little. I was just whacking them flat with my 20 oz. Estwing framing hammer. I still whack the rivets the same way, but then use the rivet setter and a lighter hand to dome the caps a little bit.

Sure they could! They are hunting dogs, right? I would guess maybe 6 years? But to tell the truth, I haven't really improved my work much in the past 4 years. I'm here at this forum looking for what I'm going to do next in leather.

I never got a hunting licence but got a permit to carry a handgun. I shoot the squirrels that chew on my house and drive my dogs nuts My Doberman would be a good hunting dog if he didn't eat or crunch the prey. He eats squirrels whole. He is very good at flushing partridge, but I've never had a licence to hunt them. I've got a flicker page of my collars: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29665779@N03/

I haven't had that problem with rivets and I've never had a complaint about that from a customer. I worry more about screws and use Loc-Tite every time I have to use them. I've had people loose conchos before I started using Loc-Tite,

Cool! Thanks for posting up some dog pics I can see some bull, deerhound and greyhound. What do you hunt with your lurchers? Unless you couldn't tell from my avatar, I'm into Dobermans. Dobermans are part Greyhound too. Here's one of my center d-ring collars:

Love it! That's a great word that seems to define that middle ground between fine artist and craftsman.

I'm a carpenter by trade so I own squares from about 3" to 48", and they come in handy in my leather working. Unless you are going to tack your leather to a table, you don't really need a table. Just cut a straight edge onto your leather and use that edge to square off from. I use a 6" combination square like in the photo you added for laying out stuff on straps. Drafting tables are square and you can use a t-square with them... If you wanted to get really fancy you could do a drafting board with a parallel rule. A parallel rule runs on cables, so it can lift off the surface of the board (to accommodate the thickness of the leather), create parallel lines and serve as a base to square off of. I still have two drafting tables from before the days of using computers for architectural design. I never thought about using them with leather. Thanks!!!

The rivets look like they are adding quite a bit of strength to the d-ring area of the collar. How would you get that strength with a centered d-ring and stitching only? would you stitch right over the d-ring? I'm a big fan of center d-rings and only use rivets on my collars- no stitching so far. Well... a few experiments but nothing for sale. And an off topic question- What is a lurcher? It's not an AKC breed. Is it a KC breed? Got any pics to share of your dogs?

Writers can be such a pain I guess they think they are artists. The construction and even design of items is something we can plagiarize as craftsmen, but it seems like everyone gives it their own twist and there is never an exact copy made from an "inspiration" (to go back to the OP). That's where it gets fuzzy...

I found it really difficult to get started too. Even Tandy Leather didn't say what thickness material their rivets were appropriate for. I floundered my way through because I live in a remote place. I inspired a friend to get into making dog collars and leashes. She had easy access to a Tandy store and learned more in one day than I did in a year.

Don't get me wrong... Leather work can be taken to high levels of artistry, and I have a great appreciation for the artistic pieces I see. It was more the structure of practical items I was referring to. Items are "crafted". So what is the difference between craftsmen and artists? I'm a craftsperson in my professional life as a carpenter. What about potters, quilters, furniture makers, etc? For the sake of discussion, I'll state that they are not fine artists. Fine artists create pieces that serve no practical purpose like sculptors and painters.

How about a heavy fleece? Do you have a Joann Fabric near you?

The search for "inspiration" is what brought me here I liked the note pads. Since leather working isn't fine art and there are only so many practical solutions to common needs, I don't feel that taking inspiration from other people's work is a problem unless it is an exact copy intended for sale.

Is this close? http://www.ebay.com/itm/True-Irish-Linen-2-1-4-yards-36-wide-/151458555964?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item2343a2283c

Hello Barbara I'm one of the other new members who said she got into leather working by wanting to make dog collars. It was so hard to find any cool collars for big dogs.

Thank you Monica If I ever try to make money again in leather working, it will be on my own terms. Right now I'm just looking around for my next hobby project and to learn more leather working techniques. I'm currently fascinated with the wet molding techniques I'm seeing here on the forum.

Hello there! I'm new to your forum and wanted to introduce myself. I'm a carpenter by trade but a serial hobbyist in my spare time. I'm a dog lover and got into leather working through my passion for dogs, learning new things, and wanting to DIY when a dog collar can cost $150! This is a close copy of that collar I couldn't bring myself to spend $150 on: This is a collar I called "Owe Canada" because I soldered rivets to the back side of Canadian pennies and put them on a dog collar: I made back my investment on buying tools and materials and supported my collar making hobby as well as donations to Doberman rescues and local shelters by making my most popular model: I've done tutorials on basic leather working for fellow dog lovers: Made some more complicated leashes: But I burned out on the dog stuff. I set out to do really custom work, but I allowed my customers to push me too far and wound up quitting. Before I closed my little "shop", I started getting into something completely different and more complicated than dog collars. This is my first and only project that involved stamping and hand sewing. It's obviously not finished or right. I never planned ahead for a clasp, and the stitching on the strap is "faux" because after I went to stitch it, I realized that the d-ring wouldn't have enough room: I'm not going to try to make any money at purse making, but the sting of quitting my collar business is going away and I'm looking into new stuff to do with leather.