Drac

1. free boxes and envelopes through the usps website. 2. at comic shops on wednesday (shipment day) you can get larger boxes and packing material for free. some of the boxes are good to use for shipping, some are good for storage. also the dividers/protectors are fairly heavyweight can be used for templates that don't need to be folded. 3. need wood for something? hit up construction sites. they'll usually give you very usable scrap wood. I've got a lap table that also had my mini anvil mounted on it that was made from scrap wood. 4. keep all your scrap pieces of leather. sit down one day when you're tired of making your usual stuff, dig through and use your imagination to come up with something new. some of the stuff I've come up with just to use up scrap leather have been me biggest sellers and got added to the usual assortment. 5. find alternative places to get some things. places like harbor freight, the dollar store, etc. as an example I needed a new poly punch board. dollar store time! look in the kitchen area for 'em. the kitchen cutting board is the same material and loads cheaper and a bit more surface area. plus it has a handle so I can hang it up. 6. keep an eye out for places going out of business and think if they might have something you can use. mannequins, fixtures, or whatever can be gotten cheap sometimes. if it's an office place going out of business or closing up, file cabinets, folders, binders, lamps and other stuff can sometimes be... oh, what's that magic word? oh yeah! free! 7. (this one's showing my old punker roots) go dumpster diving on college campuses at christmas time and end of semester when the kids move out of the dorms. chairs, desks, shelves, clothes, tv's, vcr's, dvd players, stereos and all kinds of stuff gets tossed out because they got a new one or they just don't want pack it out. 8. keep an eye out while driving. you neverknow what you'll see on the side of the road. my dad has a LARGE collection of zippos because of that, we've both gotten several tools that way (love that old craftsman warrantee), and I even found a bag of about 20 bootleg movies that way. tossed the crappy movies and kept the cases. 9. after-holiday sales at craft/fabric stores. as an example I got a full roll of stretch vinyl that's normally 9 bucks a yard for 80 cents a yard. you can get some pretty snazzy prints and materials cheaply that way. 10. ask around! sometimes it's amazing where somebody gets something.

excellent piece! looks like a cartoony version of the Green Goblin (yeah, I'm a comic geek).

now that's the cat's meow! very nice so far!

warren danke! I probably will since I'm stubborn like that. *L* spider this one would've pretty much been there if I hadn't gotten in a hurry and had the craft tape. silly me couldn't wait. I'm just a tad (read a whole LOT) impatient. scouter I cheated. turned the knob on the end of the machine by hand. I dunno what it's called. I just call it the knob on the end of the machine. it's been several months since I've sewn anything so I was too rusty to do that part with power. then again, even if I wasn't rusty I probably still would've done it like that since I'm not that good at sewing anyway other than very very very basic stuffses.

okay, so here's me first wallet ever. just finished it. I know where I boo-booed and why, but I figure not too shabby for me first one. interior sewn on a kenmore home machine, edging sewn on a boss. main material is garment leather. enjoy the laugh!

hmmm... and here I am thinkin' it's darren that needs the haircut... and a shave! LOL

spider with the first one I did, I molded it onto the form I was using then cut it, but I did that because of the shape I was going for and I stapled it down tightly like I was doing a seat. that won't work though if there's parts of the mask that extend though, I think. guess we'll find out.

when making a mask, do you guys mold it, then cut the outside shape, or cut the outside shape then mold?

note to self - take over the wo... hold on... dear diary, last night was the be... wait a sec... dear penthouse, I never thought this would happen to me,

welcome to your new obsession! *L* for books, I couldn't tell ya since I'm self taught. tools, it's gonna depend a lot on what you want to do. I've gotten all me tools from tandy/leather factory and never had any problems with them (although there are some that will say EW! to that ). my tools consist of a couple of rivet setters (2 sizes), a couple of snap setter anvils, a couple of snap setters, a mini anvil, a couple of eyelet setters (different sizes), a couple spike setters (different sizes), 4 different hole punches, 3 strap tip punches (different sizes), 2 oblong hole punches (different sizes), various screwdrivers, needlenose pliers, an awl, a few straight edges, exacto knife, flat lacing needles, stylus, modeling tool, couple of swivel knives, a few tooling tools, large fiskars rolling cutter, a couple of cutting mats, a tippman boss stitching machine, a sewing machine, a couple of hammers, a couple of rubber mallets, a rawhide mallet, a punch board, a "V" gouger, a drill, leather shears, slicker, edger, boning tool, and I'm sure at least a couple more that I'm forgetting.

I agree with everybody else. 1. definitely find some way to have your own space for work, a room, a large closet, a small storage shed (they're fairly cheap to buy or build), even just a well organized corner with a divider of some sort. I've been fortunate in that I've always been able to have a spot strictly for leatherworking in. I even had my shop set up in the back of my minivan at one time! *L* 2. find something new to add to the mix too. find a silly picture to carve or something. 3. just sit down somewhere quiet with a nice drink and think about things you'd like to make and have seen. whatever you get the most excited about, go for it! 4. sit down with all your tools and just look at them, turning them in your hand and laying them out. they'll talk to you. 5. surf the web not looking for anything in particular. something will jump out at ya and inspire.

scouter good grief! who am I? charlie brown? don't go blaming me too! *L* tell ya what, if ya wanna thank someone, you can thank me. if ya wanna blame someone, blame spiderpig! LOL makes me wonder what's gonna happen when I post up the next project! heh heh heh

hate to hijack a thread but... ebay is actually starting to come down hard on the people who charge outrageous amounts for shipping finally. I've bought a good bit on ebay (and always checked the shipping price before bidding) and sold a lot too and always charged fairly, even losing out of my own pocket at times. for anyone who ships through usps and doesn't know, you can go to their website and get most of the boxes for free including delivery of them. that, of course, doesn't include packing material which can get expensive for things like peanuts or actual packing paper. a good way to get stuff like that for free though (including larger boxes) is visit your local comic book shops on shipment day which is wednesdays. most shops toss out the boxes, packing paper, peanuts and stiff dividers.

hey now! don't go tryin' to blame ME for your pigginess! *L* lookin' good so far though... ya pig! oh, and by the way, I did mine in one sitting, so thppppt! LOL

I've been thinking that one over meself. I'm thinking of going with a beretta 92F/96 (standard military and police issue), colt 1911 (most peeps are big fans of this one) and 1 or 2 of the glocks ((ugh!) for popularity).

try using grape bags. the netting kind of course. oo! or maybe a hairnet.

depending on the size, it could be for zipper pulls, or keychains, or concho flaps, or make up a use for it. just make sure ya takes pics if ya do. we loves us some pics!

my suggestion is... use it proudly and let everyone know you made it.

and now another question. anybody know if the stuff from grainger is the same as from mcmaster?

thanks so much! the link didn't work but I found it.

here's the question for everybody who does press forming for hosters. anybody know the item number for the pads from macmasters? wanna make sure I get the right ones. danke!

it looks like you need to adjust both top and bottom tension. it should look the same top and bottom when you do the stitching. plan on spending a day on that like I did and try not to throw things either. *L* also if you didn't get the roller guide, I'd recommend getting it. well worth it. and do like randy said too.

if you really really gotta stick 2 pieces together for whatever reason, instead of using glue use REMOVABLE double sided poster tape. that's what I use to hold a template down on some of my leather and it doesn't leave a residue on it. same if I'm using a template to paint something onto the leather. of course, I haven't used it on unfinished veg tan, so I'd check it on a piece of scrap first or have it stuck onto an area that's gonna get cut off. it does work on the underside of garment leathers though. at least the stuff that I use, anyway.

I would've liked to have seen that thread. anyway, here's me little workshop. there's a little under-the-stairs storage area to the right of the large table behind the wall that the table is against too, but there was no need to take a picture and make everyone feel sorry... er... I mean, um... jealous, yeah, that's it. jealous! of me having that area.