YinTx

Thats a wide open question. Are you looking for new, or you willing to look at 100 year old blades? Price of no concern? What style blade - round, head, Japanese, angled, etc. YinTx

What are the visitor visa restrictions? Seems 90 days, but can you work? Looked briefly into this, would be $1500 round trip, $2400 rent, food, etc, so $4k to work for you. Would really already be on your doorstep if you were local. YinTx

Only other thought is to make something useful, say for instance a 9.5x3.25 wallet back with 5 oz leather. Or a field notes cover size piece, or a coaster. Recipient could then make a wallet, or put it in a frame, whatever they desire. What will we do with a 3"x5" piece? Maybe stitch it on a purse or a journal cover or a hat or something... YinTx

Any other ground rules so that I can start to make something as soon as I have free time? Or do we have to wait until all participants are signed up? YinTx

I'm pretty sure he mentioned it was a Left Shark... so maybe a Katy Perry Left Shark? Nice holster, btw. YinTx

Count me in. Although I'll probably be learning more than anyone getting my works would be, lol. YinTx

this, but I usually start the new thread in the next hole (ie skip a hole), stitch a few inches, then go back and put the last stitch in the skipped hole using the previous thread. This keeps me from dislodging the knot, which could happen if you form the knot, then run a needle and thread through the hole with the newly formed knot. just what works for me, your mileage may vary of course. YinTx

@Rockoboy, if you look at hand stitched belts, you will see there are not that many double stitches, only where intended, so don't double up unless you need it or intend to. And whenever possible, yes, end at a suitable point. YinTx

If you have spare time, make one for inventory, then message him when you are done in 6 weeks, let him know you have one you can send him in 1 week, but that it will be a rush order so extra charge. Maybe he'll be so excited that he convinced you to make him one faster he'll pay the extra $$. It's like a win win sit-chiation then. YinTx

I did this one some time ago. The wallet is Horween, the belt is dyed veg tan. I had to mix up the batch with different colors of dye and adjust until I was happy. The liner is black. YinTx

Man, I just did a single 5" section of a belt to see if I'd like it, and realized how much tooling an entire belt would be. Then you go and post a huge stack of them! That is a tremendous amount of work, and nicely done. YinTx

Coming along quite well. I have an old mallet that needs new rawhide discs, so I've been following along on this to see if I can glean some insight on how to accomplish it. Thanks for sharing so far! YinTx

SPI? standard or slimline? Thanks, YinTx

Most I'll consider doing is two full arm spans. Usually the thread is not looking very good if I do that either. So one full arm span is about my limit. Keeps the thread from fraying, from tangling, from breaking, from getting dirty, etc. And yes to the practice. And for sure, when you try to get it just right, you will end up too short by two holes so plan a bit extra. Better to lose a little thread to waste than a lot. YinTx

Use multiple lengths of thread. Consider carefully where to stop and start so ends are less noticeable. When one run ends, leave a few inches of thread with the needles still attached, skip one hole, start your next length of thread. After a few stitches, go back to your original run and finish the skipped hole. Cast your thread at least once, and twice if your leather is thick. Trim with a knife as close to the leather as you can, and push the end back into the hole. Done right, it will be difficult if not impossible to find where threads start or stop. Some like to pull the thread to the inside of the leather, between the pieces. This can create a bulge, but depending on the item you are making, may make no difference. Hope this helps, YinTx

@AlexFoster, PM sent. YinTx

Those are pretty cool. The hair is quite realistic. How do they stay shut? YinTx

Locks are added to leather briefcases all the time with escutcheon pins. I would think they would work excellently here. YinTx

The sad fact is there are folks, like myself, that would consider doing an apprenticeship, but there is no one near enough or willing enough to provide the opportunity. I haven't seen photos of the shop for sale, but suspect that $10k is a good price. Most folks that would be willing to spend $10k on tools and equipment would need to already know how to use them and have a reasonable expectation of return on investment, which means paying customers. Those individuals already have the equipment. If not, they'd need to be near enough to do an apprenticeship, learn the trade and acquire customers before being willing to drop that much cash on tools and equipment. @oltoot Best of luck with your sale, I do wish I was close enough to come by. YinTx

Esty stock was $11 in May of 2017, now $66 and change. Their gross merchandise sales were up over 20% yoy at nearly $4B. Silverman has been at the helm for a while now (May of 2017). While I do disagree with their policy of allowing factory made items to be classified as handmade, and I don't sell there, I think it may be misleading to characterize Etsy sales as dropping 95%, and their platform as tanking, unless I am missing something from your statement or there is information I am unaware of. YinTx

My first project went into a bag then the fridge 2 days or so after I cased it, I had to leave because of a hurricane, it stayed there even tho the power went out, and when I came back a week or more later, it was fine. Although I don't recommend that method. Or hurricanes either, ftm... YinTx

I think you will find folks that do it both ways, and swear by it. I'm not settled on it yet myself. One theory says that the Resolene or Acrylic will seal out the conditioners, the other says the conditioners will inhibit the ability of the Resolene to adhere to the surface over time. I have been doing conditioners first for a long time, but have started to experiment some the other way around. I think both will probably work, but you'll just have to decide which you prefer! I am also curious to see how others experience has been, especially on conditioning after acrylic after some time. YinTx

A whole lot of detail and thought went into that, and it came out awesome! Let us know how it goes when he gets it! YinTx

Actually, I use saddle soap paste and water, then after that has dried and I've done any additional sanding I might need to, I use Tokonole or gum trag. If I'm really in the mood, I'll top it with some beeswax. But you could just stop at the water and canvas. I have. The Fiebing's bar has some perfume in it. Their squirt bottle of liquid glycerine has another perfume in it as well, different. I've shaved off some of the bar and added water, it seems soluble, but then the water separates out and the glycerin sits on top in a frothy mess. But when you shake it up and use it, it works well also! YinTx

Now that is nice. Superlatives do no justice. YinTx