YinTx

I like how the theme of curves carries to the inside. Awesome design cue, and the color work around the brogue came out fantastic. YinTx

Not as straight forward as it might initially seem, so I had to make a second go at it to get it to be presentable. 3 oz Hermann Oak leather, about 3". Ignore the slip of the modeling spoon. Tried to rub it out, no luck. YinTx

kinda hard to see, but what I can see looks pretty cool! YinTx

Where are you located? Thanks, YinTx

Definite upgrade! Awesome work. YinTx

I still make hamburger with my bargrounders. One day I may be half as good as you! Nicely done. YinTx

BlackJoe, So what I am curious about is was the leather previously used, or did you cut it from a brand new side of leather? YinTx

I do the glass burnisher rub down on my leather before carving. It helps in my humble opinion. Seems to settle the top into a smooth surface, and evens out the compression of the fibers below. This makes it easier for me to carve, less fighting inconsistencies in the leather, resulting in a smoother cut. Here is a video from Alden's School of Leather talking about how to do this. I don't do my casing or glycerin bar work the same, but the concept is there. YinTx

And there was a guy selling a couple of sets of old craftools in the classifieds section on this site. Lot of times you can buy large sets for a good deal, ebay is a good place for that. If you have $150, you can probably get all the tools you need to start carving and bopping and they'd be the old better quality Craftool stamps. 30 stamps for $90 is like $3 a stamp, and there are better deals than that out there. They may look old and dusty, but trust me it is better than the chrome crap flaking off of the crummy new tools onto your work. YinTx

This looks like old leather that has already seen some use and has patina, especially noting the lacing holes and edges, and the fact that one side of the piece is light and one side dark where it appears to have been folded in the middle. Also looks like a finish has been added and worn off of one side. What are we looking at? YinTx

What type of work will you be doing? Tooling/stamping, or working with chrome tan? Trying to understand what tools you would need. YinTx

If you search on this site you will find a lot of posts with the question "Tandy has their splitter on sale, is it worth the price?" If you read them, you will find a mixed bag. They are not top notch splitters, the blades seem to need regular stropping, and others just opt to find a good splitter. That being said, if you really need one and don't have the money, they do function. Often times you can find a used one for a decent price. That is what I did, and mine works pretty well. I still have upgrade-itis, and may eventually sell mine to get a better version some day. But if I never do, this one does the job! YinTx

Heh. I actually have a sheath I made for a knife that I had intended to sew, and ended up not sewing, and it has been just fine for over a year now. I suspect this one will as well, especially since there really isn't a lot of room on the edge to sew without getting into the stamping. Sheath came out really nice! If it does ever separate, just make another with the room for stitching! YinTx

Stellar! How big is that bag? Great work on the dye, very even. YinTx

Fantastic work as always, love to see your stuff. Maybe someday I'll be as good! YinTx

Second photo, the black finished tools, are those Robert Beard's Black Crack tools? If so, you should up your minimum I'd think. Those go for a pretty penny. You might even consider separating them. YinTx

Sam, Probably accurate statements. I have debated having two lines: one as affordable as possible, one as nice (read, $$) as possible. Still haven't decided. Part of my challenge is I just can't put a belt or any other item for that matter out that hasn't been finished to the best of my abilities, I don't like the flaw in it. I also don't think I want to be a mass quantity producer just right now. I suppose I could, I am just not feeling it right yet. Maybe in time. I only had a matter of days to prep for this, only enough to make the wallets and the rifle straps, then put together some of my previous made items. This is the fastest I have ever made anything! I did hand write a lot of "information cards" that were all handed out. Business cards are in the making, I believe you are right on that one, and cheap to have done. YinTx

This is true, there were more than a few panicked looks as they found the prices on stuff and gingerly handed things back! Always there was the "wow, this stuff is really nice!" followed by the "oof" on the tag. I understand it, been there done that, kinda expected it. But still thought $75 for a tooled rifle strap was cheap! Higher traffic count would definitely been helpful. Had one vendor that understood leather work come up to me and let me know my stuff was top notch and worth the price, even if others didn't know that. YinTx

Now that you mention it, I can see the stitching following the contours, looks challenging. Stitching might be perfectly straight, but the contours would make it look otherwise. I'd be interested to see how it wears long term. That is a cool color though... what is it called? YinTx

For the first go round, looks pretty good - I like it, and bonus with learning how to use the veg tan. Every version will get better and better. For sure will need to know sizes for patterns, although I suppose it changes for every piece of wood. I still haven't decided what to tool into the final version, so no rush! YinTx

+1, no doubt. How was it to work with? I understand the caymen can split if you flex it. I have a few hides, but haven't made anything out of it yet because of that. YinTx

Now eye see. thanks for that! YinTx

I did internet sales some time ago in Etsy, but only sold a very few items, not enough to justify continuing, especially when they wanted my bank acct info etc. Plus, I have a several month backlog - mostly because I am Sloooooowwwwww.... - so I haven't had a great need for additional sales. But I did want to try a new venue because I'd like to make more than purses and wallets for sale, and I thought it'd be nice to make a small run of items instead of one at a time, to try to be less slow! It worked, I made a lot more items in a shorter time, but not a one of them sold. Just some other items I had on hand. YinTx

I don't see an email. I am interested in the 7 1/2 Super Blackhawk. Will try to PM you also. YinTx

Hoy, that it was. Starting from zero sales though wasn't hard to beat! Wasn't exactly jumping for joy, but was happy to have not lost money on the deal! Here's to better luck next go round, when every one isn't out huntin... instead of shoppin for my stuff! I was happy with the interest expressed in my pieces, although not a single person picked up a rifle sling, which was the whole intent behind attending a gun show.... with *rifle slings*! Most everything else was admired, even the simple leather covers, tho they didn't sell. I'll try a couple more venues that have higher traffic counts and different demographics before I decide whether or not to continue down this path. YinTx