Tugadude

I think Mike's point about warrantying against "manufacturing defect" is a good one. Most items with inherent flaws are going to fail pretty quickly. I'm sure there's exceptions, but a lemon is generally going to show itself right away. And because of that, it is a lower risk for a manufacturer to offer a warranty against defects. So long as their QC is up to snuff of course. The only pitfall might be what a consumer considers a defect versus what the manufacturer thinks.

Not the same industry, but I work in construction chemicals and in my nearly 40 year career I've only been asked to process one warranty claim. I'm not counting the occasional product failure that resulted from a whoopsie in the plant. Those are understandable and are handled accordingly. I'm talking about products made up to standard and put into use. One company I worked for (a global behemoth in the chemical industry) bragged about their $6 million slush fund set aside for warranty claims. They rarely had to dip into it, but obviously they were prepared to deal with most any situation that might arise. Smaller companies don't have the luxury. But if they are going to offer "extended" warranties, I hope they are planning for how that is going to work in the future. And accounting for a portion of their margin to be earmarked for it. In reality, they probably don't. How many leather companies are even going to be around that long? Even a 25 year warranty is likely to outlive many if not most makers. So at what point is it just a marketing gimmick. In fact, that's what many manufacturers use warranties as, marketing gimmicks or strategies. Lot of examples I've seen and been involved with in my career. And then another thing many are counting on is a forgetful or lazy consumer. I'll give an example. A few years ago, Menard's moved into my area. They originated, I believe, in Wisconsin and have spread out over the midwest. They run a quality store and I shop there fairly often. They announce an 11% rebate on all purchases, pretty much all of the time. You have to keep your receipt, mail it in with a form and they give you a store credit worth 11% of your purchase, minus taxes of course. Many, many times I have gone home and either thrown the receipt away or gotten "too busy" to do the required work. And trust me, I'm not alone. I don't know the percentage of folks who take advantage of the rebate, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is as few and the 11% rebate itself. Of course the store COULD just give everyone the rebate on the spot. So why don't they? Because it gets people in the store and then they don't follow through with the work, so it ends up being cheap marketing. Pretty smart, but frustrating at the same time. And warranties are much the same. Many don't keep the required documentation. They might even forget exactly where they got the thing in the first place. That might not be the case with leatherwork, but the other factors remain. When I was a kid, Sears was still a thing and Kenmore was king. At least as far as I was concerned. Craftsman tools too! But then Sears began asking if I wanted an extended warranty plan for additional money. I told them no, I was buying Kenmore because I had good experience with the brand and trusted it to perform. The mere fact they wanted to sell me a plan made me wonder whether I was making the right decision. That's the way I roll.

You tease! Show us the actual leather. Reminds me of the Russian leather that was found in a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. Leather can surprise! I'm sure there are better articles with photos, etc., but this one gives some details. https://www.greatenglish.co.uk/2010/03/29/200-year-old-russian-reindeer-leather/ Not bad for 1789!

Looks beautiful! Sorry for your situation, but she’s alive! Cherish every moment. And give thanks!

Yeah, that puppy needs a little work. You want a bit more thickness as well.

I don't think you have to limit yourself to chrome tanned leather. There's plenty of soft vegetable tanned leather. Also, if you are concerned about a potential interaction you could always wrap the handle in tape before wrapping in leather. That way the two, the aluminum and the leather are separate. You could also dip the handle in Plasti-Dip and then wrap. I like the idea of using a leather wrap because, hey, that's what we do.

Welcome! I do a bit of EDC (Every Day Carry) stuff myself. It is a fun challenge to come up with functional, compact and attractive solutions to EDC. Great way to experiment and try new things.

Some may not want to click on a link when they don't trust it, so I hope this helps.

No doubt! And yes, this was an incubator for small businesses. They had all sorts of tools and equipment that would be out of reach for most any fledgling businesses.

That is something that people need to look into if they don't wish to purchase one themselves, or if they want to get some experience before jumping in and buying one. My sister used one at a city-sponsored facility to make some gorgeous wood projects. Sadly the money ran out and it shut down. But there might be more places like it. Worth pursuing in my opinion.

Good technique and a sharp knife yield best results. Funny this came up because just yesterday I was watching a YouTube video concerning how to open packaging safely. Well, it wasn't about that, it just came up because the channel owner is frustrated by what he sees. So he demonstrated some safe techniques. I watch "unboxing" videos all the time and I cringe when I see how some people handle knives. Mostly common sense, but there are some things that maybe aren't intuitive so they have to be learned.

Check out this previous thread:

I'd call that a success by any measure. Well done!

Personally I would never put Resolene on shoe leather. Like Chuck said, shoe polish. If you don't want to darken the leather too much, go with natural color. Shoe polishing is an art unto itself. There are some good instructional videos on YouTube where the basics are explained along with product recommendations. There are some very, very good polishes and conditioners available nowadays.

If you watch the video on YouTube you can view the comments below the video where the maker describes the material as a nylon fabric with a thickness of 0.2mm. Some here have used satin ribbon and they say it works great for their purposes. If you don't want to thin the leather and you want to try the technique as shown in the video just find something thin and strong which can be glued to the leather. Tyvek, which is a spunbonded polyolefin fabric is a good option as recommended above. Save the "indestructable" envelopes you get in the mail and you can use it for free.

Skive the "T" pockets from where the taper begins and then on towards the bottom. Thin them as much as desired to reduce bulk. Some choose to just skive the edges as shown below. That helps, but to me it would be better to thin the entire portion that is covered by the overlapping pieces.

You might ask Bruce Johnson, he’s very knowledgeable about vintage leather working tools and makers. https://brucejohnsonleather.com/

What a nice thing to do for a friend. I pray he has a full recovery and that the cancer never returns.

They are very good watches at reasonable prices. Longislandwatch.com

Good to know! Anyone interested in a premium head knife should snap them up while they can.

That's a great knife. Dozier is still in business, but makes hunting and skinning knives along with custom work. Gorgeous knives, all with D2 steel and lots of experience.

Well, that latest post just cements my decision to step away for awhile. Not going to even dignify it with a response. No need to defend myself or anything I said. Take care folks.

Wow, OK, sorry I said anything. It is clear that even with the best of intentions, my words are either in vain or mistaken by some as attacks. And so it goes. Based on the general reactions, in the future I'll just keep my opinions to myself. They clearly aren't hitting the mark that I intended. Last thing I want to do is create even more division. So this is the last I'll say on the issue and I don't currently plan on participating much. If and when I can provide some helpful information, I'll continue to do that. If I sound a little "butt hurt" I guess it's because I am and I'm not afraid to admit it. And so it goes.

Frodo, I'll try one last time to share what I mean. It isn't that something hasn't been done before that makes something important, or what I call a "signature", but it is the fact that your use of it helps to set your work apart. For example, the indigo blue dye example I showed. Some like it, some don't, but it is obvious that this maker is using it as a signature, a way to identify that something is made by them. My point is, if others think it looks "cool" and decide to begin doing the same thing, it waters down their brand or their signature, and soon they have nothing that makes them special. So how about we just give them that, and not take it away from them? Come up with another way to express OUR work, develop our own signature. Part of what drove me to make the initial post was that I've seen this happen in other areas of my life, so it isn't exclusive to leatherworkers. Not by a long shot. What I was hoping was to just stimulate some thought, some reflection, so that next time we see something that "looks cool" and are tempted to use it for ourselves that at least we think twice. There was no attack, no finger-pointing, we all have issues I'm sure, its part of the deal. What bothers me is when there is a disagreement it immediately is identified as an attack. How are we ever going to have civil discourse then? Agreeing to disagree used to be a thing. Not any longer.