Randy Cornelius

It's a great little book, Thank you Bruce I think everyone here will be able to use it one way or another. You should talk to Hidecrafter and start selling it. O'well everyone can get it here for free now. LOL Thanks again Bruce. Randy

Here is my favorite, my son Riley made it for me. He has made several of these and some of the members here have them. They are made out of Osage Orange, aka Hedge. Randy

To UKRay, I am sorry that you took offense to my statement, it was not my intent to look down upon someone with less experiance. I started out the same way many years ago using whatever I could to cut leather. I made some mistakes, got injured but nothing that did not heal and broke a lot of blades and went through a lot of those blades. I became frustrated and went looking for something else. I knew of a saddlemaker not far from me and called him up out of the blue one day and he invited me to his shop. I saw all these round knives hanging around and he showed me how to use on. Let me tell you I was impressed. They cut leather with ease, and you cut away from you, not toward you like a box cutter. I would just like to say that this business is a learning experiance, I learn something every day and I keep an open mind. That saddle maker opened my eyes to something I had been struggling with for a long time. The feel of a sharp round knife as it goes through leather like a hot knife through butter is a feeling that I will not forget. You should try one. Just keep an open mind. Again, I am sorry if you were offended....... Randy

I will have to agree with Steve, a sharp round knife and a stright edge and a piece of chalk to make a rough line where to start cutting. Anyone still using a box cutter for leather.... well to each his own.

Not sure what you mean my registering a business. But it would be to your advantage to get a state sales tax license from your state. That way you can buy wholesale from companies like Weaver Leather and get a makers / Sellers account from Tandy which is a great savings over retail. But in having a tax ID number you will have to file quarterly sales reports and collect sales tax from who you sell to and pay that sales tax back to the state. It's not too big a deal here in Kansas and most is done on line now except for writing the check. You may want to check with your local city or county about business licenses etc. Where I am I am not required to have one as my business is home based. As far as payment from a web site the most convient is to use a Paypal account so that your customers can pay by credit card and you can accept credit cards without signing up with a bank. The banks will take a lot more than paypal will. I personaly like to do business face to face and do not get many orders from my web site. All my work is custom and I do not offer stock items for sale. Others that do may have some other ideas for you. Randy

Maybe you could tell us a little more about it, like where it is and what goes on there. I for one have never heard of it. Randy

If you are sure your pattern is the right size you can cut out the pattern before you tool. Or you can tool the piece then cut it out. Both ways will work. If it is a small project it maybe better to tool the pieces before you cut them. But something as large as a cell phone holder would be on a fairly large piece of leather if you did not cut them out first. Also you may add additional wast to the side of leather you cut from. To keep these pieces from stretching while you tool... There are seveal methods I have tried several but what I like the best and seems to work the best is glueing down to plexiglass with rubber cememt while tooling. The the piece completly dry. I even apply dye and finish before I pull it off the plexiglass. The only down side to this is the it will leave a coating of rubber cememt on the backside of the leather. If you are going to line the piece with another piece of leather this is of no concern as it will be covered. But if not here is what you can do if the piece will not be lined. Take 3-M packing tape and apply the tape to the backside of the piece, overlap the rows until completely covered. Apply the rubber cement to the packing tape and to the plexiglass and glue them down after they become tacky. Now after you are all done you can pull off the tape and there is no glue residue on the backside of the leather. When I tool belts I use the tape method without the plexiglass as it hold well enough to keep the shape of the leather. Hope this helps. Randy

I found this on anouther forum and thought it worth a read, unknown if it is a true story or not. But a good story none the less Who would think a story about sack lunches could bring tears to your eyes? The Sack Lunches I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq'. After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time. As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago ' His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son is a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.' Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.' After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars. Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers. Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars! Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.' Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little... A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check Made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it.'

Sheridan Leather Outfiter is a good source for chap leather. I have ordered several hides in the last month and one has a marbled texture to it. I am not at home right now but later today I will post the contact info and the name of the leather so you can order. May even post a picture of the chaps I made with it as the customer has not picked them up yet. Randy

I bought one of these thinking it would speed things up and make some of the production items go a little faster but it does not do as nice of an edge as I can do with some water and a piece of canvas. Thinking about selling it. Randy

I find it is best to inset the stringray or use it on the backside of a fillagree where you cut out say the name or a shape out of the leather and put the stingray on the back side. I have attach a picture as an example of what I mean. I have never had any luck finishing the edge of stingray to make look good.

I have used stingray on several projects and there is not a good way to work with it. Those pebbles are just a bit** to work around. It dulls everthing you use to cut it. Ruins needles you sew it with ect. If you sew it on a machine the pebbles that you break with the needle when you sew will cut your thread. It helps to run your thread through a lube pot and have plenty of lube on the thread when you sew. You can try sanding down the pebbles along the edge to make it so you can use it but I am sure it will show. Good luck Randy

Weaver has the elastic in black and grey with stripes. I have made a couple pair but don't have a pattern. Sorry.

Actually the bugs don't stick to the hair. Let them dry and just brush them off. No stain, no pain....

Here is picture of me, my '83 wing and my hairy chaps that I made. I just had to be different! Randy

Very nice work. Randy

Am I the only one who wonders what she is talking about?????????? Randy

What the He** does "Iconic" mean you people are useing those big words again.

It should still be available from Tandy

I get the most business from the people who do business where I do business, does that sound confusing? I will explain. I go to the local restraunt every moring and have coffee with a bunch of guys that I have know for most of my life, I call them the rusty zipper club. I get more referals from that bunch than anything I do. They know someone who needs this or that and they give them my name, when they needs something I make it for them. Then there is the local feed store where I buy my feed, got my cards on the wall next to the coffee pot there. Get lots of business out of the feed store. Then there is the guys and gals around my full time job as a cop. I make all the duty belts, cuff cases, radio holders etc for my department as well as a couple others. Church, as well as 4-H meetings, Masonic meetings. The #1 thing that I can say is to wear and use what you make, when others see you using or wearing something you made, well, that is the very best advertisment you can have. If you have a wife or significant other, dress him or her in stuff that you make, belts, cell phone holder, purse, notebook etc, you get the picture. My wife went to a trail ride without me last Oct. and wore a pair of chaps I made her. I got 3 orders for chaps just off that trail ride and I wasn't even there. So you get the point. I ran an add in the local newspaper one year just before Christmas and did not get one call. But carry around a nice portfolio you make and you will get all kinds of inquires.. Randy

My son Riley and I teach begining leathercraft classes and I have a detailed outline. It was memtioned in another forum and several have asked for a copy. I thought maybe someone here might like to look at it. I refer to a manual in the outline. That manual is by Tandy and is the green covered one that says Leather Craft on the outside. The item # is 61891-01. I also use the basic leathercraft kit from Tandy item # 55509-00. Here is the outline attached. Any questions feel free to ask. Use the outline as you may see fit and make any needed changes. Hope it helps someone some time. The outline is intitled Introduction to Leathercraft. I use it to teach 4-H clubs , boy scouts and other groups. It works well for all age groups. I suggest you set an age limit of at least 10 years old. I have had younger and they just don't seem to have the attention spand to do well. Randy INTRODUCTION_TO_LEATHERCRAFT_CLASS.doc INTRODUCTION_TO_LEATHERCRAFT_CLASS.doc

I was like you about 4 years ago, I was wanting a machine and just did not know what to buy, I went to Sheridan that year and tried all of them out. I kept coming back to the Artisen booth, I don't know what it was but Steve and Jerry seemed to know alot about what they were talking about. I bough a Toro 3000 soon after that show and have not regreted it once. Steve and Jerry are the best when it comes to support after the sale. I called them often right after I got the machine. Any problems I had were taken care of in a very fast mannor. I see them at all the shows and push Artisen Machines any time I can. I keep thinking one of these days they will put me to work but I have a job now. The 3000 will sew anything from light leathers like chaps to heavy harnes and saddle skirts. There is a video posted here somewhere that is very informative. Randy

If you can twist Bruce Johnson's arm, he is here on the forum, he can provide a book that he done on purse patterns. He may not like that I said that but it is a great book of purse patterns, I feel he should publish. If you hound him I bet he would post a couple here. What do you say Bruce? Randy

The bounce and the double impressions is most likely caused by the surface that you are using. If the table underneather that you are beating on has some bounce that is what is causeing the double impressions. I always use my makers stamp over the heavy 4x4 leg on my cuting table that goes down to the concrete floor. That way there is s solid surface underneath that will keep the surface from bouncing. I also have a heavy 1' steel plate that I put under the leather before using my large (2" oval) makers stamp. Just a suggestion. Randy

Sometimes with very old and neglected leather there just is not much that can be done to bring it back to life. Be careful of how much neatsfoot oil you use. First clean the leather very well with your favorite leather care product. I use lexol cleaner. Scrub lightly to get all the dirt out of the cracks and the tooling if there is any. If the skirts or jockies are turned up or out of shape they can be reblocked. The best thing to do is to take the skirts and jockies off during the cleaning process. Clean very well and soak them well with clean water. While they are still wet place them on a hard surface like a concret floor, cover with a piece of plywood and place weights on them to flatten them back to the shape you want. I have been known to use grain sacks full of grain as weights. Leave them for several days or until they retian the shape you disire. Now to try and bring the leather back to life. Let it dry completly at room temp. Do not place in front of a heater or anything like that. You don't want it to dry too quickly. I would get some exta virgin olive oil and start giving it several light coats of the olive oil over a period of several days. I would not soak it with oil. You will just have an old piece of leather with lots of oil on it. Give it time to soak up the oil over a period of time. It is best to do this with the saddle torn down so as to get to all the parts and places. I have had these old saddles brought to me with several years of bird droppings covering them along with dust from a barn and everything else you can imagine. In these cases I have been know to take them to the car wash for the initial cleaning. Be careful not to use the high pressure wash up close with no soap or engine degreaser! After several days of light oiling you will be able to tell if the leather is going to come back or not. When you are satisfied that the leahter has taken enough oil I would give it a couple coats of lexol leather conditioner. Be sure to give a final top coat of finish of your choise to protect it.. I would use Tan Kote or something simular. I am sure others have a different oponion but this has worked for me in the past. Randy