UKRay

Oh my - that is a tricky one! It all depends on what sort of leather you want to keep, how much of it you have and how much space you have to store it - plus any number of other variables. Can we assume you are talking about tooling leather? Essentially: Keep it out of direct sunlight if you can - leather will darken in the sun Keep it flat if possible - or rolled rough side out if not. Don't fold it as you will find it hard to get the creases out Keep it away from direct heat sources - like radiators and hot air blowers Keep it cool - it helps to keep the leather from drying out Keep it covered - to prevent marking Keep it dry - if it gets damp it will probably develop mould Keep it away from your dyes - yup, obvious but I made this mistake once... just once! Keep it off the ground - to discourage rodents Keep it away from children - some of the tanning fluids aren't too good if they get chewed Keep it away from pets - yeah, right... I have some leather on my rack that is almost 30 years old and still seems perfectly usable - although I wouldn't want to use it on anything important. This is an unusual situation as I mostly buy to use right away (or within a year or so). I would suggest you do the same. I think that is all for now - anyone else want to add anything? Ray

Best post a picture of Frankenpurse, Suze - otherwise folks might not understand... LOL I certainly wouldn't want to get hit with it! Ray

Hi Gill, I played around with Dylon some time back and gave up on it for all the reasons Gary has outlined. I also used it on veg tan russet and had the same 'patchy' results even though I eventually dipped it rather than applied it with a dauber. I used neatsfoot oil to seal the leather after dyeing and drying and it worked pretty well. It also softened it up after the immersion in Dylon. Salt as a mordant? No idea. Hopefully one of the chemists on here will pick this up, but frankly, and only IMHO, the results obtained from Dylon hardly seem worth the grief. I would be fascinated to hear how you get on with it though and do post if you find a workable solution (no pun intended). For what it is worth, I don't think it is the fixer that causes the problems, more that the dye is simply too 'wishy washy'. I've had much better results dying with onion skins and other assorted bits of fruit and veg! Ray

That really is an ambitious piece to set as your target and I admire you for doing so. My personal suggestion is that you go and buy a big bag of leather from your nearest Tandy store and spend the next three months pounding it every which way you can. Read everything you can find here on the forum and learn how to mold it, fold it, shape it and finish it. When you have done all that start looking for the fittings you will need and work out how to fit them to the work. Learn about rivets and stitching and how the two work together to make a strong finished job. If you do all that then you stand a very good chance of making this journal. I wish you luck! Feel free to pm me if you need any help. Good luck! Best wishes, Ray

Is it necessary to cut through the surface of the leather for a piece to be 'scratch carved'? Or does the technique perhaps involve scratching away a 'resist' or a dyed surface to reveal the plain leather below? I ask because much of the decoration on medieval leatherwork was done using a simple creasing tool and a selection of very basic embossing tools which were sometimes made from bone. In the pieces I have seen, lines were generally embossed into the leather rather than cut with a sharp tool. You might find that a simple modelling tool would do this kind of job well enough if it were used on well cased leather - and if a 'cut' isn't essential. The technique you describe isn't confined to the old West, I have seen similar looking work on both traditional North-African leatherwork (also using very similar hand-cut bone tools) and work from the Indian sub-continent done with hardwood embossing tools. I believe it is also used as a background technique for some of the early, highly detailed, Moorish leatherwork. Perhaps the influence behind this type of decorative work on gunholsters is Moorish - carried to the New World by the Spanish conquistadors. I'd be very interested to hear what Chuck Burrows has to say about the history of this technique. By the way - I thought " Packing Iron" was a film! LOL Ray

Most informative, but: okay, not exactly worthless, but it would make a lot more sense to me! Ray

Possibly because I haven't seen 'Packing Iron', but I don't know what you mean by 'scratch carved' can you - or anyone else enlighten me? Ray

Love your stuff, Holly. I'd like to see a picture of your really nice braided wristbands on here... Sorry Gary: Fun ideas though - I particularly like the idea of backpack to put it all in. Anyone got more pictures? Ray

Of course you did, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist it! LOL Now, what about those pictures? Ray

Brilliant Johanna, but: Great ideas Tim and Dave - anyone got anything else? How about pics of the stuff Johanna mentioned? Holly, your pocket stuff is lovely especially the wristbands - bring out the pictures! BTW, Luke. I have copied all your keys and I'm coming round late tonight to drink the entire contents of your beer fridge! LOL Ray

I'd like to pull together a collection of 'pocket' sized and personal leathergoods ideas that folk can make, along with some pictures to give some ideas. If I start the ball rolling can you please contribute your ideas? Duplicates of an idea are great as long as yours look different to the rest. Neck purse Neck Lighter case Belt pouch

Very nice work, Robert, and great re-cycling of material. I'm slightly puzzled how the rings are used. Are there two separate pouches, one inside the other? Also how does the purse attach to the girdle? An idea of size would be useful too. A few more pictures would be very helpful so we can understand this lovely thing better. Ray

It seems to me that many people who get into leatherwork thoroughly enjoy making a range of small items (often from kits) that they either give away or sell to friends and family. They progress to larger items but there are only so many bags, purses and belts you can make before the demand dries up. When that market is exhausted they sometimes struggle to justify their hobby. Essentially, they have run out of good reasons to work leather. What is needed is a way to find out what people around you actually want and will pay money for. You need to carry out some market research. This can be as simple as asking people at your place of work, sports team, children's school what they want to buy - but maybe a better way is to ask folk a few questions that give you a whole lot more information about their requirements. This link will lead you to a new free Knol all about basic market research. It isn't written for marketing geniuses, just ordinary leather workers like you and me. I hope you find it useful and thought provoking. http://knol.google.com/k/ray-hatley/the-barefoot-leather-guide-to-marketing/uhfjt5pdr2mt/11# Ray

I saw some of Jim Linell's carved feathers when I visited Tandy Leather Factory here in the UK a few months back - I had no idea how nice something like this could look in real life. I'm going to have to find some time to make one - or maybe two... Nice job Clay - even if it was years ago! Ray

I thoroughly enjoyed this thread despite not understanding a word! I'll thank you for a lesson over a pint sometime, Mike. Ray

JLSleather makes a great point when he said "a pattern IS worth something. If it weren't, then why do we charge more for the "special order"? For ME, if I'm charging the customer for an "original" design, then I certainly can't complain about giving that fee to the designer if someone else came up with it. I would actually PREFER to know that my money helped someone who really needs it" Noah says he is happy to give his work away, but places a value on his designs when he admits he wouldn't mind a donation for the use of his patterns. Dave said: "I worked really hard developing a solo bag pattern that fits a soft tail, and some custom rigids, just right. I googled, of course, before I made the first one, and did not see a similar one. After I made and sold some, I did come across a similar one. The bike shape itself requires a certain fit, so the personal style I put to, it is the real difference, not so much the shape. Someone pm'd me for that pattern. They didn't get it." which suggests he put a considerable value on that design. Personally, I'm happy to share some of my designs with people - I have sent out quite a number of stool patterns and purse patterns etc - but I have some designs that I won't share. This is because they have a value to me that is not necessarily about money. It is often because the patterns I value the most are those I had to work hardest to perfect. King's X is quite right when he says: "There will always those who will not share what they have learned or know with anyone! For whatever reason, it is their choice. We must accept it even though we may not understand it." Many people new to leatherworking don't understand why their projects don't turn out like the ones they see in the magazine images. How hard can it be to work a bit of leather? IMHO, the reason they don't understand is because they don't know enough. A wise man once said: When you know a little you think you know a lot. When you know a lot you understand how little you know. Understanding why people are 'precious' with their designs needs to take into account that making a good pattern needs more than skill with a pencil, It requires years of working with leather to know what it is capable of in order to understand how it can be shaped, moulded, cut and formed into the finished article. It used to be called an apprentiship when I was a lad... Tim makes a good point too when he says that he wants to learn but can't always afford to pay. "If I make a newbie mistake and ask for something you don't want to give me cause I would like to try it out for myself, or you want to charge me for your hard work and intellectual property, please don't be offended if I don't buy because of limited funding or my lack of knowledge of where you stand. I will still love to admire your handiwork and pick up tips and tooling tricks to improve what I can do, along with fellowship with like minded individuals." Tim, with an approach like that you can knock on my door any time and ask whatever you like of me and I'll be glad to help you if I can, LOL - it would be a pleasure to help you and I suspect most of the folk here will feel the same way. Ray

Whilst I agree entirely with what you say about the 'mistake school of learning', Dave, and I agree in principle with your observations about 'copyright law', it is hard to be 'cut and dried' with something as fundamentally practical as good leatherwork design. We have all made a very small but significant change to an existing design and suddenly the design works properly. To the casual or uninformed observer, the design is identical but maybe a buckle is shifted by an inch so a strap becomes fully adjustable or perhaps the handle is moved to where the bag balances properly (think about something like a cue case which is long and thin and where good balance is essential). When this happens I may have created a very similar item to everyone else, almost identical in fact, but mine works properly. Have I in effect, created something new? Is that a contravention of 'copyright law', in other words is it a simple change or is it a significant change? I don't need answers to these hypothetical questions but it does make life more interesting thinking through the possible ramifications. I'd be interested to know where people think we should draw lines... Ray

This topic has taken some interesting twists and turns. Design theft is a thorny issue (any intellectual property theft is a serious business) but with a craft as old as leatherworking can anything truly be said to be original? I know my work springs from countless encounters with other artisan's and artist's work but most of the time I couldn't name them - and here on the forum we often don't know their real names anyway. It would be very hard, if not impossible, to acknowledge the debt. A good point was made about Al Stohlman's work: "Al made REALLY good money, for a long time, carving someone else's leather for discussion more than for practical use". I can't help but agree, but it goes much further than that. What Al Stohlman did was facilitate a whole lot of learning and discussion. He designed projects that taught good design/project construction in a way that is still practical and effective. He was a brilliant teacher of leatherwork but his projects should not be seen as an end in themselves. IMHO they are simply a beginning and in some respects, (when followed rigidly without any personal input) I feel they have the ability to inhibit design rather than encourage it. Josh, please don't misunderstand me. If everyone was like you fellah, I'd parcel up all my patterns and send them to every forum member (want 'em or not!). I've even been known to request the odd pattern myself if I felt I could learn from it and been very grateful if the originator chose to share. My gripe is with those who can't be bothered to spend a few minutes designing even small items - hey, we have had people asking for a wristband pattern (a strap?) and one guy even wanted a design for a basic key fob a while back. IMHO that is simply laziness and taking advantage of people's good nature - I could be wrong of course... Given the tight financial constraints many of us face, would it be a good idea if there was an 'unwritten' value placed on pattern sharing? By this, I don't mean that everyone starts charging for sharing, more that people expect to pay for what they get. If a pattern is shared for nothing and the sharer is happy with that then great, but at a minimum the sharer's shipping costs should be covered. Most folk use PayPal these days - how much effort would it be to make a token $5 payment for the use of a really nice small pattern? What about the help you could give someone who is unemployed but a great pattern designer if you paid them $30 for the use of a well designed purse pattern? How much difference would your $30 payment make to a family who are struggling? Just my thoughts, guys, and, as ever, worth precisely what you paid for them. Ray

The whole design process is a struggle when you are trying to keep up with ongoing orders. I tend to design a product for a specific customer, make and deliver it, and then make more of them for inventory. This means the first one is very much the customer's idea with my input making it happen. Subsequent products are more my own. I'm rather restricted by my poor drawing. I'm not an artist and wouldn't pretend to be one. I'm an artisan, pure (okay, maybe not so pure!) and simple. I rely on real artists for illustrations, line art and the like and content myself with being able to cut a straight line and burnish a good edge. Where I'm going to here is that my design process relies on other people's contributions although the final build decisions are mine. I do use other people's design ideas occasionally - at least, I look at pieces of work and re-design them to suit my style of working and aesthetics. This is a long and often laborious process involving cardboard, glue and all manner of pins, tacks and staples but it seems to work for me. At the end of the day, I'm making my own patterns for the things I sell and this gives me a lot of satisfaction. I tried to purchase patterns from other forum users a while back and although I had a few bites, I believe people are reticent about parting with their patterns because they do take so long to develop. I'm still hoping that a bit of hard cash will prompt people to part with their finished designs, but I'm not optimistic. Right now I have half a dozen design jobs on the bench and have very little to work on. I just know I'm going to sit for hours trying to find the best way to make these complex projects come together and, I suppose, that is one of the skills we develop as competent leatherworkers. I know you didn't ask this but: One of the things that makes me most angry about this forum is the way some people assume that others will provide them with free patterns that have taken hours of sweat to develop. It makes me even more angry when they forget to say thank you afterwards. One of the things I like best is that there are still good-hearted people who will continue to offer help, patterns, advice, instructions and tutorials without payment or acknowledgement. Ray

I found this one as a pdf - is it the same as yours, Terry? Ray Junker & Ruh Outsole stitcher Parts list and manual.pdf Junker & Ruh Outsole stitcher Parts list and manual.pdf

Nice work, Craig. You guys in the US have leatherworking opportunities denied to us on this side of the pond. Our fire services are pretty reserved about uniform. Such a shame! Ray

Are you using your race freehand, Mike? I find it very hard to cut precisely where I want the groove and have to use a straight edge to run the tool along to get a neat line - going round corners, let alone doing a Celtic design - is a very slow careful business. Kara Ginther's stuff is excellent, Claire. I hadn't seen any before and was thoroughly impressed. Painstaking work and incredibly neat. Even if you are not interested in chip carving take a look at www.karaginther.com as it is well worth the effort. Ray

A very useful tutorial, thank you. I'd be grateful to know where you get your buckles. Ray

A very fair answer - I wondered because I have made a pair with real sheepskin lining and I wouldn't change it for the world. It was amusing stuff to work with...Not! I managed to get into a real mess sticking it to the outer, but it all worked out in the end. IMHO, the real stuff is warmer than synthetic and gives a better cushion to a Moc - but what do I know? Ray

They look very cosy, Danielle. You'll have nice warm toes for the rest of the winter! Why did you switch to synthetic sheepskin this time? Ray