Chief31794

Thought I would show the lower end of the tack world. I live in South West Georgia and one of my customers is the Georgia Museum of Natural History. They operate a 1860-1900 South Georgia Farm, it is know as Agriama located in Tifton, GA. They asked me to restore and repair some harnesses and collars for the mules they use to plow with. Kind of a neat look back in history, also they don't take much care with the equipment so I stay pretty busy. These are two items I have in right now, I will post the after shots when they're done. This also shows just how durable leather is, there are decades of use on these. Chief

Ohio Travel Bag has them, they are used on mule collars to close the collar. I have three on order from OTB but it is marked as a "new" item. Cost is $3.50 unless you get a discount. OTB does require a business license and a $50.00 Minimum order though. Chief

And you still won't as nice a side of leather than what you would get from suppliers. I think that you would have to do a lot of them to make it cost effective and you may never reach the break even point. I equate it to making your own bowling ball at home, you could probably do it but is the "juice worth the squeeze?" Chief

I use the Springfield ones (HO), I also have them split their 2-1/2" straps and 2" Straps to 6 oz for Guitar, Banjo, Dobro, Bass and Mandolin Straps. They work really well for me. Most of my stuff is unlined and the back side of the Hermann Oak Straps are really good as well (tight and even). Chief

I'm not a great artist on dying colors, but I do some once in a while, and the best way I've found is to use a "dry brush" (not much dye in the brush), and start the dying away from the line and "ease" up toward the line until the dye goes where you want it. Takes a little practice, but it can be done. Practice carving some of the roses and stems on a piece of scrap and practice dying them until you're comfortable with it. The best way to do these types of things is slowly with lots of practice, practice and oh yeah more practice. Chief

Agree, even if they're perfect, sanding is the step that removes glue residue, straightens imperfections, and sets the piece up for a real nice edge. Chief

All good suggestions, and they will help you be much more accurate. One thing I do is sand the edges on a bench sander after gluing them together. That will remove any minor differences in the layers. Then I edge bevel and burnish the edges, it accomplishes a couple of things, 1) make the edges even and matched, 2) remove any residual glue from the edges, 3) then I sew and the stitches are a uniform distance from the edge, front and back. It can be done by hand sanding as well, I use the bench sander to save time. Chief

These are some older pictures. I've updated some and have a little different arrangement. But it's the same basic principle. Chief

I would try a good quality leather conditioner/Balm. Use the manufacturer's instructions, and it should add some "life" to the leather. Try it on a small spot that will not be seen to make sure it isn't going to remove the color (never had that happen, I'm just careful). Chief

The only difference is that the items ship from Fort Worth instead of from the closest Tandy Store. Sometimes they have some good deals in there. Chief

That is the color I normally get if I use Feibings Light Brown full strength, I normally cut it with denatured alcohol at 3:1, 4:1, or 5:1 depending on what tint I'm going for. You can find denatured alcohol anywhere they sell painting supplies. I get mine in the gallon can from Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart carry it as well. It comes in quart containers if you don't think you'll need a gallon. I mix lots of dyes with it. Chief

Interesting, I spent a lot of time traveling before I retired, I used to stay out in Fort Worth (Cow Town) a lot, been to the Stohlman museum there. If I didn't live in Georgia, I'm pretty sure, Fort Worth would be where I'd hang my hat. Again, welcome to the forum, this is a great place, I wish there had been something like this 42 years ago when I started. Could have saved me a lot of scrap leather and prevented me from saying some of the words I learned in the Army from time-to-time when a project goes south. Chief

I've never heard of any others, there could be. I don't have any trouble with the Tandy Ones, but I usually set them by hand with a Hefty Handle and Dead Blow Mallet and then set them final in a press, I reregister each stamp and press it for a uniform consistency. Chief

Monica, Welcome to Leatherworker.net. This is a very friendly site with lots of good info. I'm always happy to see leatherworkers from Georgia on here, we may take over soon!!! Chief

I use it very lightly, one and at most two very, very light coats. I had a nice project ruined once, oiled it too heavily, it became "soggy" and never did get all the oil out, I had to throw it in the opps basket. Chief

You might want to look at some garment leather in very light weight. They come in a variety of colors and Christmas Red should be available. Then laminate it on to a piece of 4 oz veg tan or sandwich a piece of 2/3 oz veg tan between two layers of the bright red stuff and assemble it with bright red lace so the laminated edges arent a problem, or white lace to look really "Christmasy". You could use a stiffener as opposed to the sandwiched veg tan perhaps. Dying leather it will be hard to achieve satisfactory results for Christmas Red. Hope that helps, Chief

I have GIMP downloaded and run it occasionally, but I still go back to Photoshop, they do pretty much the same thing, PS just does them faster and better IMO. GIMP and Photoshop are great tools for touching up photos of your work. But Inkscape is better in my opinion for making patterns, more precise, more CAD features than Photo features. Chief

I use Inkscape as well. I figured I had enough money tied up at Adobe on Photoshop. Inkscape does a great job and I print out the .svg file and send to Blackriver Laser and they make all my templates. I am attaching a pdf of the banjo strap and rifle sling templates I had made recently. (I notice out west it's holsters and saddles, here in the south it's Rifle Slings and Banjo Straps, oh well). Chief Banjo Strap.pdf RifleSling.pdf

On Veg Tan Leather, I go in this order, Case, Carve, Dye, buff, Oil, Buff, Seal, Buff. Other people have other ways I think, not sure. What you want to do is replace the natural oils in the leather that are removed in the dying process. As for darkening, I can't tell that much difference after you let it dry, there may be a slight darkening but to me it's not objectionable. I have seen posts out here where people use different oils, I use Neets Foot oil, always have, don't have a problem with it so I've had no desire to look for alternatives. Maybe someone will have an oil that doesn't darken as much. But the bottom line, the final color is dependent on every thing you do to the leather. As for conditioning after the sealant, I don't keep much of the leather I make, I do include a letter with my items that suggests that if the item ever needs cleaning, use a high quality leather balm or conditioner and follow manufacturer directions for using that product. I keep leather balm in the shop for cleaning and conditioning old items that people bring in for repair. I also use it to condition lace when I'm lacing a project. Chief

My best investment would be the contributing member I paid to support this site. What a great site with lots of good info. Best tool investment: Hand Press with dies for rivets and snaps. Never could get the hang of setting snaps perfectly every time with an anvil and punch type set up. The press sets them perfectly every time has never missed in 5 years and 1000's of snaps and rivets. Barry King checkered and smooth Bevelers, Camo, Veiners, Basket Weave, Thumb Print, and Mules Feet. Worst Tool Investment: cheap exacto knife set for cutting patterns, replaced it almost immediately with a good quality knife. Chief

That is awful pricey even at the $159.00. Agree with Billymac about the holes, makes an otherwise nice project look a little tacky compared to normal hand stitching. You are paying for the cutting and pattern, there is less than $60.00 worth of leather (and that is the price for Hermann Oak), say another $25.00 worth of findings (hardware and such), the remainder of that is profit for Tandy (nothing wrong with that, businesses are allowed to make a profit) and that is money you could save by buying the leather, cutting your own straps, and buying your own hardware. You'll have better leather and the sewing will look much, much, better. The only element is the pattern. If you like this pattern, then it might be worth buying it and using the pieces to make a pattern for future use, then building the kit for experience. It will still make a nice piece, just can be done better for less money. One more caution, the leather may be very nice in the particular kit you buy, but it is a gamble, regardless it will still provide a good pattern. Last thing, then I'll shut up (yeah what's the chance of that), This is a pretty basic design, you can probably get the size measurements from the Tandy site, they normally provide them. Then layout on poster board, a front piece, back piece that is taller to an amount that you need to fold over and close, and a two piece gusset at the proper width, cut out the pieces, line them with suede or pigskin, sew them together and you have a custom case that you designed. Al Stohlman's three volume set on making cases is a good source of reference material on how to make cases. Chief

Very nice work. The eagle and the lacing are excellent, and the overall look is perfect. Just the right amount of tooling to accent the piece. Chief

Here is a diagram that I give folks who want to order a belt. It helps them visualize what you're looking for. I tell them to measure to the most worn hole, then I make that measurement the center hole on the new belt.

One that comes to mind is Blackriver Laser (Blackriverlaser.com). I'm not sure they do this, but they have lasers and make products for the leather craft industry. They are on the web, contact them and see if they do this. They have very good customer service and can answer your question. Chief

Welcome to the site, this is a great forum with lots of friendly people. Chief