Chief31794

I am amazed that a company like Fiebings who has great products, puts their white on the market. As Gawdzilla inplied, it is useless. I have a bottle if anyone wants it. Ken

Just made these up in the shop I have to ship the guitar strap to Ohio and the Dobro strap is for my dobro. Ken

Welcome to the forum, lots of good advice and tips out here. Ken

Agree with Aaron, this seems like business to me. Business has always been about a "better mouse trap", either beat her in the competition for business volume or find another gig. I don't think anyone can tell anyone else what to market or where since this is an open market. Customers are going to come to the best value (price vs quality tradeoff). Provide the best value and you'll capture the greater share of the market. Also seems like she does a better job of marketing. Ken

Ray, One tip that might help, the stamping tools have to be held firm, I suffer from some Arthritis and one thing I do to give me a little better grip is I wrap the handles of the stamps with duck tape. It gives a cushion and a little more diameter that makes it easier to hold on to. Keep at it, takes practice, practice and then some more practice. You should also read the articles under "How do I do that" on casing leather, properly cased leather will accept the impressions much better and result in cleaner impressions as well. Good Luck, Ken

Welcome Aboard, Ken

Tandy did have a metal strap cutter which I can't find on their web catalog any more. I have one, I also have the draw guage, for my money I like the Metal strap cutter, I've heard that the wooden ones work equally well. The draw guage works okay but only on heavier leather. Here are pictures:

Athena, One suggestion, this isn't critical just thought you might want suggestions on alternate techniques, these belt buckles really look nice if you close them with a contrasting lace as opposed to stitching. Below is one where I was trying my hand at painting (which I'm terrible at), but it demonstrates the alternate closing method. Your work looks great, welcome to the site.

Groovytech, Cool, if you get up this way send us a note. SOWEGA rules!!! Ken

This is terrible, hopefully it was a misunderstanding, I would contact him and give him the chance to do the right thing and cover your expenses. Sorry this happened to you. When I first saw the title of this post I thought you wanted a place to post really bad leather work, and I thought finally a place for me to show my stuff. As I said, sorry this happened, but in 61 years I've learned a few things and one of them is that sooner or later, people will disappoint you. Ken

I use this technique quite a bit on holsters and some gun belts when I want finished on the inside and out. If I want say 4OZ leather then I buy 2OZ cut it in half and gule it together flesh to flesh with contact cement, there are plenty of articles out here on how to use contact cement but you basically cover both sides, let it dry till tacky, then put them together. I sometimes do a whole side of 2 or 3 oz to make a half side of 4 or 6 oz, when I do that much I have someone help because once the pieces touch they are stuck, if you are way off from one piece to the other you can waste a lot of leather. I use an old rolling pin to insure the leather is seated well. I then trim the edge (normally to a flat edge on one side) then start cutting straps and pieces just like I would from a normal flesh/grain piece of leather. Once set and cut, you can't tell that there is a line between the leathers and once you finish the edges, there is absolutely no way to tell that it isn't just one piece of leather. Hope this helps. Ken

Forget what they said, put down any leather pieces or tools you have and run as fast as you can. Naw, just kidding, the classes are a great start as well as the other sound advice you got by the other posters, there are several free videos on the Tandy site where George Hurst demonstrates everything from carving floral designs to setting rivets. That's a great start as well and free. You Tube has some infor as well. Have fun with your new addiction. Ken

Boom, Tandy has a "Holster and Gun Belt" Pattern Pack #6031. It has patterns for several holsters, western style belts with instructions on how to size them, shoulder holster rigs, etc.It sells for about $7.99 or if you're an elite club member the price is $4.00. Well worth the money in my opinion. Ken

Hi Rob, Welcome to the Georgia version of the site. There's more around here than I thought. Ken

Tom, I sent you a message about holsters. Ken

I never made any hats, wonder if they need any belts or gutiar straps?.... Ken

Roger, There ain't no dumb questions. If I understand your question you're talking about the adjustable billet on the back of the strap, this picture shows one way of accomplishing this and it is the most popular. I make some straps with buckles on the front but they are predominately decorative, I normally have the front of the strap taper down to the pin hole and only have a two piece strap as in this picture, if you use the buckle on the front it becomes a 3-piece strap. Hope this helps, Ken

Here are some pictures of my work area. Ken

Welcome to the Dark Side, you won't be able to leave. Great site with lots of great folks. Ken

Welcome aboard, there are lots of great folks here with lots of knowledge and most don't mind sharing it. There are quite a few who sadles and tack, I'm more of a musical instrument strap, belts, purses, etc type, never worked in equine gear. It looks interesting though. Ken

Tomcat, Welcome to the site, I sent you an email with answers to your questions and my contact information in Albany. Ken

Welcome from Jasper, we may take this site over yet. Ken

Excellent, thanks Mike, I was beginning to feel lonely. Ken