Chief31794

Welcome aboard, I think you'll really enjoy this site, lots of talented and friendly people out here. Ken

Tim, Welcome to the dark side. I think you'll enjoy this site, looks like you've already found some places close by to get materials and tools. Don't worry about posting your stuff, I'm sure it looks fine and one of the ways to get better is to have folks provide tips based off what they see. You can shave years off your learning curve that way. Ken

I've been working with the new red board from Tandy, I punched on it and cut on it, works okay for both but I didn't like the punching, it leaves pretty good scars. Actually I use the while plastic board from tandy for punching and it' okay, my favorite for cutting is a craft cutting board I bought at Walmart, has 1in squares on in with measurements down one side and the top and cuts really well, wouldn't do for punching though, too thin. Ken

Welcome to the dark side, you'll enjoy this site. Ken

Welcome aboard, I retired from the Army in 1990 after I had "Been all I could Be". Thanks for your service and congratulations on your retirement. Ken

This is the place, welcome! Lots of good info out here. Have fun! Ken

Welcome aboard, looking forward to seeing pictures of some of your work. Ken

Welcome aboard, lots of good info out here and real friendly people that are willing to share tips and techniques. Ken

Trying a new design, the fore piece wraps around the headstock either under the strings between the 3rd and 4th strings or in the same place through the headstock on slot head models. I made this for a dorbo player here in the area that doesn't use a strap lock so I cut a normal button hole in the strap end, on most straps I mount a strap lock device instead of making a button hole. This is also two pieces of 2-3 oz leather glued together to provide a 4-6 oz strap, that makes the underside smooth which makes it easier to shift the instrument on your shoulder when needed. Ken

Welcome aboard, if you like to travel some or just happen to get near Fort Worth, do two things, eat a steak at H3, and go the the Al Stohlman museum at the TLC just off I-820. I live in Georgia but go to Texas often, this is the "main" store for Tandy and the museum is a natural treasure. Ken

Joquarter, This is a 1-1/2" buckle blank, I buy them from Tandy by the dozens, I play music and we wear these on stage to prevent scratching up instruments with regular Western Style buckles. I don't glue them, the metal buckle blank is sandwiched between the two leather buckle then laced. I threw this one together very quickly to try it out on the new belt some are a lot more detailed in the carvings. They are great gifts for dads, husbands, sons, son-in-laws, etc. I'm attaching a picture of the front and back and a picture of the items from the Tandy Catalog. Hope that helps, thanks for the nice comments. Ken Thanks everyone for all the great comments and tips. I've already looked the book up on Amazon.com, I'm going to get it. Ken

Ken, Not as long as you'd think, maybe an hour on the actual braiding, definitely not more. It took longer to layout and punch the holes, this braid requires 2 lines of holes spaced 3/8" apart with the holes spaced 3/8" apart on the lines. I used a 1/8" punch so the actual braiding goes very quickly. If you get the Skiver newsletter from Tandy the instructions are in the latest one, if not let me know and I can send you a copy of the instructions via email. Ken

Excellent work, I hadn't noticed too much braiding on straps, I'd seen braided straps. This is another excellent example and a neat idea for Instrument straps as well as belts. I do a lot of double loop and Mexican Round Braid on edges, but I haven't seen any books or instructions on lacing techniques like these, where did you get the instructions on how to braid it or did you design it yourself? Ken Ken

Bevan, I like your's better, the pattern in the Skiver was with two holes and two strips of leather, I'd be interested in knowing how many holes and what the braid pattern was on yours, additionally what it looks like on the reverse side.. Nice work, did you use Kangaroo lace? Ken

Tried this because I saw it in the Tandy Skiver newsletter. The belt is embossed and was used as a trial for the braiding concept. I like it, it is different. Has potential for decorative braiding on instrument straps, belts, etc. Ken

Welcome Banjoman, nice work. Where do you get your username, do you play the Banjo? I play Guitar (54 years), Banjo (31 Years), Dobro (11 Years), Bass (Can't remember how long), etc. I make quite a few instrument straps, cradle straps for Banjos, guitar straps, dobro straps, and mandolin straps plus I make leather belt buckles for musicians to prevent scratching the back of Martins, Beard Dobros, or Gibson Banjos. Mandolin players normally hold theirs high enough not to be a problem. Ken

Welcome aboard, lots of information out here, from very skilled leatherworkers. Ken

Agreed!!!

Welcome aboard, great looking ensemble. Ken

Nutty, Looks like you've opened up a whole new market area. Looks great! Ken

Peter, Beautiful, Merry Christmas to all as well. Ken

Spinner, Great job, this really looks nice and imagine, if the Leahter/Cardboard lasted since WWII, how long this fine piece of custom leather work will last. You've started a new piece of history. Ken

Back sides of straps/belts can be finished many ways. Repeat what Ferg said, look at Bobby Parks belts, he does intricate Swivel Knife work on the backs of his belts, you can burnish them, etc. It appeared you dyed the backs and that the dye was uneven, the back will accept dye much more irratically than the front. I personally never liked dyed backs, I like to leave them natural but burnish them till they are smooth unless I make both sides finished to do that I use 3-4 ounce (belt 2-3 oz for an instrument strap) leather and bond it together "back-to-back" with contact cement to provide a smoth surface for the front and back, or I line a normal 4-5 oz (belt 3-4 oz for instrument straps) piece with a 2-3 ounce liner just depending on the desired effect. Normally if I line a belt or strap (I make mostly instrument straps) I also sew the strap around the edges for a more finished look. Just depends. The only exception is Mandolin Straps and Cradle straps for Banjos, I normally keep those pretty thin (2-3 oz with a natural burnished back), the reason is that Mandolins are not very heavy and the attachment at the scroll has to be pretty thin and while the Banjo's are much heavier (some around 13 lbs or more), the strap is semi-permanently installed and has to wrap around the head an store in the case with the Banjo. If the banjo strap is not a cradle strap design (hangs from the J-hooks) then I use normal thickness leather. Back to your question about how to finish backs, like I said there are several ways to do it, folks much better at this than I maybe will jump in and post some tips and techniques for finishing belt/strap backs, I've seen quite a bit on edges but not much on backs. Ken

Got to agree with Ferg, these don't look to be $100 belts. Are they all tooled, the black one appears to be embossed as opposed to tooled. Another suggestion is that the back sides are not well finished in addition to the suggestions Ferg made. Ken

Welcome to the dark side. As to putting a price tag on your work. A couple of thoughts, 1) Track and Cover all of your costs, if you're really business savy you should be depreciating tools and equipment for eventual replacement as well as materials and findings. Don't forget shipping charges, utilities, etc, 2) track and covr your labor, this is more difficult as you, like most of us will be "self employed" in this endeavor, if you were paying an employee that cost plus fringe, overhead, G&A, etc would be easier to track, as it is figure what your time is worth to you and be realistic. It's important to remember that your finished product (art, craft, etc) is only worth what the market will bear regardless of how much it cost you to produce, so you will wind up making a purse for $80 and selling it for $60. Not a good business model. Another trap some folks get into early is selling cheap because you like the customer and you aren't sure your merchandise is worth the asking price. Enough soap box, once you determine the actual cost of producing the item (materials, findings, supplies, labor, etc) then the sales price should be a retail price which in most businessess is "double plus one", that's an old saying that means you double the cost and add a factor of 10%. An item that costs you $10 should sell roughly for $21. Hope that helps, Just my thoughts, there may be folks out here that disagree. One thought is that while quality will help sell the item it shouldn't affect the price unless it takes longer to produce due to the increased quality (carving, construction, etc), still the price should be based on the cost + profit. The exception is if you are as good as some out here you could sell your work as "art" then that's a whole different business model. Ken