Chief31794

I make a lot of instrument straps, Guitar, Banjo, Dobro, Mandolin, etc. I cut my straps from sides, and it works well for me. With the right draw gauge it is pretty simple to cut straps once you cut a straight edge on the side. My straps are made from 3-4 ounce leather, so I normally buy belt blanks becuase I don't make nearly as many belts as I do straps and the belts are normally thicker. Ken

SPECTABULOUS!!!! Man that is beautiful work. Ken

Like others I like antiquing most of the time. As for whether it should always be one way or the other, my ole' daddy used to say, "If everybody liked the same thing, there would only be one flavor of ice cream!". I think this is a beautiful project, really like the stitching and the tooling. Ken

Welcome aboard, lots of good info and knowledgeable folks out here that are very nice about providing tips and techniques, there is a nice section called "How do I do that" where you can post requests for assistance on how to accomplsh a certain task. Ken

TIppmann Boss here as well. Ditto what Pat H said, sew anything but light leather. Takes a while to learn to sew by holding the work in one hand and operating the machine with the other but it's not hard. I bought the two different guides, the roller guide and the flat bed, I think they were worth the money. I use the flatbed for wallets, guitar straps, etc it's a little easier to keep the stitches really straight along an edge of things like belts, straps etc. I actually like the flatbed better than the roller guide although it works well in some applications and has the added advantage of being able to swing it out of the way when necessary. Ken Forgot to say, that for light leather I use a standard sewing machine with a leather needle and that works on 2-3oz leather really well. MIne isn't one of the cast iron models but I don't do a lot of light leather and even then I'm not a production shop. I find the combination of the two to work for me. Ken

Thanks to both of you. Ken

I have just purchased a Boss and I have converted a Singer (for lighter leathers), my question is that when stitching gun holsters or sheaths where both sides of the product are basically finished leather (grain side) should you groove both surfaces or just the outside surface and let the lower stitches remain on the surface? I would think that to do both you would have to ensure that the edge was cleaned up and even before running the stitching groove to ensure that the lower sticth would lay in the groove. Is there a trick to this or should I just let the lower stitch lay on the back surface? Thanks. Ken

Welcome aboard, hope you enjoy the site, lots of good folks out here. Ken

Hi, Welcome aboard, this is a great site with lots of folks that have a lot of experience and a glad to share thier knowledge. Ken

I really like the stitching on the belt, very nice and even and the groove is perfect depth and also appears very even. Ken

Nice Seat, love the round braid, very tight and neat. Ken

Nutty Sadler, I use the same method for items that are less than ~6", I thought he was talking about things like book covers, holsters, etc. I cut a lot of instrument straps and belts and I would never use a straight edge and razor knife for that. Ken

I use the straight edge as well, another trick is to cut thick leather in 2 or 3 passes instead of trying to cut it all at once. I make maximum use of t-squares and straight edges when cutting straight true lines that are perpendicular. Ken

I tool standing and move around quite a bit, but as I've "matured" it seems that I can carve less and less before fatigue sets in. I normally try to carve for only 1-2 hours at a time. My hands hurt from holding the stamps after that. Ken

Kip is leather made from calf skin or young cows, very soft. I normally use pigskin for interiors and most of the pigskin has a texture that looks good in wallets. Pigskin is what you normally get in a "Kit" wallet. It is in the 2-3 oz range, I like 3-4 oz for the exterior however at those thicknesses, carving and stamping has to be a little shallower and therefore not quite as "bold" For a large (biker) wallet I might use 5-6 oz, it is a little harder to bend and "break in" but should make a nice wallet. Ken

Nice looking cat case. Great carving, did you design the art work or find it somewhere? Ken

Welcome aboard, nice folks here and lots of good info. Ken

I like the stitching, you must be a superman to stab through that much leather or did you drill holes to start the awl? Ken

Great looking holsters, I like the stitiching, did you hand stitch or machine stitch and if machine, which machine did you use. i just bought a Boss and am working on trying to make it sew neatly. Ken

Thanks, She likes it, but she likes her old one better. It is completely worn out but she keeps dragging it around. Thanks for the nice comments. I love doing leather work, but I ain't no Al Stohlman. I'm more of a Guitar, Banjo, Dobro, Bass strap and belt maker. This purse took me a little over a week in my spare time and the braiding took forever, I think I calculated there is about 20 - 25 yards of lace in the thing. Ken

My wife has worn out the original purse I made her years ago, she has to have a LARGE one. This one measures ~16" accross the widest point with a 12" wide opening at the top, the gussetts are 5" wide. I used 6/7 oz leather and pig skin liner. There are places where my wing dividers torqued off line, I need a new pair, it is personal for home so I left it and didn't replace the leather and start over. Had it of been for someone else I would have, this is mostly utilitarian as opposed to "Purty". This was the first time I used Round Braid on a purse but the seams were so wide I didn't thnk double loop would cover very well. Still have to improve my floral carving, particularly on the swivel knife cuts. Ken

Welcome aboard, this is a great site and lots of good info and ideas. I also haven't seen hardly any "arguments" out here like you run into on other sites. Ken

Welcome aboard. Very nice first project. Lots of tips and information out here so grab your mouse and get going. Ken

Arbalet12, What do you use for the lining? I make a lot of straps and I have just purchased a Tippmann Boss, I would like to line some straps and I love the way the material you're using looks. Ken