Chief31794

Bryan, May not be the best solutions, but I'll give it a shot. I almost always use a strap end punch of some type. Tandy has quite a few, however, if they don't solve your problem and you want to cut them manually then I suggest two things one is a compass or protractor to put an arc to your specs, the other would be to get several pill bottles or the like of various diameters and use the one that fits your application the most to mark the end cut line. The tool I would recommend looks like this. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Tools/Punches/3151-462.aspx?feature=Product_4

Agree with Spinner, I have both but prefer the 2nd one, it is easier to use and control and does a great job. Ken

This picture should give you an idea of how the strap is assembled, you adjust it by starting the weave through different holes, I usually measure against an existing strap they are using and position the adjustable piece to match their current strap. Hope this helps. Ken

Never saw anything about acetone being used as a prep for dying/finishing. I use lemon juice, I take concentrated lemonjuice (grocery store) and mix it 1:1 with water, works great for me. Ken

Great work Luke, New camera does a great job too. Ken

Welcome aboard, great site here. Lots of good info and friendly people. Ken

Welcome aboard, great bunch of folks out here and lots of knowledge and talent. Ken

Not sure if it will help you but I line a lot of purses and the way I do it is after carving and dying, I install any hardware (purses have catches) that don't go through the leather, then I glue a liner to each piece before folding or assembly. I normally cut an over size piece of liner for each piece in the construction, then use contact cement. I lay the pigskin lining down with backside showing, then staple the corners after pulling very flat and even, I then coat the liner and back of the leather with contact cement, wait 30-45 minutes, then put the leather down on the liner, I then "roll" it to ensure a good pressure bond. After that the liner and the leather are like on piece of leather and you can fold, mold, etc without any wrinkles. I also burnish all of the edges. I think that may solve your problem, however, there are much better craftsmen and craftswomen out here than me and maybe they'll chime in with a better suggestion. Welcome to the forum, Ken Forgot that after bonding, I wait several hours then trim each piece very carefully with a very sharp knife. I normally have lacing holes so I punch them after the bond is very stable as well. I've never had a problem with wrinkles in any fold or along the piece. Ken

The store I use seems to get a new manager about every year or so. Not sure why, they all seem very competent, very good at customer service, and knowledgable on the products. I am not sure whether Tandy let the managers I've lost go or if they moved on. It could be that Tandy isn't offering attractive total compensation (Salary, benefits, etc). If they were closing the stores or reducing the staff I would understand, but the same store is still there and they just have a high turn-over. Ken

Rob, It has to do with the angle, I believe the tool is placed on an angle and then it is struck so that each additional strike connects the back of the "S" to the front of the previous "S". Slanted like if they were italisized. It's hard to explain and this is not an easy tool to use and keep straight enough to make an effective boarder. Hope this helps, "Tech Tips" by Al Stohlman devotes a page or so to it. Ken I will send you a pictoral demo of this. Ken

Vikefan, Sorry for the late reply was browsing this subject. It is a little pricy but if you do a lot of snaps, well worth the money. I have the device (From Tandy) below and I have a complete set of dies for Line 24, Line 20, Rivets, etc. All total probably have $200-$250 (the dies are about $50 a set). This makes absolute perfect snap/rivit/whatever sets every time. The snaps have a professional look in the at the pin is "rolled" over perfectly all the way around and looks like it was factory done. Ken

Thanks, I'll try to find some of the tape you mentioned. I've got very bright lights, just very old eyes. I don't think the lights would help. Ken

Eric, No way would I take it the wrong way, I appreciate the advise. I do not see as well as I used to and I've been toying with the idea of using a small plastic T-Square (12") and instead of marking the layout lines for tooling, then id the measurement from the edge and move the T-square down after each impression and align the tool to the T-Square. I would appreciate any ideas on how other folks do this to prevent the layout lines from showing. They are particularly bad on antique dying or highliting. As they are they are barely visible to me now when I'm tooling and I have trouble following them, I definitely can't make them any deeper so some sort of auxillary method without laying out a line is probably what i need to do. I may experiment with it unless someone can suggest a better way. Thanks, Ken

I got an order from a Bass player in Columbus Oh, and I keep a couple already cut and ready to be tooled and dyed, so I knocked it out this afternoon. He wanted it black because his Bass is black. I dyed it red first and then block dyed it black so that the tooling and letters show up a little better.

Our Guitar Player has a great looking Huss and Dalton Guitar and so I made this strap for him since I wanted to try out the pattern that wwwrmbbladescom put out here on the forum. I like the pattern.

Fiddlegirl89, One more thing, as far as making money selling straps at bluegrass festivals, there is literally "tens of dollars" to be made doing that. Same thing I say about playing Bluegrass Music. Best way to get a million dollars making custom instrument straps is to start with two million. Ken

Fiddlegirl89, Got so involved with ranting on about Bluegrass that I forgot to attach a picture of the dobro strap design. I'm working on a strap design that will have a quick disconnect at the head stock so the piece for the headstock can be installed under the strings and still be removable, I'm tossing around a couple of ideas. Here tis'

Fiddlegirl89, Have not been to Bear on the Square, but I'd heard about it. A friend of mine went last year and sent me pictures of a bass player with a toy stuffed possum on his bass. I send out jam letters and sign them off with a caricature of a possum picking the dobro. I may try to get up there. I was at Hillside Bluegrass Festival last weekend. We make quite a few and will make more when I retire in 2012. I know of Ron Stewart, I know he used to play with JD Crowe and the New South, but every body that is any body in BG has played with JD at one time or another. I heard he had moved on, I think he's playing in another group now. I travel a lot with my job and play in jams and shows all over the country but specifically in Columbus, OH and Baltimore, MD as well as quite a bit around here. I recently did a radio show in Douglas, GA but it's hard to commit to working shows when you're still tied to a regular job. My two big trips this year was to Merlefest in April and ResoGat in July. I just got an order yesterday for a Bass (lectric ifn ya can believe that) strap. When I get it done I'll take some photos and post em. I've attached a picture showing my dobro strap design, it's designed to slip over the headstock and rest between the top four tuners. As I said I have a Banjo strap design that is a cradle type strap the strap goes all around the body of the banjo and cradles the body and tone ring assembly. Most banjo pickers store the banjo in the case with the strap still attached anyway. Keep on Pickin' (or actually bowing in your case), it's hard to find fiddle players in this part of the country, we have only one good one that I know of and he's older than dirt and crankier than any one man has a right to be, but he sure can fiddle. His name is Vernon Roberts, I asked him once if he wanted to do a fiddle tune (we had just done 3-4 banjo/dobro oriented tunes (Dear old Dixie, Fireball Maile, etc) and he told me that "All tunes are fiddle tunes if you know how to fiddle." I included a picture of me at Merlefest and one of my Dobro, it's a Beard MA-6 and I have really enjoyed it since moving up to it about 5 years ago. I have a Martin D-28 (1974 that I have had since 1980 when I rescued it out of a pawn shop), a Deering Banjo and I also have two fiddles (one I won at Hillside last year). I tried to learn to play the fiddle a while back and my grandkids disowned me and the family dog ran off. After about two weeks I scratched out something that sounded sorta like faded love, but we can't be sure. I've packed the fiddles up and will be sticking with something I know something about. "If the woman's still alive at the end of the song, it ain't bluegrass!" Ken

Yep, I never liked the pointed edges on the leaves. I've always converted them to smooth leaves, maybe I should start looking at going back to doing the edges. You must look at a lot of floral carvings. Thanks, Ken

Welcome aboard, this is a great site. Ken

Kayla, Welcome aboard. I am a bluegrass musician, I play guitar (53 years, Banjo 40 Years, and Dobro 10 Years). A lot of the work I do in the leather shop is for musicians, typically Guitar Straps, Banjo Straps (Cradle type), and Dobro Straps. I have a professional musician in Nashville wearing one of my straps and I've sold them in Australia and the US. I also make western style leather belt buckles for musicians so they don't scratch their instruments while they are on stage. Just got back from a jam tonight. I think you'll like this site, lots of information. Ken

My wife wanted a cover for an old family bible she takes to church with her. She wanted a place to store a pen and a place to keep the money she intended to put in the offering plate. Nuff Said, I've been happily married for 3 years (married for 41 just happy for 3), old joke. Anyway, I've survived because I don't argue with her and I don't say no (ever, ever, ever). I laid out a carving design with some roses from Al Stohlman's pictoral book "How to Carve Leather", and used a craftaid with the "praying hands and Cross" to fill in the center of the roses.

Chuck, Thanks for the update. I have not researched the books you mentioned but they sound interesting. I have read quite a bit on gunfighters and gunfights in the old west. I was confused by the material I've seen in museums (mostly Texas around Fort Worth), while I saw some tooled holsters and thought that those would have been preserved and sought after more than plain, I saw a lot of holsters like the ones I've attached: I was also considering military rigs, you mentioned civilian holsters. During my readings it seemed to me that many of the post war veterans retained as was or modified there mililtary holsters for everyday use. While there aren't a lot of pictures showing people form the era wearing rigs, the one I have seen is Buffalo Bill in his performance outfit and that is a plain belt with no tooling. The other thing that came accross was that many people carried their handguns in their waistband or pockets as they couldn't afford or find a holster for sale. I did seem some end of the 19th century holsters that were claimed to have been "mail ordered" from Sears and Roebuck in the infancy days of their cataloging days. I sould have done more thourough reading and research and will. Thanks for letting me know. I've been to your website, you do beautiful work. Ken