Chief31794

Nice job, agree with Dave about coverage. Leather lace always looks nicer to me than the vinyl stuff. However, to each his own. Lacing or stitching is extremely important in Leather Working, many people take the lacing or stitching for granted as a necessity for assembly. It should never be thought of as such, lacing or stitching is what I call "PART of the ART", it should compliment the piece and work in the overall appeal. Your lacing is pretty even and looks nice, you can see the edges due to a lack of coverage but Dave's tip would help with that, also getting the double lace "on top" of the stitch as you go would cover better, lace has a tendancy to want to work to one side or the other. As I said, great job. My first lace job looked like it was tied together with rope. Ken

Very Nice, great expression and imagination in the themes for the pieces. Ken

Ann, Thanks for the nice comments. I'm not that neat, I had just cleaned the shop getting ready to start a new project. Actually I do keep everything in it's place most of the time, I can't stand for a tool not to be where it's supposed to be. Ken

While I think there are certainly some carved or stamped holsters and belts from that era, I can't believe they would have been the norm. They were probably reserved for rich gentlemen ranchers and only a few of those. I think that most holsters were plain, well made, utilitarian necessities and I think holsters without ornate carving are extremely beautiful when constructed and finisthed properly. I could be wrong about the carved equipment from the era, shoot that's happened before. Ken

This is the same kit (maybe a differnt picture on the box) that I started with in the early 70's. I recognize the projects and the tools, I would definitely use the tools, they are better quality that what you would replace them with today from the same company (Tandy). Tandy still sells that same book that was in the kit. Since you didn't recognize the swivel knife I recommend you visit the Tandy Leather Factory web site and go to the bottom of the list on the left to "Leather Working Videos", there are several basic videos there including one on how to use and care for a swivel knife as well as another on basic carving which will show how to use the tools. You might want to think about buying a ceramic blade for the swivel knife (they don't require sharpening, just stropping). There is better info avaialble on leather working but the videos by George Hurst on the Tandy website are free and informative for beginners. Welcome to the world of Leather, Ken

Thanks All, very nice remarks. I have a long way to go in the carving arena, I have been double lace stitching for decades and pretty much have it down I think. I have done quite a bit of carving, but not this floral style too much and most of my previous work had been stamping. I am a musician and I make a lot of custom guitar, banjo, and dobro straps. I've started hand carving them lately and will post some pictures of my next strap. Some of my straps are all over the world including one "Pro" in Nashville wearing a custom strap I made for his slide guitar. As to your comments: LNLeather - I looked at your gallery. If you really like the purse, make you one, you're very talented and nothing is more satisfying than wearing something you've made yourself. ACOS4T4 - Thanks for the comments, as to the air conditioner, I live in Southwest Georgia (about 45 miles from the Florida line in a small town called Tifton. A air conditioner is a necessity. We only have two seasons; Dog Hot Summer and Christmas Day. JOQUARTER - I started on a kitchen table in Germany many, many, many (oh shoot, I'm old) years ago. Left the craft for about 10 years and have started back in the past 10 years. The place where you work doesn't determine the level of fun nor the quality of the craft, so enjoy your kitchen table for now. I had many years of pure bliss pounding on a kitchen table. Thanks, Ken

I am posting some pictures of my shop area and my two latest projects. I have one more of these to make which I'm starting tomorrow. Love this site. Ken

Hi, Not exactly a newbie to leatherworking but I am new to the site. I'm going to post some pictures of some of my work on the "show off your work" forum. Really enjoying the site. Ken

Pricing is something near and dear to my heart. I agree with nearly all of the comments, however, will add the following: I use the double + 1 method of pricing which is an industry standard for retail sales that implies you double your cost and add one. For example if your total cost is $10.00 then you are dealing in Dollars so the Retail Price should be $21.00. If the Total Cost were $60.00 then your price would be $126.00 (Actually $20.99 and $125.99 respectively, that's another sales technique) Make sure you calculate your costs accurately, determine your per hour labor charge, then the cost of all the materials (Leather, D-rings, Lining, etc), and then the cost of stock supplies (Dye, Finishes, Edge Coats, rivets, snaps, lacing, thread, etc). Your labor should actually be on a "Flat Rate" basis to be easy. For example, "Belts - Plain .75 hour, Stamped Design 1.5 hour, Stamped Design with Name 1.6 hours, Hand Carved 3 hours, etc, these are what I use, just examples) it shouldn't cost your customer because you got lazy and took 6 hours to stamp the belt as opposed to the 1.5 hours it would have taken if you'd been working diligently. Takes a little work but once you determine your costs for each project it is easy to set the sales price, another policy I have is never discount sales, discounted sales are for volume markets where quality might not be very important, if you make a quality product you cheapen the value of the product if you discount the sale. I'd prefer not to make a sale than to have people think their buying "Cheap, discounted goods", hand carving particularly is unique one of a kind art, even if you always carve eagles or horses, no two are ever exactly the same so they should pay for the Art. Just my opinion, didn't mean to get on a soap box. Ken