Leatherhips

Hi, In case useful, take a look at this supplier of powerlifting belts - https://titansupport.com/product-category/powerlifting-belts/titan-longhorn-belt/ Many moons ago I used to compete & a lot of powerlifters preferred the suede or flesh lining, not so much for the sweat aspect, but more so it didn't slip around on top of clothes. Andy

Great piece of work. I especially like the relaxed styling, not to mention a great choice for the lining

I redid a hard guitar carrier a little while ago and I used both materials mentioned, a felt layer for general cushioning with a pigskin lining. For the neck and head I used some tempur covered with pigskin for that bit extra padding.

Just finished this piece and it goes to its new home tomorrow, rather sad to see it go as it was fun to make - but then I can always make another one :-) Construction is Horween waxed Essex 1.8-2.0mm - lovely stuff to work with Tiger thread 0.6mm throughout Nickel hardware from the Buckle Guy Zip from a local motor cycle jacket maker - I hate it when zips break, so this one shouldn't, at least not for a long while Client wanted a wide opening, so the edging is leather wrapped round some rubber turbo tubing and cored with a bendable brass rod Handle core is Nulene polycord and its lined with a waterproof rip stop material I know the picture isn't the most glamorous but for some reason it makes me think of both JaJa Binks and a floppy eared rabbit. Either way the bag feels like its shrugging its shoulders. Hope you like it & naturally any thoughts or ideas for the next one greatly appreciated.

Thank you for this - I feel a road trip coming on.

Love the way it's coming along, I look forward to seeing it develop

That's a beautiful piece of work, thank you for sharing.

Lovely work & really like the edge colour contrast.

Dependent on the effect you are aiming at you might want to look at the Beetroot Tiger thread.

Wow, I've been considering an XCarve or similar maker based CNC and I think you've just given me a fantastic reason - Thank you

@DJole Hi again, I'll answer part of your question with one of my wife's sayings around her crafting, partly in jest but often in practice "I am not a great crafter, I'm just very good at covering up my mistakes" From my perspective, and I'm probably not alone in this, I'm heavily critical of my own work; but once I've considered the problems I find it a great learning process as well. So my list of challenges on the bag are; - The tuck clasp patches are out in terms of alignment by just under an 1/8", measured twice, punched once then realised afterwards the top edge wasn't true - Edging along the ends isn't completely clean on the burnishing. My original gluing didn't take on some sections so I had to force some more in with a syringe but even after sanding as much as I dares it still showed through. - The stitching isn't consistent enough all over, most of it has gone really well, but those odd runs really bug the hell out of me. - The section that goes into the closure at the top needed wet shaping before I fixed it so the closure meets completely cleanly, I was too keen to get it put together. It will bend naturally over time so hopefully not the end of the world. After having a chat with a few of my engineering friends I've started time on making a construction sequence list until things become habit. However, issues apart it great fun making it and I finally have my own Gladstone for work trips. Now to work out the plans for the next project...............

Thank you for the kind comments, they are greatly appreciated. As requested a few more photos. In terms of construction The closure is from 3DanSupplies on etsy - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/3DANsupplies, this one is made from the 14" frame. One of my summer projects is going to be trying to make them out of brass angle iron, if I can work out a method of making the clip closures. The leather is veg-tan (quoted as 7-9oz when I bought it) treated with neatsfoot then dyed with Feibing saddle tan pro dye and finished with resolene & good old boot polish. The thread is 0.8mm Tiger thread and the lining is a lose fit bag made of pig skin, suede side showing. I've used chicago screws for all the rivets fixed with the thread lock, mainly because I really like the finish they give, but also because I haven't found solid brass rivets yet. I'm looking forward to attempting the 16" and 18" versions assuming I can bring myself to sell them.

Hi, I'm pretty new to leatherworking and have loads to learn, but I'm loving the journey & learning something new every time I come to this site. Whilst I know there are issues with it I thought I'd share my first major project as I'm rather happy with it as a prototype model and I'm already gathering the stuff for the next one.