hivemind

When you guys say "oil it first", you're using, what, neatsfoot?

Oh jeez, didn't even think of minimums with them. They're one of my customers at my day job, and whenever I need some strapping for something I just ask they give me some. Sorry about that.

First try at something like this:

Contact Sturges Straps - www.sturgesstraps.com - they do custom webbing of any material and any length, and made in the USA.

Another thing to remember is that, given the same item, you're better off selling one for $100 than you are selling three for $30 each. I used to do a lot of work for LARPers and faire-types, and I used to work cheap, and sometimes I had enough work that I was feeling stressed a bit (I have a full-time day job), and was tearing through materials, and had little to show for it. I had no time to make anything for myself, and it wasn't fun anymore. For a couple years, I pretty much stopped making anything for anyone, except for a couple close friends who came over and brought beer. Skip forward to a few years ago, and I decided I was willing to start doing some leatherwork for people again - but this time I about tripled my prices. A belt I would have charged someone $15 or $20 for before I now charge $50 or $60 for. A belt pouch I used to get $20 for now I get $50. And the orders are still rolling in regularly, but the volume is less and my profit is more.

Clearly a joke, but a funny read.

Stumbled on some at MacPherson Leather today too, while I was buying quarts of Fiebing's dye - my local guy is waiting for an order, and I need them now, so had to find a place online, and they're the most reasonable. http://www.macphersonleather.com/1297.htm

That exhaust fan in your dying area's a real nice touch.

I haven't used gum trag in years. Spit, baby. It's all about the saliva.

It's great for stress relief.

I've recently moved everything into my basement, after getting it cleaned out. I've got a workbench, a table/shelf unit for chemicals/paints, a table/shelf for leather, and a cutting table. What you can't see is the other side, which has a table with a minifridge, and another table with a drill press, belt sander and scroll saw, and a drum set. There's also an extra computer with a wallmounted 19" monitor and a small wireless mouse/keyboard combo, which doubles as the radio, and is really handy for being able to refer to things. On Friday, I added a halogen floodlight on a swingarm to light the tooling slab.

There's also vinegaroon. Also, are you talking about multiple bottles of Fiebing's black, or all the same bottle? I've gotten odd bottles before.

Hey bud, you might be in luck. Saw this in Tandy's January catalog that went online today: A little research shows that the NYC one is a place called Kaufman's Show Repair Supplies - http://www.kaufmanshoe.com/ and the other one is on Long Island, a place called Gimbel J Inc - http://rollershades.com/ - that apparently does something with window shades. What that has to do with leatherwork I have no idea, but they're both worth a call, I'd think, before trekking off the island.

Is it a solid piece of leather, or is it China-made predigested leather bits with glue, like leather particleboard? Does it say "genuine leather" on it, or does it say "top grain leather"? Can you see the flesh side?

I'll throw a third vote here for this. My stone is also an unused military headstone, in my case mine was rejected for a cosmetic blemish in the stone. My sister's an undertaker who's dating a guy who owns a memorial business, so she asked him nice and he cut it down to a 14"x14"x4" block for me. It's gotta weigh 60 pounds, and sits directly above the 4x4 leg of my workbench.

That's exactly what I was talking about man, glad it worked.

IT was on sale a couple months ago for $65 a side, and I'm still kicking myself for not buying four or five of them. But yeah, it goes on sale pretty regularly to under $100 - I know because I watch for it, since one of the games I make armor for requires 12oz minimum thickness to count as armor.

Will they sew three pieces of 12oz, or two sole bends, together?

I get there here: http://www.hardwareelf.com/index.html in the "Latches and Locks" section. Other places have them too, but Hardware Elf will let me order and pay online. It's too much trouble to have to call a place and give a CC over the phone or have them send me a paper catalog or whatever.

So, for the hobby leatherworker, the Boss is the way to go? I don't need to do heavy production, hell, if it got used once a week I think that'd be a lot. But there's times that I KNOW I should be sewing something, and I just hate sewing so much that I get lazy and rivet or lace the damned thing. There's also a few things, like scabbards for swords, that I just don't make because I hate all the stitching involved - but I'd like to make more of them. Is this what I should be looking for? A Tippmann Boss? Is there anything else comparable in price and function?

How'd yours come out?

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Just remember to add whatever belt loops that you want on it before you assemble it, and see also that you can make the flap closure any shape you want - the bullet-point shape on my pattern is really just a placeholder - I never make them that shape.

I make pouches very similar to this all the time, make the back and the flap one piece, and make the side one piece too. Here's what the pattern looks like: And here's a link to the raw photos if my writing is hard to read on any of those: http://hivemind.mvgc...celticpouch.zip You can sew, lace or rivet the sides together. I typically punch a hole every inch and lace it with latigo lace, simple in-and-out, like these: I make a lot of these, I like them, they're dead simple and fast to make. You can also easily make them from 4-5 oz garment leather with a snap.

I would think you could just back it with some 1mm Plasticard from a hobby shop.