LatigoAmigo

I'm feelin' ya. Most of us are not following a "business model," and do this more for fun than for money. There are people on this site who seem to be profitable, but they have extraordinary passion and drive. I'm retired and just "making art," and pricing in the art world is a whole different animal, that is why I said "whatever the market will bear." When I factor in my overheads, materials, time and depreciation, I am making minus dollars per hour, but boy, am I having fun and leaving a leather legacy.

Exactly. What ever the market will bear.

I completely understand. Mine is a homemade laser (not by me), and I always wonder if it is performing at its best. Thanks for the clarification.

Any problem I've ever had with setting rivets was the result of setting it by hand, and not being able to align the rivet/leather correctly, or applying too little or too much pressure, resulting in poorly set rivets (and snaps) and a lot of frustration. You might consider getting a bench mounted press like the one available here: http://www.campbell-randall.com/product/italian-twist-press-no-2. This machine has allowed me to set rivets perfectly, and at a very reasonable price. It can also be used to set snaps and grommets. Dies are sold separately and can be purchased from other suppliers (like Ohio Travel Bag).

I'm floored. I use a 100-watt CO2 laser, on 5-6 oz. leather (which is 2 mm), and must make multiple passes at 75% and 20 mm per second. So my cutting (I don't cut veg tan) takes me much more time. Do you have any tips for me that might help speed up my production? Slow, or not, I am very happy with the results of this machine.

I engrave leather that comes already (vat) dyed.

I experiment with various leather conditioners, typically a beeswax/neatsfoot oil blends, with things like pine pitch, etc. What I've found is that some leathers allow for penetration, while with other leathers the conditioners stay on the surface. You mentioned plant vs. animal fats, and I was reminded of a friend in elementary school who didn't have any neatsfoot oil for his baseball glove, so he ended up using olive oil instead. The olive oil penetrated the leather, but did not reside close enough to the surface to offer much protection, then over time the oil turned rancid, his glove began to smell and look terribly dark and discolored. Not sure if I would be willing to try vegetable oils (or fats).

Thanks Plinker, I appreciate that.

Thanks for the kind words. You know what they say, "Even a blind dog can find a bone every once in a while."

Very nice. Do you get much personalization business?

Glad to hear. Do you show your work?

I have owned my 100-watt CO2 laser for several years now, and am still figuring it out. However, I have had a bit of a breakthrough with this latest bag, which is laser cut and engraved.

I don't think I've mastered my laser cutter/engraver, but with the help of some graphic design training and Adobe Illustrator, I am making progress.

I buy all of the various lengths, then experiment to see which one works best. Some leathers are thicker, and some leathers are softer, so you won't know until you set the snap. On occasion, I have had to use my trusty Dremel grinder to take off some of the length to get the posts to seat properly. The best investment I've ever made is a bench mounted snap (and rivet) setter.

How much are you willing to spend?

You might check this link: https://www.buckleguy.com/brass-snap-fasteners/. The Buckle Guy offers short, regular and long posts. When you click through each item, you will see the post length displayed. Hope this helps.

See if this helps. It is page 404 of the 2018 Ohio Travel Bag catalog. Ohio Travel Bag 2018 404.pdf

Hope you don't mind, I've extracted the images from the Word files so all can all see your fine work...

Looks like this tape holder is "patent pending," which means that the metal hardware part of the tape holder may not be available on the open market.

It depends where you live, you want to find one nearby. To be honest, though, there are not too many of them around.

The trouble with that is the hosting site links don't always hold up to the test of time, and we lose those images. Best to post the actual image itself.

This is available for less than $20 (including shipping) from Amazon. It is a Best-Test Plastic Cement Dispenser. I have been very happy with it.

You have linked Microsoft Word documents of your work, and not everyone has a program that will open those files, and that could have an impact on responses. You might want figure out how to post the images instead.

I see that you are in Greece, so this might not be a helpful response, but The Hide House, located in Napa, California (and ships leather all over the world), carries a black leather they call Belt Grade California Latigo. It is a wonderfully firm black leather that comes in various weights. I have used their 4-5 ounce, and found it to be light-weight, firm and very durable. I know this might be a reach for you, but wanted to make sure that you knew about the resource. I have been very happy with this product. I have included a copy of their catalog, and a photo of some totes I made using their 4-5 ounce. You can see that it stands right up without any lining or support from other products. Hide House Catalog 2018.pdf

This site has size limits for images. Here I've reduced them (hope that's OK).