Handstitched

Well, this is something new I've just learnt . I wouldn't have thought of that . Your plough gauge reminds me that I need to invest in a good quality gauge. The old wooden strap cutters are fine for up to 4mm , but trying to cut 5 - 5.5mm , they do struggle and I have broken ( new) blades, and the adjustments can move mid-way through a cut if I don't tighten the screw enough ...and my arm is a little sore afterwards . HS

@fredk thank you for your advice, that does make good sense. I don't have a web site, but I do have photo page on Yahoo ( that I need to update) . I also have flyers, business cards and flyers for the horse rug repair side of things. I have a photo album of my work on the table for people to browse through . But I can safely brag that I also have lot of goodwill and repeat customers both at markets , fairs etc. as well as locally in my town, so I must be doing something right eh ? That goodwill doesn't come over night, thats taken me years . But I have found that ' word-of-mouth' has worked the best for me . I also have about ten years worth of ' first & second' prize certificates that I've got from my local country show. I'm thinking of putting them in protective sleeves and putting them on display . I agree . I often hear from so many customers that " I bought a cheap belt from a dept store only for it to fall apart....etc etc. " I wish I had a dollar every time I heard that. @YinTx Don't ever change . You do quality work and it shows . I have quite a variety of items that even kids can afford with their pocket money, like bookmarks , key rings, small coin / change purses , barrettes etc. Good way to use up odd scraps etc. You may already do that, but just a thought. HS

You know, I had this little personal saying , just for me, just for my own motivation I guess , " the only person I compete with is myself" sounds a bit silly I know, but I vowed never to try and compete with anyone. But these days, seems like I have to up the ante here . This thought went through my mind these past few days . I thought about putting a lot more of my ' fancier stuff' on display at my stall for people to see and make more ' fancy stuff ' than I normally would . I've already started that. I shouldn't have to and I have never done so in the past....but....times have changed . We'll see how long this " sub par" individual will last. All this will inspire me to do my best work yet and make stuff I have never made before , like ' fredk ' said " Work to get rid of that threat" . Thanks to all HS

Okay, this is the reason I posed this question . At a regular market I’ve attended for 13 years,where I’ve been the only leather worker all that time, I spotted someone making ' hand made belts' ,assembling belts on the spot, but he is quoted as a ' highly skilled craftsman' & ' craftsman' . At first I felt a little threatened, and a bit peeved as business is hard enough as it is, but more insulted than anything else . I don’t even call myself a ‘ craftsman ‘, I personally don't feel I have earned that title . I call myself a 'leather worker', but not a craftsman . What people call me is their choice, mostly ' the leather man' . ( however, I' m happy to accept 'over weight' or ' short & fat ' ) I felt much better that evening when my gut instinct kicked in and I took the time to check what he was making on his web page, (and some support from my good ol' Mum ) . Sure, he was making some ‘nice belts’ with nice buckles etc. , but when I zoomed in, I could see that they were unfinished , IMO anyway . Although the belts were cut out on a press, thats normal, but they were un-bevelled , no burnishing,I could see fibres sticking out all over the place, ( my Mum spotted that ) no edge dying, 2.8-3.0mm chrome tanned leather thats not dyed all the way through on some colours ( you can clearly see the blue/ grey along the edge) , and what belts did have patterns were done using a roller press, and twice the price of what I charge for a well crafted belt using 4mm & 5mm veg tan leathers utilising skills I learnt from Al Stohlman and other respected master craftsman and indeed this web site All he was doing was cutting them out and attaching a buckle…and that’s it. And that deserves the title of ' craftsman ' ? I appreciate that when you’re making large volumes of belts it may not always be possible to bevel , burnish etc. each & every one. But forgive me if I sound like I'm just having a whinge or blowing smoke, but I also feel like I'm protecting the integrity of the craft. You hit the nail on the head. Thats pretty much what my Mum said . Thank you all so much for your input HS

Well , this is interesting . Also, is a craftsman defined by the quality of the work? And/ or by staying true to the craft? Thank you all for your responses so far . HS

G'day, I've been in two minds whether to ask this or not . But here goes. We all have our areas of particular interest in leather and as and we progressed from humble beginnings, we later become experienced in some or all of those areas. Some are saddlers, or love making western gear, some love making belts or bags and so on, and some just love making ....well , anything & everything and indeed enjoy the journey . But at what point can you call yourself a craftsman ? The reason I ask it , is because I have taken issue with a particular individual. I'll explain later ( in quite lengthy detail) , but in the meantime, your points of view? HS

G'Day, I use a machine similar to the second pic in arashikage 's post, works great, especially when making various tool cases like leatherman type cases etc. in quantity . I also have a sanding block for finer areas on some projects. The block is flat on one side and curved on the other. The other sanding blocks I have are soft spongy sanding blocks in various grits . So a bit of both, machine and hand sanding . HS

Only if 'wheeldawg' was to make money out of it and/or start manufacturing them for profit . But the way I read it, its a leaving gift for a friend finishing school . HS

can't say I tried any of those. Never seen the meat in our local supermarket either. The dragon would come in handy to cook the unicorns & lions....geddit??....flame grilled .....gawd !!! @Rockoboy You nailed it. Roo meat is ideal for those ( meat eaters) on a low fat diet...like I will be soon if I don't watch my waist. The first time I tried Emu, I thought " WOW" the flavour hit me like a brick, but soon fell in love with it @nrk Slavery has been outlawed, but you can get discount flights to Oz I'm sure. Leather leather leather. Had to say that, getting just a lil' bit off topic here Dragon hides....hmmm Its been a long day..... HS

Tastes delicious , marinated & done on a BBQ goes well too. ' Kanga bangas' ( roo sausages) are really nice . I have also eaten emu ( pronounced ' eemyoo ' here ....not emooo) . Strong game flavour...yum We are the only country that eats its national emblem.....apparently ...as well making leather goods out of them HS

I carefully burn the ends all the time using a ciggy lighter ....and not near fresh dyes, sealers or adhesives........I like my eyebrows . With webbing , like on horse rug repairs, I use a blowy torchy thingy that I got from my local hardware for about 5.00 bucks to melt the frayed ends etc. HS

G'Day, I had that issue in my early days when I first started making wallets. I did make my own cardboard templates using old wallets for ideas, sizes etc. but over time they became a little ' frayed & dog eared' .So what I found helpful was that I found wallet templates on line and bought them to help speed up the marking out & cutting process with the added advantage that they don't wear out and are just the right size . I either machine stitch or hand stitch my wallets using kangaroo leather which is about 1mm in thickness. And indeed, you could make your own templates using perspex if you want to go that far.... I do have some perspex that I intended to make templates with ..........but I got lazy and bought them online instead HS

G'Day, not sure if this is of any help : https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/15389-vinegaroon-progress/ Hope it helps, even just a little bit HS

@TomWisc I'm not from the US ( Western Australia ) , however, I did buy some roo skins whilst on special , mostly black but a few brown. . I have made a quite a few wallets using these roo skins and they are really good go work with, either machine stitch or hand stitch . I make just simple or basic wallets with enough space for notes, and about 1/2 doz cards, some with a coin pouch & room for a pic, some with some without a snap, but not those with a gazillion pockets, about 2" thick that hold everything but the kitchen sink, more pockets & slots means more work . Anything bigger than a ' normal' size wallet, you'll be needing a small purse....or dare I say.... a man bag ?? I find that roo skins do the job. They're not too thin and not too thick either , just right at around 1mm , very durable and fold easily . ( P.S. Roo meat tastes delicious high in iron & protein and very low in fat . ) HS

I had a similar problem when I was contemplating buying a machine. It took me months to decide. But when I was closer to a decision, the machine I was looking at had very few reviews so I had to take a bit of a punt and I ended up with a 441 clone ( for business) and never looked back. I just wanted to speed up the process of sewing thick leather with the view to do thick belts etc. But I guess with some reviews there would be so many variables, like what it can sew,, what do you want to sew, for profit or hobby, how thick how fast, what threads it takes, reliability , availability of parts, accessories etc. If someone gives a bad review on Mr Google, it could be a competitor or the fault of the operator and not the machine , yikes !!! too much for my 'bwain' . Its best to just ask anyone on here, whatever machine you're thinking of buying, I'm sure someone on here will have one. I wish I found this site before buying my machine HS

Heres my crazy set up I did have quick count up this arvo , approx 300 stamping tools, plus Boss buttons , assorted 3D stamps , letters & numbers etc. The hardware storage is hardly ideal, but re-using butter boxes makes it cheap storage I also have a lot more h/ware in some old tobacco tins & take away containers etc. HS

@hwinbermuda "What? 45K58 and 196K205 ? or something more prosaic?" no, ' Stewart' & ' Brutus' . @fredk You can borrow my straight jacket HS

The plastic butter boxes don't last too long either. HS

Here in Australia, Tandy ' dropped' an entire store . All on-line now and shipped from the US . HS

G'Day, @fredk My tools are petty much stored the same way as farns005. I don't really know how many I have , at a guess around 100-150+ various stamping tools + boss buttons etc. I really should do a stock take eh ? I have a piece of 2 x 1 Jarrah ( Aussie hardwood) approx 16-18" in length with holes drilled into it. Its a bit' hickledy pickledy ' but I know where they all are...well ....almost. I also have a few old plastic (tandy) tool holders as well . I've always wanted my bench to be set up properly with all tools set all nice and neat into a custom made display with all hardware in custom storage instead of re-used butter punnets ... ...meanwhile, back on planet earth .... HS

I seemed to have started a discussion about different names for tools...oops! I call an adjustable spanner an ' AFS ' , " any f****g size" , waaaaaay off topic. No, but I have named 2 of my sewing machines . HS

My very first '''leather anything', was messing about with a scrap bit of leather, I even messed that up , but that looks great HS

I am right handed, so naturally I use my mallet in my right hand with any tools in my left. I also hold my mallet handle close to the mallet hitty bit, not at the other end. My mallet is a small rubber mallet, with a few bits of round leather glued to the round ' hitty bit' .It came from a kids tool kit from a discount shop so its just the right size & weight. I have another rubber mallet thats bigger & heavier for bigger tools , stamps, like 3D etc. I reject normality and make up my own HS

That looks like a nice challenge . Just ' ripe ' for restoration But I can't see any reverse, but I can see a chainsaw ha ha A good clean and large bottle of machine oil . You could get a new ' Singer ' decal if you're concerned about losing it. Love to see this one up and running soon...... and maybe the chain saw too eh? HS

G'Day, I have to concur with' trash treasure' . Its a Consew. The second pic is an easy give away. Here, have a look: http://www.consew.com/view/consew-model-206rb-5 You may even find some ' Consew' names on parts underneath . Parts are easy to get for Consew's , so I hope you're able to get it all up and running . Good luck HS