TonyRV2

Bob, I must respectfully disagree with your numbers. Median household income in the United States as of 2015 was just shy of $56.5K according to the U.S. census bureau. Based upon a 2080 hour work year (40 hours per week), that would be closer to $27/hour. Also as of 2015, a family of four is considered to be living on poverty if the household income is less than about 24k per year. This translates to about 11.50/hr. I'm not sure that the whole job would take 7 hours of time, but base on that number we're between $80 and $190. All in all, this is an interesting way to figure out what ones time might be worth, on average, but may not be totally relevant to the task at hand. For instance, what's the replacement cost of the bag? No ones going to pay $150 to repair a $100 dollar bag for instance. Are we hand stitching or machine stitching. If the repair can be done on a machine, it can be done quicker and I might be willing to except less, etc.,etc. I guess it all boils down to what the craftsman is willing to accept based upon ability, experience and expectation. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.html

I think 45 bucks is about right for this. I have to disagree with a few others that say if you had the machinery to spit these things out you could go cheaper. Doesn't work that way. No one cares if your cutting out dies with a clicker, or machine sewing vs hand sewing. What counts is the quality of the item, regardless of the path to the final product. What this means is that to a great extent, the market sets the price. I can't charge 100 bucks just because I do everything by hand, thats nonsense. The exception would be if your an artisan with a reputation and a mass following. If people are lining up for your goods, then you've established your own market niche and can charge what that market will bare....most of us can only hope to reach that goal.

I hadn't thought about this in years, but as kids we use to set the cement of fire when patching bicycle inner tubes. Don't know if it helped or not, or if it was just because we liked lighting the stuff on fire.

Quick search for "white patent leather fabric" on google gave a lot of hits....even on Amazon.

Ought to be able to hold the entire cow in that contraption.

Alls well that ends well.

Do a google search for 'line art dragon', and go to the images tab. Hundreds if not thousands of choices.

I agree with Thornton. It boils down to 'if it seems too good to be true, it probably is', and 'Caveat Emptor...Buyer Beware'. If you're selling leather goods, there's no cheap way to get leather. Heck, you can't even raise a cow yourself and get leather cheaper than what you can buy it for when buying sides...economics of scale. Skip the scrap bins. Save up, buy a side, and move on.

Good customer service equals repeat business, is how.

Here we go..... https://sdgmag.com/features/printing-leather

If I'm not mistaken, the process is referred to as dye sublimation and can be applied to other materials besides leather. Like many processes I understand there is quite a learning curve to it.

Krooked K Krafts....you could just refer to it in your logo as KK.......ehhhhh......nevermind.

You are correct Matt....how 1/4" popped in my head, I'll never know.

True that! About 35 years ago my (at the time) little daughter asked me where babies came from. I told her "China, mostly".

Here are some sole bends from 'the leather guy' that are advertised as 11 to 14oz, so your memory probably is right Capt'. Perhaps something like that would suit the OP's needs. Looks like the OP will need to find a source in China however. https://www.theleatherguy.org/leather-sole-bend-10-2-irons-vegetable-tanned-12-1-sq-ft-cow-hide-bend-rigid

10mm of leather thickness is about 1/4" which means that you'd be looking for 16oz leather since each oz is 1/64". (sorry...I have to think in english units) As far as I know, leather this thick is not available without gluing two layers together. Would gluing the layers be a problem for the project you're considering?

I like the long tube idea...similar to a camera lens case.

Since no one asked...here's my take on this. You have a guy that wants to start a leathercraft site...fine, the more the merrier I say. However, this person is obviously no expert on leather crafting and so comes begging here for experts to cross over and give his site some legitimacy. This is no way to start a website. If the op had any credibility what so ever, he/she would already be an expert with leather and would have posted articles to their website which supported this, otherwise what possible motivation would there be to do this. I can think of only one...profit from advertisers and supporters. I know the op stated that this was not the case, but if so, then why not just support what already has been done here? This person has outright stated that he would like to steal a few experts away from this sight, pay them a stipend, and give them their own personal forum. I think this is what members here find most objectionable. This tactic would be objectionable no matter the business one was in. My advise to the op would be to develop your own expertise in leather, post what you've learned, and if its good, people will come. But don't come here trying to steal folks away just because you don't possess the knowledge to pull it off yourself...very bad form.

Seriously??

This sounds udderly reasonable and eliminates all the bull.

Here's the link to the google book. The explanation basically starts on page 182, section 26. https://books.google.com/books?id=QV8IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=which+is+a+stronger+material+the+grain+side+or+the+flesh+side+of+leather?&source=bl&ots=H_oOqbEpfM&sig=oOIV8XoJqE_IGMlnreVk_-wOKlI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYjffGlYjRAhUpqlQKHR91BdUQ6AEIRzAI#v=onepage&q=which is a stronger material the grain side or the flesh side of leather%3F&f=false I consider myself a student of one of the renown sheath makers of our time, Paul Long, having purchased and studied all of his DVD's time and time again. Now according to Paul, when gluing two pieces of leather together PROPERLY, flesh side to flesh side, the bond will be so strong that any attempt to tear it apart will result in the leather fibers ripping before the glue bond gives way. This would lend credence to the idea that laminating two pieces of leather together would likely increase the tensile strength. I say likely only because I haven't seen or heard of tests of this sort actually being performed. Paul's idea of 'properly', to which I have personally subscribed, is to put two coats of Barge on each surface when doing flesh to flesh. The first coat is allowed to tack up and soaks into the fibers, the second coat then lays atop the first. So I believe that the glue bond does not diminish the overall strength of the leather although this does not really speak to the quality of finishing the edges of the leather in order to prevent affects of weathering on the material. To summarize, the tensile strength (the degree by which the leather could be stretched before breaking is likely increased as it would be no different than using two straps connecting two point as opposed to one. The shear strength, that is ripping one layer from the other, would remain unchanged as compared to a single strap subjected to shear forces. Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it, at least until someone else changes my mind.

Here's the link to the google book. The explanation basically starts on page 182, section 26. https://books.google.com/books?id=QV8IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=which+is+a+stronger+material+the+grain+side+or+the+flesh+side+of+leather?&source=bl&ots=H_oOqbEpfM&sig=oOIV8XoJqE_IGMlnreVk_-wOKlI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYjffGlYjRAhUpqlQKHR91BdUQ6AEIRzAI#v=onepage&q=which is a stronger material the grain side or the flesh side of leather%3F&f=false

Thats exaclty it TT. The tensile forces are much, much greater on the belt in a pulley system. The only reason the grain side is put toward the pulley is not because of strength, but because of the higher density of the cell structure (that which makes the grain side flat). The flatness of the grain side which is what gives it better properties to engage the pulley. Frictional forces are much higher with grain to pulley rather than flesh to pulley, so there is less slippage. Also, when the grain is toward the outside it tends to crack. This is also something that tends to be better with the grain facing the pulley....what compression forces there are tend to keep the grain more compact. I'll see if I can find that link again and post it.

Are drop bear hunted similar to the way snipes are hunted?

I came upon an old reference online that was written in the 1880's that involved the use of leather belts being used to drive pulleys. The article talked about both the tensile strength (stretching forces) and compression forces working on a belt as it drove a pulley system. The compression forces, the article claimed are negligible and do not harm the leather. These forces existed on the inside of the belt as the belt turned directly against the pulley. As the belt travels in between the pulleys it undergoes tensile forces, and this is where the article place most of the emphasis. The author referred to a test in which the leather was split and then subjected to testing. The grain side ripped at a force of 468lbs while the flesh side was able to reach around 770lbs. So it would seem when it comes to tensile strength at least, that the flesh is much stronger than the grain. I found it noteworthy that the grain side should always be against the pulley since it provided a much better frictional contact against the pulley surface, significantly better than most other materials. I wonder if this is where the misconception that the grain is stronger than the flesh got started?