McJeep

Nice! Both of those have some great stuff - may have to go to brass/bronze to get exactly the shape of buckle I need apparently. Thanks for the links - will do some sufin this aft - gotta run out to pick up my press'n snap tool right now as it's arrived

I've been using these from Tandy, and like them okay I guess http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/department/Buckles/1514-089.aspx But I'm really not impressed with them over the long term. I live on the ocean and the salt water tends to beat things up pretty good - would really like to use all stainless hardware if someone knows a good supplier? Thanks in advance Rob

love the detail

Love this place! Been looking for a re-sizable pattern for a while now - have a buddy with some freshly tanned hides from hunting season that he wants turned into vests for he and his wife The sewing machine beckons ;0) Thanks for the link!!

Very nice! I really need to get on to doing seats - they're such a great platform for carving

Wow, awesome piece Wish I was somewhere close to that amount of talent. Question - what are those fasteners for the inside corners of the ipad? Been thinkin of doing these but couldn't find anything suitable IE flat enough for that detail. Again - very well done!

Nice!

Most will be black but I'll likely do some in gurly colours Might do some with reflective material added as a safety feature for bikers as well. Will definitely have to do them in batches to cut the time factor down or I'll only make about $3 / hour! LOL Just the one wide strap - putting it over the head so it's across the back is more stable for use when motorcycling etc - it has an adjustable webbing strap at the other end to accommodate over one shoulder or across the back wear. Cheers R

Wow yer fast! Just replied to a post on the board and noticed my flag was changed already! Thanks for all you do Johanna!!! Rob

Hey Kevin, I also got sick and tired of the lack of "calibration" in the Tandy stamps - poorly designed IMHO - so I came up with two things that work for me when doing dog collars with names on them. Vertical alignment - I built an adjustable fence - 3/4 plywood board and a slotted piece of bar stock that bolts down to it - I use washers to change the height of the fence depending on the weight of leather it has to clear - if it's not an item that can be slid against the fence I just "lightly" scribe a line with a stylus to follow with the top or bottom of the letter block - they seem not bad for calibration in the vertical Horizontal alignment - this is where the bugger of these things comes in, NONE of em usually have the same excess on the sides of the actual letter script (leaving the last letter in place seldom resulted in even spacing) - I use a clear plastic ruler - when I stamp a letter I take the stamp off - then I align the ruler to desired spacing on the very edge of the last letter stamped (the blank bit on the end of the ruler is usually 1/4" ;0) - I then take the next letter and slide it over to touch the end of the ruler (the actual letter script, not the side of the block) - remove the ruler while holding the stamp in place - whack that mother!!! Works for me and my lettering is now spaced properly every time - give it a shot bud. I also added a piece of masking tape to the ruler so I could write a warning that anyone touching said ruler would have a drastically shortened lifespan - yeah, I'm married and have kids ;0) Hope this works! Rob

Hmmmmm, I just noticed this same thing on my "about me" section as well - it says from Victoria BC as it should but flag is US and country Afghanistan When I try to adjust the about me in my profile, all I get is a screen that is identical to what I would see if I'm posting or replying to a message??? So could you change me to Canada please Johanna??? LOL

So I reverse engineered my favourite pack sack after the original fell apart ;0) Am pretty sure that people smarter than me go get training to learn this type of thing. There are a LOT of details in a bag that I never ever thought of before trying to build one! Lots of head scratching went on during different phases of construction - fairly pleased with it for a prototype and think I'll start producing them after I tweak the templates a bit and add some other features I think would be handy. It's basically a medium sized pack intended for quick jaunts on the bike (when one doesn't want to mess with bungee chords etc) or should be handy for just about anything. Made of oil tanned leather - unlined - side zipper access and smaller zippered pouch on face of the bag. The strap is angled (and length adjustable) so that it's comfortable over one shoulder or across the back for when one is riding. Thanks fer lookin All advice appreciated as always

Nope, I was referring to the tooling itself - the edges of the lettering etc seem to have a nice round (as opposed to a sharp swivel blade carved edge) almost rolled edge to them

Not sure if it's the picture or your technique but your graphics seem to have smooth rounded edges to them - do you carve the design and then stamp etc, or is your work all done with stamps? Either way, it's a great look - just curious about your technique I really have to do some playing around and teach myself to form leather - haven't tried it yet at all - looking forward to it

Thanks - will try both tomorrow morning

wow - a lot of adjustment - I was reeeeally hoping I could just adjust on one stitch LOL Thanks much! Time to go play I guess - practicing eats up a lot of hide - running out of scraps ;0) edit: on a second read, not so much adjustment - I get it - never thought of counting back so many and adjusting with a simple tug during the feeding of the piece Claro ;0)

44 views and no replies Is it too basic a question to be bothered with? Have I not worded it to make it a clear question? Maybe this'll help - Say I put a stitching groove down the edge and around the point of a belt - I then stitch all down the edge alllmost to the point but I know the next stitch will fall outside the groove - how to I shorten up the stitch when coming to the point so I can make the turn and keep "colouring inside the lines" so to speak ;0) Brand new to the machine thing folks - hepp a nooby out ;0)

holy crap - the detail! :)

Hopefully I put this in the appropriate area I'm pretty much starting out in the leather biz, having done some motorcycle gear and miscellaneous items thus far. It turns out that there is nobody locally repairing harnesses etc for the local equestrian crowd and touristy carriage companies down town. I've been approached about doing some repairs on straps and harnesses etc. My questions are: How much of this type of repair work can I expect to be able to do with general knowledge of leatherwork - ie: should I be able to fix most stuff with general tools (I do have a machine as well) so long as I have the broken rigging to duplicate? How much should one charge for this type of work - is it more pita factor than it's worth? I know I don't have the knowledge to get into saddle repair or the like at all, but harness work seems pretty straight forward - or do I know so little about it that I'm oversimplifying things? As always - all advice is appreciated Rob - letting the business decide where it wants to go based on demand

Newbie alert! So when sewing on a machine, how do I get the stitching to match up to my grooving when I come to the end of a straight run and need to make the corner or something like that - ie: at the end of a collar and i want to cross the collar or belt to go back on the other edge? Is it as simple as raising the foot and manually positioning so the needle will come down where I want it to? Or will that leave a loose stitch or some other dastardly mess? Thanks in advance folks! Rob

found a wee trick for cutting the taper on the lace (I use the 1/8 lace a lot and it's hard to hold it to cut the taper) So I started using a utility knife blade by itself, lining it up to the angle I want, and tap with the mallet - nice clean points for screwing into the permalock every time Now if I could learn how to join two pieces rather than having to braid the ends into themselves when starting a new piece of lace, I'd be happy ;0)

my $$$'s on a darkish tan antique - the black areas will pop big time

Dunno, but don't stop posting up! ;0)