Firewalker

Hello there all. I am wanting to make a lift belt for a potential client and this will be my first one. Has anyone made them before and if so, what weight leather would you recommend? This will be long enough to fit a 60" waist so buying off the rack is not an option. I am thinking two layers of 12 oz would be thick enough. I am planning a 3" buckle / belt with it widening to 6" across the back. Any advice is always appreciated. Thanks in advance! Scott

Well that's awesome!

I wanted to follow up on this and tell you how it went. I ended up making the strap main body standard length and extended the tail piece by 4 inches. I gave the strap to the guy and he absolutely loved it. Unfortunately it is still shorter than what he needs and I will make another tail piece that is 10 inches longer. We watched him perform and he really plays low even on an acoustic. I will try to attach some images of how it turned out. Thanks for the input!

Excellent ideas. We full time in a 5th wheel trailer and rent our homes out so the RV systems are a daily routine for us since 2008. We are going to spray foam for insulation and the AC will be a 15k rooftop towards the nose of the trailer. The only natural light that will come in will be through the fantastic fan opening which won't be much. I think the balanced bulbs will have to solve that issue for me. I tend to work in the same place for 3-6 months if not close to a year so it won't go down the road very often. Since we stay in campgrounds I planned on rigging with a 50 amp service panel with 6-8 drops for 120. I am considering using 12 volt for the basic lighting and to operate the overhead fan. When I can't plug in, running two of the quiet Honda generators in parallel will be the choice to keep me productive. Some places I move to have enough vacancy that paying for an additional spot isn't a bad idea but it is not always the case. They are good suggestions and I thank you for the reply. I will post up some progress pictures of the build if anyone would like to watch it unfold. Have a great one! Scott

Haha Mutt, It is a problem I am happy to have. I did think about the laser bouncing while traveling and how to minimize the shock to it. I opted for torsion axels vs leaf springs which hopefully will help a bit. I am planning on building some sort of top for the laser table that would serve as a "crate" that is easy to attach. The table will be attached to the wall and the crate will sandwich the machine pretty tightly. Hopefully this will work but I am not sure. I had given some thought to making a "anti shock" table if that even exists but it would be nice if the table would absorb the shock of moving around. Maybe the 1988 portable CD player technology will come to the rescue? Hahaha

Hello there, Thanks for the reply. I agree with the ventilation suggestions and plan on connecting the Laser and Glue station to be vented via flex hose. Each will have a blower for this reason and I am thinking something like a nicer version of a dryer vent will be how it will connect. For general ventilation I am having an additional roof vent installed so I can use a "fantastic fan" to keep the air fresh and to avoid having to use the AC when it is mild outside. I will have to look into the lights like you mention because I agree on how florescent and LED can lead you astray. I initially asked for the E track to be installed half way up the wall which will be 4'. I think this is going to be too high to be practical with the cabinets height being 36-38 finished. I like the idea of having some of the benches modular so I can move x,y,x or move xy back to back and use the eye bolts and straps to attach them to make one big table in the middle of the room. These replies are exactly what I am needing. Thank you! Scott

Hello there brothers and sisters. I hope you are doing well. After working in a 15 square foot space for a year I think I am going to be at this a while and I am having a 8.5' x 24' Cargo trailer built that will be my workshop. I am looking for ideas regarding recommended benches, tables, and storage ideas you might have. I have built a 40 x 40 wood shop and I was able to lay that out where I could create efficiently but I am a bit lost on setting up a proper leather shop. I travel for work so when stationary it will be 100% leather shop. When I am going to a new location the trailer will be used to haul a corvette in addition to my shop. As a result I will need to be able to move the cabinets to the front of the trailer. I am planning on some residential base cabinets on a base with casters which will lock into the E track. I am having a laser cutter made and it will be delivered in a few weeks so there will be a dedicated rolling cabinet for that. I will build a dedicated glue table with ventilation to the outside after seeing a friends version of one. Stole the idea fair and square. Any must have design elements you would suggest other than good lighting? I am wanting to have dedicated areas for staining, airbrush, a large cutting table with self healing mats and another area for the drill press and belt sander. I am sure of the many people here there are some good "I wish I would have done this" stories to be shared. I would sure enjoy hearing your input. Thanks in advance for the interest. Scott

Those bags are super cool and I am sure they have a story to tell. I don't know anything about them except to pay a compliment. Good luck to you and welcome. Cheers

Thank you very much. It makes a lot of sense.

That is extremely helpful information. I spoke to the guy's Dad today who is also a professional musician and they are the same height. He told me they can get by with regular length straps off the shelf. He doesn't play with the guitar low slung by his hip though his son does when playing electric. I have decided to make it 3" wide, no padding. I have the ability to make the main body pretty long and a shorter tail piece. I will extend the tail piece by about 6 inches just in case. Have you ever made one or considered making one that had two key holes in the tail piece? The idea I have is to make it adjustable between two guitars without feeding that whole length back and forth through the main body slits. It would seem that getting that set initially and leaving it would be nice but also having the option to drop it a hole or two if need be. It may be a silly idea but I thought it might work. The downside is if you were in the top hole of three you would have 4-6" hanging past the button. Thoughts? Thanks in advance. Scott

I read that the day you posted it and didn't reply like I thought I did. Very good insight on the suede liner. I think I am going to do a veg tan outer and a thinner piece inside. I think it will mean so much the guy will use it even if it doesn't feel perfect. I think I am going to add 6" to the adjustment strap and call it a day. If it's too long I will just make another and mail it to him. Would you suggest strap locks or just go with the keyhole slot? Thanks for the interest! Scott

Rohn nice job on that! You got some really nice depth on the basket and I think the easy on and off design is a winner!! Cheers! Scott

Sounds like good advice. He does have pretty long arms and plays both quite a bit lower than I would consider normal. I like the idea of giving some extra length that could be cut off. When I give it to him it will be on a cruise ship but I could just take a burnisher and a small vial of dye and fix it then and there if I needed to cut it off. Thanks for the idea.

Would a 3" strap be too dang wide to be comfortable? I just wonder about it digging into your neck. He plays Texas country and Southern Rock. Even when playing acoustic he is playing aggressively. He usually has to put on 3 strings a night if that means anything. I have a very nice side of an Italian tanned leather that I need to see how well it tools. I think it is around 3-4 ounce so that might work. Any recommendations on padding inside the strap? I definitely won't put a big piece of sheep skin on it because I don't care for how it looks. I wish I had the luxury of getting a measurement on the strap he uses. He is too far away and he would be onto me. His dad is a pro musician as well. Maybe he would know? Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it..

Very nicely done!!! Thanks for sharing!

If I showed you my "shop" you would sprain your pancreas laughing. Muahahahahaha!

Hello all, I am going to make a guitar strap (which I haven't done before..... surprise surprise) for a friend of ours and I could use some direction from the seasoned guitar strap makers if possible. Based on my research I am seeing the length of most straps to go out to 59" (36-59 I believe) I am sure any off the rack strap would work for me because I am not very tall and I don't play with the guitar very low. Let me preface with the fact that I am pretty sure I am much better at collecting guitars than I am at playing them. You would never think "hmmmmmm, he reminds me of Jimmy Page if you watched me play. Back to the question the subject. Our friend is 6'4" tall and I would estimate weighs around 275-300. He is a gigging musician and his career is taking off. He doesn't have a strap with his name on it or any personalized strap at all. He does play with the guitar quite low as many of the younger musicians do these days. With all of this long winded explanation would you extend the strap length to 66" or is there enough travel in a 59" to accommodate what I am describing. I plan on doing quite a lot of carving and painting on this strap and it is important that it is going to work out. I haven't decided if I will do the adjustment in the strap that loops into itself or one that adjusts with a block and Chicago screws. (Block is perhaps the wrong word, it's just what it looks like to me) 2nd Dilemma: I have seen many straps that have some sort of suede or pigskin or even the flesh side of veg tan backing to give some friction to the strap to keep it from slipping around. Is this a hard and fast rule? I would like to personalize the inside of the strap with some more personal items that aren't really public info. A hidden message of sorts and I wonder if it is reasonable to use the same leather as a backer as you use for the front. The reason is I am wanting to tool and paint it inside and out. 3rd: Padding the strap: As I mentioned this young man is a working musician and he will likely wear this for several hours a night. Is padding a must if this is the case? He plays electric guitar but mainly acoustic. I am not sure if the weight of the guitar or the duration of wear would be more of a determining factor. Is the padding looked at as "some old man stuff" I don't need any padding. I know this turned out to be a novel so I apologize for that. It's an important piece to me and I anticipate it will mean a lot to him so I want it as perfect as possible. Unfortunately I can't ask him a lot of questions or I will give it away. Thanks in advance for any assistance you might offer. All the best! Scott

That's a good idea too. As I mentioned, This was a first for me so I am not sure if it's learning as I go or "winging it". Laying it out on paper was a trick because I am not used to doing it and it turned out I needed to cut off 1.5" of the toe. It's funny how we always look at our work and say "I could have done this part better" Live and learn. The owner was absolutely tickled when he saw it so that was rewarding. All the best! Scott

Thank you very much! Thank you! Hi there Gary, Thank you very much. Honestly I have only made a handful of holsters and this is the first one of this type. This one is open toe but I needed just a little more squeeze to keep the "smokewagon" (Ha, love that term) from settling down too deep in the holster. It has adjustable rear sights and I didn't want the pressure of the holster to effect how they are set because of the spring. I will take another pic of the toe to show you what I mean. Ryan I do think I am going to re do that strap. 1. Because I can. 2. Even though it is functional as is... I think it will just look better. 3. It gives me an excuse to play with leather. Thanks to all for the interest. I hope you are doing well. Scott