azrider

I use olive oil on a lot of my leatherwork. I use it after tooling, prior to putting the final finish on the leather. I don't use it as a final coat, just to help when the leather is really dry. I will put a couple of light coats on, letting them sit for 8-12 hours between coats. I have a wallet that I finished this way that I have been carrying for two years, and a portfolio that I have been carrying for almost three. No issues with the oil going rancid. The olive oil will allow the leather to darken, and gives a really nice patina as it changes color.

I second the drill press. You can wrap electric tape around the bit to mark a consistant depth. Find the thickest diameter tool stamping tool you have, and drill the holes for that sized tool. I have a rack with a ton of small holes, but most of my new tools won't fit in it, so I have them in another rack on the side. If you don't have stain for the wood, eco-flow all in one gives a nice satin finish.

Interesting topic. I have watched with skeptisism as the green movement gained traction. Most of the adoption I have seen and can't argue with involves more efficency. The company I work for has some huge buildings, with floresent tube lighting every few feet. Last year they removed one the three bulbs in each fixture, in the name of being green. In my mind, that's a cost cutting measure, plain and simple. I guess if there is a market for it, people will make it. Check this site out: http://www.ecohides.com/ $14.95 a square foot, or about $700 per hide. Thats not my market, but obviously one exists.

I'd almost be afraid to hit things with something so nice. Almost...

I have done a few of these. My suggestion would be to cut the note book into three pieces, and glue the leather to the pieces, and together between the pieces, along with glueing it together along the edges. This will make it easier to close the note book, otherwise it may be very stiff, and take quite a while to break in.

Never had an 800 number for myself, but from the other perspective, i can tell you it doesn't even slow me down if a company doesn't have an 800 number. I am part of a growing group of people who don't even have a home phone line. I moved to Kansas three years ago, and still have an Arizona phone number. Because so many people use cell phones now as thier primary phone line, it hasn't impacted me or mu bussiness at all. If most of your customers use cell phones, I don't think it would be a huge inconvience if you don't have an 800 number anymore. Just my 2 cents.

If you have a point an shoot type digital camera, see if it has a macro setting. This allows it to focus while close up. Mine has a flower icon to turn the macro on.

They are Hidecrafters tools. I actually got them at a hobby lobby of all places.

Welcome to the site. Where are you at in Kansas? Leatherworking is a fun addition that keeps me busy.

Just thought I would chime in again. I ordered one of these hides, mainly because the price was right and I was curious. I have no idea if it will help me with my sales, but the market might be there. The hide is large, and is actually really nice. I will try to market it as slaughter free leather, but even that doesn't work, this is a nicer piece of leather than some I have ordered in the past, and I can use it. I have to agree that the people who this will be evenutally marketed to are not the ones who would buy it, but it can't hurt to try.

Yeah, I almost didn't post these because of that. Next time I am going to use the slicker when I try to use up the belly leather. It ended up pulling all out of shape as I groved it, marked it and stiched it. Those are going to be priced cheap. Thanks Luke and Chris. The designs with the various tools are actually kind of fun to do. Its like doodling with a mallet....

I am trying to get some inventory built up, and this is the group I finished today. Biker wallet is horsehide outer, everything else is cow hide. As always, comments and suggestions welcome. More pictures.

Thank you for the suggestions. I took the chain and hardware out of a Tandy kit on my last wallet, but made a horsehide belt clip to match the wallet. The chain mail ones look awesome, but I don't know if I would get the price of them out of the wallet. It might be worth making two wallets, and getting a chain like that to see. My wife sent me this link- http://www.firemountaingems.com/shopping.asp?skw=KWCHAINBULKALUM and I ordered a few pieces of the a black and a gun metal to see how they look. If that's not what I am looking for, Hot Topic may be an option too.

I have made a couple of biker wallets now, and the only nice looking chain I have been able to find at the hardware store has been in dog collars. Thats a little more than I wanted to spend. Google search on chrome chain brought back a ton of stuff, none of which being what I wanted. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of where to get a nice looking chrome chain, and appropriately sized s hooks to attach it to the wallet.

Here are pictures of two I recently did. Hope that helps.

I have done two coat of arms projects, and one clan crest. I did all of them with traditional carving. Look at the image to see which pieces would be in the forground, and tool those first, then keep going to the pieces which would be behind them. I ended up using three different sizes of bevels, and a triangular shaped figure carving bevel as well. If I was tooling that one, and not doing all the colors, I would tool it as normal, and do the checks with light swivel knife cuts. So for carving, I would trace the entire design, and then tool in this order: Crown/ armor piece. Rope/ feathers (if a small piece, I would do the outside lines of the feather, and add the interior texture with a modeling spoon.) Decorative scroll stuff to the sides Name banner/ Name shield cross on shield Checks on cross I would make sure I paid attention to the depth of cuts and beveling on each level to give the right sense of depth. Hope that helps. One other thing to check- I am Scottish. I have a right to use my Clan Crest, but the Coat of Arms belongs to the recognized lord of the clan, and I can't use it. Not sure if that applies to all Coat of Arms, but it's worth looking into.

When I get home tonight, I will post some photos.

So I have actually managed to sell a few things this year, and shipped them out. I was worried about what every I used as packing materials sticking to the leather. Most of my stuff is finished with Bee Natural wax based finish, so there shouldn't be an issue with it heating up during the winter, but what about summer time? Has anyone had finishes messed up by what ever they were packed in sticking to them? How do you package your stuff to ship?

On my wallets, I make the interiors out of 2-3oz veg tan. the exterior of the wallet is 4-5 oz. Exterior measures 9.25x3 inches, and the interior measures 9x2.75. I do two card pockets each side, and sew the back of the bottom one. Then I sew across the top of the interior piece. I then cut a 1 inch notch out of the bottom of the inside, and fold the interior. When I glue the exterior, I wet the inside of it, and fold it to shape. I line up the edges, and sew all the way around the exterior piece, but it doesn't attach in the middle. This makes for a wallet that the interior spreads out when you fold it open, and it stays folded even when empty. Let me know if you would like to see some pictures.

I don't usually post on the big topics like this one. But a few things came to mind. 1) I don't like hippies/ vegans/ granolas. 2) I live near a town with a lot of "environmentally conscious" people who will spend money on anything you sell to them with an eco-label. 3) This is a new product. At the price it is now being offered, I am willing to try this out, and market it as eco-friendly. 4) The idea behind this was to allow leatherworkers to make that pair of boots, and sell it for $500 instead of $100, with a minimal increase in material cost. I appreciate the product being developed, and hate to see Steve Siegle catching any flack for it.

Tandy has a 294 series of backgrounders that gives that effect.

Thanks for the feedback! I actually did this one just to see how it would come out. It came out so well I am going to do one for myself. Great pattern, and a nice wallet. The horse hide is probably about 6oz, and the insides are about 2oz. All veg tan. It should hold up really well.

I found Kate's pattern for this, and wanted to try it. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=20414&st=0&p=131942&hl="biker%20wallet%20pattern"&fromsearch=1entry131942 Here's my attempt. Outside is horsehide, inside is 2-3oz cowhide. Montana basketweave pattern. There was quite a bit of handstiching involved in this wallet, and it came out pretty thick empty. As always feedback is welcome.

Wow. This looks awesome, and between the seat and grips, it will be a great looking bike.

Those look really nice. Can you show a picture of how they are laced? Did you glue them? I did something similar on my bike, and they are really nice to ride with.