bentley

Let me also know if anything gets started. Mark

Very nice, do you want to share how you make it glow?

Welcome to Arizona, I will be sure to stop by and say hello. Mark

Very nice work, I like your designs. Mark

I have not had a failure with the D-ring yet and have sold/given away many to Boxer owners which have been pretty good sized pets. Been using a small piece of rawhide inside the leather loop to give it some added strength, seems to be working. I also have a D-ring down by the buckle and use copper ritets and glue at the buckle. Some owners do not want that center D-ring because they say their dogs are pullers and they don't want the buckle in the dogs throat. That is what is nice about custom work, they get everything they ever wanted but could never find at a big box store, have not received any complaints from owners yet, knock on wood. Thank you for the compliments. Mark

Thank you for the input Kevin, I may have come off a little cocky to your first post, my apoligies and I respect your opinions. Mark

Thank you for the comments and compliments. Tree Reaper does know what he is talking about and I think I will make some adjustments, perhaps a much longer spacing in the stitch that is perpindicular so it still has that finish look with less damage to the strength. These collars are mostly for show off, have not sold this design to anybody using this collar for hunting, tracking or pulling dogs such as Pit Bulls, not even sure leather would be the right material for such things, see more seat belt material for those. Each time you make something you learn something new it seems when working on individual projects vs. mass production stuff. That is what makes this Forum work so well and fun. Mark

I understand your position, just making what the customer ask for, get very few request for spikes actually and I think they use them more show when walking their dog, not an all day collar. Thanks for the comments and compliments. Mark

3" wide strap lined with pig skin and white buckstitch. From left to right, just started, finished tooling, completed. Actually there was a fourth strap for his friend that was already delivered.

If you have some place to mount a peg board that can be very helpful, also can find a lot of organizer type bins at a sewing/crafts store usually.

I have a very large collection of Tandy tools that were purchased over many years, some fairly new. Never had one bend or break on me. May want to try and get more moisture in your leather before stamping so it will take the impression without having to hit it so hard. This seems to be the most difficult part of carving and tooling for noobies. Try to find some scrap leather to practice getting it cased properly to take the impression with less effort, careful not to get it so wet it acts like a sponge and the impression disappears when it dries out. Good luck and have fun.

Nice point and I would agree on a horse harness and even a tree strap but I know that your shoulder will be dislocated before that dog collar breaks if your dog pulls that hard.

You are welcome. I think it was Tan, I used Eco-Flo Gel Antique with two coats of Resolene sealer mixed 50/50 with water. The antique will be much darker in the impressions if you put it on heavy and then wipe off excess on smooth areas. Good luck, experiment on some scraps. Mark