Tom Katzke

Just to add what Clay has said. Peter is one of those odd people, you know like Einstein or Bell. He can come up with the damnedest things, just like Al Stohlman did. So do not let the idea of modifying tools stop you. Unless you know what you are looking for I would be shy of eBay for tools. Some people will bid them up to an unbelievable price just to win. I would remember the 'no prefix' rule and look for tools at yard sales or local auctions or even second hand stores or flea markets. It is a simple rule to remember even if you do not go to sales like that very much. You can always find a home for the tools if you do not like them, that is if you do not pay too much for them. What is too much, well I am cheep so don't ask me. Tom Katzke

I believe the tools you have are from Hide Crafter. Many tool makers out there, some are better then others. I still say the best $5 tool is sold by Hide Crafter. There better line tools (more $) are a good buy also. Now if money is no object then the custom makers as in Bruce's reply are tops. He did leave Bob Beard off his list. Bob makes lots of styles but has been better know for his figure carving tools in the past. Just do not get the mind set that you need better tools to tool better. It ain't so. Better tools will give better impressions but to be a better tooler you need nothing more then practice and the ability to be self taught or have someone show you how to do it. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Yes that is a chunk of $. I do not know much about machines so can not comment on if it is a deal or not. The reason for my question was 'sizable chunk' is a subjective term. Wanted to make sure you were getting the best advice. Do you get the Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal? I have heard there are some nice power machines at some unbelievable prices now days. If you are in an area with some dealers you could go and look. It all depends on what you are sewing the most. With you being retired it may be a good excuse for an over night road trip. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Hope Bruce answers this. I know he about wore one out using it. As far as I know he is happy with it. You say a sizable chunk of money. I hope you will not pay more then you can get one on sale from a dealer with the warranty. One advantage may be if it is old enough to be the cast iron frame. I recall the old ones were cast iron and the new ones are alloy or aluminum. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

My vote is to just post it in the correct section that deals with knife sheaths. That way people can find it. Writting an instructional article with pictures is not rocket science. People do it all the time. That is what magazines are made of. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

I was looking in my taxidermy book for something else and looked at antler mounting. The book says to screw the skull plate to plywood and cover the bone with plaster. Then you can mount felt or leather over it and tack to the plywood. Then mount the whole thing to a nice backer board of your choice. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

They want to be wholesale only. As far as I know you can order as long as you meet the minimum. Not sure what that is but I think it is 50 or 75 dollars. We are in the system from before the days they discouraged all sales. You may find they will require you to be a business but if they have what you can not get any place else then it would be worth the call to them. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

If you do not get a personal reply there is a leather guild in Ohio. Try http://leathercrafters.tripod.com/id1.html. Or the Guild President: Mark Strain at mstrain@columbus.rr.com Or the Guild VP: Allan M. Scheiderer at alsleather@urec.net They should be willing to help. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Carl, did you know some bears have crooked smiles just like we humans do. I think that is the way Robb Barr drew the pattern. Tom Katzke

Does it really mater why I will have more then one account? Tom Katzke

I am about to get multiple email accounts set up. I have not had any trouble with Outlook Express 6 (I know it is supposed to be terribly unstable). I have about 20,000 messages stored and like I said no problems. I have used multiple email accounts before and I recall it was not all that easy to keep track of them. What are your favorite email clients and why. I must say that I am still using Win 98 and have no need to change yet. In fact I may just change to a Mac some day (take that Gates). I also hate web based email so if you recommend it that is ok but I will not likely look. Thanks, Tom Katzke Central Oregon

The reason for the post was to correct misinformation on oil. Other posts have left the impression it is bad stuff. It is not. Bruce has the experience to speak with authority on the subject. That is why he spoke up to correct the misinformation. Good point about reading and trying out stuff to see how well it works. Some information has a solid background from generations of use. If oil was a bad product then the tanneries would not apply oils after tanning. I do not know if Neets Foot Oil is part of a universal formula. I do now that Cod Liver Oil was used in the past and may be used by some tanneries still today. Having people give solid advice on how to use a product from experience will only make it easier for those with out the experience. I learn from everyone on the lists. I just wish we could stick to saying what we do and use and not comment on other methods or products unless we have found out they just do not work. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Lots of ways to do this. Most are not correct. This may be one of them but it gets close. It does not properly address the pricing of items that could be wholesaled. To make items that you would be selling to stores and you would be selling retail you would have to double your true production cost to get a retail price. Here is a basic way to set a price, not perfect but close. Figure out how much leather you are using. For you math challenged it is length X width divided by 144 that will give you square feet. For a wristband it will be much less then a square foot. If you are doing some odd shape make a good guess. It will not hurt to be a bit over because unless you are creative in layout you will have more waste with odd shapes. Count up the hardware. If lacing or sewing it gets tough but you can work it out for a per inch charge. What you do is sew and lace a fixed length and you will then know how much material you are using and how much time. We have a figure we use that may be different then what you come up with. Sewing will be mostly time and the lacing will be time and material. It is good to figure out for estimating cost on a project. How much time you spend cutting out, tooling, and finishing depends on how well you work. You may be slow and over charge compared to others. It is important to know how much time you have in to see if you are ready to quit your day job, or just keep doing it for fun. If you are slow then you would compare your work to others and charge based on their work. If you are faster then you are lucky. You will be able to sell wholesale while still being able to sell retail and make a profit at both. Do not charge less then it is worth. Now that you have a list of time and materials you have a bit more work before you can put a price on. What is you time worth? Well if you are a brain surgeon don't get into leatherwork for the money. If you are an average person a good place to start is take what you get paid at work and double it. If you are working for minimum wage that will be to low. If you are a high dollar executive it may be too high. The idea is to save you a bunch of time calculating an hourly wage using standard methods. What you need to consider is if you were doing this as your sole souse of income you will need to pay your self so you can eat. Pay all the expenses of the business like taxes, phone power and such including the cost of tools and the time you are not producing anything but still working. Bob Brenner has a book out on how to calculate all this but doubling you salary is a good place to start. So now you have a list of materials and someplace know how much you are paying for them. Take all the materials including that little piece of leather and double your cost (do not forget shipping). Add the cost of your labor and see how you compare to the competition. If you are close then make it a nice round number not $15.43. It could be that you are making an item that will price much lower then it can sell for. Do not leave any money behind and put the higher fair price on it. This item will be one you can wholesale and still make money on. The subject of selling to others that will mark up your item and sell it is a bit different. If you are intending to sell some retail and some wholesale then you need to make some adjustments. The person selling your item will want to buy a $20 item for $10. You will have to either figure out how to make it faster or to adjust your retail price up so you can still make money selling wholesale. There are others that can comment on what is involved in wholesale pricing, like Bruce Johnson. How do you know what a fair price is? Well look at what other people are charging after you have calculated your price. If you can not find any comparable items then you have to guess. Asking people what they would pay is not always the best way. I think paying 43 thousand dollars for a pickup is an outrage, that is why GM and Ford do not ask me what to sell pickups for. When setting a price for an item you will know if it is correct by watching how people react to it. From many years of selling stuff at gunshows I have found this works the best. If they can not pay you fast enough it is priced to low. If they walk away and never come back it is priced to high or way to low. If they have to think about it or walk away and then come back the price is just perfect. One thing to remember is if you are traveling to different shows or doing some type of market, different locations will have different customers and people will buy different items and different amounts at different times of the month. I think it is harder to set prices based on sales if you are not selling in one location. If it does not sell you may be selling to the wrong people. My last comment on pricing is even if you are doing it for a hobby you owe it to the ones that are out there trying to make a living to charge a fair price. Most times that fair price looks high to the hobbyist. That is why most people are not out there making a living at it and doing it part time or for fun. If you just can not see charging what others are then give the stuff away. If you are making an item that should sell for 20 bucks and selling it for 10 then you are killing the people that need to sell it for 20 buck so they can eat. If you give it away you may think that is hurting the commercial guy. In a way it is but not as much as if you are selling for less. Selling for less shows people that the item is not worth what it should be. Giving an item away allows the market to work. The person may see a similar item for sale and say wow I did not know it was worth that much, that was real nice of (?) to give it to me. I hear all the time from hobbyists that they are not into it for the money. If they get a few bucks then they can keep paying for their materials. That thinking kills the market and if you ever do need to make money at leather for any reason or length of time you will not be able to sell at the price needed to pay bills. Just my thoughts on pricing, Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Maybe they are confused and think that they need special software or a head set or something? If you are interested all you need to do is click on "Live Chat" on the very top tool bar of the forum page. It will take you to the chat room. I have had it take a while to connect. If the chat session does not show up you may need to click on show rooms to see it. Give it a try and come visit. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

A very open question. We do 2 types of leather work. Traditional and art for display. For traditional I like oil and no finish or Leather Balm w/ Atom Wax. For art work I use UV Matt Krylon. Seals the work and the color, the UV part helps keep the leather from darkening and keeps the colors original. We use others but at this time that is my list of favorites. Tried to vote but it will only take one choice. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Yep, it can be done just like the book says. You can even sew rawhide when it is cased correctly. I use the Osborne awls and work them over. I have one of those cheep head mounted magnifiers that Hidecrafters sells and use it to get a good look at any blade I am sharpening. The blade should be smooth as glass with no marks, all this while still keeping the diamond shape. By the time I am done I guess I could afford one of the Douglas blades. I am sure that you can get them at Sheridan Leather Outfitters 1-888-803-3030. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Try Texas Wholesale Leather. They are in Durant Oklahoma 1-800-477-9923 or www.twleather.com they do not keep there web page updated but you get an idea of what they have. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Bruce, Did you get my email with Dean's contact info? Tom

Jim, Just wanted to follow up on last nights chat. The concert we went to was of religious music. The main performance was the Durufle Requiem. It was very good but went longer then I thought. The video on dyeing I recommended is 'Basic Dyeing & Finishing With George Hurst' Like I said it is very basic but gives a good grounding on the major techniques. I do not think anyone ever knows all there is to know about dyeing or finishing leather. It is a good idea to just experiment sometimes. Having the basic info will keep you from doing things that others already know will not work. Did I miss anything good after Clay came back and I left? Tom Katzke Central Oregon

What a hansom creature. At least it is outside. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Looks good. I have one comment that applies to any tooling style. I see that one of the unders does not line up correctly. It is very important to make sure that copying, tracing, and cutting are all on the original lines. If a person always goes outside a line then the item will get fatter. A real bad thing when doing things like animals as legs can get very fat. The other option is not good either. If you are careful how you trace on the leather then corrections can be made when cutting and the tracing line can be eliminated when tooling. If you have bad eyes and have to leave a deep mark then it is even more important to make sure that the tracing is correct. I have found that it is easier for me to cut from where a line goes under something and must meet on the other side. It is much easier to make sure lines meet this way as opposed to cutting to the meeting place. That darn knife does not always go where you want it to. Of course you must make sure you cut correctly for the type of line. You may not always want a deep cut meeting a second cut line. Hope this helps some, Tom Katzke Central Oregon

You all missed a good chat session last night. Lots of good info, a chance to pick up tricks, ask questions, and make friends. We are thinking of doing it again next week. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

My Wife Sheryl just started hitching. Not ready to make items for others but if you had a question about hitching she could help. We do know of people that could supply you with these items if that is what you are asking. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Clay, I though about that after posting it. You are a nice guy and help a bunch in other areas but I guess I should give the correct person credit on the holster. I am sure this time that it was Stephen Adkins that helped out by recommending the pattern pack as well as other tips. By the way you must have done something special because I can not reply to your post. I can reply to others and add a reply but all I get is a blank screen when I try to reply to yours. Tom Katzke Central Oregon

Well I am no web design expert but I do know what I like and you did ask. If you are using the site to sell your work you need to move things around a bit. If you are using it as a personal site then it is ok but could be better. For a commercial site first you need to spend the big bucks (under $10 a year) to get your own name and not sub onto some other named site. The ILG logo is in your prime location. You should put your logo or a picture of your work there. You could even put a picture of your work with a link under it to your gallery. Best would be to use a logo and then have a picture of your work in the body of the page. The picture can be changed often to keep peoples interest. For both types of site I am not excited about your gallery section. It is not that hard to make one with software provided by a web host or even do it your self with basic html skills. The page has some display errors in it as it shows in Firefox. The photo section box overlaps the main content box of the page. It is a good start. No big problems. Web pages are a personal thing. Like I said I know what I like to see in a page I visit and it depends on what the page is about. Tom Katzke Central Oregon