chuck123wapati

I'm sorry i have to put my money on the man not the machine. Quality comes from the human element more than anything. You can buy a clicker press and make a perfect product in shape, but it still wont enable you as a person to learn or acquire the experience and skills to cut out that same product by hand better. It also wont necessarily make the product better quality but it will look perfect in shape, be cheaper to make, and be faster to do. On a global scale he is probably just as much of a normal leather worker as your vision of one. lol. Its a big world lol

yup and they ( shoes available in Canada) are made with the best most modern tools and materials. So that is why i asked the question lol using the best tools doesn't necessarily make that quality happen.

I agree you would get better results with better tools. If those new better tools were taken away could you skive better? lol. My example that man can lay out a near perfect stitching line, if you gave him a 100 dollar set of chisels and somehow convince him that the time wasted using them would net better results and let him use them for a year or two could he go back and still create that stitching line without them? Would his stitching lines improve? Or replace that worn out old knife with an expensive head knife would it make his cuts better? Some things i think are obvious that they help others not so obvious.

that stitching tool is pretty cool looks like he is basically doing a sewing machine stitch by hand, the needle just doesn't hold the loop like a machine does. I guess after a few thousand stitches you would get pretty good at eyeballing the spacing. Sometimes with better tools our work improves but do we really improve?

that is a nice piece alright. good looking tooling.

would be a great video to post when someone asks what tools they need to do leather work LOL. Yes after i put my glasses on i can see its not printed too. amazing work. chakwali chappal is the name of the sandal from what i gather from the comments they are pakistani

soak them in water to soften them up then flesh them out, de hair them, then tan them. and see if it works. There's tons of info on tanning. I would try a small piece before you commit to a full hide its a lot of work and its going to stink. Good luck!!!!

the carbon monoxide is bad for you, it can kill you. My garage is not airtight I live in a desert in fact there is less humidity in the winter months, even still i try to get plenty of fresh air while i'm working.

those last three are elk hides. you can soak them and soften them up and see how they look. I don't know if you can tan them if the fat has soaked into the hide, i heard you cant, you will have to research that but i can tell you that here the local elks club collects hides for tanning and they usually stay in a pile for a month or more before taken away. BUT I'll warn you you need to call your game a fish department before moving them. Some states have laws against that sort of thing. If you get caught with a hide and you don't have proof , a license, of where you got it you could be in trouble.

These heaters are the bomb!! I have the same problem winter shuts me down i use this heater its radiant so it keeps you pretty warm heck my shop even gets into the 40s by the end of the day lol. Nice work i make a lot of my tools also, working on a set of wood carving tools right now. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/master-low-profile-18k-btu-portable-cabinet-hea-mh-18-pnch-a

Nice work all around, love a flat grind! give your snap a slight pinch with some pliers it'll tighten up.

block printing they carve patterns in wooden blocks then use that to dye the product. Google it is is also how they do fabrics of all kinds. i am amazed all the time how these folks produce such beautiful stuff with the barest of tools. and the centuries old techniques. Love the way he uses his knife as a lever to cut that.

i'm sure they would there isn't anywhere else to put it lol. Cant wait to see your work.

Most of the best make alot of money on books and or videos and tool lines. Stohlman and Nigel come to mind. Probably more than they do/did off of actual leather work. Its a proven successful business model. I also think most of us have learned from a book or two written by them or a video. Nothing wrong IMO of writing a book or making a video for those folks who don't have the knowledge. Nothing wrong with freely giving the knowledge either. I have this saying Knowledge does you no good to keep to yourself simply because anyone can learn it somewhere else. I would hope you do give classes and wish you all the luck in the world.

oui oui Merci Beaucoup I love French cooking especially the potatoes lol.

if you get that many at once you will have to salt and dry them or they will go bad before you can scrape them all. so critters wont bother them then plus after you soak them in lye or whatever to take the hair most critters wont want to eat them. Now if you let them go to stinkin you will have a critter problem. I would check local small meat processors. Hershey has a big feed lot doesn't it? saw a show once where they were feeding the cattle old chocolate bars.

the best things in life are free!! Thats some good work there nice looking and well thought out.

think of it as a funny shaped hammer I made one the other day i used heavy brass on both ends of the head to mainly to get enough weight to it which is the bigger consideration IMO. Also if you are going to make it cone shaped its important to get the angle right you want the face of the maul to come down flat on your stamp as you use it while being somewhat comfortable for long stamping sessions. Mine came out at a little over a pound could have used a bit more weight as some of the larger stamps I really have to whack.

i would leave out the zipper or chalk it up to natural wear. its going to mark anything after you set on it a couple months. its a nice wallet I don't see the problem a liner would look better but add thickness also maybe just dyed and finished on the inside flap..

How long would it take to make a saddle with just three leather tools and would it be perfect? .My comment was directed more toward the vagueness of the two terms we throw around and our human need to collect tools lol. But way off topic! Sorry friend.

great looking wallet and good luck on your new business.

A hammer, hand saw and pocket knife can make alot of wood projects. same as wood working you can buy cheap or you can buy expensive. You can do by hand or buy a dozen machines. The loose term woodworking or leather working covers a big area. Tool junkies just don't hide in wood shops lol. But historically I think we got the urge from the trades, back in the day most wood workers , blacksmiths, leather workers, etc made the majority of their tools during their apprenticeship, So naturally they became very proud of their tools.

i am one of them!!!

About the only birds here are finches that layed over in our green house, they are pesky little critters, they steal the rabbit food lol. It will be another month maybe two at least until our robins and song birds come back.

amazing knife work!!