chuck123wapati

Simple questions are vague questions. So answers are usually vague in reply." ....what leatherwork will bring in the highest rate of return? I Live in Northern California....." Are you just going to sell in Northern California? Are you going to sell on line? are you going to advertise in magazines? Are you going to buy in bulk, do you have the capitol to start a large business? work out of your garage and buy from Tandy?All these things affect your rate of return. How can someone answer you without more info? ."....does handmade leatherwork sell for more or does it just take too much time?" If you mean more time than mass produced then yes it takes more time to make, to much is a matter of how fast you are at making it, and usually sells for more than mass produced items unless it is crap workmanship then it doesn't sell at all. How long does it take you to build something compared to another leatherworker? People buy handmade for a reason and that reason is almost always quality and how fast you are at providing that quality also affects your rate of return. How can someone answer that without knowing the quality of your work? ".....what outlets do you use to sell your leather goods?" I use word of mouth, local advertising and consignment. BUT I'm not trying to make a living at this. Those are as straightforward as I can get, My best advise to you if you are planning to make a viable living at this is to enroll in a college level business course and then with that knowledge you will be able to answer all your questions no matter what you decide to sell, you can then create a business plan that has a much better chance of success and understand better the nuances of the business world. Good luck to you!!!!

The knives and the sheaths are awesome!

I think you could use about any high carbon steel for the punches as long as you can harden and temper them at the proper temperatures. The trick is knowing exactly what type of steel you have so you can then harden and temper at the correct rates. The reason I say this is because there are dozens of high carbon steels types, each with different properties, if you use say old drill bits or hand files or something like that you have no idea what the steel is so you depend on luck to get the proper hardness or temper, all your work could be for nil. As for high speed steel it is used for drill bits and high temperature applications and I don't think a punch will ever need that temperature protection, also it may be more expensive unless you can find a good deal and again know its hardening and tempering properties. The biggest tip or trick I can give you is know what steel you have so you can harden and temper it at the right temperatures with the right quenching agents to get the hardness you want in the end product.

I would use a high carbon steel that you can harden and temper, I use a lot of 1095 for knives, tools and such. I've made punches from various sizes of black pipe but they don't hold up for any length of time and are pretty much a waste of time. Rivet and eyelet sets you could probably get away with low carbon steel as they don't need to hold an edge.

You can make leather washers for knife/tool handles, leather conchos like on saddles, earrings, key fobs, hair pins, coasters, xmas tree ornaments,practice on them. If you have a logo or leather stamp make some key fobs with your logo on it to give away.

its called hr 5717 here in the us and the dems are trying to attach it to one of the stimulus packages! Write your reps!!!!! Our county has become a 2nd amendment sanctuary.

perfect place for a certain craft knife. lol

Thank you That's to bad you had to quit, think about a propane one they don't smoke.

This is a pretty nice build is this yours? Heck yea I would like that shoot me some pics.

I'll take a few pictures for you and write up the specs. They are a lot cleaner and easier to fire up for small jobs like hardening blades and such.

I make that style and for the kids I use white fabric so they can use sharpies to color and design their own mask faces, they love that. great video!

thank you

Thanks yea it came out pretty nice, much better than my ground down putty knife and about 60 on the hardness scale. Would love to have a coke forge I live in coal country. If you need pics of my burner let me know I did a lot of research and then built one that will run naturally aspirated or with a blower. and its super easy to build. It'll turn regular fire brick into a puddle of glass lol.

yup Round and triangle

Thank you I added some ornamental hand file work just for fun makes it look like I know what i'm doin lol.

I've made a bunch also but not that many your a good man Ferg !!!!!!!!!!!! God bless you!

more pics

Well I had to spoil myself a bit, it has a a bit of haze on the blade but non paying customers don't get the new sanding belts lol. Posted a few pics

very nice I use a coat neatsfoot also, then a good waterproofing with fiebings golden mink oil

I have plenty of those thanks! Live on the up line lol. Photod Big boy last year when it came through. Union Pacific 4014 is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" type built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York. No. 4014 is the only operating Big Boy of the eight that remain in existence.

I'm getting the urge to feel that dragons breath myself now lol. Maybe time to spoil myself with a new skiver also.

your tooling is awesome! wish I had young eyes and hands again to be half that good.

Heck ya those look pretty darn good there, Really like that forge!!!

That is a nice job is it adjustable in length? I like the full ring seems it would provide better control.

Would love to see it but the format isn't a familiar one do you have pics in .jpg