chuck123wapati

great first try for sure, What I would try and do is fill the area more by gradually widening the stem and leaves more at the upper ends to fill the area more on the inside and outside of the design and create more variation in the width of the stems themselves. It would also help you in your effort to fit the design to the shape. Floral is hard to do for me as well.

Yea man, have one I built myself from an 80% lower, legal for antelope and deer out here. But we need long range scopes lol good to 600.

ASk the local ranches if they have any privately processed for personal use and where. Here in Wyoming I would go to a local wild meat processor as they do anything people bring in, don't know if Texas has those here they are also part of the local taxidermy.

Would love to go pig hunting we don't have them here, it would sure help my bacon and sausage costs lol, that is one thing I have to buy at the store pork for making my bacon and sausage. LOL my dog, Sissy, doesn't get off her leash much but she sure can bark a lot didn't know that about Beagles and the lady at the pound forgot to mention it, she will even bark at her own echo.

you have good points about the thickness and I agree to a point, these belts also deal with heat and sweat as well as the pressure of the work , we both know what heat and water will do to leather they also have to do this work for years not just one time. BUT the biggest thing they do is keep you safe and free of injury, they are safety equipment bottom line. But here ya go a belt made for me that didn't last a year its 3mm what you wanted to see on your video it lost 1/2" in width in just a few months doing nothing but holding up my pants and being pushed from the inside out. To me if a customer with a 60" waist wanted a 1/2" thick belt I would make it simply for the safety factor and unknowns about just how extreme this person would be on it, that's one big dude.

Also prevents the belt stretching out of shape during the lifetime of the belt, folks want these things to last years and look badass at the same time, wimpy belts just aren't badass looking lol. But if I'm trusting my health and safety to this thing I would opt for thicker , to a point, any day.

Beautiful work!!!! I don't see a thing wrong with it.

Thanks yea hunting has always been about family it is still a way of life for us "hillbillies"here in Wyoming we can still manage to live primarily on wild life, fish and a big garden, with most of our sustenance coming from the land not the store. That's the recipe I use for my rattlesnake skins I might try that on some rabbit first, oh yea we raise rabbits too lol much better than chicken. By the way love your dog ,we have a Beagle we rescued from the pound looks just like yours in the face.

Four, me ,my son, and two of my daughters! two cows two spikes and yes all of the above. I make and smoke my own sausage, corned elk, pastrami and some jerky, I usually give my hides to the vfw but am thinking next year possibly making rawhide for my self as I just priced elk rawhide, seems I give away a couple grand every year just in deer and elk. Yea I think I've found the answer for me in the federal trade commission rules, bottom line its all about pleasing big brother no matter what a person or their patrons feel is right, if you make the whole product from basic raw materials using hand tools then its handmade, such as your awesome baby grand, if you hang a store bought buckle for example then it isn't completely handmade anymore. I think for now its best not to use the term in any advertising and let the consumers know what parts you have done by hand if you feel the need as most here have said.

I found this,it is from the FTC and is mentioned in jewelry making sites I would suspect they would also apply to leatherwork if the subject came about. 23.3 Misuse of the Terms “hand-made,” “hand-polished,” etc. (a) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is handmade or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product. Note to paragraph (a): As used herein, “raw materials” include bulk sheet, strip, wire, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semifinished parts, or blanks. (b) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is handforged, hand-engraved, hand-finished, or hand-polished, or has been otherwise hand-processed, unless the operation described was accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the type, amount, and effect of such operation on each part of each individual product. Here is the section on leather https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=da0fff93d248d84476b245ccfa2ce5bc&rgn=div5&view=text&node=16%3A1.0.1.2.14&idno=16

I use pig suede for my hunting slings.

I have found some sketchy info on the definitions from the fair trade commission in jewelry making sites but nothing I can post yet I am sure the ftc would consider leatherwork under the same.

I've seen transfer paper made for printers to iron on tee shirts maybe that would work, or have someone airbrush it on for you, I've also seen some nice work done with sharpies on leather.

So fill us in on the sealing process and the maintenance process after wards . Do you just heat the wax and pour it in for a bit or do you heat the mug also? How do you clean them after use? Me thinks those are gonna be a project for many on here.

LOL note to self don't apply for a job in Mississippi and don't buy handmade stuff from Walmart. So others would say its a cop out to use handmade or in your definition handcrafted because you cant make all of your stuff exactly the same, its one of a kind, so your products aren't as good of quality. See the problem I see yet? I agree handmade items aren't necessarily all made with hand tools nor are they made with all hand made basic materials. But lets say for example is it handmade if you use a sewing machine and hand tool a belt but is it then not handmade if you use a stamping wheel for the tooled design but hand stitch it? I think most consumers would see the difference in the design and would say that the machine stamped belt was not handmade but the process only differs in which part of the belt was machine made right?

Nothing wrong with that at all. I think your stuff is handmade also and I agree most folks in the horse world or ranching such as here in Wyoming don't give a squat about it being handmade as most of the them have to hand make , repair, or re-invent just to get by a day in their line o work. Most of my work, knife making ,carpentry, and leatherwork all are done with hand tools or minimal power tools.

Its very subjective to the circumstance being applied, same here there is a ton of "homemade" crap as well as artisan, retro, etc. I my lil town also. Do you consider your work to be handmade? If so why or why not?

I agree that is the essence of use for the term handmade is for the consumer, but I simply wanted to get the ideas from the makers as to their ideas of the definition so I would know, as well others on this site, how to interpret what others think their work is, we are all consumers as well as makers and as more knowledgeable in the nuances of leather work should be able to offer a more constructive opinion. Most consumers I have dealt with go with the idea that handmade may have small flaws but the quality of materials are just as important maybe more so than perfect lines, some folks don't really care either way as long as they can get their name on it, I think due in part to our highly disposable world and our new found wealth as a society has made a bunch of folks just happy as hell to spend money without thought. I like your opinion of its use and also agree there are bad apples willing to use the term to further their personal goals without thought of ethical behavior.

It has, but not the intent of my original question, yes quality is the most important reason for purchasing any item, hopefully most would agree, and I agree also but what defines quality? A handmade loaf of bread for example isn't perfectly shaped like store bought bread, it isn't cut in perfect 1/2" slices but it contains better ingredients, so which is the highest quality bread? I'm finding the use of the term handmade to be a bit of a conundrum on this site one camp uses it to represent quality, the other to represent a "cop out" as some have put it. We all know a machine can cut a perfectly straight line in a piece of crap leather and a machine can sew a perfect stitch with crap thread does that perfection in symmetry equal higher quality, obviously it doesn't always right? So then why is that the argument of some? It does show the level of expertise by the maker, the quality of his tools, the extent of his knowledge, his basic ability, and his eye for detail just the same as if he were using a machine right? So then back to my original question for you, at what point would you call your work handmade? Quality is not the question.

Those are sweet looking all right!!! I use a lot of antler for knives and such, when I need to attach something to them I gouge out all the soft insides and glue hardwood plugs inside then I can use screws to attach them or attach things to them.

I have picked up on that as well. I would think Tandy doesn't tan their own leathers but buys lots from other tanneries. I think buying from them would need to be in store so a person can do their own inspections that would stop any problems with their products. I don't have a problem with the company but do consider the comments and act on them.

I majored in business administration , first thing they taught us, get professional help!! The classes are so you can attempt to understand what they are doing for you.

Thank you these are great pictures.

I think you said something important when you discussed your possible clientele, Those police products are awesome and I don't know what a cop makes in Milwaukee but out here the average officer would be hard pressed to buy a 250 dollar notebook cover no matter the quality or time it takes. That being said I think you have a great talent and product, the build time will shorten with experience so shouldn't be the only factor to consider when pricing your work.

Thank you, great picture and explanation of the problem.