Klara

Thanks. I'm assuming gesso is not elastic, then? Rules it out in my eyes. @fredkBut would dye and your floor polish work? (I forgot to check what is sold over here - just never go into the aisle with cleaning supplies...)

As I'm cheap I'm trying to learn to crash carefully with a € 120 RTF park flyer. Don't intend to get really into the hobby, I just want a toy for my dog to chase. But for the moment, gravity wins too soon...

What is gesso?

I don't have the results yet, but I'll be dyeing the edges with water-based dye (it's what I have) and then use Tokonole. I believe that should give a similar result to edge paint.

Compared to most forms of horseback riding leatherwork is ridiculously cheap. And I have feeling that you can spend a fortune on model airplanes - without having anything to show for it (except to other enthousiasts). Whereas with leather we make things we can actually use in daily life.

@johnnydb Thanks for reminding me of the iron - should work for heating a creaser...

But the thing is, first you have to get good at it. And in my opinion and experience, cheap leather is perfectly fine for practising cutting and sewing. Actually, I have made more out of my shitty split leather (€ 90 the double butt - should have known that something is wrong) and the chrome-tan I've had lying around for ages than out of the supposedly good-quality veg tan I bought from my local shop. Because with the cheap stuff I'm not afraid of messing up. And I think it's a really bad idea to start thinking about selling too early. Not to mention that some people just don't want all the hassle of dealing with customers...

Granted, if you need to be set up to do whatever the customer wants, then you want a huge stock of hardware and tools. I'm not planning on doing that - I just want to make nice, functional dog collars... (getting there for my own use, but they still take too much time and the result is too uncertain for selling)

I don't know what Inuits or Nigel Armitage would do, but all the straps on all my bicycle and horse saddle bags are sewn. And if I ever needed to replace them, I could simply cut and remove the thread and sew on others. Which is one of the reason I don't like to buy things with rivets (the other is that I think rivets look cheap and mostly ugly and like somebody wanted to save time). That's the first thing. The second thing is that Chicago screws just need a small hole that's on a standard revolving punch (or standard punch set) which many people (certainly horsepeople) have anyway. And a screwdriver for setting them, which I hope everybody has at home as well (Swiss army knive will do in a pinch). Btw. I hope you've used Locktite or similar...

I was not only wondering about the snap hook on the headcollar (btw., I'm not convinced that pulling the halter over the horse's ears and closing the snap is so much faster than removing a well-cared for strap from a buckle! Also, with the buckle you can secure the halter as a headcollar around the horse's neck while you are putting on the bridle - that's how I learnt to do it), but about snap hooks in general. Were they even easily available (for whatever purpose) when the book was written? Does the author say why there is a browband on the halter? I mean, I have one on my horse's halter, but a) it has a fringe against flies and b) I have cheek pieces for the halter to attach a bit and the browband stops the halter from sliding back and pulling the bit up in the mouth. So I wonder whether the halter in the book is also prepared for transformation into a bridle?

What do you mean by headband? The halter you made looks like most others I've seen - except better made! Lovely work! Regarding the missing snap on the throat latch: It might be a time/availability problem. When did snap hooks become really popular? Buckles have been around for a very long time... But there is also the practical advantage that you dont need to drag the crownpiece over the horse's ears, squeezing them in the process, if you open it. On the other hand, most riding horses are used to having something pulled over their ears as bridles don't come apart at the crown either...

Thanks for the links!

Why this obsession with rivets? I much prefer sewing... As for making money - I believe people should learn a craft first, properly, and then think about selling their product. Besides, in my experience selling isn't all that easy...

Probably there's some mysterious chemical reason. I would wet the other pieces as well (I'm assuming you haven't) and let them dry under the same conditions as the first piece. On the photo it looks as if one of the "other" pieces were the same colour as the tooled piece - is that a trick of the light? Btw, are you 100% sure that the tooled piece is perfectly dry yet?

I don't have the exact set I linked, I just wanted to show what I meant. I bought my set years ago in a saddle shop. @Spyros I also broke my first tiny hole thingy when I used a piece of wood as support. Then I bought the Ertalon support. So far it helps. And I never said that other punches are not needed, only that you can't say a beginner will need a big budget to buy punches when said beginner might not need them at all... Out of curiosity: What are the huge hole punches used for? My leather shop had them on special, but I couldn't think of a need for approx. 4/5-inch holes.

My best wishes for finding decent accessories at a reasonable price! And then I cross my fingers that the motor will last...

Actually, I'm happy enough with my cheap mini leather punch set (like this https://tandyleather.com/collections/tools/products/mini-leather-punch-set , for which I bought a few smaller inserts for small decorative rivets. And a small Ertalon base to keep them in shape. The rivet/snap setters came in a fairly cheap kit (with a rotary punch which is not strictly necessary, but nice to have). I don't need end punches or corner punches or oblong punches... Sure, they'd be nice to have, but the way I see it they are a prime example of a tool I'll only buy when I make so many items that it will save me a lot of time, and then it'll pay for itself. Hardware-wise I mostly use snap hooks, rings and buckles which I sew on. I only have snap buttons for bracelets and belts with interchangeable buckles. Hardly any setters needed I dare say that once you know what you want to make, it's not so difficult to limit spending. The difficulty is knowing what you want when you haven't started yet...

I haven't. I don't even know what should be in this set... But now that you mention it: My recorders (the wind instrument) certainly cost more than all my leather stuff (tools and consumables) together. And I just have the basic SATB set in "cheap" woods... I suspect that all serious amateurs (in the sense of "doing it out of love") sooner or later spend quite a bit of money on their hobby. And then I see a professional from a poor country, with no money to spend, who creates works of art with next to nothing, and I get an inferiority complex. (Is it a complex if one is inferior? )

This bag, yes, I got that. but then you wrote: And that's where the doubts creep in... In my experience the absolutely fabulous items may attract customers to the booth, but they never sell

I agree with that, except it needn't be a specific job, it can also be an all-purpose tool I use again and again and again. Like a battery drill/screwdriver. It took me a few tries, but I finally realised I had to spend the money on a Makita (anybody knows an equivalent brand, please tell). On the other hand, buying a Dremel would have been a waste of money, the cheap knockoff does the job in the rare cases I need it. I have quite a few tools that I have for "just in case" (tiny screwdrivers to repair my glasses) - often enough I had picked them up in the supermarket when sets were on offer for little money. Of course, that way I buy twice (or more often), but I spend the big bucks only where necessary. I think that still works out cheaper than buying all tools in top quality, even the ones I'll hardly use. However, I'm getting to the point where I think that cheap hardware - and possibly cheap leather, but I'll continue experimenting for a while - are just not worth my time and effort. Which is a pity, cause that's where the real money goes (€ 3 for a single decorative and functional snap??!!...) (Back to China: I bought one of the small rounded knives without a handle and so far I'm really impressed.)

On the original subject: It's fascinating what can be done with only a swivel knife and a modeling spoon. Jim Linnell of Elktrackstudios sells a video "Simple Figure Carving" where he carves an eagle's head. I love how he says that "better" (or at least more expensive) tools do not replace practice. And I am pretty sure that nothing replaces good leather tanned for tooling, either, though for now I can only say with certainty that some cheap thin no-name leather does not make things easier...

I've ridden both English and Western and I believe that there is very little overlap regarding saddle making techniques. So I don't think the Stohlman Encyclopedia will be all that useful for you (just a small consolation if you can't get hold of it).

But surely there must be English books about saddle and tack making? From what I have seen, many parts of the book are only of historical interest. And I am pretty sure that the reasonable price is because there was very little work involved. The publisher either scanned an old book or got hold of the printing plates and just did a reprint. Which many Germans are not happy about either (I don't like Gothic letters...) Normally, a comprehensive textbook for a highly specialized market is a lot more expensive. Btw, I wonder whether the saddlery apprentices of today have textbooks... @Mulesaw Do you ever meet saddlers (when they come to improve the fit of your son's horse's saddle)? Could you ask whether there are textbooks?

Sadly, it doesn't always work out like this. The ridiculously cheap safety skiver blades I got directly from China don't cut at all (but then I don't like to use the safety skiver anyway...) (Btw, why has nobody made a safety skiver one could use with normal razor blades?)

I wonder how the Chinese forum menbers feel about all this anti-China sentiment... Personally, I couldn't care less where something was made as long as it's enough value for money. (I have a labeled "Made in US" dog frisbee from Kong that cost ten times as much as the Chinese no-name one but doesn't fly any better.)