Warhauk

I am trying to add grommets to a 12oz toolbelt that I made and I'm having trouble finding the correct neck length. My belt should be about 3/16" thick and the longest 1/4" grommet I can find, also has a post length of 1/4". Is 1/16" post sticking out enough to set a grommet? If not, is there somewhere I can find a longer grommet that is also 1/4" diameter or do I need to completely size up?

Yeah I would have to melt them downa nd reform them, which leads to same problem as ingots.

Thanks for the heads up on potential legal issues I'll have to look into it. Unfortunately, it seems bismuth is quite a bit more expensive than lead. I'm not sure what you mean by diving ballast. When I looked it up on amazon, it was just a bunch of equipment or bags of lead shot.

I know this isn't strictly leatherworking related, but the purpose is to add a lead core to the handles for my leather floggers for balancing purposes. Does anybody happen to know how difficult it is to work with lead ingots/bars? I don't really want to get a full setup for melting and casting them. For other options, does anybody know the cheapest way to get smaller bits of lead? I know there is lead shot, fishing weights, etc. Just wondering if there are other ones that would work well. The idea is to basically pour small bits of lead into the drilled out core of the wood handle and then pour glue in to hold it in place.

I got some 1/4" grommets but turns out they are only 1/8" length. I'm trying to reinforce the notches on a 10oz belt. Would a size 0 grommet work for that? Additionally, if I got cs osborne grommets, would I also need to get their specific brand setter tool or would most grommets work with generic setters of the correct size?

Thank you for the link. The only real concern that I have (what I make is vegtan usually) is that someone looking at my stuff will see the "genuine leather" in my description and think back to all the times they got things that said genuine leather at like walmart, etc and think "Oh, I know that trick" and pass stuff off as crap quality.

But if you go to walmart and get a genuine leather wallet, it is technically leather, but it is low grade, weirdly processed leather. Just like If you go to the lumber store and buy plywood, technically it is wood, but it isn't the same as an oak board. My point was, the companies that make leather up to the bare minimum of leather standards claim genuine because it is technically true. I never realized that the term genuine is not just a claim saying hey, we are technically leather, but actually is associated with a quality/type of leather and I wouldn't want my stuff associated with that same quality.

I just read an article (followed by another article doing some follow-up) that says that "genuine leather" does not mean what I thought, namely, real leather as opposed to fake. Apparently genuine leather refers to a low quality leather that is basically made in the same manner as plywood and it falls in the spectrum of full-gain>top-grain>genuine. This was a surprise to me and I have listed all of my products as genuine leather, and just went back and edited all of them to remove that. This post was for 2 reasons. 1. Just to confirm this is a correct assessment and ask if it makes leather seem cheaper when people read that description. 2. If that is a correct assessment, to hopefully warn others of this, because I have seen a few other crafters out there that claim genuine leather, when I am pretty sure they are using good quality.

Yeah the $270 is including S&H. Without that, they are supposedly $23 for a 20swft hide. I don't actually intend to get it though because it seems a bit sketchy.

When searching for veg tan side, alibaba popped up, and one supplier, it would cost my $270 for 100sqft which seems to be a pretty good deal but I have to assume it is going to be super subpar quality and I was wondering if anybody has taken the risk on something like alibaba?

That is a pretty interesting tool.

That is a pretty nice idea. I will have to use something like that. My wife actually already has those thick hard plastic rulers with all the marking lines on them for her quilting and sewing which I forgot all about until you showed that. I was to the point of considering building a full wood jig where i would slot the strap in and just place my punch into the cut out slot, but that feels like a pretty large endeavor to get perfect since I'm not big on woodworking, and will probably take several attempts to make properly. Still on the table if I get enough orders to make it feel worth it.

I did give that a try and it seemed to work, but after a couple of punches, it rubbed off. I was using sharpie then letting it dry first. I've also started doing the slight impression and it is currently the method i've been using, to mixed success. And yeah I think part of my problem might also be directional lighting. I have 2 directional style desk lamps for my main lighting and the shadows definitely throw off what you would assume is the centerline of the punch. Yes they are parallel to the long axis.

Yes, but not for the buckle side oblong, the ones I'm more concerned about are the ones I punch as notches for the collars I make that use a locking tongue buckle.

Does anybody have some tips on punching a straight oblong? I spend way too much time trying to line it up and reline and so on, then I go to punch, is about 1/3 of the time, it is still a bit crooked. Are there really people out there that can just set it down, punch, and good? I usually use a wing divider to get my 2 center points, draw a line between them, then try to line my stamp with it. Maybe I am just spatially challenged and cant tell how to line things up.

I may look into the pricing and compare it with the one I've been trying to use. It's unfortunate that we have to compete with the mass producers considering etsy is supposed to be handmade stuff only, but loopholes and all. May I ask what website you are referring to?

I appreciate the anecdote. I am definitely more interested in quality work rather than speedy work and it is nice to hear that people do recognize the difference. I just need to build a customer base and I'm sure it will take some time. On a side note, I was not aware that using a clicker press makes something less handmade. I honestly assumed that it was one of the normal methods for cutting leather and is on my list of items to get by reinvesting my profits, whenever that day may come. The stitching, I'm going to stick with doing that by hand for quite a while. I just need to work on streamlining my process and speeding up once I feel confident with my quality.

I know there are algorithms for prices our work and the one I've been trying to follow is roughly the (material + time) x 2. Then, I feel like the prices is too high so usually end up lowering it a bit further even though I suspect I am already undervaluing my time aspect quite a bit (I'm a little bit slow on my production speed but still am probably undercutting my time too much). But then I look at the price I am trying to sell and it feels too high still. For example, pricing out a set of 4 bondage cuffs, which cost me about $10 to make per cuff, and doing the hand stitching, hand dying, etc. Even if I only value my time at $10/hr AND assume it only takes 1 hour to make a cuff (which I am pretty sure it takes a decent bit longer but I tend to have issues timing, with other responsibilities and breaks and stuff), I would be charging about $40 per cuff, where as on etsy, similar looking things (though most likely lower quality but they look pretty similar) are like $40-80 for an entire set of 4 cuffs, collar, and leash. I am just feeling pretty disheartened trying to sell my stuff when competing with these mass producers.

Very well put explanation. And you boiled it down pretty well at the end also. My goal is definitely to give my customers a product that is as well finished as it can be so, at least initially, they can worry as little about the maintenance as possible. I know that even the resolene will wear off eventually so there really is no way to make any kind of leather maintenance free. I'd just hate to send somebody a product that is already not properly treated as they are opening it.

I just learned of something called hydrophane leather dressing while watching a video on how to soften up stiff leather. While that in itself isn't a big deal, it got me thinking about the massive variety of different finishes, oils, waterproofers, conditioners, etc. While I know all of this is personal preference, I am curious as to peoples experiences with all of these different methods. I primarily have been working with natural vegtan that I then dye myself and I'm currently using aussi leather conditioner on my stuff that I don't expect to see much moisture and resolene on things like dog collars. I know that aussi conditioner technically isn't a finish but I like the look and suppleness it provides. Supposedly it does some degree of waterproofing, but I'm still not sure if I should actually be using it as a finish. The problem is, other than resolene, it is kind of hard to figure out what treatment methods do a good job of waterproofing (and more importantly to me currently, preventing dye bleeding) but also still leave the leather supple. I don't really like the glossy, acrylic coating from resolene and the creases and occasional cracking that occurs. I would prefer to avoid it if there are good alternatives. I've seen things like sno seal and a few other methods but if anybody has actually treated their stuff with anything, then went out into the field with it, I would love to know what you've seen work, and fail with waterproofing and the ability to be easily cleaned after getting dirty. I've seen the other option of infusing it with wax to waterproof it, but if I were to do that, am I sacrifice the softness of the leather so it is only viable for specific items, or can you have it both ways, infusing the wax and still keeping it soft and supple? I'm sure this topic has been covered many, many times and I apologize in advance for beating a dead horse.

Do you mean toward the center of the collar the suede will separate from the veg? And I will try out applying some oil to the back on my next one.

The creases appeared when I first went to thread it through the second part of the buckle, which was after I applied to finish. I used resolene for the finish.

Put a suede lining onto and it feels and (imo) looks pretty nice. One thing I am noticing is that my leather seems to get creases pretty easily (Shown in the pic with the notches). Is there something I am supposed to be doing that can reduce that, or is it just part of working with vegtan?

I was thinking newspapers would work well but wasn't sure if the ink would bleed off the papers onto my leather

Very well put overall. That was also my theory for holsters. I figure normal leather isn't going to rough up the gun. For the phone holster, my thought is that it will stop potential scratching of the phones screen as it moves in and out. I intend eventually to make things as requested but for now, I have to put out some work to get people to order from me. I will also possibly do stuff like ren faires and markets with some bulk stuff. I get that it really is just a matter of preference for everybody and I can pretty much just do whatever I want, but at least getting some opinions of others can help point me in the right directions for me. I believe fully in the concept of borrowing wisdom from others. I will definitely have to run through a lot of trial and error and figure things out for myself, but a lot of you guys here have a lot of experience and good insight and I think it better to get some opinions from you rather than reinvent the wheel sequestered in my house. I just also like to overanalyze stuff and ask a bunch of questions. When I do something, I like to get into the details of. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.