elnedro

brilliant. thank you so much!

Not even sure if this is the right section for this. But I didn't find a subform for Magic. So I am trying to make a Chop Cup, and am hoping someone here has made one. Without giving away the trick, was wondering what you material you used in making it that turned it from a regular cup into a chop cup. if you are familiar with the gimmick you know what I mean. I have the design figured out (it's basically a dice cup) but I can't figure out the last piece of this puzzle.

Typically "Authentic leather" just means it's real leather, as opposed to vegan leather or whatever synthetic. However it it said "Genuine Leather", that would mean its a lower quality and it's like the equivalent of MDF in wood. As for whether they would be helpful, sure... in the sense of inspiration. Did you see something he was selling that you wish you could make? Then google how to make them. Youtube is great, and Tandy has their online leather craft library https://tandyleather.com/blogs/leathercraft-library. great for ideas and how to guides. Weaver leather does some good simple videos too on YouTube,

Also worth noting, If you just want to play with some leather, Leather Pyrography is another thing to play with. I bought one of those fairly inexpensive wood burning tools and played around with making hat patches. I bought one with an adjustable temperature because you don't want to go too hot with leather. Just another option.

Guess I know where I am going this weekend. Good point about testing the sound. I've got a ratchet buckle from fixing a pair of rollerblades I can use to test. Appreciate the suggestion/forewarning

@MasonLikesLeather Oh, and I used belly leather to start out with. I don't really ever use it on leather projects, but its cheap enough to where I feel fine just used it to practice cuts and stamps.

@MasonLikesLeather Kinda depends on what projects you are looking to do. When I got started I just went to hobby lobby and got a basic set (had stamps and a swivel knife), a hammer and some leather rounds. Probably spent $30 in all. Within a week I had basically replaced all of these with stuff from Tandy leather. The cheaper stamps bend pretty easily. What I basically started with was a swivel knife, a hammer and the following stamps: pear shader: https://tandyleather.com/products/craftool-smooth-pear-shader-stamp?_pos=1&_sid=a8c32ab79&_ss=r beveler: https://tandyleather.com/collections/beveler-stamps/products/craftool-smooth-beveler-stamp camouflage: https://tandyleather.com/collections/border-stamps/products/craftool-crescent-camoflage-stamp veiner: https://tandyleather.com/collections/beveler-stamps/products/craftool-smooth-beveler-stamp seeder: https://tandyleather.com/collections/seeder-stamps/products/craftool-seeder-stamp I've gotten a lot more since, but those let me do the basics. I'm not sure where you are located, so I don't know if a Tandy is inconvenient. I also had a number of books that I used for ideas in the beginning. DM me and I can send you a couple of PDFs

@Mulesaw I kinda wondered about just reverse engineering a pair that were destined for the dumpster, thanks for confirming my thought. Hadn't thought about using elastic with the buckles. it would solve the problem of fine tuning adjustments beyond what you can do with a strap, my only concern would be the longevity of the elastic, I've yet to find any that don't start losing their stretch within a few months. But it does give me an idea of using a ratchet buckle, like for snowboards. Wonder if those would hold up better than velcro.

The easiest way to get the diamond pattern (and makes it so that its scalable to your wrist size) is this. Using paper (ideally vellum) make a grid with lines equidistant apart from each other. So if you want 1 inch squares then just make all the vertical lines 1 inch apart, and all the vertical lines 1 inch apart. On the leather brace, mark out a rectangular border line. Then lay your tracing paper over your leather brace and scribe the lines as they fall within the border you made. Or you could even just mark where the lines overlap with the border, then use a ruler to connect them afterwards. thats the way I would do it... you could try to measure it all out on the leather without the overlay, but it would take more time (or at least it would take me more time) and to the original poster...follow what was suggest before. Dye it black, put rivets where the lines make an x, and then use a v or u gouge (looks like a v to me).

I don't think they know how to use a sewing machine. I always catch them hand sewing things that really should be machine sewed. I don't have one either, but my leather work is all hobby and if there is any sewing involved it's basic hand stitching. I'd love a patcher, but I also live in a 1 bedroom apartment in Los Angeles thats full of my hobbies, so no room for another machine. But this is good to know... I think I might know someone who could help with that. Appreciate it!

The biggest issue has been that the velcro always dies out on their bell and splint boots. This is all being used for western (arena and trail). And yes, the velcro ones ride up, and the "no turn" boots turn almost immediately. I'll ask about the rubber...I think they just asked me about a leather version because I've made a few leather goods for them before. Thanks for the detailed reply!

Thank you so much for this!

thanks! I'm still learning to navigate the site

Hey all, Got a question that I cannot find the answer to, so I'm throwing it out to the group. Im trying to figure out how to make a set of Splint Boots and Bell Boots for a horse (or if its even worth the effort) I'm working with some equestrians who are tired of constantly having to replace the shoddily make fabric/neoprene ones out there...and being a leather worker...my first thought was...well...leather. The Tandy horse Tack pattern set doesn't have them, all I've really been able to make from that pack is a few sets of spur straps. If anyone knows of a pattern, or even has suggestions based on personal experience, I'd love to hear them!

This makes so much sense. Thank you