ArkieNewbie

Looks awesome! I had been wondering what one of these would look like laser engraved! I'm going to start hitting up my firefighter friends now to see if they'll let me make them one haha. I agree with Bob. I would either start with black leather or use dye instead of paint for the reasons he mentioned. Thanks for the inspiration!

Oh wow!! I've only been doing this for 6 years and I learn something new every day! Looks like I need to get some overstitchers. After you asked yesterday about the needles I started googling and read and I ended up ordering some new needles as well. My Class 26 takes 135x16 and I got DP tips. I noticed when I got home a lot of the needles I had were 135x17, which I read weren't the leather needles but for nylon and such as you mentioned. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

Thank you sir! Thanks so much! Really appreciate that!

Thank you, Bruce! I definitely appreciate the suggestions! Yes sir the need was round. I couldn't figure out why that wandering happened. Would the needle shape effect it? Thanks, Bob! I love those closures too! They're a lot like the Loxx brand ones but I like these smaller versions from Rocky Mountain Leather for things like this. Thanks so much!

Hey everybody! This is my first post in a while. I just got this portfolio finished up for a customer and felt like it was worth sharing. This may be my favorite thing I've ever made! What do y'all think?

Thank you sir! I love the laser for things like that. It makes pieces so repeatable and I know the dimensions are going to be exact.

Thank you sir! It is sewn. I didn't sew it to the body of the holder to let it move better and to allow it to be pulled down to be more compact when storing in your bag. It was sewn in a "D" shape. Thanks!

Had a buddy ask me to make him a shotgun shell holder for dove hunting and trap shooting. He wanted the logo of his brother's duck call company on it. The design was laser engraved and I also used the laser to cut out all of the parts. Gotta love high tech tools!

Very nice! I like it a lot. It has a very equestrian feel to it.

I use the ThreadZap II to burn/trim all of my thread. They eat up AAs pretty quickly but the convenience is worth it. I find that mine heat up almost instantly to hot enough to trim any sewing thread I use. As others have said the tips are pretty fragile and they WILL eventually burn up but they're cheap enough and easy to replace from Amazon.

These are awesome!! I use my laser in almost every project I do. It has made cutting complicated pieces or pieces were repeatability is important a breeze! I have an AtomStack A30, a 30W diode. I REALLY want to upgrade to a much larger CO2 laser to help with production time on my leather patch hats but it's just not in the cards right now. So glad you found a way to keeping going! I LOVE Lightburn! I do most of my design for projects in it.

2/3oz CXL should be pretty pliable.

I love this stuff! https://maverickleathercompany.com/product/chromexcel-black/

Thanks so much! Yeah, that would be a great use for this size. This is designed to hold a CD15 sized notebook which is 7"x10", just slightly under normal notebook size. Thanks! Thank you sir! I agree about the leather! I'm definitely gong to be buying more. Kind of like putting egg on a chicken biscuit haha

Thank you sir! Its a light brown bonded polyester. It matched the color of this leather great. Sometimes I like my thread to contrast but in this case I didn't want to distract at all from this beautiful bison.

In the winter weather vortex that enveloped the American South this week I had time to finish up this notebook cover for a customer. He is a member of an Arkansas Native American tribe and requested that it be made from American bison leather with a bison graphic lasered onto the front cover. This is my first time working with this particular leather and will definitely be using it some more. It has an amazing hand and I love the grain pattern. I believe I have enough left over to make one of my small tote bags. What do y'all think?

Use harness leather and brass hardware. At least that's what I do. What you made looks really good!

I have gotten some CXL horse butt strips from Maverick leather. I LOVE working with them. https://maverickleathercompany.com/product/russet-horsebutt-narrows/

That's awesome! I think the 10W should work pretty well on veg tan with several passes, probably 6 or more at pretty high power. I use 3 passes on my 30W diode for most of my cutting. It is truly a game changer for cutting out patterns and parts with great precision. Be sure to invest in several rolls of painters tape to keep your leather held in place. I would also recommend at honeycomb bed. My cutting improved greatly when I started using a honeycomb.

I have used Tokonole on the grain side of cheap chrome tanned and it gives amazing results. It can make $2/sf leather look SO much better. I have not had any of it get brittle, had any peeling, or any other problems.

This doesn't help at all with your question but I found this doing a google search. Pretty cool!

I have a pair of Ghinger Super Shears that I use. I have used them all the way up to 8/9oz veg tan with no problem. One caveat, I only use them to cut out a smaller piece of leather out of a side. I don't use them for detailed cuts.

I have not read this whole thesis but this may give you a scientific perspective. Apparently a student in Kenya going for a Master of Science in Kenya asked the same question. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/93419/Kuria%2C Alex Nduru_Evaluation of tanning strength and quality of leathers produced by selected vegetable tanning materials from Laikipia county%2C Kenya.pdf?sequence=3

That is certainly a wild idea! But if you're able to pull it off, which I don't doubt you will be able to, it will be awesome! Can't wait to see it when you get done.

Love the design and your stitching looks really good! Where did you get that pocket clip? That's a really cool design! I love my lasers for cutting out patterns! The exactness and repeatability can't be beat!