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Does anyone have any good- moderately priced but high quality Concho & Buckle suppliers? Looking for 1/2"; 3/4"; & 1" size buckles and larger conchos: say 2" and larger? I specifically do not want them to look like the cheap Tandy stuff. Thanks

Well OK - not a million in this particular post ... Backstory: I've been playing with fancying up horse tack with rivets, conchos etc and am also starting out OK with some braiding techniques. Of course I have also been lurking here for a while now, getting up the courage to try something more advanced. And now - my DH has challenged me to make him a pair of spur straps for Xmas (fortunately didn't say which year). I have found a local source for pre-cut straps at a reasonable price so right now I'm not focused on cutting leather. For my first attempt I went with my strengths and simply attached a concho to the pre-cut and thought I was done - but then... the questions started. the concho is applied with screw-backs - does this mean that the strap should be lined to prevent it scratching the boots, or is it useable as is? If I added spots around the button hole(s) and turned their ends inside can I still get away without lining? does it need actual lining grade leather- or doubling up with the same weight leather (looks to be about 4mm thick)? will suede work for this? should any lining cover the whole area or could this be a partial coverage (i.e. just around the screw-backs / central design area) I assume if it is lined this has to be glued then stitched down or is there another option? I'm OK with stitching - this will push me into learning something new as well as getting new tools. should I have applied any finishing on the leather before attaching the concho? what else should I be doing? I have attached a picture of my current (minimal) progress. It all sounded so simple when I first set out but now I'm second guessing myself. At the same time I'm kind of excited that this looks like it is going to lead me into new skills. Any and all replies welcome

So I'm new to leather and my mom got me some spur straps to tool for Christmas. I drew a design and got everything all ready to start tooling and they won't absorb water! It's like they have a finish on them already. I'm really disappointed! Is there any way I could do something so I can tool them? Thanks so much in advance!

Hello- new member here. I am just getting interested in the art of leather tooling. I have not tooled anything yet, but I have been doing alot of video watching and forum reading. I ordered a kit from Tandy Leather to get me started. After I do the projects in the kit, I would like to tool my own spur straps. I do not have the means to cut out my own items right now and I needed some pre-cut spur straps, I don't need buckles or sewn edges, just the blanks (and the proper slits and holes cut into them. For the life of me, I cannot find ANYWHERE online to buy them just like that. I know there are several different styles that can be cut (if you have the dies) and I was wondering if anyone here could cut me out a pair and how much it would cost to ship to CA? Thank you for your help!