Been asked to make simple knife sheaths. Please help..

[SUP]

@ALZilla,  that is so true. The knives are not his. They belong to a person who was a life long collector and passed away some time ago. This person, John, is taking care of disposing of the estate. So even he might not have an idea about the value of the knives. They might all be the J C Penney type, for all I know.

Getting a beautiful sheath ready for my husband is a good idea; only I am an absolutely novice at tooling. Everything goes wonky and even stamping is never in a straight line no matter how much care I take, so I need a lot more practice before I can think of making anything usable at all.  I am a long way from making a beautiful tooled or carved sheath, unfortunately.

All I make are simple sheaths. I can dye, stitch and burnish reasonably well, but that is about it. 

At this point in time, the more I think about it, the more I think that I am not yet ready to sell anything. I need to learn a lot more and be confident about it to some extent, before I can sell. And anyway, I got into leatherwork as a hobby rather than a possible profession. So that is something to think about as well. People keep talking about opportunity knocking. Hmm.

Let's see what happens. It is still a month or two before John gets back to me.

 

 

 

[fredk]

2 hours ago, SUP said:

. . .

Getting a beautiful sheath ready for my husband is a good idea; only I am an absolutely novice at tooling. Everything goes wonky and even stamping is never in a straight line no matter how much care I take, so I need a lot more practice before I can think of making anything usable at all.  I am a long way from making a beautiful tooled or carved sheath, unfortunately.

. . .

so am I. But there is a cheat for us; Tandy 3D stamps. Just stamp something like a deer's head, or a leaping fish on the sheath. Makes us look good

eg. Tandy 3D Deer stamp

https://www.tandyleather.world/collections/tools/products/whitetail-deer-craftool-3-d-stamp

Tandy 3D leaping fish stamp

https://www.tandyleather.world/collections/tools/products/trout-craftool-3-d-stamp

Lots of different stamps, cheap as chips, easy to use, makes us look like artists

I used various ones on these pen cases

      

[SUP]

@fredk That is something I could do. A single stamp I cannot mess up. A good use of some stamps I picked up for a song this week-end.

I'll certainly try that.

[Klara]

10 hours ago, SUP said:

Maybe I should offer to teach them as well!

Absolutely! Firstly, because education is the most valuable thing to have (because nobody can take it from you), secondly because even if they decide not to make things themselves, they will appreciate your gifts more when they know from experience how much work they are.

[SUP]

Very true!

[dikman]

Don't stress over stamping, we all had to start somewhere and all it takes is practice. While the same can be said about carving there is a lot more subtlety involved. I always thought I'd never bother (too hard) but eventually wondered if I could do it. Yes, I can, BUT I've got a long way to go, which doesn't matter as I only do it for myself.

As for buying a machine, my suggestion would be no, at this stage, based on everything you've said. I started by buying used machines I picked up at good prices but I really had little idea of what I was doing! If you do lots of reading on here and study the various projects people make it will give you a better understanding of machine capabilities and should help you decide which machine should best suit your needs. IF you finally decide you need one.

I forgot to mention, there are lots and lots and lots of videos on youtube about stamping, carving, sewing etc etc. I have spent many hours watching them and learned a lot.

Edited June 6, 2023 by dikman

[SUP]

@dikman, Yes I am not stressing on stamping. I spend a lot of time on this forum, where I learn so much and when I see the gorgeous things people make, I feel a little wistful. That is all. Once I start practicing I suppose I will get better at it at some point. I recently read an article about using a credit card or something similar to keep the stamps straight. Maybe that will help.

About machines, I completely agree. I should get something suitable for my needs at a price I do not feel guilty about. I can wait. There is so much to learn first. Then I will know what I need.

YouTube videos are such a blessing, I wonder how we managed to learn anything pre-internet that oldies like me actually remember! But see, with  carving, I actually have to put a knife to leather to learn and it is a shock how awkward it is when it looks so easy in the videos. LOL  Practice Practice Practice.

[dikman]

Mastering a swivel knife and making smooth flowing cuts aint easy!!!!! My first effort was a holster for myself (it's posted in the holster section somewhere). People on here were very nice about it but there are many faults/issues with it, not surprising as other than trying a couple of little things to get a feel for it I just jumped straight in (which is what I do). HOWEVER, everyone I've shown it to has been gobsmacked by it (), though this is probably because very few have seen carved leatherwork, and I've yet to see anyone here with carved holsters, they're either plain or have some stamping.

I have to make a couple more, plus the belt, and I intend carving all of them as while it's hard work it's actually fun. Trust me, don't be shy about doing it, if I can do it it anyone can.

[chuck123wapati]

I haven't read all three pages of comments but has anyone suggested  knife rolls, many knife collectors use them. and they could be made easier and cheaper than individual sheathes.

Personally i have met folks with requests like this and they don't usually pay off. They simply want something really good for nothing. Charge what you feel is appropriate and realize that other people will pay what you want for your goods if you really want to do it as a job type craft.

 If you do want to buy a machine then you can by selling your work to folks willing to pay your prices not by people who want your stuff cheaper than you can make it, that's just the reality of the situation.

[SUP]

@dikman, Could not find your posted pic of the carved holster but don't sell yourself short. We find faults in our own work that others do not notice.

I do plan to do some carving. Looked up a pattern last night. Maybe I will start today.

@Chuck123wapati, that is exactly the conclusion I have slowly been reaching. You stated it very clearly.

I really wish there was someway we could educate people about leatherwork. So many of them want it but seem to want to pay even less than what they would pay for the cheap goods from the East. I sometimes wonder if people give their senses of sight and feel a holiday while looking at hand-made leather items. Can't they see the difference in the leather used, the intricacies of the work, the talent of the artist? And yes, leatherworkers are artists. So much of the tooling and even the designing I see here is awe-inspiring. 

[fredk]

I have an idea  ,  its not always good for me to have ideas, it hurts my brain. This is sort-of adapted from two of my past businesses; a photographic studio* and a vintage vehicle restoration company**

Get a few knives off the chap, and make two or three sheaths, just plain or with stamping. Just basic. Use a stop-watch to time your actual working time; don't count dye or glue drying time. See how those go. Work out a fair price for yourself.

Then tell the chap how much the sheaths are costing him. Allow him to take them home and consider them and the price. Give him 2 (no less) to 4 weeks (about maximum) to either return the sheaths or pay for them. I'll bet you a jammie donut that on the 4 weeks he'll pay up.

Then tell him you'll make three or four sheaths per month, or whatever you're comfortable with, and he can pay for those as you go on. Make sure he gives you a deposit which covers at least the material, then if he pulls out of the deal you are only out time

 

* in my photo studio business I did family and children portraits.  I used to get sales of large expensive framed photos by getting one done first. A gilt framed 20 x 16 looked big in the studio. The person, usually one of the parents, would refuse to buy it. I 'loaned' it to them for 4 weeks or so. I told them I'd get it back off them after that for use in my window or reception room display. 99% of times they ended up buying the photo. They had hung it somewhere prominent, had got used to it and when they took it down to return to me they noticed the big empty space on the wall. I would reduce the price by 10% for them as it had been hanging, it was 'used'. The 10% reduction was already factored into the main price but no one can refuse a bargain. Chink-chink, money in the coffers. Plus; other family members who had visited and saw the 20 x 16 often ordered framed 10 x 8s. Chink-chink, more money in the coffers

So if you let the chap have some nicely done sheaths he'll get used to having them and will be reluctant to give them back. Even if he does, you've had practice and can use them as examples of work done

In a side business which I ran was to re-build vintage cars and small vans. This started out with me hiring in a couple of men to rebuild and maintain my own collection of cars and vans. Soon other vehicle owners were coming to me to do their car or van. With these rebuilds we are looking at, minimum of £3000 to over £100, 000. Very few people were, or can fork out even £3000 for work on their classic car, so I had a simple contract. Basically you pay us what you can afford when you can and we will do work to that value. Most vehicle owners paid us about £200 a month and they got £200 worth of time & parts on their vehicle. This method was painless to the vehicle owner, kept my cash flow, er. . .   flowing and gave my men a variety of different vehicles to work on. On average, not including my own, they had 6 different vehicles to work on.

So, by offering this chap say 4 sheaths a month, that's one a week, not too hard to do. Your work will improve on each one. The chap will have paid a deposit, say $50, your price is $35 per (is that about right people?) at the end of 4 weeks or 1 month he owes you $90. He can 'buy' the next 4 when he can afford to,  same thing,  deposit and final payment when done. No big contract betwixt youse, just an understanding

[SUP]

@fredk, That is a sound plan. If he agrees to pay the 1st deposit, I could follow that. Let me see what he says.

[DwightT]

I know I'm late to the game here, but when it comes to justifying the cost of a sewing machine, one of the things my son will do when he needs a "specialty" tool for a one-off project is he will buy the tool, complete the project, then turn around and sell the tool on the local market.  He sometimes will get the full price that he paid for the tool (typically when he bought the tool used to begin with), but usually he'll sell it for some amount less than he originally paid.  Even then his overall cost is less than it would have been to rent the tool, and the new buyer is happy that he got the now slightly used tool at a discount.

    /dwight