CitizenKate Report post Posted February 14, 2009 I've been working on several new guitar strap designs. This one has a kind of western style to it, and I kinda like how the look of it turned out, although I'm still making tweaks in the construction design. This one is adjusted with a second strap attached with a belt buckle, rather than the slip-through strap that is typical. The buckle goes in back. The shoulder portion is padded with cotton batting, and lined with soft upholstery leather. Very comfortable! The billets are lined with calf skin. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted February 14, 2009 I really like your work, Kate. The tooling is lovely and the finish and stitching is superb - what have you used in the way of colour and finish here? My only concern is that if I had an expensive and precious guitar rather than my cheap, cheerful and slightly battered Yamaha then I wouldn't want to risk damaging it with a chunky buckle on my strap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rdb Report post Posted February 14, 2009 Looks beautiful Kate. Someone is gonna be real happy. I'm like you, I like to figure out new ways to adjust and attach. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted February 15, 2009 ...what have you used in the way of colour and finish here? The coloring was done with water-based dyes mixed to approximate the golden brown hue of the upholstery leather. It was antiqued with a 50/50 mixture of Tan Kote and All-in-One, then sealed with a wax finish. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I use All-in-One, because I always assumed it was more for beginners. (I.e., You're making a trade-off between quality results and ease-of-use.) In fact, I originally bought it to use for teaching purposes. Used by itself, it's okay. You can get by without any additional finishes or sealers if the article doesn't get much exposure to the elements. But mixed with the Tan-Kote, it produces a much richer, mellower finish, the finish is more stable, and it's a very workable antique agent. Wax finishes are great with water-based dyes. They don't lift any color out during application, and once cured, they really do a good job of protecting the colors from moisture and other elements. My only concern is that if I had an expensive and precious guitar rather than my cheap, cheerful and slightly battered Yamaha then I wouldn't want to risk damaging it with a chunky buckle on my strap. Yes, I had thought about that. I figured the only way to really find out if it's going to be a problem is to do some beta testing (to borrow an IT term) of the design, in other words, try it out and see if any issues arise with the buckle. If so, I suppose I could go to a leather-covered buckle, or just experiment with other types of closures (which I will probably do anyway). I have a couple of pretty nice guitars, so it wouldn't take much to convince me. Glad you like it, and thanks for the feedback. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spider Report post Posted February 17, 2009 wow I love how this came out. Thank you for sharing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BobHall Report post Posted February 18, 2009 Beautiful strap! Thanks for sharing... now I get to add guitar straps to my ever-growing list of projects I want to make! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted February 18, 2009 NICE LOOKING STRAP ANS A VERY FINE COLOR........... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drkuhn Report post Posted February 21, 2011 Very nice. Nice detail and the color is great! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete Report post Posted February 22, 2011 I've been working on several new guitar strap designs. This one has a kind of western style to it, and I kinda like how the look of it turned out, although I'm still making tweaks in the construction design. This one is adjusted with a second strap attached with a belt buckle, rather than the slip-through strap that is typical. The buckle goes in back. The shoulder portion is padded with cotton batting, and lined with soft upholstery leather. Very comfortable! The billets are lined with calf skin. Kate REALLY nice Kate! What kind of beader blade do you use? pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted February 23, 2011 What kind of beader blade do you use? I just use a swivel knife and a pair of dividers, Pete. One side of the bead either gets scribed onto the leather or applied by artwork transfer, then I cut the first side. Then I use the first cut as a guide for the dividers to mark the other side of the bead. (Pretty neat trick I learned from Peter Main in one of his classes.) Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ericluther Report post Posted June 1, 2012 Absolutely gorgeous!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bluesman Report post Posted June 1, 2012 That is very nice, Kudos to you.................................... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
