Members LANMind Posted October 20, 2014 Members Report Posted October 20, 2014 Greetings and felicitations! My name is Corey, and I am just beginning to learn about leathercraft. I would like to meet other folks who share an interest. Have a great day, Sláinte! Health! Corey Furman Quote
Members bigorange Posted October 20, 2014 Members Report Posted October 20, 2014 here we all are I am in Southern Maryland! post some of your work , we all will help guide you and we will learn something too! glad you made it here Quote
Members LANMind Posted October 20, 2014 Author Members Report Posted October 20, 2014 Uh, I made a coaster last night :S I'm really just getting started, but I have been watching a bunch of videos in research, and I'm not seeing anything that is going to be beyond my abilities. It will just take time and practice. Quote
Members Wild Bill46 Posted October 20, 2014 Members Report Posted October 20, 2014 Hi Corey , --------------- I'm in Georgia, We are a deversified leather group to be sure, here at LWN but Leather is what we all are interested in ! As Big Orange mentioned were here to help one another, where do your leather interests lye ?. Coasters are as good place to start as any. Best of luck ----------------------- Wild Bill46 Quote
Members silverbullet Posted October 20, 2014 Members Report Posted October 20, 2014 Welcome and howdy I'm in NJ been to your town many times , Gary Quote
Members keplerts Posted October 20, 2014 Members Report Posted October 20, 2014 Welcome! I am just about an hour east of you in Mifflin County. You will learn a lot from the folks here. Quote
Members LANMind Posted October 21, 2014 Author Members Report Posted October 21, 2014 Thanks, everyone. I'm one of those people who has about ten interests but time for about two at any one time. I'm a little creative - in fact, I'm finishing the final edit on a SciFi book I've written. I hope to have it for sale on Amazon by December. But at this point, the writing is pretty much in the rear view mirror and the business of making the pieces fall in place is taking up much of my free time. I decided to look into leather craft, initially, because I wanted a nice sporran. What I found was considerably more expensive than I felt I wanted to pay, particularly since it seemed to me that I was capable of like workmanship. I needed a creative outlet, so I began to watch videos, and here I am. I've purchased the basics of the tools, and now I will slowly begin to get used to them. Realistically, I doubt I'm capable of the type of tooling many of you can hammer out, but I'll make things that are functional, and maybe a bit better. We'll see. I'm definitely interested in bags. I will do some simple ones, just gathering some experience, then move onto my sporran. I think that will be water molded. I also want to do a nice messenger bag, but by the time I get to that point I'll be starting from scratch. Kits are fine, but I feel like they're pretty much done already - except for the tooling. I would like to do bracelets, and maybe a nice 3.5" kilt belt, but down the road I want to do some armor. That's ambitious, maybe. I like Celtic patterns. I wish I could obtain that one Craftool Celtic heart stamp, but it only comes in a set of twelve, and I don't want to dish out that much money yet. Anyway, have a great night, and I'll see you folks here Quote
King's X Posted October 21, 2014 Report Posted October 21, 2014 Hello and welcome to the forum! Quote
Members MonicaJacobson Posted October 21, 2014 Members Report Posted October 21, 2014 Hi Corey, welcome to the forum! I think that's how a lot of us came to leatherworking, and certainly that's how I started. Leather is awesome, and I couldn't afford what I liked, so I started making the leather stuff I wanted because I could make it cheaper. Frankly, it wasn't cheaper in the end, but if you get good enough, you can definitely make the money back pretty quickly. Besides, it's so much fun, it's worth the money you throw at it. Good luck! Quote
Members LANMind Posted October 21, 2014 Author Members Report Posted October 21, 2014 Agreed. I'm already seeing that working with leather is an expensive past time, but for the higher end pieces I want I expect to save a little bit. Still, when it comes right down to it, I think if you figure in the cost of materials and the tools, probably most of the leather crafters aren't even getting minimum wage for their time. It is what it is. Anyway, I understand the great satisfaction of making something useful oneself. Cheers! Monica - your violin themed leather bag is sheer genius! Corey Quote
Members MonicaJacobson Posted October 21, 2014 Members Report Posted October 21, 2014 Thanks Corey! Actually, I think you can make a decent profit (as a hobby, I have no experience with leatherworking as a full time job), but first you have to get past the initial expense of tool buying and the learning curve. Quote
Members Wild Bill46 Posted October 22, 2014 Members Report Posted October 22, 2014 Yeah Corey, Monica is right ! Once your past the ooh's an aawh's, and the need for this tool or that. you'll see; an almost calm concentration, and satisfaction too, Then you can set about real ctaftsmanship ! In the meanwhile try to Relax and Enjoy your newness to leather. Its really a super great medium ! -------- Wild Bill46 Quote
Members InfiniteChain Posted October 22, 2014 Members Report Posted October 22, 2014 I'm one of those people who has about ten interests but time for about two at any one time. I'm in the same boat with you on this one! Chainmail, video games, model rockets, flying RC 'toys' and I'm considering taking up falconry. I may be insane. Quote
Members Wild Bill46 Posted October 22, 2014 Members Report Posted October 22, 2014 Chain; Leatherworking has a calming effect on many folks, maybe your one of then, keep at it, you'll see ! but, crazy, you got me there man ? ----------- Wild Bill46 Quote
Members LANMind Posted October 22, 2014 Author Members Report Posted October 22, 2014 I suspect a certain amount of insanity is a form of fuel for many of the folks who work at such hobbies Quote
Members InfiniteChain Posted October 23, 2014 Members Report Posted October 23, 2014 I suspect a certain amount of insanity is a form of fuel for many of the folks who work at such hobbies Haha, indeed! Quote
Members LANMind Posted October 23, 2014 Author Members Report Posted October 23, 2014 I should be finishing up the final edit on my book tonight or tomorrow night. I figure I'll be working with the leather on Saturday, which gets me thinking: it would be nice if there was a group of folks in my area (Keplerts?). Has anyone one else started one? Anyone have any tips on starting something like that? I do better in a herd. (Ha) Quote
Members InfiniteChain Posted October 24, 2014 Members Report Posted October 24, 2014 Hmm, I'm not sure. I'm really new to the hobby and forums. Try posting in the appropriate place to see if there are any local meetups or such. I'm in Minnesota, so I have no idea where Keplerts is. Sorry! Quote
Members LANMind Posted October 24, 2014 Author Members Report Posted October 24, 2014 Keplerts is a bit closer than you are He/She/They are about an hour away. Can I friend you on FB? Quote
Members InfiniteChain Posted October 24, 2014 Members Report Posted October 24, 2014 Oh, Keplerts is a person? LOL. I thought that was where you were from. The FB link in my signature is my chainmail page. Feel free to like it. I'm hoping to incorporate my chainmail and leather together. My personal FB page is /NovusGuitar. Quote
Members keplerts Posted October 25, 2014 Members Report Posted October 25, 2014 Getting together from time to time would be nice. Problem is finding the time. I'm busy with two part-time jobs, horses, and a slow starting leather shop. And the wife needs her time as well! There is a Tandy store in Harrisburg that might have group meetings. I know they were doing classes and that sort of thing. The people there are great. Monica is the manager and she if fantastic! All my orders ship our right a way and I have them the next day. Sometimes I drive the 72 miles to hand pick stuff but mostly mail order from them. Tom Quote
Members ELeBlanc Posted November 11, 2014 Members Report Posted November 11, 2014 The Harrisburg store is great! I was driving to State College and it was on the other side of the road. Major U turn and I shopped for the next several hours. Quote
Members LANMind Posted November 13, 2014 Author Members Report Posted November 13, 2014 Agreed, the crew in HBG is great. I met Monica at ComicCon in NYC this year, and I plan to take some of their classes. And yeah, it's hard parsing time out for everything! Cheers Quote
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