Hello From The Old World And Canada

[Thor]

Hello,

after reading here for months and signing up for an account lately, I thought I should introduce myself a bit. My name is Thorsten and I'm currently living in Germany. Meaning I used to live in BC and still have a place out west and in Ontario between London and Windsor. That's why I'm moving around a lot. Keeps life interesting.

The later one is where I got into leather crafts. Todd Bailey moved to the town and set up his saddlery. He's a second generation saddle maker master. Knowing him already from major horse events, I walked in the store, asked if I could look over his shoulder for a while and ended up helping out for about 2 weeks. I learned a lot about saddles I didn't know before and how they are made. I have to add that I'm a professional rider and thought I knew a lot about saddles and tack already - BS...

Eager to learn something he offered to use his tools and showed me a few things.

So this was the first lesson of using the swivel knife and the beveler.

After that I wanted to bring something home and made this key fob.

My head was still spinning while at home and I came up with my own design which I started on the next day in between tack repairs. The outcome was this:

Of course I needed to have something for my wife as well and found a "Ladies Belt" in one of the old Stohlman books, Todd had in one of his many drawers... That kept me busy for a couple of days, as I only worked on it in between repairs and helping with making two show saddles he was working on.

I liked it so much and the learning curve I had, that I decided to get the basic tools and more practice. A few month later I finished my first saddlebags. They were the best practice piece yet.

Currently I'm working on a messenger bag and a scabbard. So I'm slowly working my way up to a saddle, which I'm planning to start some time this summer. I'm not so certain on what it should look like yet. Some kind of wade saddle with a bunch of tooling, bi-color, round skirt, equitation seat ... heated seat and a coffee maker as extras :-)

Thus far I'm trying to learn as much as I can about leather, the tools, when, where and what to use and what to avoid. I'm always open for suggestions as I'm always eager to learn something new.

[Pounder]

Welcome to the forum Thor, looks like you are well on your way in the craft.

[Thor]

Currently working on this scabbard

[Matt T]

Looks like your friend Todd created himself a competitor

[Ta2ooz]

Good looking things. I am new but it looks really nice to me.

[LeatherCollector]

looks very good!

[Thor]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm still learning, probably always will. So Todd will be save for the next 20 years or so. He's been in business for a long time and it will take a very long time for me to get close to what he does. Actually his saddles are about the best my butt has been sitting in for now.

I just found out how an album can be made and uploaded here, so I thought I'll add that for the scabbard with some comments from myself and hopefully some feedback of others.

Album http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=2532

[leatherwytch]

Those are very nice, Thor. I love your saddle bags. Good job and been great speaking with you in chat.

[Thor]

Now that I completed my last project a messenger bag http://leatherworker.net/forum/uploads/gallery/album_2589/gallery_58609_2589_83152.jpg, I had to find something new to learn on and increase my skills. I found it yesterday as my daughter wants to have a new saxophone bag.

Needless to say, we made a deal. She gets a new bag and I get her old one to pimp and sell.

My idea thus far is to strip the case down to the plywood and Styrofoam. Replace the black velvet with brown and the nylon webbing with leather of course.

There are only a few things I'm certain on how I will be doing it thus far. I want to make rolled edges all around. The front will receive the saxophone player silhouette. That will be embossed and dyed in dark brown. The general color of the case will be a lighter (~ 50%) mahogany. The rolled edges might be dark brown as well as the thread I'll be using.

I will include backpack straps in the same style as shown in the Stohlmanbook on cases for the golf bag. Won't be using shearling, but foam for the cushioning. It will receive a top handle (not sure what kind yet) and carrying handles like it has now, just made of leather and more upscale. I'm thinking of adding rollers to the base so that it can be pulled if needed to. Not really sure about that part.

General purpose of the whole project is to improve stitching, learning how to make rolled edges (did read the various threads already) and not to throw something out, that basically is still good.

For those of you having experience with rolled edges. Would it be good to install a core or just don't?

Any advice on this project is welcome and much appreciated.

[King's X]

Hello Thor and welcome to the forum!

[Thor]

There's not much to say to those pictures. They are self-explanatory. I stripped the box and cleaned it up a bit. Will have to clean it a bit more and then start adding some reinforcement to this cheap box.

[DoubleC]

Thor that is such a cool project and I'm sure your daughter will love it. Cheryl

[Thor]

Well I thought I should post an update on my sax case. After a while I finally found the time to work on that case again plus I wasn't so happy with my initial design and well the leather. Still need to get some leather and an awful long zipper to go around it or I might have to think of something else.

It'll take some time, but I'll be getting there. Right now it's just ugly, but I'm quite sure in the end it'll turn out just fine. On the one picture you can see of which picture the design is from. We'll see if she'll look somewhat close to that in the end. It sure is fun to carve and tool something different than the traditional stuff and gives my tooling a whole new learning curve.

[leatherwytch]

I am sure it will turn out very well, you are well on your way.

[MonicaJacobson]

Thor, I just ran across this and saw what you're planning with the sax case. I'm very interested to see how it turns out, as I've thought a couple of times about doing the same thing with a mandolin case. At the time, I thought I'd muff it and ruin the leather, but I'm very interested to see how you manage all the details on yours.

[Thor]

I kinda feel the same, but when it happens it happens and I'll have to do it again. It's only about 25" tall. The eye is giving me headaches and I guess she'll have to wear a bit of makeup in the end. But the body is coming along okay. That's another thing I'll be learning with this project. Haven't done any coloring on leather yet. Just dyeing. I'm not so sure about the background yet as I don't want to use a lot of standards. I'm thinking of some chiprock look. Might have to make a stamp myself for this. Will keep you posted on the process. Definitely has a huge impact on my learning curve. Requires a lot more moisture than standard tooling.

[rjmccants]

Since I'm a musician and educator, I'll be watching this with great interest! Love Alicia Keys! Looking great so far!!!!

[Thor]

Just a quick update on this project. You're seeing today's work and the tools I'm using for modelling thus far. It'd sure help to have some real modelling tools. Might have to stop into one of the crafting places or a knitting store to get something for the detail work.

[Rossr]

Thor,

Looks really good so far!!

Ross

[Thor]

Just another quick update. The eye is still giving me a hell of a time, but I think she's coming along okay. My wife thinks she's looking like an old woman, so I might have to do some plastic surgery.

Thus far I just stamped the background down a bit to have some room for modelling and to get a better view on things. Don't think I'll leave the background as is, but for now I guess it's time to get some scrap pieces and test the colors to see what I can do with those.

I really like that project as the learning curve is totally different on this and it's not just ordinary stamping.

[Rodeokix]

Hey Thor

I'm in Brantford, and I knew Todd's dad from shows but I'm not sure if I have ever met Todd..

Perhaps our paths have crossed at some point!!?

I am looking for some help, I'm kind of just starting and have experimented with some leather crosses and bronc nose bands but it would be great to have a brain to pick occasionally.. and aside from the Baileys there are not a lot of custom leatherwork people up this way.. I'm excited to be in this forum

[Thor]

Welcome to the forum! There are a few people from the area on this forum. Feel to ask and bug me anytime. Todd lived out West for quite some time just like me. That's where we got to know each other and a couple of years later he opened his shop in Ridgetown, which is kinda my second home.

[Grey Drakkon]

Thor, that is some fantastic tooling there! I can see what you're saying about the eye though, and I think part of the problem is that it should be in some pretty deep shadow from the brim of her hat, but it's lit up as if highlighted. Before messing with it any more, I'd take a look at lots of profile pictures of women, paying attention to the area of the eye and cheek. If worse comes to worse, cover that side of her eye with a strand of hair. You wouldn't be the first to pull that move.