Hello from Tampa, FL, USA!

[maxdaddy]

Greetings,

I've lurked around here for about four months getting to know many of you by your galleries and postings, and I thought that the time is right to introduce myself and start trying to contribute. 

I got turned on to working with leather about two years ago when I was converting a 1938 Philco radio cabinet into a guitar amp and decided to cover the top and side panels in leather. Even though the leather was just a minor part of the entire project, I enjoyed working with it and was very happy with the dramatic look that it gave to the finished product. Next I made matching pickguard, strap, and headstock cover for a guitar that I built. Again, leather was a very small part of the entire project but I enjoyed working with it and I was hooked. 

A friend gave me a few of his basic leather tools (swivel knife, punch, hammer, tooling stamps, etc...) and I started trying to figure out what to do next. A couple of Tandy kits, leatherworker.net tutorials, and lots of YouTube videos taught me some very basic construction techniques and further solidified my resolve to try to take it further.

In late summer of this year, I was able to purchase a shop full of tools and supplies from the widow of a very skilled leather crafter.  I was fortunate enough to get a couple of splitters, a foot press, a 5-in-1, a 2-ton press, tombstone slabs, fasteners, edgers, knives, hammers, stamps, and more. The only thing that I may need to buy at some point in the future might be a heavy duty sewing machine. 

Once my little work shop area was setup, I spent every night trying to get better at the basic skills; cutting, punching, stitching, dying, gluing, wet-forming, etc... There's a valuable lesson to be learned every time I pick up a knife and I try to be a good student and learn something with each part of each project.

My first projects were tankards, or mugs. I'm not sure which term actually applies to what I am making. I'm using beeswax to seal them and the first ten that I made were given to friends to test the durability at Ren Faires and other gatherings. So far, so good. 

Pictured are some of the ones that I am working on now. Most of these have not been sealed yet, but I will be doing that in the next week. I'm trying to bring some fun design and construction ideas to the table and I enjoy using antlers, attached lids, butterfly-wing handles, and things like that. 

I know that I have a lot to learn about every aspect of leather craft, but am hoping that in January I can open my Etsy store and try to sell the mug sets (mug and belt strap) and start earning a little money from this new hobby. 

I've learned a lot from this forum, and I hope to eventually contribute something to leatherworker.net that helps some of you.

Thanks for reading, Dave

Edited December 28, 2016 by maxdaddy
Removed extraneous picture

[greystoneleatherllc]

Welcome and hello fellow Floridian, I'm im Gainsville,will be at some of the gun shows in your area after the first of the year and some horse events,

You will find a wealth of info here and just ask, you will get a variety of expereience and a lot of good insight as to doing things

David 

Greystone Leather

Edited December 28, 2016 by greystoneleatherllc

[RockyAussie]

Welcome I think we will be seeing some very interesting art from you. You are off to a flying start.

[bikermutt07]

That amp turned out awesome. And I haven't seen the tankards before. How are they at staying water tight? And how are you keeping them that way, beeswax?

[HavenHillJay]

Love the antler handles.  I have not seen leather tankards before.  

[CaptQuirk]

Hello from a former Cracker! I love the way that cabinet came out, that is awesome! It looks like you have a good grasp on what you're doing, keep it up!

 

And if you could, send some Cubans this way? I miss the food and espresso

[maxdaddy]

@CaptQuirk, Cuban food is indeed one of the hallmarks of Tampa. I always recommend that visitors return back home with a bottle of mojo seasoning, a dozen bags of yellow rice and a dozen loaves of Cuban Bread. When they get back home, they can buy a few cans of blackbeans and roast some chicken in the moho and have all of their friends over for a legit Tampa-style Cuban feast. Yellow-rice and chicken with black-beans and Cuban toast! mmMMMmm

Thanks for the nice comments on the amp. It's one of the few oddball projects that my wife actually approved of after it was finished. That is, until I plug it in and turn it up. 

The tankards are fun and are what I intend to make the most of initially. I seal the tankards with beeswax. It works very well. There's a skill to getting a clean looking seal that I haven't mastered yet. I only get smooth-looking applications about 30% of the time. The rest of the time I get visible 'streaks' on the inside. The sealing property is fine even if the look is imperfect, though. The outsides are finished in either Resolene, MinWax Polycrylic, or floor wax. All seem to work well, I can't decide which I like the best. Bottoms are either stitched formed leather or tacked wood.

[CaptQuirk]

@maxdaddy-Beans and chicken are easy, it's getting a good MediaNoche samich that's impossible! As for your bee's wax sealant, maybe try chucking a stick in a drill, and wrapping the end with cloth to buff the wax in?

[maxdaddy]

@CaptQuirk, I've lived in, or within 10 minutes of, Tampa my whole life (51 years) so I can't imagine not being able to pick up a legit Cuban sandwich and a deviled crab on the way home for dinner. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't tried buffing the wax down to a smooth finish yet, but the process leaves a fairly thick amount on the surface so I don't know if something soft would be productive. Might need something like denim. I'll try it later tonight after dinner.  "Hmmmm, what should I have for dinner tonight? I KNOW! Yellow and black with a deviled crab and cuban toast."

[CaptQuirk]

@maxdaddy-Soft cloth would work fine, it is going to cause friction=heat, and spread the wax... in theory.

And I grew up on the Space Coast for the first 40something years. Moved to Ga, and all you can find is Mexican food. Cuban Espresso is also a no-go. And do you have any idea how long it takes to train a non English speaking Cuban to fill a full sized cup with Espresso?

[bikermutt07]

Maybe a heat gun could be of some help. Just a thought.