Show your Shop

[KingsCountyLeather]

5 hours ago, nstarleather said:

Mostly finished  goods, by a large margin.  I just sell a little here and there when it’s stuff I’ll not use immediately or have an excess.   Thing about buying “deals” is that you sometimes have to keep saying “yes” if you ever want to get the same deal again.

Sorry for going on... but if find your set up very impressive and interesting.

On the other hand, when do you say no? You must have a small fortune tied up in stock? 

Does your line of goods change often or why would you be interested in deals where you pick up such a variety of leather?

last question... the stands that you drape your leather hides over, are there specific dimensions for those? I would like to make one cause I have about 20 hides taking up a table I could use.

 

[plinkercases]

17 hours ago, nstarleather said:

Is t showing off if I let everybody know that that’s warehouse #1 of 2 and the picture is taken from the upstairs?

I think the FORK LIFT says it all really......  a few hours ago had to move 85 percept of my shop (work bench or castors) 4 feet so the furnace guy could get at the furnace.... leather I can move with one arm... and it isn't that big an arm.

I also would love to visit some day... with some cash and a pick up truck.

[AdamPCain]

Thanks for being so open about your business, I work in a small family owned fabrication shop.  We only use stainless steel and we buy it when ever the prices seem low.  We have over $1.5mill in flat stock just because the price was right.

[KingsCountyLeather]

3 hours ago, nstarleather said:

So yes it's always a balance of when to say "yes" to "assorted deals"....so very frequently I get offered a full pallet or pallets either at incredibly good prices per foot or sometimes by the lb.   Most black or brown I can put into standard stock.    With "odd lots" that are just slightly under the "regular price" I buy specific leathers that I have an immediate use for.  

The hardest ones to know aboutare sight-unseen scrap deals:  I once bought 12000lbs of scrap from Alden by the pound and it was great (Barenia, Horween, HAAS, CF Stead, etc) but then the other day I  bought 10000lbs from Levy's Guitar straps in Canada and it was much much less useful (smaller and less valuable stuff.)  The problem is that if I say "No" the next time Alden has scrap to sell, they'll sell to somebody else, and it will be the last time I get it.  The same goes for other deals I get offered.

I also have a guy who shows up every couple weeks with a couple hundred lbs of mixed upholstery scrap at .75 per pound.  This goes into mixed embossed pouches.   I just finished a run of 750 for a specific customer so that's where the mixed upholstery goes.

 

On the other hand, sometimes I have to drop serious cash on a specific leather.  My biggest upcoming expense is a bunch of black corrected grain smooth that gets used in name badges that I'll have to buy thousands of feet of at $3.60, no choice but to pay what I have to.  Of if a customer wants white pouches...white scrap is rare so it's buying full hides a full price (and charging accordingly, of course). 

I can measure a stand when I get in, I have a guy who builds them for me, but they're not cheap.  We call them "horses" and each has 4 heavy duty wheels.

 

The wheels are a good idea. I’d appreciate the measurements if you get a chance. Thanks.

Its very interesting to hear the pros and cons of a large leather workers business, its something that I’m sure most of us on this forum don’t often get to hear about. It’s obvious that you still enjoy working with leather or you wouldn’t go to the trouble of explaining the background of your business.  It’s also great to see you offer great deals to other leather workers here and by all accounts the quality of leather you sell is exceptional. I only wish I could avail of the deals myself only the cost of shipping is too prohibitive. Thank you for taking the time to chat and the very best luck to you and your business in the future.  Ger.

[JD62]

Here ya go @RockyAussie   don't know how to make it bigger and keep the animation 

Edited March 10, 2018 by JD62

[RockyAussie]

2 minutes ago, JD62 said:

Here ya go @RockyAussie   don't know how to make it bigger and keep the animation 

Hep that's the one I reckon. Now ...not that I would need to use it often I guess....how do I get that into my computer to use again???? Thanks @JD62

[JD62]

  I just rt click and save as.....

[JerseyFirefighter]

On 3/8/2018 at 0:01 PM, nstarleather said:

A little messy...I know.

 

Hey that looks like my space! Just shrunken down to the size of the forklift including pallet. 

[KingsCountyLeather]

4 hours ago, JerseyFirefighter said:

Hey that looks like my space! Just shrunken down to the size of the forklift including pallet. 

Ahh well,  you know what they say.... It’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it! 

[RockyAussie]

6 hours ago, JD62 said:

  I just rt click and save as.....

I got it ...I think

[alpha2]

Rocky is a tech wizard now!

[JerseyFirefighter]

8 hours ago, KingsCountyLeather said:

Ahh well,  you know what they say.... It’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it! 

 Expansion cometh. Then hopefully I can weigh in with all of these awesome spaces. 

[Mjolnir]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 3:58 PM, Joseph1836 said:

OMG that's me , ye my shop is in a bag. We live were there is hurricanes , so I can grab it and go. 

I liked your test tubes Joseph. yep, so I went onto amazon and bought some test tubes, did I check how large a ML would be? No. I Just ordered the biggest! now I own some really cool gigantic test tubes that I do not have a purpose for!! LMBO!

[fredk]

On 3/9/2018 at 2:27 AM, nstarleather said:

Is t showing off if I let everybody know that that’s warehouse #1 of 2 and the picture is taken from the upstairs?

naw, its just shows that folk on here vary from business' like you to one person working on a old table in a spare room, storing their leather under their bed. Besides the art of leathercraft what we all have in common is the willingness to share information and help each other

[fredk]

I'm enjoying this thread immensely. I'm currently re-fitting/remodeling my work space and there are so many good ideas on here which I shall blatantly steal and adapt to my own set up. Thank you every one for sharing your work spaces set up

[Mjolnir]

18 minutes ago, fredk said:

naw, its just shows that folk on here vary from business' like you to one person working on a old table in a spare room, storing their leather under their bed. Besides the art of leathercraft what we all have in common is the willingness to share information and help each other

nicely said. I've found inspiration in all the shops shown here. It will be awhile before I need a tow motor to haul around my one cow belly hide.

PS that is how it begins. Right?

Edited March 10, 2018 by Mjolnir
ps

[fredk]

On 2/7/2018 at 1:40 AM, Mjolnir said:

I'm still in denial about needing to wear my reading glasses!

PS am I the only one that wishes that I can zoom in more on pics? These tiny file sizes are frustrating. A few tiny files, a couple of medium files,  a non condensed file... no way.

On your internet browser there should be a browser menu, usually at very top right of the browser menu bar.  Open that menu and you should have within it a 'zoom' control which you can use to resize the main window tab. You can enlarge the contents of the screen to see the content at larger sizes. I do this sometimes to see details in pictures

[fredk]

On 2/26/2018 at 2:50 PM, nstarleather said:

Super old!  It was a cannery for Lord Chesterfield Tomatoes, for whom the grandmother of one our employees worked for.

So before 1950...we've been here since 1990.

*snigger* old?! I used to live on an old farm, the house was built about 1883, the out-houses, in which I had my first leather workshop, were built in the early 1720s. One of those buildings which I used for storage was built in 1711-1712

[fredk]

Sorry, I was only joshin ya. Shud've used a smiley thingy

[AdamPCain]

@Mjolnir let us know what you do with the test tubes. Make a leather holder for them and carry them around your waste and fill them up with your favorite liquor.

[fredk]

2 hours ago, AdamPCain said:

@Mjolnir let us know what you do with the test tubes. Make a leather holder for them and carry them around your waste and fill them up with your favorite liquor.

A teacher of mine did somat like that. He was a chemistry teacher and he kept a row of t/tube on his desk. Each had a chemical sort of label on it. Each actually contained whiskey, brandy, rum etcetera. He knocked them back one after the other during the day

[AdamPCain]

3 hours ago, fredk said:

A teacher of mine did somat like that. He was a chemistry teacher and he kept a row of t/tube on his desk. Each had a chemical sort of label on it. Each actually contained whiskey, brandy, rum etcetera. He knocked them back one after the other during the day

The good ole days, when the world was more relexed. My first job as a machinist, I used to go out with the older guys during lunch and we always threw a couple drinks down.  I couldnt imagine most employers today would be to happy.

[Matt S]

12 minutes ago, AdamPCain said:

The good ole days, when the world was more relexed. My first job as a machinist, I used to go out with the older guys during lunch and we always threw a couple drinks down.  I couldnt imagine most employers today would be to happy.

The steeplejack Fred Dibnah, who came to fame in the UK in the 70s for fixing or demolishing tall buildings using the original techniques where other contractors wouldn't touch the job, used to get criticised for having a "few" pints at lunchtime. In his words: "If I didn't av four beers in me I wouldn't av the nerve to climb bleedin thing!"

 

[fredk]

I had the fortune to meet Fred D and have breakfast & tea with him. All cooked on a coal shovel and eaten off it too

[Matt S]

2 hours ago, fredk said:

I had the fortune to meet Fred D and have breakfast & tea with him. All cooked on a coal shovel and eaten off it too

There's nothing quite like an egg banjo with a hint of coke smoke. I am quite envious of your meeting St Fred!