New Partnership for Tandy

[Sheilajeanne]

Well this sounds pretty good. Let's see what it produces going forward. Yes, I can't help but be a little skeptical! But on the other hand, my experience with Tandy has been more positive than negative. Again, I have to credit my mentor, Bill (God rest his soul!) with being far more interested in teaching his students than pushing Tandy's products.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by Sheilajeanne

[BattleAx]

I am a little skeptical to on this one. Everyone needs to make money but when you farm out all your leather work are you really a leather Company? 

[strathmoredesigns]

I heard about this partnership at Tandy and I've seen a couple of his videos, but I'm much more familiar with some of the other leatherworkers on YouTube. What does the "farm out all your leather work" comment mean?

[Aven]

3 hours ago, strathmoredesigns said:

I heard about this partnership at Tandy and I've seen a couple of his videos, but I'm much more familiar with some of the other leatherworkers on YouTube. What does the "farm out all your leather work" comment mean?

I have no idea how much of their work they farm out, but according to what has been said in the vlog, they do send work to Waterbury Leatherworks in Waterbury Ct.

I have watched a lot of their Youtube channel.  He has several that I thought was well worth the time to watch and a few that I have watched a few times.  I'm intrigued to see how this partnership works out.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Aven
Correcting name

[Caesar]

I don't really care about their partnership with Tandy.  I wish them the best, but Tandy has never impressed me in the least. 

Anything that you can get at Tandy can be found elsewhere on the web at better quality and prices.

I don't really watch Stock & Barrel Co videos anymore.  I am much more interested in videos of people actually making things, rather than on their lifestyle.  Nothing wrong with what they do.  just not my thing.

[Dwight]

46 minutes ago, Caesar said:

I don't really care about their partnership with Tandy.  ...........  I am much more interested in videos of people actually making things, rather than on their lifestyle.  Nothing wrong with what they do.  just not my thing.

I'm with you on this.  Kinda like facebook, . . . used to be fun a few years back, . . .  now so much of it is where they are, . . . what they are eating, . . . what they bought, . . . where they are going, . . . what x said to y, . . . what y said back, . . . and how x countered, . . . 

Give me something I can use, . . . just not interested in the day to day, . . . life stories of everyone.

May God bless,

Dwight

[JazzBass]

Although I agree with the comments above, I think some of it might be a bit harsh -

I too, avoid "day in the life" videos, but I see Parker as a good man who, in the American tradition of entrepreneurialism, decided to hang out his own shingle, and work hard to make his way in the world, and take care of his young family.  A partnership with a world-wide company like Tandy is a big deal, for which he should be congratulated. His energy and enthusiasm undoubtedly encourages many to get started.  Let's cut him a bit of slack here, ok?

Re:Tandy -

1. If it weren't for Tandy, I and MANY others would have never taken the plunge into the leatherworking addiction...er...I mean, tradition

2. Yes there are much better tools, but I only really learned about them, AFTER having taken the plunge, via Tandy.
The staggering amount of tools from great, to garbage, are nearly impossible to navigate and judge when someone is just starting out. We all learn, improve, and upgrade as we go. Unless one lives near a place like Springfield, Weaver, or others, they won't get a chance to actually TALK to someone, hold/try different tools, see and feel different leathers etc.

3. Even Nigel Armitage acknowledges the importance of Tandy, in their ability to reach so many, while being quite frank about the quality of many of their tools. If anyone has the bona fides to be "snobbish" and slam Tandy, it would be Nigel, yet my impression is that he considers them a significant net-positive for the leatherworking community, and I absolutely agree. Let's cut them a bit of slack too.

(Opinions to the contrary are welcome, as always)

[Tugadude]

Agree with JazzBass comments and also remind folks that Tandy has introduced several, pro quality tools in recent years.  Their Craftool Pro Diamond chisels are excellent.  Not everyone likes buying online so having a Tandy within driving distance is a big deal to many people.  Tandy has its place and arguably has started thousands of people in the craft.  I hope they continue to thrive.

[JLSleather]

Little girl is cute.  But I wont be using my daughter in an ADVERTISEMENT.  Nope.

 

[Stetson912]

Yeah, like Caesar said, more interested in people making things. Nothing against them or their business model or whatever. But I don't watch many of their videos any more. Seems more talk and less leatherwork. The latter being the reason I started watching. 

And it may seem silly, but I think his hat is too darn small for him and he kinda wears it funny. That bothers me for some silly reason. 

But that aside, as it doesn't really matter, I started with tandy products. I don't get much from them now but every once in a while. Tandy I think serves as a beginner get your feet wet type place. Which is a great thing. It seems in recent years a pickup in leatherwork but I still feel it's an art that is fading. So if tandy gets people seriously interested in the craft I'm all for it. 

[drzeller]

I just saw this video today - after seeing several of his recent videos mentioning Tandy.  I had thought "that's odd" on the earlier videos.  Then I understood why.

I am hoping this partnership leads to more how-to videos.  As others have noted, he has moved away from those over time, and I watch him less now.  I think he is personable, and wish him well.  Just leave off some of the family stuff; not all of it, though, as it is still part of his charm and who he is.

[Handstitched]

Tandy  Australia  are shutting shop in March  and will  ship from the US.

I received a "specials" email from them ....the first in about 2 months, .... but it was " in-store only specials" ,  

Um....they're in the east....about 4000k's away . 

Yeah.... good one , needless to say I deleted the email. 

 All the printed catalogues have stopped altogether now . 

On 12/23/2018 at 2:41 AM, Caesar said:

Anything that you can get at Tandy can be found elsewhere on the web at better quality and prices.

I have to agree.I now  have 3 main suppliers that sell the same thing as Tandy, but cheaper...and  do wholesale  without joining a club. 

 Tandy never existed when I started leather work 14 years ago, never even heard of them ( with exception of the electronics retailer....and they went years ago ). And now, its almost  like they don't exist again.Back then,   I found all my tools, supplies etc.   in a pokey little shop run by a little ol' lady  in Perth   by going through the yellow pages ( pre internet) . Ditto for my sides of leather, found a supplier in Bayswater ( Perth),  in the yellow pages  and asking that lil' ol' lady a lot of questions . All my ' how to ' stuff came courtesy of books , and word of mouth, asking questions etc. and simply by working stuff out for myself .  I didn't discover ' youtube'  until many years later. 

HS 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Handstitched

[stockandbarrel]

On 12/22/2018 at 9:42 PM, Stetson912 said:

Yeah, like Caesar said, more interested in people making things. Nothing against them or their business model or whatever. But I don't watch many of their videos any more. Seems more talk and less leatherwork. The latter being the reason I started watching. 

And it may seem silly, but I think his hat is too darn small for him and he kinda wears it funny. That bothers me for some silly reason. 

But that aside, as it doesn't really matter, I started with tandy products. I don't get much from them now but every once in a while. Tandy I think serves as a beginner get your feet wet type place. Which is a great thing. It seems in recent years a pickup in leatherwork but I still feel it's an art that is fading. So if tandy gets people seriously interested in the craft I'm all for it. 

It's not the hat, it's that my head is too big  

[Danne]

I have seen that Tandy now sell some better quality tools, but they certainly loose a lot of customers with their cheap "entry level" products. For example you can't sell a hole punch set that is impossible to make holes with. I bought it around three years ago, and they still sell it. Or a set for punching stitching holes with painted prongs that is so far from sharp you can get (you almost need a sledge hammer to punch it through your leather and it leaves holes three times larger than needed even for a thick thread. I would say most customer who buy a product like that, do it one time and then never go back to that store again.

I have talked about this before. Here are the example. 

0.3mm "cutting edge" 

And sure it works after reshaping and sharpening, but a beginner should be able to use the tools "out of the box"

And here is the stitching hole punch set compared to Seiwa and very cheap Chinese hole punches from Aliexpress.

 

I understand that there is a big market for entry level tools, not all people want to spend thousands of euros for their beginner tools. But if someone asked me for recommendations of cheap beginner tools, I would choose give them recommendations from Aliexpress instead of Tandy. They would get better tools for a lower price. So my input here is Tandy need to try if their tools really work before they sell them.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Danne

[Handstitched]

I still get emails from Tandy, but not from Oz, I could ' unsubscribe' I guess. . Haven't ordered from Tandy since they shut up shop last year . It obviously didn't work .

The postal system here in Oz  is messed up atm due to the virus. What once took 10-14 days for stuff to arrive from the east, now takes up to a month. So I can guess that what ever I order from Tandy ( US) would take nearly twice that . 

HS

[Bert51]

HS, sadly it will take a lot longer, I brought some screws from a member here and they have been sitting in Sydney since the 18-04-2020 and I got some other parts from China been in Sydney since March, Australia Post running in circles.

Bert.