AlexOstacchini Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Hi all, First time poster but have been following for quite a while now. I started leatherworking around 5 years ago and now work mostly as a junior prop maker and armourer in the UK film industry. Had a bit of a lull between jobs so decided to take the first steps in a small personal enterprise, so here is an initial batch of stock pieces. As a general rundown, these are all 38mm/1.5", lined, hand stitched, and allow for interchangeable buckles. Keepers not quite finished yet but haven't been forgotten! There are a few designs going on but most are either oak leaves, Sheridan style floral, or a zoomorphic celtic interlace taken from a 9thc manuscript. Not up to the standards of many of the artists on here, but thought i should say a big general thanks as I have found a huge amount of knowledge and answers to any questions I could think of. There isn't as much of a tradition of leather crafts over here as in the US, particularly when it comes to tooling, so reading through posts has been invaluable. Cheers all! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alpha2 Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Excellent! That is a LOT of handstitching! Jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Awesome!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Man, I just did a single 5" section of a belt to see if I'd like it, and realized how much tooling an entire belt would be. Then you go and post a huge stack of them! That is a tremendous amount of work, and nicely done. YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Smartee Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Wow! Nicely done! All hand stitched? Just wow! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Riem Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Incredible detail! All hand tooled, too? Wow! I really wish your small enterprise every success - the dedication that's gone into those belts is incredible. One piece of advice that is frequently given is to make a batch of one item so you can track your progress over successive iterations - it looks like you've taken that idea to a whole new level. BTW, I echo your sentiments about the knowledge and support here on leatherworker.net. I'm still a novice myself, and continue to benefit from the sharing and advice dispensed here. I look forward to learning from you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikesc Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Very impressive.. If you are thinking of opening an online shop, read what I posted in this thread .. https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/85542-finished-a-wallet-with-my-creasing-tool/ If your market will be the UK, choose a UK hosting company .. if the USA..choose a USA one etc..if both, choose a USA hoster, because of how search engines ( especially Google ) tend to work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AlexOstacchini Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Thanks for the feedback all, i'm glad you like them. There is somewhere between two and three months work in the whole pile, and some are definitely better than others, but as pointed out it's one way to track progress I suppose. As I'm sure anyone here will testify, there is always an element of doubt in your own work and any small mistakes become very glaring as soon as you've made them, so the kind words are nice to read. 2 hours ago, mikesc said: If you are thinking of opening an online shop, read what I posted in this thread .. Quite an insightful post, thanks for the advice. 6 hours ago, alpha2 said: Excellent! That is a LOT of handstitching! 4 hours ago, Smartee said: Wow! Nicely done! All hand stitched? Just wow! All hand stitched- not sure therapeutic is the right word but thankfully it's mindless enough work that I can watch something at the same time. I imagine stitching is an aspect which often gets overlooked by a layperson so it's nice to share with a community who can understand the hours of tedium involved haha Cheers, Alex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DV8DUG Report post Posted April 22, 2019 Thats a whole lot of brown shades... Kool-Aid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
utah leather Report post Posted May 19, 2019 All I can say is Holy Shit !!!! beautiful work , how much time does it take you to do a stamped belt like that ? and cost ? how thick is the leather you're using ? . Again those belts look like a piece of art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) Very very good job. One way to hide those tiny mistakes is to present them in a whole slew of beautiful work. Kudos on that. The shear scale of quantity here makes my head spin. Way to go! I'm curious to see the keepers added...... Are those snaps holding the buckles? They look like rivets in the photos. If they are snaps, I haven't seen that style before. Edited May 19, 2019 by bikermutt07 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garypl Report post Posted May 19, 2019 26 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said: Are those snaps holding the buckles? They look like rivets in the photos. If they are snaps, I haven't seen that style before. Mutt - looks like Chicago screws - 4th picture down has a pretty clear view of reverse side and you can see slots in the heads. Gary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted May 19, 2019 5 minutes ago, garypl said: Mutt - looks like Chicago screws - 4th picture down has a pretty clear view of reverse side and you can see slots in the heads. Gary I didn't catch that. I thought those were some plain belts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wizard of tragacanth Report post Posted May 19, 2019 Alex, that is mind blowing production! I especially like the Celtic design. HAND STITCHED?! Wow! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AlexOstacchini Report post Posted May 21, 2019 Thanks again all for the kind words. On 5/19/2019 at 6:05 AM, utah leather said: how much time does it take you to do a stamped belt like that ? and cost ? how thick is the leather you're using ? I foolishly never timed one from start to finish and always had a few on the go at the same time, but i would estimate somewhere around the 12-15 hour mark, with most of that being tooling and 4 hours for stitching. Not the quickest production line in the world but getting steadily faster i think. These are all cut from the same 3.5mm hide, with 1.5ish mm lining, so a total thickness of 5mm or just under. I think that is 12oz but don't understand the US gauge so well. Quite chunky really but at least they shouldn't break... Cost is difficult to quantify exactly and will have to be UK currency i'm afraid, but assuming you mean build cost then as a rough figure £100ish for veg tan and £100 for lining for the whole lot, £5 per buckle, £1 per set of screws, estimate of £5 per belt to cover glue, thread, gum, dye, oil, antique, edge dye, finish etc and we have a total of £19 material cost per belt. Add in a realistic hourly rate on top of that and you have probably more than most people would be willing to pay for one. So no going full time just yet I don't think... :/ On 5/19/2019 at 2:29 PM, garypl said: On 5/19/2019 at 2:01 PM, bikermutt07 said: Are those snaps holding the buckles? They look like rivets in the photos. If they are snaps, I haven't seen that style before. Mutt - looks like Chicago screws - 4th picture down has a pretty clear view of reverse side and you can see slots in the heads Yup, Gary is bang on. The stitching on the reverse side of the buckle plate (or whatever the foldy over bit is called) is purely cosmetic, so although it looks like it's sewn shut, different buckles can still come in and out easily enough. On 5/19/2019 at 6:24 PM, wizard of tragacanth said: I especially like the Celtic design. Thanks, although cannot take full credit as this was pinched from an illuminated border pattern in the Book of Kells, in an attempt at something a bit different to a standard knot. But whichever 9th century monk came up with it did a good job I think. I realised there are no images of the tail end or close enough to see any real detail, so for completion's sake here are a couple more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
