How to make leather goods videos

[chrisash]

Production was something I considered, but found out with a limited pension it was to much of a risk so never followed it up

I had identified a market for girls and horses in the UK, where many girls are mad keen on riding and buy anything that is connected to horses, my idea was to make belts for them with embossed patterns for wearing with jeans and sold through tack shops in the region of £30 each to the shop and £40-45 retail

The embossing wheels would be made by Sergey Neskromniy at just over £120 each

in brass and about £600 for the belt embossing press plus a tool for the belt holes and end cuts say a total cost of just over £1000 plus leather and fittings

Half a dozen designs on maybe two sizes of belt width

Quite a easy market well defined and selling only by tack shops so that potential copiers would not see the designs and copy to sell on EBay or Etsy etc undercutting me

Anyway its not for me but think how many you could turn out in a day doing just say 10 belts at a time with everything setup so they all did the same task at the same time

Anyone wanting the idea is welcome to have it , all the tack shops i visited were happy to buy the stock

I imagine for Americans there must be a massive market for 1911  pancake holsters at a good price

[toxo]

For most people working with leather, profitability is a mysterious dim light at the end of a very long tunnel. As a retiree leather work appealed to my constructive nature as something that I can do as I slow down. Even as a newbie I've already laid out more money than I'm gonna get back any time soon and as much as I'd like to I can't justify spending what would be substantial outlay for a say a skiving machine. Don't get me wrong, I like profit as much as the next man but I also like to work at my own pace. There should be lots of younger guys with drive that will benefit from what your trying to do but they'll have to have the space and the money to invest in stock and machinery.

[JLSleather]

3 minutes ago, toxo said:

For most people working with leather, profitability is a mysterious dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.

I think that's the issue he's attempting to address.  THAT ALONE makes any video in that direction UNLIKE what is currently available. Most videos (I don't say all because i haven't seen all) DELIBERATELY drag out a simple idea in an attempt to "baffle you with BS"... standard cheap trick marketing.  Longer we can get you to sit there staring at some pointless, nearly useless pictures, the more "ads" and "commercials" we can stick in there. And the more time your competition is getting something accomplished and you are not.

I've seen quite a few "holster videos" (the quotes because THEY called it that, even if I wouldn't call it that).  One effeminate "leather guy"... made an HOUR AND A HALF video about making a holster.. which covered the information in Stohlman's "how to make holsters" book, ONE HALF of what is on PAGE 6.  Hmmm.. lemme see... I can pay for a video (or more ignorant, a SUBSCRIPTION to videos) and sit for HOURS of NOT doing leather stuff, or i can download a free e-book, use the money I didn't spend on the CARNIVAL SHOW to buy LEATHER, and actually get some EXPERIENCE ... 

So, I'm the 'NOT VIDEO' guy - according to some who pretend to pay attention - but I'm ALL FOR somebody offering USEFUL INFORMATION for those who want it.

[chrisash]

Must say I am the opposite, at seventy I wanted to learn something new and took on two challenges, one 3D Printing the other make some leather goods

I have watched hours of Nigel Armitage Vimeo pack and whilst i don't yet, use much of it , i have learnt a hell of a lot and far more than from a book or two

To learn 3D, I had to learn Fusion 360, and again there are masters on the subject from fusion, teaching you every step on how best to learn and use it

Learning can be by doing it yourself the hard way, or doing that as well as taking assistance by any means to make your knowledge far better

There is no right or wrong just your own prefered route, but if you run a business then time is very very expensive money

[JLSleather]

I was just making the point that if I spend an hour and a half watching a video of some unlearned fish (pronounced Dumb Bass) trace around a gun with a pencil, SOMEBODY should shoot me, cuz I've clearly lost the good sense to do it myself.

I lack time to do that, and if I had the time, I'd lack the patience for it anyway.  I'm typing all this because I'm at home today and kids are asleep, so I can't make a bunch of noise just yet. 

With that... I give the topic back to @RockyAussie -- Im out

 

[RockyAussie]

Thanks to you all that have given me your feed back on this question. I am sorry to say that the interest level is less than I expected. That's alright and I'm glad I asked before I blew too much time and effort and $$$ into this idea. Doing your homework always pays off. Given the amount of people that follow me here on L.W. and that my posts don't pretend to represent myself as anything other than a leather goods manufacturer, I mistakenly thought that there would be more people interested in gaining the experience of how to do what I do. I would have loved to know all of the techniques I've developed over the years when I was a lot younger and I realise that  experience would have saved me many thousands $$$ in mistakes and slow processing and as well have made many $$$$ more into my pocket instead. I have to admit when I found L.W. I was looking for more of a manufacturing related forum hoping to swap notes and techniques etc but could not find it then or now either. I guess some here like @Matt Sare looking for similar but for whatever the reason very few others here are. Thank you @Gymnast for your kind offer of help and I would especially like to thank @JLSleather for articulating so well your thoughts that in so many ways correspond with my own. Billybop, Chrisach and Toxo Thanks for your comments and I will do my best when time allows to try and get a few vids done here and there.

For now I think my next one will be how to do a join in shock cord to make a pulley belt. Try and find out how to do that on you tube . My edging machine belt finally threw it in last week

My emergency replacement (2mm shock cord with a knot)

Here I have stretched out some 4mm cord and peeled it back and stuck the rubber together

Success at last and so far it shows good and strong after a couple of full days in use.

Next one should look better I reckon.

[Chain]

Sounds something similar to what dieselpunk.ro is doing
He designs and sells the patterns, along with a video tutorial for the pattern and has a Facebook support group.
 

[JLSleather]

Truth be told,  you're probably accomplishing more each week than many "leather workers" really care to do at all.  Many of them, I suspect, retired from or are still currently at jobs where they got a check simply because they were there, "clocked in".  Actual operation, maintenance, work flow, material acquisition, inventory, cash flow.... all somebody else's problem.  Which is why they are there.  And if the place caught fire, their biggest "worry" was who will be supplying them with money next week   

As such, I'd dare say many just don't "get" the idea of having machinery, much less "figgerin" how to replace a broken belt that isn't available over the counter.  Necessity the mother of invention, I guess -- and many Americans don't see the point of actual work if somebody is already giving you money anyway. [The midwest American farmer an EXCEPTION, I stand on my feet when I meet that guy and shake his hand].  Lemme guess... you machined those pulleys in the pic yourself?

But, your topic was not without value (did me some good).  You are to be commended for making the offer.  Not to mention that's a NICE lookin' wallet back a bit.

[toxo]

The one thing that's not been mentioned is "what market is there for what I'm making". Most people could find a small market for a niche product say for example an archery arm brace but it's no good spending big money on the right tools to make 1000 arm braces a week if you're only selling 3/4.

Now if your contacts were big enough to be able to say "invest in the equipment and I will guarantee to take what you don't sell at minimal markup", that's win win.

[chrisash]

Out of interest did you scarf the joint or just edge to edge, I imagine scarfing would give more strength, but hey if it works