This Art Form Is Going Straight To Hell

[chuck123wapati]

34 minutes ago, Spyros said:

Thats great, for the rest of us who don't want to walk people to our drawer, or upload it to an email every time we want to show a photo, there is always image hosting.

LOL took me two seconds. But as i said to each his own.

Edited August 12, 2020 by chuck123wapati

[DebHop]

On 6/22/2020 at 2:50 AM, Handstitched said:

@DebHop Its sad to see so many leather outlets, cobblers etc. closing down.  I hear of old saddlers , cobblers,  leather workers  etc.  retiring or passing away, but no-one in their families are interested in continuing the trade.   I have a very  old Tandy listing showing all the leather outlets , resellers etc. across Australia ,  there were so many, but now they're all but gone. Tandy opened up  in NSW  here in  Oz a some years ago, and they have gone too now. 

Theres only one outlet of leather & tools in Perth now , my supplier, approx 3hrs away from me, where there used to be several outlets years ago.  But most of my hardware is purchased online from the east. 

All the ' olde'  traditional trades' are disappearing  . Sad . 

Thank God for this forum & the people on it, I've learnt so much   

HS

HS, I'm now ordering roo lace from Australia, and it's taking months to get it because of everything going on.  Cost is steep but I'm still glad I can still get good quality roo lace so I'm willing to wait--don't have much choice.

Certain supplies like roo leather is very short her in the states.

and I agree with you, most of what I learned, and much of my inspiration;  I've gotten right here on the forum.

[Spyros]

34 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

LOL took me two seconds. But as i said to each his own.

Man, that is awesome... if that's near where you live I'm jealous

[Spyros]

13 minutes ago, DebHop said:

HS, I'm now ordering roo lace from Australia, and it's taking months to get it because of everything going on.

What?  Why?  Did you try Austanners or DSHorne?  I buy roo from those two regularly and it usually arrives in 1-2 days from payment.   And last parcel i sent to Europe, just regular mail, was received in 11 days despite COVID.

[DebHop]

1 hour ago, Spyros said:

What?  Why?  Did you try Austanners or DSHorne?  I buy roo from those two regularly and it usually arrives in 1-2 days from payment.   And last parcel i sent to Europe, just regular mail, was received in 11 days despite COVID.

do they carry pre-cut lace?

 

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, Spyros said:

Man, that is awesome... if that's near where you live I'm jealous

Thats on my porch. 

[Spyros]

wow

[Spyros]

1 hour ago, DebHop said:

do they carry pre-cut lace?

 

Not sure because both of them offer products and services that are not listed on their websites, so it's worth emailing Angela and Samantha to ask the question.   They always have kangaroo skins so it's quite possible.  

sam@austanners.com.au

angela@dshorne.com.au

 

[Frodo]

Love the close up of the muley

 

My kitchen window

 

 

[Frodo]

I stopped using Tandy when they went stupid with the shipping price

Seems some dumbass decided that the shipping cost is $12.00 no mater what you buy.  I wanted a simple pattern and the cost was like 5 bucks

All it is , 2 sheets of paper in an envelope,  When i got to check out.  they wanted $12.00 shipping ,  I do not mind paying reasonable shipping cost but I will not stand still for ****

I deleted my account and have not been back.

I buy my leather from http://springfield leather and most of my hardware from  http://steckstore

Edited August 13, 2020 by Northmount
Language

[Spyros]

*** do you all live in disneyland or something

Where's bambi

Edited August 13, 2020 by Northmount
Language

[chuck123wapati]

8 hours ago, Spyros said:

*** do you all live in disneyland or something

Where's bambi

lol nope someplace much better Wyoming.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Northmount
Language

[jcuk]

12 hours ago, Spyros said:

*** do you all live in disneyland or something

Where's bambi

Sorry can't resist, Who Killed Bambi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu_0h2GZXJQ

 

JCUK

[Frodo]

5 hours ago, jcuk said:

Sorry can't resist, Who Killed Bambi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu_0h2GZXJQ

 

JCUK

We ate bambi for breakfast with some gravy and home made biscuits

[jcuk]

On 8/14/2020 at 12:35 AM, Frodo said:

We ate bambi for breakfast with some gravy and home made biscuits

Oh i was lead to believe it was The Sex Pistols or at least Punk Rock how wrong were they or maybe they just lied.

JCUK

[MedusaOblongata]

This thread starts by talking about the state of the leatherworking craft industry, which we probably all know is not robust enough to necessarily remain secure in the long run. From there  it could have gone on to what we all can do to keep the industry alive at least well enough that our suppliers don't all go out of business because there aren't enough of us to sustain them. Instead it went on to ranting about how stupid people are, which, though true, isn't bringing us closer to a solution. Then storytime about old time leathercraft, which also doesn't bring us to a solution. 

What is necessary is to get more people taking up leatherwork. This will expand the market for the supplies that we need to buy, and more interest in the craft across the board will help educate bits of the public enough that they'll understand why we can't sell them belts and wallets for $25 and briefcases for $50. As we've seen, those of us who've tried to spread the word and teach classes haven't had huge success.

 

Complaining that kids just want to play with cell phones and watch TV doesn't help. Teaching kids (and adults) to want other things would be more effective.

 

Yes, Tandy could be leading the way, more effectively. Honestly I'm sure that's exactly what they'd love to do because they'd benefit more than anybody else, since they're so many people's first leather dealer, and many stick with them for a very long time. Clearly they have not been effective enough at making leatherwork more popular. Has anybody thought of giving them ideas? Whatever makes them successful will ultimately make us all successful. Can anybody start one of those popular and stupid TV shows with leatherworkers where they vote one off every week? I haven't owned a TV in decades, but I hear those shows are popular. 

 

I'm just a hobbyist here, not a professional or an expert. I hardly post because I have so much more to learn than I do do teach. It seems clear that we're hanging on to a shrinking industry (tanneries closing, storefronts closing), and that's not a good sign. People on this forum know the industry, though, and collectively we might be able to put some plans into motion that would actually make a difference. 

[Sheilajeanne]

The best thing that happened to me re. leatherwork was being give 8 weeks of free lessons when I purchased a beginners kit from Tandy. My instructor, Bill, was WONDERFUL! He knew it all, and was the store's go-to person for difficult questions that other, less experienced people couldn't answer. Even the store manager depended a lot on Bill, and he and other employees would often tell you "That's a Bill question. Go ask him."  Bill didn't push sales on you, but if you asked him, "What will I need to do this?" he'd take you to the shelves and show you what to buy.

He was getting well up in years, and had health issues. He died in his sleep one night. Tandy customers who knew him ( and there were HUNDREDS) wanted to arrange a memorial for him but the store was unwilling to do it, as they couldn't get family to okay it. :'(

Tandy needs more people like him. And I think they need to have more classes, beyond the beginner's class. There is SO much to learn, and no one to mentor newcomers to the craft.

Except the people on this board. Bill was the one who suggested I come here. 

[mike02130]

10 hours ago, MedusaOblongata said:

This thread starts by talking about the state of the leatherworking craft industry, which we probably all know is not robust enough to necessarily remain secure in the long run. From there  it could have gone on to what we all can do to keep the industry alive at least well enough that our suppliers don't all go out of business because there aren't enough of us to sustain them. Instead it went on to ranting about how stupid people are, which, though true, isn't bringing us closer to a solution. Then storytime about old time leathercraft, which also doesn't bring us to a solution. 

I agree with you.  This seems to be the norm lately.  Maybe a milder boomer version of wokeness?

[Alaisiagae]

1 hour ago, Sheilajeanne said:

The best thing that happened to me re. leatherwork was being give 8 weeks of free lessons when I purchased a beginners kit from Tandy. My instructor, Bill, was WONDERFUL! He knew it all, and was the store's go-to person for difficult questions that other, less experienced people couldn't answer. Even the store manager depended a lot on Bill, and he and other employees would often tell you "That's a Bill question. Go ask him."  Bill didn't push sales on you, but if you asked him, "What will I need to do this?" he'd take you to the shelves and show you what to buy.

He was getting well up in years, and had health issues. He died in his sleep one night. Tandy customers who knew him ( and there were HUNDREDS) wanted to arrange a memorial for him but the store was unwilling to do it, as they couldn't get family to okay it. :'(

Tandy needs more people like him. And I think they need to have more classes, beyond the beginner's class. There is SO much to learn, and no one to mentor newcomers to the craft.

Except the people on this board. Bill was the one who suggested I come here. 7

I'm glad Tandy offers beginner classes, but you're right, some more advanced classes would be nice. My local store primarily offered beginner classes and not as diverse a range of classes as some of the other stores (back when they posted the class schedules on the Tandy website for each store). Now with the pandemic, there are no classes anymore. My local store is also pretty small, so there could only be 4 or 5 (at most) people signed up for a class.

I feel that the staff at my local Tandy store could use some sales lessons. I was in the store finishing up a class project when a guy walks in and is interested in leather and asks where to begin. One of the staff says that depends on what you want to go into, like armor, holsters and sheathes, or fashion bags. Me, I would have directed the fellow to an easy kit or asked him to sign up for a beginner class to dip his toes into leatherwork without having to commit to a butt-load of tools and supplies right off the bat. How could someone possibly know exactly what they want to specialize in when they have zero experience? In the end, the fellow walked out of the store without buying anything. That was a missed sales opportunity right there. 

[OLESKIVER]

what I get from all this is that most of you have had no experience with Tandy's before the 90's. in the early years, that was all you had { 50's 60's 70's and into the 80's} they used to make their own tools and had a tannery. then they went belly up, or atleast to the point of closing all their stores and having internet only, plus a lot of c.s. osborne tools. now their tools are made in china, {not a fan of china made tools, much less anything from there} and most if not all of their leather is imported now too. the store close to me has no one that really knows leather craft. I asked the manager if he did leather work and he said " only when he was at work" really? as for the new CEO of Tandy? personally I don't think she knows that much about it personally. Why would you drop 99% of your figure carving tools, which by the way makes half your how to books obsolete? don't understand that one. I started this hobby/trade when I was in Jr. high. all my craftools are from the 60's 70's and 80's. have bought a few a few yrs ago but then found out they were made in china, so haven't bought any more. Oh, and when they had their " Professional Tool" line of stamps? they had them miss labeled. they were their stab at making sheridan tools. that is my 2 cents worth, but due to inflation... well never mind. amy buying a bunch of C.S.Osborne tools right now. then get some of sergys tools then, since Sheridan style is the flavor of the month, I guess I will have to bite the bullet and start buying BK tools.. and one of the problems about getting new people into this hobby is that most of what I have seen are trying to do the Sheridan style instead of something more geared to their inexperience like Tandy { al stohlman} or maybe the northwest style.} I taught this when I was in high school. and I do miss Tandys magazines, craftsman and later Make it with leather. lots of nice patterns and useful topics.

[Sheilajeanne]

Alaisiage, very true!

I was lucky that I got Bill as my sales person right off the bat. He did exactly as you suggested!

Oleskiver, yes, they seem to be 'dumbing down' their kits, making everything so simple even an idiot could do it. It's discouraging people who want something more complex and beautiful. And you are SO right about them eliminating tools needed for the more complex projects.

However, I am not sure I'd qualify Stohlman's work as 'easy' or 'simple' to do! He was a master craftsman and artist, and a lot of his designs need tools Tandy no longer sells.   

Edited August 23, 2020 by Sheilajeanne

[Johanna]

I used to manage a Tandy store in the 90s. We were open 54 hours a week and expected to run the store, teach classes and ship orders. I discovered it could take me an hour to sell a bag of rivets and a setter, and then I had to teach the customer how to do it. This was necessary retail service, but didn't help my numbers and made me look bad to corporate. So I made sure the coffee was fresh, and I let my regulars sit at the cutting table and work on their projects and tell fish tales. When I was busy, I could yell "Hey, Mike, will you show this gentlemen how to set a rivet?" My guys were great. Sometimes when I'd get back to the table they had convinced the customer to max out his credit card on shiny new tools. That was possible because the customers had confidence they were getting what they needed, and that people would help them learn as they went along. So, inadvertently, that's how this forum was born. I wanted it to be friendly like the back table, and give people the confidence to try the project, or a place to show off just how awesome their project turned out. If some rivets are swapped or hides are traded, all the better. If friendships are made, mentorships happen or we establish world peace through coordinated hammer taps, I will not have lived in vain. 

~J

[Sheilajeanne]

Awesome post, Johanna!  

[Alaisiagae]

I didn't know that, Johanna, thank you for sharing. :-)

Oleskiver, technically most of the tools are made in Taiwan, and any Taiwanese will tell you they are NOT China (despite China's claims). I agree that the tool quality is not super duper fantastic, but it's affordable enough for a beginner like me, and having a physical store I can walk into, ask questions, see and touch the tools, try them out - that's an experience I really enjoy. I do agree that it is frustrating when a craftaid or pattern calls for a tool/product that is no longer offered. I wish there was a way to just interchange the heads of the stamps on a single handle.

 

[DJole]

4 hours ago, Johanna said:

 If friendships are made, mentorships happen or we establish world peace through coordinated hammer taps, I will not have lived in vain. 

~J

World peace? That's a tall order, ma'am! I'd better get that mallet out and start working on it right away!
The other things -- you've got an excellent start on that here.