New Stuff at Springfield Leather Col.

[Tugadude]

Well, my daughter's car problems created the opportunity for me to travel to Springfield, MO yesterday and I was fortunate to have time to stop by SLC.

I bought some very nice leather that they had on special along with some hardware I needed.

But there are two items I though others should know about if they haven't seen them.  One is some new thread they are stocking and the other is a diamond stitching chisel.  Actually, they have two new types of chisels in stock, but I'm going to be talking about the polished ones.

Bear in mind I haven't used the chisels or the thread yet, but I can tell just by looking at the irons that they are going to be great.  They are made of stainless steel and highly polished.  The teeth are very slick.  I'm thinking they will be easy to remove after punching through thicker leather.  They are quite small too.  The teeth are a lot smaller than some of the other diamond chisels I've tried.  The overall size of the irons is diminutive.  They look and feel "dainty", but with care I think they will last a long time.

The thread is a flat, woven polyester and is SLC's answer to Ritza 25 Tiger Thread.  They call it Rhino thread.  It is listed as 1.0 mm.  Comes in tons of colors too.  If the thread turns out to be a "worker" I'm going to ask them to consider bringing in smaller sizes as 0.6 and 0.8 are handy for smaller items.

Over the next few days I'll be experimenting with both the irons and the thread and report back on them.

 

[Frodo]

I saw that,  I picked up a set of the black chisels,  so far i like them

I did not eee the thread,  and am in need of a different thread supplier

When i order waxed thread i want waxed thread, not some thread that was made in a factory that had a candle in the window

Edited October 29, 2020 by Frodo

[Tugadude]

The teeth on the chisels I purchased are smaller than the ones on the black chisels, which is one reason I bought them.  I prefer smaller holes, especially with finer threads of course.

[Tugadude]

I'll do a couple of stitch lines with various chisels and the new thread and post tomorrow.

[Tugadude]

Well, my experiment with the new thread is inconclusive, at least on some points.  I'll try to do something over the weekend using black leather so that the yellow shows up better.  As it stands I used the yellow thread on a piece of softish veg-tan and you really can't see much.  I think the thread is a bit large for the iron though, and will try something else to confirm.

I really admire those that are set up to do professional-looking photos.  Mine ain't.  But hopefully they will get the point across.

The new irons from SLC really are small.  But they aren't too small in my opinion.  They feel dainty and elegant, but I think they will be plenty durable so long as care is shown to them.

I examined the teeth very closely and confirmed that they are indeed highly polished.  When I hammered them through two layers of 4-5oz. veg-tan, they came back out easily, no wax required.  Both of the Tandy chisels were much harder to remove.

The thread seems to be a "soft" weave if that makes sense.  It isn't what I'd call tightly woven, at least the spool I purchased.  Time will tell how it behaves.  The thread has plenty of wax on it.  No complaints there.  Like I said, I need to use it with some larger chisels and on some black leather and maybe that will help to determine the aesthetic qualities better.

If you look at the holes created by the three irons you will see that the Tandy Craftool Pro are long and thin compared with the "Black" Tandy Craftool chisel.  The black irons are perfect for larger thread, but the holes are undeniably chunky.

The new SLC irons seem to be what I've been looking for in an iron.  They make small, clean, diamond-shaped holes and are easy to pull out from the leather.  They have met my expectations.

Hopefully on Saturday I can find some time to do a few lines of stitching with some smaller thread, 0.6 and 0.8.  I think I'll find that the SLC 3.0 chisels are perfect with the smaller threads.

 

 

Here's the other pics.

[TonySFLDLTHR]

Glad to see you posted this Tuga...we have tried to get the word out about all of this, but it is guys like you and those in the forums that really help.

The Rhino thread is 1mm so it it is pretty big for those irons. The explanation on the Rhino is very good...it is a looser weave especially when compared to Tiger thread. 

I would say that two big differences between Tiger Thread and Rhino Thread....weave and price per yard.

 

Love seeing your review of this...hope you able to get by on a week day! Maybe we will get you in a LIVE video with us!  

[Tugadude]

15 minutes ago, TonySFLDLTHR said:

Glad to see you posted this Tuga...we have tried to get the word out about all of this, but it is guys like you and those in the forums that really help.

The Rhino thread is 1mm so it it is pretty big for those irons. The explanation on the Rhino is very good...it is a looser weave especially when compared to Tiger thread. 

I would say that two big differences between Tiger Thread and Rhino Thread....weave and price per yard.

 

Love seeing your review of this...hope you able to get by on a week day! Maybe we will get you in a LIVE video with us!  

The Rhino works good with my larger irons and I will be buying more colors.  I had some .06mm thread on hand and it works perfectly with the 3mm irons that I purchased.  Pulling them out of the leather is smooth and easy.  I look forward to using them on some upcoming projects.

And Tony, I always enjoy seeing Jeff when I'm in the store.  He is knowledgeable and very friendly.  

[TonySFLDLTHR]

10 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

The Rhino works good with my larger irons and I will be buying more colors.  I had some .06mm thread on hand and it works perfectly with the 3mm irons that I purchased.  Pulling them out of the leather is smooth and easy.  I look forward to using them on some upcoming projects.

And Tony, I always enjoy seeing Jeff when I'm in the store.  He is knowledgeable and very friendly.  

You know....now through the end of the month Rhino thread is $4.99 for 250 yards. https://www.springfieldleather.com/Rhino-Hand-Sewing-Thread

We are having 20 days of sales right now!

https://www.springfieldleather.com/sale/crazy-days

Edited November 12, 2020 by TonySFLDLTHR

[Tugadude]

Perfect timing

[Retswerb]

Oof, $8.55 shipping for a $4.99 roll of thread. I’ll pass, must be nice to be close enough to visit in person.

[Tugadude]

1 hour ago, Retswerb said:

Oof, $8.55 shipping for a $4.99 roll of thread. I’ll pass, must be nice to be close enough to visit in person.

Buy a few rolls.

[Retswerb]

5 hours ago, Tugadude said:

Buy a few rolls.

Kinda misses the point of trying out a new product to see whether or not I like it. I was just a little taken aback.

[rleather]

I haven't  bought from them in about a year, just for that very reason. Their shipping is higher than others for like products and shipping distance. I hope they lower the shipping, because I miss buying from them , they used to be my sole source.

[Tugadude]

On November 12, 2020 at 1:24 PM, TonySFLDLTHR said:

You know....now through the end of the month Rhino thread is $4.99 for 250 yards. https://www.springfieldleather.com/Rhino-Hand-Sewing-Thread

We are having 20 days of sales right now!

https://www.springfieldleather.com/sale/crazy-days

Tony, you may want to investigate the issue of shipping charges as it relates to the last two posts.  Perhaps adjustments are in order.

[Frodo]

Rhino Hand Sewing Thread

Retail: $4.99

 

Order Summary

$4.99 Subtotal 1 item

 

Ship to: my zip

$7.96 Shipping

$12.95 Estimated Total

Here is the problem a $4.99 item and the shipping is $7.96

 

VS

Amazon    $8.99 and free shipping

Difference of 4 bucks per roll,  

 

Rhino Thread Hand Sewing Thread for Leather (Light Brown)

https://www.amazon.com/Rhino-Thread-Sewing-Leather-Light/dp/B08M84SDP3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PX8BKZGSHCHG&dchild=1&keywords=rhino%2Bthread&qid=1605421214&sprefix=rhino%2Bthread%2Caps%2C200&sr=8-1&th=1

$8.99

FREE Shipping

Edited November 15, 2020 by Frodo

[TonySFLDLTHR]

On 11/13/2020 at 5:35 AM, Retswerb said:

Oof, $8.55 shipping for a $4.99 roll of thread. I’ll pass, must be nice to be close enough to visit in person.

 

On 11/13/2020 at 1:18 PM, rleather said:

I haven't  bought from them in about a year, just for that very reason. Their shipping is higher than others for like products and shipping distance. I hope they lower the shipping, because I miss buying from them , they used to be my sole source.

Yes I will go in and see if we can get something figured out. And give those working on the new shipping quote system a push.

[TonySFLDLTHR]

So I did a quick check on this and it has to do with the sizes or certain items and customers were just choosing First Class shipping for everything, but not all items by weight can actually fit in the box size for First Class.

However if you call in then we can do First Class over the phone. Amazon is cheaper if you only buy one spool of Rhino, but you should be able to ship 3 spools for the same price as the you could 1 on the website.

Like I said though...this is something we are working to get resolved, but fixing 10,000+ items is daunting at the moment.

Feel free to send me questions like this or other troubles you might have.

[Spyros]

To be fair to the shops the majority of customers are dumb, they prefer to get sucked in by the low price and get shafted in shipping.  Not any one customer specifically, but the collective customer behaviour overall is juvenile. Even the .99 pricing everywhere is a clear indication of how dumb we really behave, it basically says "this shop believes you're so dumb that you can't read decimals" 

But if you put shipping down or make it free, and you build it into the price in a way that it's the same total income for the shop (which makes a lot more sense for the customer because it's the only way to KNOW what he's actually going to pay at a glance without having to complete the whole order), customers are actually put off by it and they go looking elsewhere.

Not your fault Tony, when it comes to pricing you have an obligation to assume people are stupid.

 

 

[Retswerb]

13 hours ago, Spyros said:

But if you put shipping down or make it free, and you build it into the price in a way that it's the same total income for the shop (which makes a lot more sense for the customer because it's the only way to KNOW what he's actually going to pay at a glance without having to complete the whole order), customers are actually put off by it and they go looking elsewhere.

This is in fact a huge motivator for me personally as a shopper. I know ‘free’ shipping is never free, but it at least makes it easier for me to know what my cost is as I’m shopping. The absolute worst is when a site makes you log in or enter full address info before you can see a shipping cost, that’s usually a dealbreaker for me unless I’m out of other options. Springfield lets you calculate based on entering a postal code, which is a much preferable method at least.
 

@TonySFLDLTHR, good to know I might have other options by phone, I’ll keep that in mind. 

[TonySFLDLTHR]

16 hours ago, Spyros said:

To be fair to the shops the majority of customers are dumb, they prefer to get sucked in by the low price and get shafted in shipping.  Not any one customer specifically, but the collective customer behaviour overall is juvenile. Even the .99 pricing everywhere is a clear indication of how dumb we really behave, it basically says "this shop believes you're so dumb that you can't read decimals" 

But if you put shipping down or make it free, and you build it into the price in a way that it's the same total income for the shop (which makes a lot more sense for the customer because it's the only way to KNOW what he's actually going to pay at a glance without having to complete the whole order), customers are actually put off by it and they go looking elsewhere.

Not your fault Tony, when it comes to pricing you have an obligation to assume people are stupid.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Retswerb said:

This is in fact a huge motivator for me personally as a shopper. I know ‘free’ shipping is never free, but it at least makes it easier for me to know what my cost is as I’m shopping. The absolute worst is when a site makes you log in or enter full address info before you can see a shipping cost, that’s usually a dealbreaker for me unless I’m out of other options. Springfield lets you calculate based on entering a postal code, which is a much preferable method at least.
 

@TonySFLDLTHR, good to know I might have other options by phone, I’ll keep that in mind. 

I appreciate all of these thoughts and I can promise you this all goes into our process. We try to be as clear as we can and not try and hide extra fees and such....then have to come back and say...oh wow we now will be honest with our pricing.

Right now our system pulls exactly what it would cost if anyone would ship what you purchase. Of course our price level is bulk pricing so we get that break and pass that on. With USPS always losing money...it is always the end consumer that suffers (when they raise prices)...especially in this pandemic day and age. 

Always feel free to call us if you question anything and we will do our to answer them. Our success is built on all of the crafters being successful as well.

[wayner]

I ordered something a few months back and called SLC when i ordered it because the shipping was ridiculous . They were going to put it in a regular envelope and pay regular postage to send it to me. well the person i was talking to on the phone when i ordered it agreed that the shipping was going to be to high and just charged what the postage was going to be. Now i don't know if they do this all of the Time but they did it for me and it was only the third time i've ordered from them and no order has been very big. 

[Tugadude]

What I've learned from some of the recent posts is that there still is no replacement for picking up the phone and contacting a seller when you think something isn't right.  That is the best way for them to get feedback.  When they get enough of those calls, I have to assume they will take action.  I've worked at several levels in the construction products industry, the manufacturer level and the distributor level and I can tell you my biggest frustration is when a customer calls to say they've been having problems with something and that this is the third time, etc., etc.  I always ask why they didn't call the first time because it would have been good to know and we maybe could have fixed it and prevented more issues.  This is the same.  As a result of the feedback in this thread, SLC is looking into their shipping prices and realized that they might be missing out on some orders due to the issue.   I feel good that it is being fixed.  That's a win-win for our industry.

[TonySFLDLTHR]

I think this has turned into a very excellent post. @Tugadude is spot on. Just pick up the phone and we will do all we can to make it right. As great as computers are....there always seems to be limitations to some extent.

Even in some of these cases and I had our online chat turned on...I would ask you to call in. This is mostly due because I am the one that runs that as well as all the other stuff. (Like pictures for site, hosting our SLC LIVE videos on YouTube, website management and on and on)
The girls on the phones are so busy right now and they can't do the chat and do phones. Don't get me wrong we love being able to help in all the ways we can, but we want to make sure it is the best possible help.

Once we get all our other stuff in line...we will be able to open back up our first class shipping online and that will help for these small orders. Also, we are looking hard at how we can get a free shipping option if order over a certain amount...without raising product prices.

Love the thoughts here and the great discussion that has come from this.