lazybum

Any thoughts about this? I'm usually a leather wallet guy but this is really interesting. Really unusual stuff. Wonder how much they're gonna go for.

Found them here: https://www.facebook.com/daxthewallet

Apparently they're gonna go on kickstarter soon

about to ask the same question with sean_afk

 

did you punch all the stitching holes altogether while the leather stacks? or layer by layer?

I made the holes after the leather is glued together if that is what you are trying to ask. But I wouldn't say I "punched" them as I used an awl to make the holes, not a pricking iron. No way you can use a pricking iron for such a thick layer.

Thanks! Yeap they are stitched all the way through. Stitching through thick, hard and stiff layers of leather is no joke. My hands almost broke out in blisters. The last layer at the heel was glued on though. I figured the heel usually wears off pretty fast and I don't want my stitches to be worn through too quickly so I slapped on that extra layer.

My 2 slippers broke in succession recently, so I decided to make a replacement for myself that hopefully won’t break as fast. It's my first ever piece of footwear, hence the design is kind of a guestimation. Feels quite comfotable so far, but only time will tell if I've got it right.

Thanks bummer. Yeah that's my concern too. Seems like there's no other way but to DIY dye. For edges I use water to burnish and plain old beeswax to finish it off. The trick is to sand down the edges real nice while burnishing. Takes a heck of a long time but so far I haven't found any other way that makes a more smooth and lasting edge. You can use a dremel but I find doing it by hand still gives the smoothest results. I don't always do this though as it's really time consuming, especially for bigger stuff.

@mrh check our leatherworker.net and it's forum. You can find almost everything you need to know there.

Thanks hollows! Yeah I considered that option before but that means the edges will still be left in natural color. That's why i'm still searching for a struck through option.

Nice trucker bummer! Did you dye the leather yourself or did you buy it with the dye struck through? Been looking for quality struck through dyed leather with little luck.

Been trying to push forward with the design side of things lately. Bone choker inspired bracelet fresh off the bench.

@howler

The guts are completely removable. I shamelessly took the idea from one of redmoon's wallets.

@Ericlsaiah

Very nice! What leather is that?

Looking sleek!

A long overdue request from a friend. Envelope style long wallet.

A fun little project. Made these as gifts.

The japanese books are a great way to learn about a different perspective. The japanese have their own style of doing things that are not covered in most of the english books. Knowing the different styles help you appreciate why certain things are done the way they are done which I feel helps you develop your own style of leather crafting.

Some simple stuff done recently

A lightweight, skinny belt for my sister

And a bike chain inspired bracelet

Age them yourself? I like my brass to antique naturally so I remove the coating on most of them. At least for those that I care for, because it's a pain in the ass for me to do it as the only method that works for me is sandblasting them. Stupid coating doesn't come off even after I soak it in lacquer thinner for a month! I've been dreaming of owning one of those tumblers but sadly they're not possible where I live.

On another note, recently got around to trying something that i've been wanting to try make for a while. A shoulder bag that is slightly more challenging in design for my standards. Chromexcel and Suede.

I believe either option will be a great choice. But just to chime in, you might want to look at Terry Dear's Quercus belt too. I believe the leather used is the same as Equus's. In fact I believe it was his Quercus project with mike that sparked off this whole 12 months oak bark tanned leather craze before Equus came into the sufu radar. The best part is his pricing is incredibly modest for the quality that he offers.

Made some coad (shoemaker's wax). Colourless variation - no pitch/tar, just beeswax and rosin.

Took me 3 tries to get it right. First 2 times were too soft, leaving sticky residues everywhere it touched like some blu tack gone bad. On the last attempt I just poured the molten blend into a bowl lined with foil and left it to cool and harden without taffy pulling. Equally effective if you stir well enough imo. There are a few bits of rosin (those amber spots) that did not blend in, but it's good enough for me.

@lazybum : not finished yet. I'm gonna make a "central folding weld" (not sure about the term). I guest it's what you're talking about ? I made a model in PVC flooring material and it worked pretty fine. Would gladly take any advice from you for this part.

Anyway, nice notebook cover. Love the color.

Thanks. The color texture of horsehide is lovely.

Yeah I think we're on the same page. As long as the inner layer is shorter in length than the outer shell so that the wallet can fold properly. I usually settle that portion first before putting anything together so I thought you missed out that step.

Shoulder bag that i've been using lightly for about 9 months now

I believe its hand stitched.

@Joey

Nice and clean job so far! Although i'm not too sure about the construction. It may not fold properly and even if it does, it may be difficult to retrieve notes. Unless that part is still not finished yet?

What I have been working on recently - an A5 notebook cover custom designed for a friend. The arrowhead pocket for the strap was his idea.

Fair enough, I think it is within reason to ask for the links to be removed. But I feel that we should continue to encourage anyone to post their leatherworks, whether they are intending to sell it or not, because I feel that selling your works is part and parcel of being a good craftsman.

I mean if you think about it leathercrafting is something that can only be improved with practice and experience, and that means making a lot of stuff. But you can't possibly give away everything you make. It is not a cheap craft to practice and you would have to sell something at some point to buy more materials to keep your craft going. So most craftsmen who have reached a certain level of craftsmanship would have already started, or would have to start selling their works sooner or later. So does that mean when a craftsman has reached that stage, he cannot participate in this thread anymore? I think that will really restrict the amount of quality content that makes it to this thread.

Of course i'm not advocating that we should allow people to use this thread to aggresively push their products. But at the same time we should not become all hostile just because someone posted something that he happened to be selling. Like what hollows said, most of us are able to tell when someone only participates to push his products.

From the mod's last post i'm guessing that he understands this, and that he only hopes to have the links removed, not much else. It was the reactions to the first couple of posts that worried me about the thread's future.

P.S. As much as I do not really like that the last thread was closed, thumbs up to the new thread being in superculture. I always thought the last thread was a misfit in supershopper.

Been into necklace making recently. Here's one with a pewter feather pendant.

This one is inspired by God Gundam

If you can return it return it. Even you want to call it "character" theres no escaping that it looks pretty ugly. No way that is sell-able condition

Put together a long wallet set recently. Features a simple design that seeks to allows the rawness of the leather and brass to shine through.

@TBG

Really appreciate your goodwill and compliments for me but I really don't think OGL ripped me off or intended to rip me off. According to this cross post on OGL's thread, that wallet was a custom design inspired by imperial jeans' signature arc so I doubt there was any reference to any of my designs. I believe this is probably a case of misunderstanding.

Besides, if you were refering to the decorative stitching, the similarity is quite minimal so even if OGL did intend to rip me off (which I seriously don't think they did), I would say that they have done a decent job improvising and I wouldn't have felt ripped off either. Personally, i'm pretty open to cross adoptation of ideas as i'm a believer that it is one of the drivers of innovation, as long as the intention to rip off is not there.

I wouldn't say that OGL has not made any products that bears resemblance to that of other leathercrafters' before, but then again they do have their share of original designs so it would not be fair to them to label them as rip offs.

My knowledge is limited, but from what I know I don't think it is advisable to soak your leather like that. You might just wash out the tannins in the leather causing your leather to deteriorate if done multiple times.

But anyway nice wallet. Love the yellow stitching and edging. Would have preferred to see some english though.

You really surpass many of the Japanese craftsmen that I have seen. Better start thinking about doing this full time, man.

There's a lot of craftsmen that are way better too. Plus my knowledge and skills are still considered pretty limited and narrow.

Take this guy that I recently found on the net for instance. I don't think he hand sews everything, but even if they aren't, they're still mind blowing in every other rights. It is true artisans like them that really humbles me.

Besides, I take way too much time per item for converting to full time to be viable.

Its a great honour, but you flatter me too much hollows! There is still much for me to learn and improve on. And definitely still a long way to the standard set by the top tier Japanese craftsmen!