leather

Properly Casing Leather

Posted by Don Gonzales
 From seasoned veterans to greenhorns, casing leather can be a trying task for many of us.  This is compounded with the fact that different brands and tannages of leather can react much differently to our standard casing process.  This makes it difficult sometimes to achieve the results that we want in our leather projects.

In this article I will discuss my process for casing leather and how I adapt for different thicknesses in order to get that perfect water content for carving and stamping.  I will also touch on casing leather during forming and how I case leather parts that require gluing during the forming process.

What is Casing leather?

“Casing” leather is the process of adding water to vegetable tanned leather.  This is done to soften the fibers of the leather to achieve many tasks within a leather crafting project.  These tasks can include carving with a swivel knife, stamping, forming and skiving or thinning down of leather.  Vegetable tanned leather has been tanned but is still in a bit of a raw state which allows the craftsman to introduce water easily into the fibers of the leather.  This is what is called “casing” and is an essential skill that must be learned.

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Make a Pancake Knife Scabbard

Posted by Don Gonzales

In this video I show how to make a pancake knife scabbard.  These scabbards are very popular and easy to make.  They are a great project whether you are new to leatherwork or a seasoned maker.

The scabbards that I am making in this video are patterned for a double blade trapper knife set at a forward tilt for a more comfortable fit and ease of taking the knife out.  Here is a link to the Case Trapper knives that are most common for this style (this is an amazon affiliate link and we get a few pennies if you buy using this link).  In the video I walk you through my entire process from cutting them out to finishing the edges.

If you are wanting to make a few simple items that sell well to your customers, or want to make some gifts for christmas this is the item I suggest.

If you enjoy the video and would like to purchase the companion pattern pack for the video you can purchase it HERE.  The pattern pack is an INSTANT DOWNLOAD PDF that includes the cut patterns for both the front and back including stitch lines as well as 8 different tooling patterns to get you started.

The versatility of these scabbards are endless.  You can buckstitch them instead of sewing them, you can make them rough out for a more rugged look, you can make them simple by using scrap latigo, or make them as ornate as you would like with tooling, painting, and maybe bling (if your into that).

Thanks so much and I hope you find the video helpful.

Saddle making and Cantle backs

Posted by Don Gonzales

In this video, I walk you through the process that I use to put my cantle back and plugs on when building saddles.

Everyone has their own way of doing this step within a build and this is just to show you how I do mine.

If you like this video please subscribe to our channel for the latest videos that we add. Thanks so much!

 

7 Essentials for the One Man Workshop

Posted by Don Gonzales

For many of us in the saddle making or leatherworking industry, we are a shop of one or maybe two people.  This business model has both its advantages and difficulties.  Finding time to design the products, build the products and market the products all while keeping a handle on the administrative aspects of our business make for a challenging day to day.

While most of us can not afford to hire a full time office manager or marketing manager, we can use the wonderful technology that is right at our fingertips and virtually free when compared to adding staff.

In this article, I will show you the 7 essentials for a one man workshop in my opinion.  There are definitely more apps, tools, and systems that can be put into place to help you accomplish your business goals, but this short list is what I would call the minimum to help you minimize the work involved in running a one man show.

1. Smart Phone

The first in our list is the smart phone.  Whether you carry an iphone or Android, the majority of the population to date is carrying some sort of phone with internet capabilities.  This little device, although sometimes very intrusive and time consuming, can be your best asset to help you run your small business.

At first glance, the infinite availability of apps for these phones is astonishing to say the least.  You can download apps to give you access to all your marketing and social media channels so that you can monitor and update on the go.  You can get apps to edit photos and even your website straight from your phone without having to sit down at a computer.   You can access all your email addresses and contacts from this device.

Outside of being completely available and connected to your customers all day everyday (which can be hard on productivity at time), the camera available on these devices has brought a quality to our workshop photos that before was limited to only those who dabbled in photography along with their craft.

The ability to capture quality photos of your works in progress, completed works, and videos of work being done has opened our shops up to both interested consumers as well as fellow craftsmen through social media and these devices.

In my opinion the smartphone is one of the most essential tools for any one man craftsman looking to grow his/her business.  Never before have we had so much marketing power and access to our customers wrapped up in a device small enough to fit in your pocket.

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Swivel Knife Tutorial

Posted by Don Gonzales

Many leatherheads make the claim that the swivel knife is the hardest tool in the leather shop to learn and master.  I would agree with that statement, but I also believe that anyone can master it with the right amount dedication and practice.

When I say the word “practice,” I don’t mean practicing on the orders you have or faking it till you make it.  I mean actual practice!  This is not a tool that you will just bump along with and then one day it will magically become your magic wand of art.

This tool can make or break the final quality and beauty of your artwork.  In order to start a project off in the right direction, take the time to put in the hours of practice with this tool.  I recommend taking at least 15 minutes at the start of your day or at the end of your day to do nothing but play with the knife.  You don’t have to layout a complex pattern in order to practice.  Just grab a piece of scrap leather and go to carving and playing around.  If you do this everyday for two weeks, I promise you will see improvement within your patterns that you carve.

The simple techniques in this latest video will get you comfortable with the fundamental elements that are required of you in virtually every pattern you will carve into leather.  Give this video a look and try practicing them in your shop now.

Thanks so much and I hope you find this video useful and informative.  Be sure to hit the subscribe button and if you have any questions or comments send us an email and I would be glad to help.

 

YouTube Q&A #1- Oiling Leather

Posted by Don Gonzales

In our last newsletter, I asked for any questions that I may could answer with a YouTube video to better serve you and we received some great questions.

In this video I answer a question from Chris on how to oil leather to a dark color without over saturating the leather. Oiling leather can be tricky and sometimes can take a good project in the wrong direction.  These types of questions are so much easier to answer in a video rather than in a written format.  I hope you find this video useful Chris, as well as anyone else who may be wondering the same thing.

If you would like to have your question answered on our YouTube Channel then send us an email with your question and put “YouTube Q&A” in the subject line.  I would like to make this a regular series on our channel so bring on the questions and I will work to answer them for you.

Thanks so much and be sure to subscribe to our channel so you get the latest updates on new videos we post.

How to Price Your Work

Posted by Don Gonzales

David Picciuto is a woodworker from Toledo, OH and has a YouTube channel called “Make Something” where he posts videos on creating beautiful art using wood as his primary material.  I have been a fan of his channel for a year or so now and I love the way he presents his videos and the things he creates.  Although I am not much of a woodworker myself, I find a great amount of useful information from his videos and vlogs.

A video that he did semi recently helped to answer a question that is always a huge topic of discussion for any tradesman wanting to make a living within their craft.  This question is “How to Price Your Work?” Continue reading →

How to dye and paint leather.

Posted by Don Gonzales

Painting and dyeing leather can be a little scary if you’re not real familiar with the process.  In this video I try to give a little instruction on the process I use on a daily basis for many of my leather projects.  I will do my best to show you some of the tricks that will help you learn how to dye and paint leather. Continue reading →