toshi wallets.

toshi made a really good run of his wallets this weekend. really cool to see them all stacked up and ready to go. this might not look like much, but they are all handstitched and edged. that sh*t takes awhile...

shout out to aG for letting us into his shop this weekend, thanks tons!

cuffs.

cuffs laid out for a trial run.

stamps for casting.

engraved these stamps in linoleum blocks this weekend. i'll send these up to be cast in metal tomorrow. hopefully they'll work well to deboss leather goods...

die die die.

got the new leather press die cleaned up this weekend, this will make production so much faster! thanks f!

stamps.

did some testing on stamps more this weekend. this original black rubber still seemed to work the best. i wish i knew what it was!

new cordovan wallet.

loved the tattoo pattern scribed on the inside. super cool. the cordovan we have is a little thick, but i'll give it a trial run.

slim wallet.

matt suggested we adjust the sizing of the card case to be a wallet. he used to use a money clip and is adjusting to the idea of carrying a wallet again. didn't do exactly what he wanted, but i like the idea of having cards on one side and cash on the other. tried out a japanese version of the kobologo as well. the kanji say "ko" and "bo", i like it, kind of like the signature stamps on old japanese wood block prints.

kobo coasters.

some old figure drawings turned into coasters on thick 5oz veg tanned leather. sealed with atomic wax. i like the idea of figure drawings on leather. skin on skin.

key clothes.

toshi's key clothes are multiplying.

inventory.

inventory is growing steadily after this weekend.

mei shi card case.

a couple styles of business card cases for production. its cool to be able to use both sides of the waxed flesh chromexcel. the card holders hold your own cards in one side, and the other side is for cards you gather at networking events. or if you have two jobs, i suppose.... or two identities.

sai fu wallets.

a couple styles of wallet for production. chromexcel and cordovan leather.

fude bako pen case.

working on finalizing the design for production. fude = brush bako = box. waxed canvas and waxed flesh chromexcel.

beluto belt.

this belt is cool because it used waxed flesh chromexcel, truly usuable from either the flesh side of grain side. the long slot is to reverse the color of the belt to be shown. might produce some more of these. buckle is made from scratch too, tig welded steel.

laser action.

i hope we can afford a laser cutter some day.

leather lasering.

took the day off to do some leather lasering on friday. wish i could have gotten more done, but i set myself up with lots to do...

kobocuff.

working out some wrist garnishment...

canopy!

got our canopy in today!!! thanks sandy!!! this thing is huge, we thought we'd be able to set it up in the shop, but not so much. we're going to have to make lots of stuff to fill this thing up!

Casting Nathans

edwin g bennett 2

that planer had to be one of the oldest i've ever seen outside of a museum setting. loved the homemade clamps too..

edwin g. bennett.

molly's other grandfather was a pilot and farmer. he had an awesome little toolshed / machine shop in one of the out buildings at his farm where we stayed this weekend. i was loving some of the old tools, and was interested in the combinations of farmer roughness with machinist precision. i'd love to have seen this when it was all organized and in working order....

the powered hacksaw was awesome and still worked like a charm, so did the old sears crafsman lathe...

looking tired.

i really appreciate her humoring me while i dig through grungy garbage, tiring as i can be sometimes.

a couple other gems.

out in molly's dad's machine shed...

harley xa 750.

molly's grandfather had this rare old war time harley i got to check out this weekend. current status as a gem in a garage. makes you wonder just how many undiscovered old gems there still are buried away in small town barns and garages...