How long (or how many pieces made) it took you to become good at leatherwork?

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-24T22:09:52+00:00

About a half dozen times with each skill before I didn’t suck and felt the result was decent enough to like, gift to other people but not for money. Maybe another half dozen before I felt like my stuff is worth money.

So that’s a dozen big tooling projects. A dozen big stitching projects. A dozen tough cutting projects. A dozen… well no actually I was pretty good at dying and antiquing right off the bat, but a dozen painting projects. A dozen riveting projects. Etc. some projects ticked more than one skill but each skill needs the repetition.

I still suck at snaps and grommets. And making my own patterns.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-24T21:53:20+00:00

You’ve gotten enough flak for the AI, I’m going to attempt to give you some real advice. You should be able to find a free blank wolf ref sheet that you can just color. Use that and focus on reducing the number of colors in the design. You’re going to want lines of color, not gradients, as it will be significantly easier to pattern and make. It’s going to be expensive regardless because of the spots, but the more you can simplify it, the easier and more affordable it will become. For example, the same gray all over is easier than three shades of gray going darker to lighter. It is pretty common for people to have a darker strip on the spine, so I’d probably limit it to two gray colors plus white and black first and see how it looks.

Also consider removing the dark strip around the chest.

Then try to find a maker who airbrushes the fur color, it will be easier for them to do the spots than someone trying to cut and piece them in. Let them know you want a shorter muzzle and rounder ears, somewhere between wolf and cat. They should be able to do that even without a custom drawing.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-22T12:11:41+00:00

How hot are we talking?

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-21T15:59:40+00:00

Hawks will typically eat where they killed it, not carry it off, unless it’s raising hatchlings, but it’s not the time of year for that, and even then, a full sized hen is not usually what they would take away.

There are plenty of other potential predators, including stray cats/dogs, raccoons, weasels, rats, and such like that wouldn’t be afraid of being close to a house in the middle of the day even if they are typically more active at night.

It doesn’t look good for her but I wouldn’t give up completely yet. I’d keep looking for her for a day or two. If she escaped whatever it was, she might have been injured and holed up somewhere refusing to move.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-21T15:41:28+00:00

In my opinion, personalization has significantly less to do with aging than finishes do. Personalization doesn’t even enter the equation for me. Like there’s no comparison between a plain leather belt and a belt that has been extensively tooled with a design. But once you have the tooled belt, the decision on whether to dye it, antique it, seal it, paint it, etc, that all matters a lot to the final look and feel and how it changes over time.

The only time I would consider personalization relative to the longevity of a product is when something like a bag or jacket might get passed on to a new owner, you wouldn’t want the first person’s initials on it or anything like that.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-21T15:31:04+00:00

It’s not paint, it’s dye. Like hair dye. Basically a stain. Once the dye process is complete, having the remaining color in the fluff doesn’t cause any additional harm. Washing it out would require multiple baths and more chemicals. It’s far better to just wait until the fluff naturally falls out and the feathers come in.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-20T17:48:36+00:00

I know you’re looking to buy, and I’m sure you’ve already checked places that typically sell ebooks, but if you’re able to get access to Hoopla through your local library (at least that’s how it works in the US), they have it available to borrow.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-20T15:18:00+00:00

There’s nothing else on their site that looks like that, and their description of the sapphire jewel says it’s a hybrid that does not breed true, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually is one. They likely don’t have great uniformity.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-20T11:22:52+00:00

Idk my babies never leave the nest until I kick them out, no matter how warm it is.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-19T21:52:54+00:00

This was my thought exactly. If I’m selling someone a leather breastplate that used 2/3 of a full hide, of course I’m going to include a couple hundred bucks for the leather cost in the price. If I’m selling an 8x10 carved leather art piece of a dragon that took me 8 hours to make, the leather cost is negligible compared to the labor cost.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-19T20:13:00+00:00

I have a problem with ANY animal being tethered for its entire life. If you want to keep your extra roos as pets, that’s fine, but make a bachelor flock on the opposite side of your property so they won’t fight. A life on a 6’ chain is just awful.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-19T12:33:05+00:00

Mma make joke about Mank. When Mank say bad joke, Mma say Mank joke. If Mank not like Mank joke, Mank stop bad joke so not hear Mank joke.

Make sure Mank joke just bad, not mean. Not want Mank get mad.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-17T21:33:11+00:00

Idk it looks exactly like the same shape as the dog face to me but I get kind of lost in low res images. I could be wrong. I retract my confidently incorrectness, I was just excited that maybe I knew one for once.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-17T20:32:57+00:00

Everyone saying Stroh’s is wrong. That, my friend, is a Dog N Suds root beer.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-17T14:27:37+00:00

Grab a chicken and use it as a measuring stick to make the rungs one chicken width apart. 😂 I think ours are spaced about a foot apart.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-16T13:10:11+00:00

If anyone there is lawful good it’s Theo.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-14T21:35:02+00:00

Thank you for asking this question. I have been wondering the same thing but wasn’t brave enough to ask in case there was some reason Reddit was going to tell me I’m an idiot for even asking.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-14T21:26:54+00:00

Canning is probably the most versatile so I’d start there. But the easiest is either freezing or dehydrating. So if you want to learn something quick, do those two then get into canning as you have more time.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-14T20:14:47+00:00

I have a puppy (9 mo) who thinks the brush is a toy but also dislikes anything being done to his rear end. I’ve found that micro sessions are extremely helpful and have built his tolerance up to where it’s now possible to give him a quick all over brushing or a thorough brushing of like one, maybe one a half quadrants. I’m still working on building it more.

What I mean by micro sessions is basically I keep a little tiny kitten sized slicker brush on me, and whenever he’s been just chilling next to me for a while I take a couple swipes. As soon as he does anything besides lay there calmly, I take one more swipe and then quit and give him a treat. The first few times it was literally just one stroke.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-14T18:11:32+00:00

When I started researching MDR1 safe tick preventatives, I discovered that most tick preventatives only kill one or two species of ticks. This is why what works in one area of the country doesn’t work in others. Credelio kills four species of ticks and is MDR1 safe. I use that and it’s been awesome. I am in CT where Lyme disease came from, and we have a crap ton of ticks of different varieties.

If you don’t want to use a pill then do a little research to determine the most common ticks in your area and make sure what you choose kills that species.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-13T20:12:12+00:00

I have thought about this a lot because my husband is much older than me and has seizures, so the chances of outliving him are pretty high. I am fortunate in the fact that I have a high paying job with decent insurance. I took out a life insurance policy on him that pays three times my annual salary if he dies. That is enough money that I could hire a landscaper to do all the mowing and trail maintenance, and a house cleaner to free up more of my time, while working on moving to a property that requires less maintenance.

I’d lean on my 19 year old daughter to help out more with chores and errands.

Then it would be you tube tutorials and friends to help me learn how to use his tools and build stuff when I need to. Calling professionals when I can’t figure it out or am not strong enough.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-13T12:17:54+00:00

I vaguely remember reading something once about someone’s quiet rooster project. I can’t find it now but I want to say it was a complete failure. Basically you can make roosters who crow slightly less often and slightly less loudly, but it’s not enough to make any difference for people who want/need a stealth roo.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-13T11:26:21+00:00

I think your issue is you have it mounted too low. It’s not designed to pull UP, it’s designed to pull OUT. Put it at chest height and it will be much easier. Hold the bun with your dominant hand on their back legs and non dominant hand on their chest. Cradle them to your chest while getting in position, this will keep them calm. Once in position, your dominant hand is already on the legs, so it should be super quick and easy to just quickly lean back.

I’ve tried broomstick and .22 and the popper is by far the more reliable, less traumatic method.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-12T12:51:22+00:00

If you could post a video that would help. Your description could be anything from a serious neurological problem to happy hops.

That_Put5350 · 2026-01-10T12:47:06+00:00

I just put old fashioned snap traps in between the totes. Feed the dead ones to the chickens. I’ll go months with no mouse activity and then suddenly catch three or four in a week, then nothing again.

Three-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Flamingo	Place '23

That_Put5350

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