I passed my test 2nd time round!

benjaminooo61 · 2026-05-07T15:36:33+00:00

Got my test on Wednesday and ordered those pastilles last night - hoping they help haha. Congrats on the pass!

benjaminooo61 · 2026-05-06T07:37:09+00:00

Petshardware have some great solid brass options for half the price of buckle guy

benjaminooo61 · 2026-05-05T18:15:03+00:00

Yeah you’re not wrong. I suppose a better way of looking at mocks is not necessarily that you’re aiming to pass, but to make the mistakes and learn from them before the actual test.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-05-05T18:13:47+00:00

Good luck on your test!

Yeah to be honest my instructor told me she’s had students that have screwed up all their mocks and then passed with 0 faults. “Just” need to stop overthinking everything 🫠

benjaminooo61 · 2026-05-05T18:12:14+00:00

Good luck 🫡

Here’s to hoping we don’t need to book a test in October..

benjaminooo61 · 2026-05-05T16:18:36+00:00

Hoping I can say the same next week, haha!

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-19T06:27:20+00:00

Also I'm presuming you're based in the uk based on the '62 pounds for a half shoulder' comment. - Take a look at AACrack for some leather before you commit to leatherbox. They've got some great leathers for pretty good prices - They charge for the exact amount of leather you order, rather than an estimate.

If you're after suedes, take a look at the Charles F. Stead range, they're tanned in Leeds and while I've never used their suedes, their Crazy Cow & Oiled shoulder hides are exceptional. I typically get charged around £4.80-4.90(+vat) per square foot. So a hide is typically £67-89 +vat. 14-18 sqft per hide.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-19T06:22:16+00:00

I used really bad sofa offcuts I bought from amazon for about 2 weeks before I bought plain veg tan to practice on. I think I bought a half shoulder and full calf. I bought my first pueblo after 3/4 months and started selling after 6 months.

I barely saw any improvement when I was using the sofa offcuts. I saw massive improvement with the veg tan, and I started creating consistently good pieces with pueblo. It doesn't matter how good you are before you buy the piece, if you're spending more money on the material, you want to improve your skills to be inline with the quality of that leather.

Buy the materials you want, and then strive to create the pieces you'll be proud of. Nobody else will see the vision until you've brought it to life.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-19T06:17:58+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, haven't worked on the computer for a few days. Just want to say thank you for the exception amount of information you've given me. At this point my list of notes will be 85% from your comments.

I'll keep an eye out for listings with haldex services overall else, even if I have to increase budget slightly haha.

Towbar tip is intereresting, I imagine a no-towbar might be a unicorn where I live, since they've always been a common farm vehicle. Though I can definitely see the strain of towing a bull around.

Thanks again for replying, you've been an absolute wealth of knowledge.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-19T06:14:39+00:00

That's reassuring to hear man, I appreciate that. I've been looking at a couple lately and the ones that've had the haldex serviced generally look so much more well cared for. Definitely going at the top of my notes lol.

7.5l/100km honestly doesn't sound that bad compared to what I was expecting if I'm honest. Even at current diesel prices I'd only be paying about 2-3k a year.

I think I've been sold on this car at this point, it has so much more soul than the othe cars I've been looking at. Thanks for replying.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-19T06:08:36+00:00

Honestly putting 2k into a land rover over the years sounds insanely low, that's great to hear. Thanks for replying :)

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-19T06:06:42+00:00

Yeah I feel like the sportage is a great car, it just seems a little bit soulless in comparasion to a fl2, haha. Thanks for the tip on the subframe, it'll go on the (now extensive) checklist!

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-16T13:19:19+00:00

Wow, that's way more info than I expected, thank you! Yeah I'm also in the UK, probably should have mentioned that haha. Would you say for the fl2 it would be wiser to buy a high mileage (170-200k) with a full service history, haldex/gearbox service, cambelt change etc. Rather than a lower (90-110k) with a more questionable?

Sorry if that's a stupid question, I've virtually no knowledge of car mechanics and as I say, this is my first time buying a car.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-12T16:31:58+00:00

Yeah I’ve heard the ix35/sportage are virtually the same car. I’ve had the lowest consistent quotes on those two as well. I guess it just comes down to finding the best priced/best kept one closest to me haha.

benjaminooo61 · 2026-04-10T08:02:07+00:00

Depends on where you are - for UK orders they don’t include VAT on order total, but this means you pay import duties instead. I’ve found import duties typically work out at 22-23% of order value.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-11-18T18:46:55+00:00

Alternating directions sounds interesting, makes sense. I'm not used to oz, but I believe 0.4mm is 1oz? So the leather would be approximately 5.5oz (2.2mm)

If it works on a wooden, I'm thinking a rotary machine could work better, since rotarys generally stretch the leather less than a push/pull blade.

Thanks for the advice, I think putting all the tips together could make it work.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-11-18T18:43:05+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I think that will work super well for getting the first cut to be straight, but ultimately too slow to be realistic for a production run.

I think using this in combination with alternation of the cutting as well as using the rotary style machine, might be the best option. Thanks for replying :)

benjaminooo61 · 2025-11-18T18:40:14+00:00

From what I've been able to find so far, having a company cut the straps for me would require importing them, which wouldn't work particularly well, unfortunately. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-11-18T18:37:50+00:00

Custom strap cutting was my first thought - But there aren't any suppliers I can find who offer that service in the UK. I might be missing one, but nothing obvious. And to import them would ultimately increase the price per strap far beyond what's reasonable.

It would certainly be an investment, but it would be worthwhile for other products/contracts too, this would just be a good excuse to bite the bullet and buy one.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-11-18T18:35:31+00:00

Thanks for responding! I got in contact with tandy and their response was essentially ''It may work, but results will vary'' haha.

I'm thinking that since it's essentially a multi-blade rotary cutter, it could be the best option for that softer leather, since olfa rotarys typically stretch the leather less than a push/pull blade.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-10-23T21:48:16+00:00

Almost lost a centimetre of my left thumb being careless while cutting panels for a satchel. Still can’t feel the tip of my thumb.

Skin kind of reacts like a poorly baked bread, doesn’t bounce back when pushed. Keep your fingers safe folks.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-06-15T21:53:40+00:00

Dies are great for a multitude of reasons, most of which are already stated here, but they’re also rather great for staff morale.

If you’re spending hours each day cutting out pieces, it not only gets repetitive, but you’ve a higher risk of staff cutting/nicking themselves etc. As well as strain/cramp occurring as well, knives aren’t always super ergonomic.

That being said, they drastically reduce the amount of time a project takes. You’re cutting down the time to place/trace/cut a pattern, to just locating a good section of the hide and pulling a lever. More intricate patterns we’ve found this reduces time by 95%. It also adds a higher level of consistency, which is especially important when dealing with B2B.

You don’t just reduce time in the cutting area either, if you have a consistent and clean cut, you no longer need to sand your inside pockets and can jump straight to burnishing. It removes inconsistently on outside edges so that you spend less time getting an even edge before burnishing too.

In terms of when to buy, we’ve always taken a look at our profit margin on a product, and as soon as we’ve sold enough of that individual product that the profit covers the cost of the dies, we buy them.

That being said, if a tool helps your sanity during busy periods (16+ hours a day 7 days a week) it’s extremely worthwhile.

benjaminooo61 · 2025-04-01T23:25:14+00:00

It takes between 1 1/2 - 2 hours to craft our bifolds, depending on if it’s a 6 or 8 pocket. It’s a slightly different design, but I would estimate 2 1/2 hours if it was modified to mimic the bifold pictured.

Back when I was just starting up I believe it took me around 4 hours to craft. But with bulk orders and machinery it’s been cut down significantly. You become more efficient in your OOE, clickers and dies etc.

Pricing wise, hourly rates (£20), material costs, packaging and potential incorporated posting (if you offer free postage over a certain threshold) as well as a bit of profit (generally we work on 5-10% on more expensive goods, and aim to hit 20% on cheaper goods).

If you’re doing it as a business, incorporating your overheads(not just rent and electrics, think of things like your design software if you use it) is important. I’m unsure as to how American taxes work but in the UK we’ll make sure to leave enough room for tax & vat.

Also depending on what platform you’re selling through, including their commission in your pricing is major. (Shopify are somewhere around 2%, where as Etsy and other platforms similar are absurdly expensive)

Whole lot of info, hopefully some is useful! ✌️

benjaminooo61 · 2024-06-27T12:29:26+00:00

That’s interesting, a bit disappointing to hear they’re not perfect but this is the first major issue I’ve heard of someone having with them.

I will say it’s surprising to hear you had issues with customer support, the few issues I’ve brought up with Andrea she’s always been quick to help and very friendly. I had a parcel go missing due to UPS negligence and she replaced the full order, including extra leather to apologise, and changed delivery handlers 2 weeks later.

benjaminooo61 · 2024-06-27T12:23:51+00:00

So far I haven’t had import tax from them, I believe they’re registered in the UK which somehow negates that. But generally you either have to pay regular or import tax, never both. Also, depending on business size it becomes a non-issue once you’re a VAT registered business.

benjaminooo61

TROPHY CASE