I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost

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All Forums >> [The Marketplace] >> Artisans >> I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost

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I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 5/6/2012 5:35:55 PM

marriedave

Posts: 9
Joined: 5/5/2012
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Folks,

I found this site yesterday. I searched for it because of a personal issue with somebody that I just plain don't want to let down. That's a personal thing.

But, after looking over the site, I realized something.

The days when people paid extra for the plain brown wrapper are long gone. What folks want right now is very, very high quality. You guys want gear that will never fail (because, in some cases, a failure can cause an injury to a loved one) and you want it delivered on time, you want it to work perfectly, and you want to be treated in a professional manner.

You want it at a decent price, but, because it is a little tough to get all the other elements perfect, you understand that, sometimes, this is a premium product.

And I can do that.

I have been a semi-professional leather worker for more than a decade. I have mostly made suits of armor for folks that play a game called "SCA", but I have also made holsters for police officers and soldiers, Chaps for both bikers (really heavy leather, veg tanned and hardened) and rodeo cowboys (really, really light chrome tanned leather) and the occasional handbag or courier's bag. I've done tooling, but I don't do it for money. I once made a form fitted corset out of very, very heavy leather for a burlesque dancer with a love for leather. I actually made a suit of armor for a rock and roll band's mixing board once. I also make copies of archaic musical instruments (harps, lutes, psalteries, lyres and rebecs) and I have a Master cabinet maker as a drinking buddy. If it isn't modern materials (latex, rubber or the like) I am pretty sure that I can make it, and I am pretty sure that I would enjoy making it. Working with wood is not a problem. I have a friend that works plate steel, but he lives in Canada, and I live in Bavaria, so there is a bit of a delay on that sort of thing. I know a couple of blacksmiths (master metal workers) and they can produce custom hot forged fittings, if they have enough lead time. I've never worked with fur, but I have worked with foam and horsehair padding. The problem is that I don't know anything about bondage/fetish gear.

(That's not entirely true. I made a collar once, a few years ago, for a lesbian couple from Berlin, but that was a wedding gift for very good friends)

But, the point is, I want to learn how to produce the very, very best gear for this game, and I need guinea pigs. I am not interested in becoming an industrial production leather worker. I want to learn to produce the very, very best bondage and fetish gear in the world, and I have the skills to do it. It will be very profitable for me to know this stuff in the future. I want to be an artist, not a craftsman.

So, if you happen to live in south eastern Germany, near the Czech border, please drop me a line. I don't want to work by mail order at first.

I will charge you for the leather, and the fittings. Because I am learning, my time is going to be free, for now. If I break a tool (and with stitching very heavy sole leather, breaking a drill bit is almost inevitable) and if I have to call a buddy and ask them to do work, then that particular part of the job will be full price. I will also expect an honest review of my work, published. I will charge you for every single penny I spend, but I wont charge you for my work or my time. That comes later, when I really know what I am doing. I don't want to work with garment leather. I work best with harness leather.

It actually is kind of cool to imagine a submissive watching his own collar fittings being forged on the anvil.

So, if you are interested, send me a note. I am a pro, and I am always looking for more work.

Oh, and this might be creepy, but If your sub is an attractive female, well, that would be awesome.

Marriedave

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RE: I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 5/12/2012 7:57:41 PM

LadyPact

Posts: 32566
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In other words, you want somebody to pay for materials while you practice the craft.

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RE: I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 5/14/2012 3:55:57 PM

marriedave

Posts: 9
Joined: 5/5/2012
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Yeah, I suppose that's true.

If it ain't for you, it ain't for you. It wont hurt my feelings either way. I don't need the money.

Your call, but this really does sound like fun.

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RE: I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 5/16/2012 6:36:13 PM

LadyPact

Posts: 32566
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Dude, this makes as much sense as the gal who wants people to pay her while she figures out how to be a pro domme.

_____________________________

The crowned Diva of Destruction. ~ ExT

Beach Ball Sized Lady Nuts. ~ TWD

Happily dating a new submissive. It's official. I've named him engie.

Please do not send me email here. Unless I know you, I will delete the email unread

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RE: I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 5/29/2012 7:10:56 PM

marriedave

Posts: 9
Joined: 5/5/2012
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Hi Pact,

You might actually be right. The number of people absolutely failing to beat down my door right now is amazing.

However...

Your comparison is fatally flawed. I have been a professional leather worker (well, I have never quit my day job) for about twenty years or so. I am not trying to learn the craft, I am trying to expand my product line. I am a master leather worker, by anyone's standards.

For instance,

A heavy leather corset/bustier (properly made), like the one you are wearing in your profile pic (which just plain isn't properly made) involves at least seven different panels, each one needing about fifteen inches of stitching, at eight to ten stitches per inch. That equates to roughly 150 hours of hand stitching per corset. That is just stitching, not to count fitting, patterning or anything else.

In addition, there are fastenings to be considered. Good quality buckles run about a buck and a quarter a piece, at least. I get them at that rate, because I know where to go to get a rate. For most folks, they run about two bucks to five bucks.

There is also the matter of the actual fasteners. Either I can go with stitching (which is prone to breakage) or I can go with rivets. Copper cooper's rivets run about twenty five cents for a rivet and a burr (the little washer thingy). For the basic (and badly made) corset you are wearing in your profile pic, that amounts to just under 25 euros in rivets alone. That doesn't count buckles, leather or that stupid zipper. In addition, I am betting that that corset/bustier is uncomfortable enough that it is a costume, not a garment. Seriously, lady, look what that piece of $h*t is doing to your boobs.

My issue is that I really don't know about the BDSM game. Folks might want that corset with rings from which to suspend a lover from the ceiling. If those rings are in the wrong spot, the buyer, or their loved one, will be more concerned with the fact that their gear doesn't fit than they are in the immersion in the moment. Bad gear can inhibit orgasm. There is also the danger of injury. If a lover is trusting you, they are expecting that you are trustworthy.

There is a certain amount of learning to make sure that the gear is right. This isn't a basic St Andrews cross. This is important, intimate gear. I need to learn about the scene before I actually sell gear. That doesn't mean that I don't know how to work leather.

Since heavy grade leather is running about 12 Euros a pound right now, and fittings and fasteners aren't getting any cheaper, I don't feel at all bad about asking the patron to pick up the cost of materials. I am already a master leather worker, and there is a whole lot of crap in the BDSM community.

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RE: I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 7/18/2012 11:04:38 AM

IntriguedDiscord

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I don't think her problem is with your craftsmanship. I think her problem comes in where you're charging for your materials (which is fine and makes perfect sense) but then go on to mention if you break something or need a second hand that you'll be charging full price for these things. I hate to say, but tools are not generally considered part of the materials, materials are generally what the finished product is made of.

With that out of the way I actually had a question: Have you considered looking into getting an artistic grant for your project? They're usually pretty simple to obtain (at least here in the US) and can cover a whole variety of things. I think possibly that might be the avenue you wish to venture towards as I don't think most people are going to be willing to spend a lot on something that isn't guaranteed to be what they need. I do wish you the best of luck :)

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RE: I want to make bdsm harness, and I will do it at cost - 7/18/2012 11:11:12 AM

Endivius

Posts: 1238
Joined: 8/22/2011
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As a licensed contractor, I can tell you my customer base would dry up if I charged them for the cost of tools and equipment. It's parts + labor for my work. The labor factors in my experience, and the amount of time for the work I put into it. No one would pay for my power tools, ladders, drills and other things that I need to get the job done.

Wich is what you are asking people to do.

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