Anvil Customs Leather Blog

The Forging and Casting fundraiser is live! If you head to that page you'll find a place where you can support/donate towards our goal. We're aiming to get a few new machines this year that will improve the quality of the metal studio. Namely, we're looking at getting a 3D Printer and a Vacuum Sealed Casting Machine. Each of these machines will enable us to more efficiently craft specialized hardware. Currently the forged belt buckles take an exorbitant amount of time to craft, and you can see that reflected in what I have to charge for the belts in order to turn some sort of profit. That being said, when you're a very small team its in everyone's best interest to make things as efficient as possible on the production side of things. Luckily we live in an era where technology makes it much more viable for a small team like ours to make a large selection of items, provided you can afford to purchase said technology. It's a big investment for a small business...

We're stepping into 2021 with some big plans. And in order to see these things come to fruition we need your support. The brand is & has always been about making things... big things, small things... bold things. I'm always striving to take every aspect of my creative process to the next level. At Anvil, it's about taking the elements of what a craftsman can accomplish to the next level. In 2021 that's going to take some new machines and I humbly invite your participation and support! -- The Great News is, You benefit too!  

Well, what an interesting 15th year at Anvil Customs. This has been without a doubt one of the wildest years ever. I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the projects of the year that we were quite proud of, and some of the things we're looking forward to in 2021.

If you're a new customer it may not be readily apparent but most products on the website here are made in the order they're received. The amount of time between you placing your order and when it ships out to you is called Lead Time or Production Time. By default we try to get everything crafted and shipped out within three weeks of an order however some things can take longer depending on a number of factors like amount/complexity of orders or availability of materials. During the holidays this can become an issue if you're a last minute shopper trying to get gifts in under the wire as it were. Luckily for you, this isn't our first rodeo and we understand that not everyone has a great foresight to purchase early.

Use Code BFCM2020 to save 21% on everything across the site plus 2x Rewards Points! Read more about everything happening at Anvil Customs through the weekend!

The fact of the matter is that some people are honestly just tough to shop for. One thing I know for certain is that the things we craft here at Anvil Customs are always a hit. It is practically guaranteed to be a highlight of the gift giving (and getting) season! BUT I also know that I currently have quite a broad selection and I've put together a brief but excellent guide to all thing Anvil this season, to help ease the trouble of finding that perfect gift.

In September we began re-imagining the interior of the "Mini Long" style wallets. Their popularity got us thinking about some of the small ways we could dramatically improve the interior of the wallet. Well, that process has culminated in a final product and we're happy to announce that the new mini long wallet is live as a product!

In any given year there is always one question we get more than any other in the months and weeks leading up to the holiday season. "Will I get my order in time?" It's a fair question any year, especially in ecommerce, and even more important when you're dealing with hand made to order items. There is a little extra insecurity in 2020 however because of the extra challenges posed Covid-19.

If 2020 has done anything for people I hope that its given everyone some perspective on their day to day lives. Just about everyone has had at least some part of their lives upended by the pandemic, not to mention the myriad of other disasters that have reared up across the globe. I hope that it makes people count their blessings. I have seen a pretty significant increase in comments about folks reconsidering their day jobs looking to get into doing something like what we do here at Anvil...

The Mini Long Wallet started out as a way to appease some of our customers that liked the long wallet but just wanted something a little shorter. Obviously we do try to listen to our customers' feedback because that's just good business. The original design wasn't even available as a stock item. But folks saw us make a few as requested by some of our customers on social media and before long it had a achieved a somewhat cult status in as much as a style of leather wallet can have a following. Eventually we had enough interest in them to make a version that was available on the website, and they've sold fairly well over the years. That being said, there's always room for improvement. We're constantly looking at ways we can better the styles and designs of our products. 

It is conceivable that in the coming years we're going to have a surge of folks who have discovered the joys of working with their hands. Many people are suddenly finding themselves at home with a new abundance of time and an uncertainty of what to do with said time. Because of Covid-19 people can't go out and do many of the things they're used to, so it would not surprise me in the least if we have a new generation of makers and craftsman come of this pandemic. 

We make many products over the course of the year and most of them end up for sale here, on the online store. But we also take custom requests, so I wanted to provide a quick guide on placing a custom order, as well as a few tips that might help you out along the way.