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Nice! My dad had a 16 when he was doing saddle and harness work and really liked it. Eli's a good man.

Excellent!

No I didn’t 😊

The guys that I have made them for like about an inch or so of the handles(scales) in the sheath for better retention. Most of these guys are "cowboys" of one form or another. The rest of their lives are a bit rough and tumble. This helps the knife to still be there when they need it. JM2C, Jim

absolutely gorgeous! fine detail!

Stunning! Very nice work!!

FredK, Chuck123...Thanks, I will ask him about that

A bit off topic: I just wonder what your neighbors thought your were up to peeking in your window?? Cool old machine! Wish I had one. Jim

Thanks

excellent rig my friend!! That is some nice tooling.

Personally I think what factors that are contributing / causing you to breaking the needles are: 1) Needle size: a 160 (#23) needle is meant for V138 thread in thinner leather. i) On a straight run a 160 (#23) needle may work as there is just enough room in the needle hole to allow for the 3 threads in the hole (1 for the top thread, two for the loop). ii) On a turn there isn't enough slop in the needle hole to allow the twisting movement and the bending on the needle. iii) When you are finishing off by reversing into the same last couple of holes you now have 3 stitches that are all ready in the needle hole and you want to add 3 more. In thin items this may not be as much of a problem but in 8mm (5/16") it probably will be ending with cutting the thread or broken needles. 2) Friction on the needle. i)When the hole isn't big enough, diameter wise, there is friction being created by the threads grabbing the walls of the thread and pulling on the needle. As the thickness and toughness increases so does the friction. ii) This friction will increase ever so slightly with darker coloured thread. iii) If you are using a edge guide the leather will not move sideways but when free handing you are going to add an additional twisting / bending moment on the needle. iv) Also when using a cylinder arm machine you get additional twisting and bending as the item moves farther back as most times the item wants to move to the left. Also unless you are using a flat bed table attachment the item will want to droop down once it doesn't have any support from the needle plate. Probably will be ending with a broken needle. Suggestion: i) Change needle to a 180 (#24) and see if that works. ii) change thread size to V207 and use a 200 (#25) needle. iii) Add a flatbed table top attachment. kgg

That is some very nice tooling work there That circle design (a seeder?) both on the borders and on the lower part of the holster ties it all together nicely

@susanjeanscott did you by any chance buy this machine in Canberra a couple of years ago ?

Thank you for that!

I'll get some close ups going shortly since you're interested. The ammo was from a guy I found that reloads. Sorry, please do forgive my ignorance, after a Google and comparing the results, you are totally on the money it's .45acp... Another thing to add to the learning curve.

I’m sewing 8mm of leather, 160 needle and 138 thread Yes it most likely is that’s why it’s breaking the needle

I was thinking a couple conchos but like you, thought it might give it too much bling? Thanks for the compliments, making me wanna do another rig. 😆

Very nice! I like when a holster looks clean and practical.

I've started using suede as a belt liner the last year or so. I've found that once you have it strapped on, it doesn't move around, your pants will fall down before the belt moves. That's very desirable when riding dirt bike and 4 wheelers. Probably horses too but I stay away from them now that I've determined that they always hurt me when they get a chance.

The holster is 8-9 veg tanned with a 3-4 veg tanned liner . I used English bridle dye on the holster liner because it was a close match to the 3-4 Oz suede leather I used on the back side of the belt. The belt is 8-9 veg tanned with suede liner. The belt loops are 3-4 veg tan. I'll get a picture of the back side but will take a while to get it reduced on my laptop enough to post here.

In case anyone was interested, I attached some photos. I punched the holes through the back piece before gluing. Once I cut the holes and trimmed the uneven parts, it looked ... bad ... I also messed up a few other things. Gave it to the guy to try out. If he liked it, I told him I'd make him another one that wasn't messed up.

@mbnaegle, those sprayers look a lot like external mix airbrush (like a Badger 350) ... @AlZilla, see if a "bar mister" would work for you. You ordinarily fill it with vermouth to spritz a martini. I'm sure you could use it to spritz dye (wear gloves, obviously, unless you want to match your work). Some of them look like old-fashioned perfume bottle sprayers.

Someone recommended here once that you backstitch with double needle (saddle stitch) if you want it to look great and don't have to do too many of them. I have been doing that with my very low volume hobby (translates as "business that I lose money doing").

@fredk, *some* sorts of stainless steel are magnetic. Types like 304 are nonmagnetic (Austenitic), other kinds are more or less magnetic (Ferritic, Martensitic combinations thereof called "duplex"). Stainless steel is sort of a trick question these days because there are so many boutique varieties of it specializes for various things.