DoubleKCustomLeathercraft

I know you ended up buying something since the original post. But for future reference. Weaver make a 1¾" trace punch which is perfect for holster slots. They're spendy, $205. I make a ton of holsters. I should really consider investing in one myself, but I'm a cheapa** 😆

I had a costumer that wanted a new belt with his nickname and some tooling on it. I primarily make holsters and I'll cut a few straps for belts out of a side before I go to town on holster making. Well I ran out if belt straps quicker than I did the rest of the side, and didn't need or want to down 330 bucks on a side right now since I'm stocked up with what I need. I went onto weaver's site and found that they're selling Hermann Oak English bridle belt straps, which are veg tanned. It took me awhile to find the information here on how to properly case bridle leather. It's not the same as HO strap or holster tanned sides at all. I soaked the strap, left it in the fridge overnight like I would with regular veg tan. All that did was make it super stiff almost frozen feeling almost frozen. I did since more digging on the site here, and asked for input. Figured out that because of the waxes and oils in English bridle, cold is not what you want. Heat. Some say heat the tools, others say use a heat gun on the strap. It's been warm, so i left it overnight again soaked. Pulled it out the next morning and it felt like I expected it to the first time. Left it hanging for about an hour to dry to the right moisture feel and went to town. It's harder to tool than any leather I've worked with, but in the end I think it all worked out great. I don't think I'll tool English bridle again though. It's a nice belt, great feel but not different enough to justify the extra hours to tool

I'm having trouble understanding exactly what you're asking. You are attaching a leather billet as a loop to a strap? This billet is looped through the bag slot, and back to the strap with both ends sandwich said strap? If this is the case, I would stitch the section that's looped and not attached to the start first. That way you're not stitching the loop closed or having to deal with a tight area that regular needles are too long for. As for making the stitch look good on both sides. All I can say is punch your holes straight and perpendicular. They do have diamond stitching chisels are "backwards" so you can punch clean stitch holes from both sides of the project. You can use your awl also. I end up using my awl all the time because, and I hate it! Wish I had longer chisels but then they'd bend. It takes practice to get stitches straight front to back. What I do on something long like a belt is I'll use my 6 prong chisel, make sure I have it lined up so that it goes through evenly from the edge. Then I'll set 3 of those 6 prongs into the already punched stitches. This helps keep the tool at the same angle eliminating the misaligned stitch holes on the back side. That's what's worked for me to get front and back stitching that looks good in either direction.

Thank you Tom. I played around with the excess piece that I cut off. I felt that it tools well enough, but just a bit more difficult than regular HO veg. I did eventually find a bunch of indoor from 10-15 years ago using Google which sent me back here. So I was able to find the information I was looking for. But I couldn't find this post that I made to make an update haha. I'll see how this goes, and if it's up to my standards I'll most likely post pics in show off. Thanks again

Ok. I was checking through my account on activity and couldn't find anything. So I just assumed they disappeared. I'll have to remember to check the form categories I post in more thoroughly. Thanks

I'm trying to figure out why my posts keep disappearing. I've asked a couple questions in the past week. First was trying to find out what style of carving was on a belt (I've resolved that on my own) and how to work with bridle leather. Specifically HO English bridle. Both posts disappeared within the day posted. Did I violate any rules here? I really doubt I did. It's been a little while since posting anything in Leatherworker.net only because I've been busy. And it's only a could months or so. I like this site, but if this continues to happen then I have zero reason to be here. I just want to know why?

Does anyone tool English bridle leather and is there any secret to tooling/stamping? I got another order for a belt but I ran out of belt blanks... Since I don't sell many belts, I usually only cut a few out of a each side. I didn't want to order a whole side quite yet because I have plenty to continue making holsters. So I jumped onto weaver's website and came across Hermann Oak english bridle 10/12oz 1½" belt straps. They're veg tanned and can be stamped and tooled. And since I only use Hermann oak veg tan I thought this might be a great option. I got the strap a couple days ago. It's a nice solid piece of leather with nice tight top grain. I'm not so happy with the flesh side. It's been finished and it's obvious there's a ton of loose fleshy leather. I'll line it anyway, but that's a red flag for me. It wouldn't be a part of the hide I would use for holsters because that typically tells me there's no real solid body to the leather. This strap feels solid though I gave tooling a shot on the cutoff, which is where the most loose flush side is. It definitely feels tight and sold. So solid it's hard as hell to tool. It carves easily enough, burnishes like a dream, but it almost feels like I'm tooling a dry piece of leather. I need to hit my tools quite a bit harder than I'm used to, which is putting my tooling skills to the test. Before I start the actual belt, I had to ask the questions above Thanks

Thanks GatoGordo

It's no longer in my possession. I didn't think to take a picture of the back. I'm meeting with a client today that's looking for a similar d design, but he's wanting something more exclusive. A one off build that won't be repeated. I've done a few and they usually keep the pattern or artwork that I've used a part of the price. I'll make sure to take pictures front and back though.

I subscribed to your YouTube channel. I don't post anything in comments much, and I don't use my business name at all. Just wanted you to know.

Gotta love Dorset. I dunno where I would be without his videos and guidance. One of the best sources of knowledge available on the tube. Looks nice. I'm sure they'll be proud to use them.

The red lining and zipper set it off. Nice n clean.

Thanks. I got the leg from Tandy. But next time I'll be going to maker's leather supply. Tandy doesn't give you a choice in color, only a range. I order brown and I can get any shade of brown. We were hoping for more of a golden brown. The downside to not having any leather supply within hundreds of miles. Makers at least gives choices of each color, and they're the same price or a color bucks cheaper. Does Rays have a website? Appreciate it.

That's cool. I like it

Here are a couple knife sheaths a client order. The one with the ostrich leg inlay is for a Buck 119. It's his son's and it's a gift so I don't have the knife to work with. Not a hard knife to make a sheath for. With this one I also decided to use some of the leftover ostrich on the retension strap. He wanted the large scales to go straight across, but the length of the window was the wrong size, plus the pivot sanctum that was close enough to fitting had 2 or 3 loose scales. This is my first time working with ostrich, and I find it nice to work with. It's really thin so adding a 4/5 oz backing doesn't overkill the thickness. The bison leather is for a Randall custom knife. And, I understand 1000% why he didn't want to let that knife out is his sight. They have a 7 year waiting list if ordering directly, aren't cheap, and are hard to find. So I'm glad not to have it. It's a model 12 little bear Bowie 6" with stag handle. The blade is a hefty ¼" thick. Anyway, I decided to go neodymium magnets instead of a strap for retaining the knife so that there is nothing that can damage anything on the blade or handle. I used three 1"x⅛"x⅛" magnets I had available from some light fixtures that didn't last long, but the magnets are strong as can be. I made sure they will hold his heavy knife by testing the strength of the magnets on my wood chisels that are a bit heavier. Not only is this a first, but it's also the thickest leather I've had to stitch. With the welt, lining, spacer for magnets, weight of the bison, so on and so on..... all the layers it takes, put together and the belt loop folded over it's over ¾" at the thickest point. Amazing thing was it was not nearly as difficult to stitch as some of my holsters at ⅓ the thickness.