whistler

Thanks to all that replied and very sorry for my being so slow to reply. Several things going on since my last post. Some pleasant and some not so pleasant but they kept me off the board. Again Thanks for all your help and I think with the help I've got I can take it an run with it. A mistake is not the worse thing in the world as long as I learn from it.

I'm new at this and although I expect to make mistakes I was hoping maybe I could lessen them somewhat. Thanks for the advice,

Most concealment holster seem to rely on a form fit for retention of the weapon. I prefer the additional security of a Thumb Break design. Anybody got any suggestion where I might find a thumb break concealment style holster pattern that I might adapt for my use. Thanks

I think sycamore is prone to check. We have ash an I actually have some pretty nice pieces waiting to be split into firewood. They've been cut 18 months or so I think I'll dig through my pile.

TinkerTailor what is your thought on the species of wood in Nigel's setup? Every time I watch one of his videos my attention ends up on that round! I given thoughts to trying a sycamore,got any opinions?

WinterBear I Might give your suggestion a try. That would give me a standard to work toward an kind of gauge my results by. I trap a little an catch a few beaver each year plus I have trapper friends that I could acquire many more if needed.

WinterBear I Might give your suggestion a try. That would give me a standard to work toward an kind of gauge my results by. I trap a little an catch a few beaver each year plus I have trapper friends that I could acquire many more if needed.

Bigpaws, I have a post elsewhere on this forum asking how to tan beaver tails. Will you be willing to share your knowledge with someone? Any help would be greatly appreciated with regard to method, materials, and personal thoughts. I think I saw this post on trapperman. Nice Work!

OK I'll look into it, maybe call a Taxidermist supply shop and see what they recommend. Thanks

If my first project looked anything like that I wouldn't care about the off color thread! Please take that as a compliment! I've been reading post and watching videos but not started my first project yet but hope to get my feet wet soon. I'm sure you'll get things sorted out soon. Good Luck!

i wouldn't mind giving it a try if I had some sort of a step by step procedure to go by but I can't find anything on it. I have some critters to send off to a commercial tannery pretty soon. I think I'll talk with them and see if they do them. Then maybe I can try a home tanning method and just follow instructions with the product and compare. I see beaver tail wallets advertised in the trapping supply magazines and have asked to see them at conventions however the dealers usually only pack up the fast moving stuff for the conventions and the wallets don't make the list.

No one? Did I post this in the wrong section to get a reply.

I have some beaver tails anyone got any ideas on how to tan them into a workable product. Thanks in Advance

That's a great help and something I can work with Thanks and million. I assume I will order the Seiwa Awl from Goods Japan as that's the only place I know that handles them. I have some Tandy size 0 needles will these be OK with that combo or should I get a different needle when I place my order............. Again Thanks!

I'm trying to buy the minimum number of tools I can but don't want to buy junk. I am interested in hand sewing leather holsters, knifes sheaths and the likes at this time thus when I look at tools I'm confused as to which size to buy. A Seiwa Awl comes in multiple sizes and I've not a clue to which size is best suited for my planned application, Also I had just about decided I would start sewing using some 1.0mm thread. Thinking it would be large enough to work with pretty easy and also large enough to see my mistakes easy.........is this analogy correct. With out starting a thread discussion or argument as I stated I'm just playing around and learning anybody want to throw out a thread that's reasonably priced and decent quality. Probably won't buy but black and white to start out. Please keep in mind I'm new at this and right now I'm just wanting to poke some holes in leather and see where it all leads me! Thanks to all. KayeMagic, I sure don't mean to hijack your thread but I've got a lot of the same questions.

DrmCa as I mentioned in a previous post I don't know one last from another. To me they all look pretty much the same with the exception of size and some minor differences in the shapes. To someone who knows this business the types would probably be more readily apparent. Again I stress I do not own these or have any control over them, I hope to hear from the owner soon!

I'm sorry that I seem to have created something here and I cannot answer all your questions at this time. When I posted I was merely trying to determine if there was a market or demand for these. Hoping the owner would be interested in selling them if they could be moved in larger numbers. I had set out a few at a yard sale with the owners permission a few years ago and didn't have a buyer. I don't even think there was much interest showed in them.. At that time I only thought of them as a novelty or antique that someone might be interested in as a home decor thing. I have set an watched these last deteriorate for years an many are as one poster said "no more than fire wood" Then as I got to digging around on this forum I found you guys, who seem to be seriously interested in them for what they were intended to be used. ........There are those mentioned that have been exposed but there are many more that I think are still very serviceable. However I cannot tell you by looking at them if the are Man's, Women's, or Children (although there are some smaller ones). I cannot explain to you what it would take to go through these and find answers for you. I could post pics if you want but until the owner decides something I'm stuck. Thanks for being patient.

I wouldn't know a Munson or Modified Munson from any other last. Read next post please.

I'll try to answer all questions in one here. As I said these last are from a factory, The owner doesn't live here on the property and when he comes down we are discussing other things and rarely do these get mentioned. I would assume there are last for many types of shoes for Men, women, Children but I don't see as many children's sizes lying around. As I said earlier there are very many......... I will attempt to call the owner and discuss these with him and hopefully get some better answers for you. Please be patient!

I kind of looked around on Ebay and I thought most of those offered were for sale as antiques or novelties. Maybe some are bought or sold by you people who actually use them but I was primarily asking about someone who might be interested in larger numbers. The owner is supposed to have someone interested in some of them but I don't know how many. They are in KY (Sorry I updated my profile to reflect my location) As told I don't own them. I noticed you are a great distance away but he has said he would like to sell all of them. Many are rotting due to sun and water damage. I'm sure it would make you sad to see such a site. Others are stored in better conditions..AS far as style I really never paid that much attention to that. Ask as many questions as you want and I'll try to answer..

Is there a need or demand for old shoe last? A friend has many of these. They were from an old factory that closed. I know nothing about them other than most are wooden but there are a few plastic ones. They have numbers on them and I'd assume it's a size and a width. They have a strong hinge in front of the heel area as I've pinched myself with them before. Most have several circles in various places around the last with leather inserts. It appears these inserts are where a small nail or brad might be inserted to hold part of the shoe in place. I don't know the age of these last but they've been there as long as I can remember. Any comment would be appreciated! Thanks

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. I'm still trying to get a photo up even though I haven't had much time to work on it lately. I'm assuming you have to have a hosting site like photobucket?

Don't know what I'm doing wrong. Posted pics on several forums before. I'll do some research and get back on it later. Thanks!

DoubleC Thanks for responding, I thought I'd get a couple different opinions about this. I'm going to try and get some pics up as I'm not for sure if it does or doesn't have a sealer and I don't want to do something I'll regret. I apologize if I'm using the wrong wording for some of this as I new and stumbling around a bit. Thanks Again

In 1997 I was lucky enough to win an award. The awards banquet was held in Okla City. I had to get that in as it was such a nice town with very friendly people now back to my story.. Not only did I win the award but I was lucky enough to be drawn for another gift at one of the evening events and I picked a really nice leather notebook with some very nice tooling.. It served me very well and got some tough usage over the years. I carried it with me ever day throughout the remainder of my career. I retired in 2007 and put it in my desk drawer. I dug it out the other night and thought it would be nice to refurbish it. The only thing it needs is something to soften the leather. It appears the leather has hardened and got a slight sheen on it. I suppose the sheen could have been on it when new but I don't remember it being that way. I was hoping I could just try some saddle soap or maybe something prior to using the saddle soap to open up the leather (if that's what I need to do)? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance,