Johnny B

One of the beauties of leather working is that you find out what works best for you. Experimentation is the key. Buy a bag of scrap vegi-tan and start experimenting. For me I dye first then rub in oil.

I always use Weldwood gel contact cement. I use cheap brushes and brush it on. It goes and stays exactly where I want it and after drying no odor at all. When I am putting the two parts together I lay wax paper over the one side then lay the other side on top. I align the two parts together and slide out the wax paper. Then I use a laminate roller to roll out the glue to get good adhesion. I get perfect alignment of parts. Good solid adhesion, and finally, no odor.

Awesome looking work. Looks like it came right out of the early 1800s.

Now thats a holster that would dress up any 1911. Love the lacing work on it.

Looks great but I don't think my mule would care much for it. LOL

Wow I keep going back to this pic. This is awesome.

I have never had this happen to me. After I dye I rub some neatsfoot oil into the leather before my final finish.

There as many types and styles of bags as there are BP rifles. Since these are simple bags to make you can just draw yourself a pattern on cardboard yourself. I have made hundreds without having had a pattern. It is basically up to your imagination as how to make it. Some are sewed, some are laced together. Some have beaver tail flaps, some have rounded flaps and some have squared off flaps. I have made some from deer that had jagged edges. Straps can vary from canvas to leather. They can be attached to the back or the sides. More of preference than anything. You can make your bag to look new or antiqued. I have taken vegetan and distressed it to look 100 years old. There are several ways to make them look old. From using old worn looking leather to taking oven cleaner to age leather. I once bought an old leather jacket from a thrift store for $5.00 and used the leather to make an antiqued looking possibles bag. One of the things I love about leather craft is using your imagination in the making of your project.

U want to make certain that your leather is clean before wetting. I wipe mine down with alcohol and a clean rag. Also certain types of well water will leave marks. Sulfur water is bad for staining leather. And of course you want to make certain that the water you are using has no oils in it. I don't but I have a friend that only wets his leather with bottled water and he gets some beautiful finishes on his leather projects.

Looking good!

I am making holsters and knife sheaths. I use plain hot water.

Mine I made to use in a drill press. I can adjust the speeds of the press to my liking. I took a simple hardwood dowel, 1/2" X8" long, and mounted in my press. I then turned it on and took different diameter bolts and used the threads of the bolt to cut different sized grooves into the dowel rod. After that I took some fine emery cloth to polish up the grooves a little and applied some wax to the grooves. I can burnish any thickness of leather at any speed necessary. It takes a few seconds to burnish a long belt with this method. This works when space is tight and you simply so not have anymore room for another bench mounted tool.

This rig is beyond words.

USMC Black will do nicely.

I wet my leather then air brush my finish on. I can feather the edges or darken them to my liking.

I have a 16"X12" of granite that came from countertop sink cutout. I cut myself a slab about this same size but still have another slab that I have no use for. Thought someone might need this. I live in Fort Mill SC and am close to Charlotte NC. I can meet anyone who wants this somewhere around this area. I also I am in Johnson City TN for a couple of days a week if you live close to there. Shipping would be to expensive due to the weight. I am guessing around 50#.

This would dress up and bible.

I was wondering the same thing about the text. Inquiring minds want to know please.

Fine looking holsters there.

Real mince belt there. I have these same barb wire stamps. Might have to get them out and do something with them.

Thanks for posting this. I have been wondering the same thing. I have a friend who wants a sheath for his filet knife but he wants it to look like a fish. Your post gave me some ideas. Thanks

I am lucky to have a Tandy's close by. I actually pick my leather that I want. I recently went thru about 15 hides before I found a perfect one. A whole 6/7 ounce hide with almost perfect leather on every square inch. They sell the economy shoulders that are far from perfect but these make great distressed holsters and sheaths. They also have boxes of scrap leather that I can purchase per pound. I always look in these boxes and purchase leather from them on occasion. Some really nice pieces in there ranging from 2/3 sq feet to sometimes 8/9 sq feet. I once found a piece of alligator, maybe 4sq feet and it cost me like $5.00. Made a couple of holsters and several inlays with it. That one piece made me about $400.00 profit. Sorry that you have had a bad experience with Tandy. I have been more than satisfied with them but I never mail order from them.

It was something like 6-7oz but not enough clean leather to do anything bigger than maybe a knife sheath with. I used most of it for distressed sheaths and holsters. As far as the boots, if you could get a clean enough piece then it would make fine boots. The holsters and sheaths I have made with it are tough.

I have used these stamps a lot and I can tell you they will try your patience. It took me a lot of practice before I was confident enough to use them on a project. I just scribe a line I want to follow and work with that. I align the edge of the stamp with the line and have to be really careful to align the strands of the barbwire up perfectly. And always use the stamp in the same direction every time. Never turn it 180. It is also crucial to have properly cased leather to get a clean image with this type of stamp. FYI, if you want a different color on the barbwire you can trace the lines of the stamp with the sharp point sharpies. I have made the stamp actually look like it was rusty barbwire using a sharpie in brown then dying my leather normally over the sharpie and then applying my finish. Good luck, johnny b

Thanks for the reply. Gotta order me some beaver.