JLSleather

Not MY thing at all, but I can tell you my sister and my daughter would be in line for those

Oh, you're buying it 'retail" - that's different indeed. I generally get HO ..FROM H.0. This means buying 10 sides, but I figger I'll use it so it's fine. Just going through it a bit slower than the saddle makin' crew. The ONLY place I ever recommend for buying HO in smaller quantities is GOLIGER LEATHER. Cheryl has always shipped great leather (when you order "A" you GET "A") and the service is just as good. Only thing I could possibly not like about it is the shipping CA to the midwest is a bit spendy,... but unavoidable. So AGAIN - Goliger has never sent me a piece of leather I wasn't happy with. I have TRIED to work with others over the years, with little to praise for it. YEARS ago I could walk into The Leather Factory (before it was "tandy leather factory - I don't know if they bot it or if they already owned it back then and were running under a different name), pick out some hides, and be tooling GOOD leather at a GOOD price in an hour. That place is still in Des Moines, IA ... now called TANDY leather factory... and largely filled with JUNK (and the manager last time I was there is a jerk - if they know what's good for them they've got rid of him by now). Back when, you could just call and in a couple days you had a solid chunk of leather that was 90% good stuff (and 10% of the less firm edges for testing dye and stain colors is fine). Now, I won't buy anything there unless I find time to go hand pick it. And HOW MANY times did I order at SLC and get ... EWWWW. I explained to them that I buy from Hermann Oak, but sometimes I just need one or two sides of a different weight. Usually I would order a "back", cuz i don't care for the belly leather. More than once they cut it the wrong way (seriously, not a joke). And SO many times the leather I got was FAR from being the "B" grade i ordered. I'd call and explain to them again that I HAVE "B" from HO and yours looks nothing like that. Honestly, I think they're SO geared at retail sales that they don't really "grasp" that somebody would actually know the difference (and they're counting on that). ANY RATE, they'd always apologize, offer to send me a different piece... not charge me shipping for returning the doormat they called leather.... BUT I finally just had to tell em that while they'd never "stuck" me with a piece they refused to take back, the time I was having to spend straightening it out just made it not worth the trouble. I have purchased some good leather from S-T Leather (st louis), but it has been hit and miss, not consistent. I ordered leather from Weaver Leather. Once. Never again. Some of the worst hides I've ever seen. And you've already seen my vomiting up ALD above. And the W/C I generally order FROM W/C as well. I think the smallest piece they sell is backs, so like 17-18 sq ft. But it's good leather. I use the "holster" leather for what it sounds like, though it TOOLS very nicely. I'M not sure how it's different from their "tooling" hides, which are quite nice. As I mentioned before, it's a bit less "firm" than HO leather, assuming the same treatment. The hides are generally quite clean - not a lot of waste. I think like twice (or was it 3) over the years I had an issue worth discussing over there, and was always met with an acceptable outcome. My "pitch" to the places I buy leather is simple. I don't mind PAYING premium price, long as I'm GETTING premium leather. I tell em right on the phone.... send me the best piece you have and charge me accordingly. IF the leather is good, and the service is good, you won't hear me complain about the cost. Other side of the coin is... free shipipng is no favor if you're shipping me landfill material.

Really? NOBODY thot this was funny? Er wuzya just commentin' cuz if'n yer wife seen ya ....

YEah, having tried both extensively -- I prefer to tool the HO. W/C does tool up nicely, but i rather like the firm HO after its done STILL, I like this work and as a rule I've always liked your work 👍 I'll say it out loud ... I ordered from ALD- ONCE. And will not do it again. Robert (mecopocketholsters) and I decided to try them a few years back. So we ordered three different TYPES of leather cuts from them, to try them out. Qute bad. I considered using it for lining other projects, but in the end, I threw it out. Robert - in TX - said the same thing. This would be THAT Robert, who made the best looking holster I ever dun seen, right down to this day ...

Yup. There ya go.

Maybe shoot a video fer us. Cowboy Bob still round these parts? Bob prolly tell you in a minute wut the prollem is If I wuz gonna guess without seeing it (and I aint gonna) I might say theyz sumthin' putting drag on yer BOBBIN side ... But again - tell Bob is yer best bet. Bob is a GROWN MAN, capable of answering a simple question without trying to sell you something you don't need. Oh, and he's out yer way!

OH, OH, OH... I DID see one gun show about an hour from here.... we took a BIG bowl of individually wrapped candy for anybody who wants to help theyseff to it. No worries. Brightly colored tables and candy.... might as well have been a flashing red light But nothing much selling. COuple fellas ordered holsters for later shipment, which was fine and good. But the ONLY thing of QUALITY I saw there, barring us, was a older fella making gun slings. Making GOOD slings. NICE slings. Put yer name on em and finish em right there - pay, come back in half an hour and gityer stuff. Started - if I remeber right - around $90. After 2 days he wuz downta like half that, and STILL no orders. Guy spent most of the time over there eating candy and talking with me and my son ...

I'm the odd man out here. Again. WHile it's clear that Daytona loves bike stuff (and also spring break crap and racing stuff) I can tell you what i"ve seen over the years. If you make "quick, cheap, token" items for quick sale, that's what you'll be remembered for. IF you want to get known for quality, lasting, CRAFTED goods, then I suggest that you start making and offering that right from teh start. 👍 When we did "shows", we always had those little "key fob" things with a tandy stamp on there and a key ring. We didn't sell them - we GAVE THEM to little kids. Cost us less than $1 and a minute er two each. REASON being it made the kids happy to get SOMETHING, and thus they weren't putting their hot dog soaked hands on a 3-digit handbag or a $100+ holster .. no mustard on the goods SOME of the girls (mostly) would hear there wuz some dummy over that was givin free stuff for the kids and show up, with no intention of buying anything. Which is fine - no harm done (plus, we LIKE kids as a rule). I can't even tell you for a fact that we ever sold anything BECAUSE of these little things - prolly not. But it did make room for those who wanted to see the real stuff. At the shows, we had some stuff you could touch, feel, smell... and ALSO some photos of other stuff you could order. BUT WE QUIT doing 'shows" ... SO MANY people love to go to these things for "something to do"... might as well have been a walk in the park with a hot dog vendor (and sometimes the food guy was the ONLY one making any money). Last straw for me was when i went to a supposed so-called "gun show" and had a guy telling me all about the wonderful holster he bought from a guy who "designs them hissself""... and then showed me a picture of MY holster he bought from this somebody I showed him the DESIGN, but he just wasn't having it - ya kaint fix stupid. This guy wasn't there to buy anything either... just wanted to "talk guns" with some other people not there to buy anything....

Yup, BACK CUT python from the looks of it. I prefer the BELLY CUT when I use snake, but.... that there's prolly large enough to use each side. And it's pricey, as a rule, with a good piece runin $200-300 US. Looks nice though, and one snake make a number of projects. The other piece is likely whip snake or similar, belly cut. $9.95 in a barrel at Tandy (ish)

Oh, and this is what a Hermann Oak "A" hide looks like. Much of what others are selling as "A" or "B" is really "D". Aside from direct from H.O., only place i've got consistently GOOD hides was from Goliger Leather (CA). The top pic is the "shoulder" section, and some fat wrinkles as shown are common and not a problem. The bottom pic is the "bend" of the hide, which is the back section after the shoulder has been cut off. And obviously, the middle pic is a closeup of the grain, which is nearly entirely blemish free. Prolly we all dun seen those "ads" and "buddy talks" where somebody tries to tell you marks, brands, scratches, bug bites, wrinkles, and crinkles "add charm" to a piece of leather. I say, keep your "charming" crap and send me what I paid for

What type of wallet? Starters, 8 oz is WAY heavy for something supposed to fit in a pocket. As a rule, I use 3/4 oz for tooled wallets... and might go up to a 4/5 for larger pocketbook type thingies for the girls to hand hold or drop in a bag. As for the liners, good tips already on here. Calf, goat, kangaroo,... in about 1.5/2 oz is good. If I'm doing a wallet with multiple card pockets - like 6 er more, I like to use FABRIC behind a goat "face". It's more sewing, but never a complaint For illustration .... These "chaylor finnelly" prefab interiors used to be sold at SLC, don't know if they still are. One of the few things they sell down there worth it's cost, the ones I've used were quite nice. The one below, I tooled a 3/4 oz leather back, and then laced in the PRE MADE pockets as one assembly.

That's ATROCIOUS 🤢 Yer a bigger feller'n me, cuz i'd be "callin em out" at will. I'm LOUD... NOBODY gets to ignore me. Treat me right, get me a fair deal, and I'll tell everybody for you. But stick me with something like this, I'll tell folks that just as often. Don't like it, should have sent me what I paid for. As for bag straps, I'm kinda picky. I like to see the strap made from the same hide as the bag - perfect color match now and as it ages. And I like LINED straps, so if I have to I'll split it ... like as in if I'm making 8 oz somethings... I might split a couple of straps down to 4 oz and sew them together to end up with 8 oz that match the bag (realistically, only the "view" side needs to match, but I can be .... thorough ) Looks like yer up Sharon's way... she likely fergot more about leather n most of us ever figger out. She still stompin round here? Maybe she pop in with a word abot what ta do here, though... fair warning ... she sounds a bit like me

Yup - I'm not mindin' this at all Maybe only thing ... I'd punch a small slot on the one with the buckle where the tongue goes ... leavin that dimple in the leather. That little 'bump' is distracting from the look of your otherwise nice lookin holster GOOD news is, it aint too late -- unbuckle, punch, done ...

DIVORCE FINALIZED Now, NOBODY likes the idea of divorce, really, but then I did lose about 170 lbs Ya could say over the years she outgrew me 🤣 So some the boys around asked if I was "datin" somebody. Thinkin bout that, I realized that's unlikely. I mean, they gotta be some 'rulez' about who ta date, yeah?... So- what would these 'rulez' be? So far, I've concluded that these are all a must (all, not some). gotta be a girl. I mean ORIGINAL equipment, not this "aftermarket" stuff ya hear about these days. She gotta fit my cutoff jeans. And by cutoff jeans, I mean my jeans are full length, but if she dont' fit in 'em she CUT OFF. I was created liking girls and sammiches. And if I was "hungry" (and I nearly always am), I'd want a good sammich. Not just any sammich will do. Gotta be the type o meat I like; not too interested in frills and add-ons. But - and here's the prollem these days - when I want a sammich, I want my OWN sammich. Dont' be tryina sell me a sammich somebody already took a bite out of ....

As a rule, I like 6 spi. Prolly just preference, though the rule is - thicker leather, heavier thread and wider spacing. Awls are generally tapered, so with heavy leather, pushing through all that may result in holes bigger than a guy wanted ... Adjust that 'rule' with the function of the equipment (have to have a reasonable breaking strength) and the cosmetics (I like the hole FILLED IN with the thread completely and TIGHT). Again, thinner leather, smaller thread and tighter spacing. It's a 'rule'. Understandably, there may be times a guy wants to alter that for whatever reason ... keepin in mind nobody wants to step into a saddle using fenders sewn with 138 thread... and a holster for a snubby will look ridiculous with 346 weight (though it will certainly hold). And, then - just when you thought it was safe to go back in the questions... there's that lady from VA who wants it strong but still "pretty".... so you adjust as needed ... Some folk want thre thread to shock ... And others want the thread to 'disappear"....

NEver had glue "bleed through" leather. 🤔 But if it's on the surface, you can try to remove it by lightly dragging an art gum eraser to try to lift it off. It will come off the grain side, just have to be careful not to mar the surface. TO BE CLEAR, i'm not talking about RUBBING as in like youre "erasing" it... just trying to LIFT the glue from the leather, not embed it.

to make good leather goods, you need good leather. that's the first and the last of that. For holsters specifically, I would recommend a good utility knife, and something to cut curves (I use x-acto, works great). round punches - they're great for PUNCHING out tight curves instead of trying to cut them. GOOD quality awl and thread. a wooden or acrylic "slicker" for finishing edges. and of course dyes and applicators to suit your preference. That will get you started, and you can swap/change as you grow to suit your own style. To be clear, GOOD leather. Plus, one more thing... GOOD leather.

kydex will work also

UNLIKELY that your machine sews back into the same holes as it made forward. More reliable... when you get to the end, TURN THE PROJECT AROUND and sew a few holes back in FORWARD.

you'll want to spread the difference over 3 er 4 stitches, so you don' t have 1 or 2 real short, very obvious ones. It's worse at a corner. Generally, for soemthing like what you have in the pic, I would mark with an overstitch wheel starting from the point working backwards, so that the TURN comes out correct. You can "fudge' a few stitches before getting to the corner, and you'l be fine.

You CAN, but the spring makes it nicer to use. Gives the thing something firm to push on. A guy could use an additional piece of cowhide in the shape of the metal too. And put on the outside, wouldnt' really need to be lined. I LIKE 'em lined, because i can recess the snap into the lining, helping it clear the pistol better.

I generally and usually and normally and routinely and consistently (and prolly some other ly's) advise NOT to use ant-streak on leather. But on "figure carving" I DEFINITELY WARN against it. Just don't belong on 'figures' at all. That said, I think you could benefit greatly from seeing Stohlman's book on figure carving, specifically look at 'matting" and double beveling. Still, your knife cuts look good n smooth Maybe this helps? Figures here also from "craftaid" templates.

yeah, prolly work there, long as the land is wide enough. Mostly on chrome-tanned bags, I would think. Assuming we're talking about the same type of bag, a 90° on a veg-tanned edge would likely cause a "booger" (wrinkle) I would find unacceptable. Still, it may be of use for like gussets on notebooks/binders?

One is a six, the other seem more like half a dozen. I've had customers ask, and I tell 'em by the time either wears out, send it back and I'll replace the stitchin' in it - you just pay the shippin'. They DO sew a bit different, barely, if I'm tellin' the story. EITHER is fine - but you might notice when switching from one to the other you might adjust the tension just a tad, even with the same weight of thread. Again, I have and use both, so ... Originally, I used nylon for no other reason than that's what I had on hand. I "tried" poly thread because it was available in a color I wanted and the nylon was not, at least with my regular supply stores. The difference in use is minimal... almost none .. and I dont know there's much difference in the wear of it either. Somebody said that somebody said poly might be a bit more UV-resistant... but that same 'they' also tell you that tooled leather needs ant-streak and theyz WMD in Iraq ...

I didn't find I use the "holster" or "stirrup" plates nearly as much as I thought I would. With just a little thought, the standard plate does prett much all of that. I suppose if you were trying to sew next to a metal clip....