JLSleather

Oh, wait.. you wuz talkin' HOLSTERS in chocolate ... The first and third are chocolate dye ONLY. Teh middle one is done with Fiebing's "dark brown" (thinned) and shown here to show the difference in color... teh dark brown is clearly more reddish ...

full on chocolate looks almost black. Thin the dye and it's one of my all time favorites (now they have 50 shades that didn't used to exist). These were done ONLY with chocolate Fiebing's. The background of the top one is FULL STRENGTH chocolate, the rest is thinned about 30:1. Same thing on the belt with the 3-piece buckle set. This belt is chocolate ONLY, about 15:1 if I remember right, and the notebook binder background is the same dye, applied with an airbrush.

got tan-kote? mix a bit of tan-kote with a dollop of chocolate dye. bit and dollop are generic terms for SOME, depending on the shade you want. this is not "supposed to" work.. mixing a water based product with an alcohol based thing, but i'm telling you that it DOES very well (assuming you'll test on scrap to get the right shade anyway, so you'll then know it works)

Umm.. YEP! Buy a car, you'll probably have to adjust the seat, the wheel, and the mirrors. But not the transmission

nobody can "guess" what you MIGHT do SOMEDAY. I'm pretty sure if you call Bob (Toledo) Kovar about a leather stitcher, among his FIRST questions will be WHAT do you want to sew and WHAT SIZE THREAD do you want to use. Now, if you don't know, I don't know how it would be possible for somebody else to know. To continue the analogy of buying a car... If you need a vehicle, you go to the guy selling vehicles. You say you don't know what you need. So the guy is going to ask... some place to START FROM. Do you want a vehicle that looks shiny 'cruising the strip", or do you need it to GO FAST and don't care about cosmetics, or do you need it to haul dirt and gravel for your landscaping business? You generally DONT buy a Porsche to go grocery shopping and generally don't use a dump truck to pick up your date (though you theoretically COULD do all of those things). Point being, it's up to YOU to tell them what you want. I KNOW Bob K is quite good at helping you match a machine (and accessories..) to your STATED GOAL. He's also very clear that ONE machine is unlikely to do EVERYTHING YOU EVER want to do. The dump truck hauls heavy stuff very well, but not much good in the quarter mile. So, they know what you're sewing because you TELL THEM. If you tell them you're hauling big rocks, they'll likely quote you a price on the dump truck. Tell them you want to go fast and sporty, maybe they quote the Porsche. But I CERTAINLY WOULD AGREE that if you order one, you can't complain that it wont do the other.

That's a great observation - one I'm sure many didnt consider If he has the bodyguard 5-shot, it wont affect the holster at all (unless there's a thumb break, maybe)

this machine is SOLD

Oh, I have some pieces - black drum dyed, chestnut drum dyed from W/C, and natural from Hermann Oak - big enough for about anything but portfolios or handbags, mostly 7/8 oz, I'll sell for about $2.50 per foot. Let's be clear, this is BETTER LEATHER than what you're getting from "resellers", and better than what is shown here. Seriously, $100 get you about 45 square feet. Firm leather, pieces would work great for holster or sheath makers. Even the stuff with "marks" is FIRM and SOLID, great for lining exotics - forms well. I laid it on the floor, covers about 9 feet x 5 feet. Come pick it up and skip the shipping You know, just for reference. I CAN NOT GRASP why people pay $12 AND UP (often more $$) for leather that looks like the pic in the original post.

My advice is dump the ant-streak, clean out the jar, and use it as a pencil cup on your desk.

Unless they changed their 'policy' (I didn't ask), if ordering TEN sides (or in my case backs) they need to be the same weight. Order 20 or more you can "mix n match". Now, you might ask 'em, I don't know for a fact that's still the case. As a rule, I buy 7/8 and 3/4, and if I need occasionally a piece of say 5/6 or 6/7 I can get ONE piece of great Hermann Oak from Cheryl / Carlos at Goliger Leather or as little as ONE hide from Wickett-Craig (the tannage is a little different, but not in a "bad" way ). NOTE that buying a single hide from Goliger DOES cost more per foot, plus you're paying shipping on ONE instead of spreading the shipping over multiple hides, BUT I've never got a piece of leather from there I wasn't happy with

These "cases" (full zipper) absolutely DO NOT get ant-streak of any kind. I just put the color where it goes (combination of airbrush and red sable hair brushes) and tan-kote applied with the palm of the hand (no sheep wool hairs in the finish). Don Gonzales tools leather very nicely, then - in my opinion - makes the MISTAKE of putting that ant-streak stuff on it. Still looks nice, but not as nice as it did before he pooped on it That stuff reminds me of the sediment left behind after it rains and the puddles dry up... mud in the low spots

there was a class couple times a week at the tandy in Des Moines, IA - dont know if they're still doing that or not, new manager (which is good, that guy was a JERK). but I has there in teh store when one class was going on, and honestly it looked like you could save time by just tearing up the registration fee in cash and going about your business. VERY remedial, clearly intended to sell the members some tandy stuff, like "oh, you'll need this and this and this for the class, but you don't have to buy it, it's included in your class fee" and then "by the way, if you want to REALLY do it you'll need this and this and this, sold separately" And honestly I only paid any attention at all because that one gal in that class was CUTE, CUTE, CUTE. So I paid a little attention, only to find out that they might as well be playing Bingo, or could just move it over to the restaurant across the lot. Appeared to be more of a social gathering,.. something to do to meet people... than actually anything to do with leather. But I'm apparently the dissenting opinion on those Y-tube videos (pronounced WHY-tube)... vast majority of it is useless refuse intended to gather "followers" and advertisers for people who seem to be better at TALKING leather than actually DOING leather. One effeminate little... uh, guy I guess... has a video that goes on FOREVER about the most basic stuff... I can't watch that. If I'm giong to spend an hour watching a video, NOT doing leather, gimme the girls in that Greg Allman video Don Gonzales is one exception... good information presented in a very easy style. Mostly about TOOLING and COLORING leather. I can take most of what that guy talks about (I don't AGREE with all of it, but I think Don's opinion is worth seeing). And his work is quite good - just no point in listening to somebody droning on if they aren't producing GOOD WORK to back up their words. Doesn't matter where it comes from though... pick up what you can use and leave the rest - no matter.

yeah, he gits it

No matter. I typed it. Some people replied to it. Some folks REALLY REALLY didn't like it. That also is no matter. Minutes later an entire section of that conversation was NO LONGER THERE. I asked out loud if people advertising on this site were BUYING A REPUTATION (yeah, used those words, so that would be the context). I didn't say anything slanderous or malicious, or anything that wasn't demonstrably true, so wasn't too worried about who liked it or didn't like it. Johanna popped in to say that nobody is "buying a reputation" (though to believe that would be naïve - of course they are). I don't know where that conversation went, and I don't care - no worries. I say stuff sometimes. If I KNOW it to be true, I say that. If i THINK IT MIGHT be true, I say THAT. Or if it's something I heard and haven't verified myself, I say THAT. Sometimes folks like it. Sometimes not.

At the price some of these places are charging for BAD leather, a guy could buy the GOOD stuff, take his 3 sides, send the other 7 to a couple guys doing leather and STILL get BETTER LEATHER for LESS MONEY (H.O. GRADE A is about $8 per foot, NOT $12, NOT $14....) Last time I did that, it cost $20 to ship ONE side, but only $50 to ship FIVE sides.

Yeah. ALL of that. Keep in mind that the point of the video is NOT to teach, instruct, or inform. The video is to KEEP YOU THERE as long as possible, maximizing the number of ADS THEY SHOW YOU. I had a guy go on (and on and on) about hand sewing and point me to a video that was like hour and a half. After a couple minutes, I remembered that I can sew that - BY HAND - in far less than the length of the video. I didn't watch the rest. But you make a good point about stitching clamps (whatever they call them these days). Absolutely beneficial where they can be used. But no different than a sewing machine ("stitcher" for the purists)... great until you have to sew on a saddle swell .. I'm ALL FOR Stohlman's book, and that's largely the way I do it. Start and sew TOWARD me whenever possible (and it usually is). I like a STRAIGHT stitch line.. I've always thought that angled look was a bit GIRLY, and I do not do it. Well, actually, last year I did.. ONCE... on a belt for a very nice lady ...

LOTS of info around here. Jump on in

Yup. And somebody in TX buys the SAME new car model as I do in IA is going to set the heater differently than I do. This is not the same as saying it goes in reverse and drives back in teh same tracks, as long as you don't turn it, only to find that IT DOES NOT do that. I don't mind adjusting the heater and moving the mirrors - but I shouldn't have to hook up the exhaust before i can drive it. Now, imagine that you bought a machine BECAUSE THEY CLAIMED that it sews back in the same holes, and that the machine has been tested and tried at the 'shop', all ready to go - in fact, there's a bit of leather still attached to it to "prove" that the machine is ready to go. And suppose you went to get familiar with the machine and found it DOESNT sew back in the SAME HOLES, but rather wants to pierce the thread previously put there in "forward". And maybe you call to ask if it's the machine, or if you're simply not doing something correctly. And you get a salesman asking you if the machine is plugged in. Yup. And is the needle in there ALL THE WAY UP in the needle bar? Uh, yeah, but what has that got to do with it? Is the needle 'scarf' to the right? Look, you gonna answer my question or not?! Now suppose you called some other people who have that same machine. And they TEST what you're talking about, and find that THEIRS DOESNT DO IT either. And you call the 'dealer' and tell them that, at which time they STOP TAKING YOUR CALLS I posted this on THIS site, and that conversation DISAPPEARED within minutes. Just DELETED (or maybe just 'hidden'). Now, WHY would that happen? I'm not making any accusations, since I'm quite good at distinguishing between what I KNOW and what I think MIGHT be the case (a skill that seems almost nonexistent these days).

Pics? Did you BUFF the dried ant-streak?

That is BENDS ... meaning a side but the shoulder and belly area is removed (hence the square cut on one end and the bottom). In teh right side pic, that's a "B" grade bend (belly and shoulder removed). Clamp marks on the right side identify that as the SPINE side of the hide. It's not MARK FREE, but purdy durn close. And this is a B... I think most "retailers" are selling you "B" but sending "D". I have LONG told people it's best to order FROM HERMANN OAK OR WICKETT-CRAIG DIRECTLY. IF you don't want to buy the minimum 10 sides at H.O. then get together with a few guys in your area and SPLIT an order. If you order 10, then a BACK (I order with bellies already removed) runs about $185 after shipping. To be clear, $185-ish gets you that piece in the right side pic AND about 7-ish sq feet of the shoulder not in that pic. FYI.. I didn't intend it, but I see in that pic ---- under the natural H.O. side is a Wickett-Craig "chestnut" drum dyed tooling leather. VERY nice.

And retailers PRAISE the rough cut, NEVER show you the ribeye. A couple of "retailers" HERE made a LOT of money by catering to those who DONT KNOW ANY BETTER. Kinda simple business plan -- find a place where all the new guys are collected in one spot, and shoot the fish already in the barrel. In fact, they'll show up on here by the dozen proudly ANNOUNCING they don't know what they need or how to tell the good from the bad. Like, you see people come to the church for help when they can't pay the rent, or don't have food. Simple logic.. you go to where there are ALREADY PEOPLE GATHERED who WANT to help you. Easy pickin's ...

And you SHOULD EXPECT that. SERIOUSLY folks, if you don't already know how, then LEARN to distinguish between what you HEARD and what you KNOW to be true. What you heard / read MIGHT be true, but just BECAUSE you heard it doesn't make it true. Like ... Q: If you're wanting to lose a few pounds, which is better - low carb or low fat? A: Depends on who is paying for the ad. Seriously, I've 'shopped' with Bob at Toledo for a good while. I'm gonna say he's been more than patient, since he always gets down to what I need and sometimes has suggestions on what a guy might do or not do. He might get busy, depending on orders 'n' such - I'm not his ONLY shopper. But leave a message and he's ALWAYS called me back same day - usually within an hour. NOW- I'm telling you this is TRUE, but YOU should have it in your mind that its SOMETHING YOU HEARD, and continue to gather information until you're comfortable making YOUR OWN DECISION. That's a pretty good reference for Ryan Neel just back a bit here, but again - that's SOMETHING YOU HEARD (and MAY be true in SOME cases, or ALL cases, or maybe JUST THAT ONE TIME). Contact the guy and ask some questions.

TOO COMMON these days, but not "normal" (desirable, or even acceptable). NO cowhide is without a mark. It is then graded according to defects per square foot, "A" being the best (W/C calls it "standard" grade, and goes down from there). I've worked with some "B" hides that worked out just fine... those pics above are an A and a B from Hermann Oak (sadly, you have MANY "retailers" selling C and even D and labeling them "B" to those who don't know any better). Fat wrinkles will be most prominent in the shoulder area, and run "up and down" on the cow. This puts them the "short" way on a side, and the "long" direction on a double shoulder. I've used many double shoulders over the years for belts and holsters, even portfolios and bags. Perfectly good leather if you get "the good stuff". Some of the "retailers" (not a nice word around here) go on and on about how these DEFECTS add "charm and character" to your projects. But they are DEFECTS, which is why leather suppliers (MAKERS, not the resellers) CHARGE MORE for the hides without this war zone look. For those CON MEN calling themselves "retail outlets" (and such)... I prefer my leather LESS CHARMING, and since you claim it's beneficial, perhaps I can get a discount on the hides that DONT have that? Nah - didn't think so ...

either way works fine. WIth the actual gun, just be sure to wipe it / let it dry and use some general maintenance oil when done. SOMEWHERE around here is a BUNCH of pdfs about making holsters... I uploaded 'em, just don't know exactly whereta find em. And Jim Simmons has a great read in the holster section - it's showing revolvers but the idea works across the board.