robs456

Nice. Stitching looks good, which technique did you use? Pre-punched holes or by awl one by one? Edges looks to need some work though. How many layers of paint, and did you heat treat them? Don't mean to steal your thunder, just that I just finished a bunch of bracelets using Fenice and learned the hard way that it's more difficult to work with that than just burnishing the traditional way (which of course can't be done on some leathers...), so I'm very interested in how people use it.

Thanks.

Thanks, bad lighting and a crappy phone makes it look more twisted and 'blotchy' than it really is, the lines are actually quite straight. But I did go for the non-conventional...

Bought a head knife and made it real sharp, so sharp that I don't want to put it down on a table and forget it's there. So I made a sheath from scraps and vowed to always sheath the knife before putting it down.

It's cool. I like doing old school tattoo carving as well and one thing that would lift your piece is if you put a black outline as in the original flash. You could add it with a Sharpie, but be real careful...

I've done this to experiment and using Sharpies I find that it works but the color gives off a reddish tint and that it's harder to burnish after.

Below is a pic of the first belt I ever made, maybe four years back. I used some real nice homemade 'roon but managed to burn it with the baking soda which as you can see made it very brittle. Basically I just soaked the belt in the soda until it stopped bubbling. Sometime after the belt was done I figured out that this wasn't the way but kept the belt anyway just to see what happened and when. Well, the 'experiment' is over. The belt got a small tear close to the buckle and I decided to try and rip it apart. Didn't take much, was like tearing off a stamp. At the hole there wasn't even a tear but I just managed to rip it anyway. Note that I oiled it with neatsfoot oil while making it but haven't oiled it since, it might have prolonged the lifetime a bit if I did. I have since made a bunch of other stuff with vinegaroon that's worked out fine, but for me the quite inconsistent results (using Tandy leather) has made me turn to other products and more recently I've started buying pre-dyed leather instead. Vinegaroon has it's place though (especially for period pieces) and if you use it -go easy on the soda.

HarHar... I've never worked with Chrome tanned but the luxury companies that do uses edge paint. In this video they show the process : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw43Isosh_s

Personally I stopped using 'roon because of inconsistent results between batches and the fact that it is tough to get the dips timed just right without burning the leather. My first belt that I fortunately made for myself was obviously not done right as recently the keeper split in two (after wearing for about 3 years) and upon inspection I could see that it was hard and very brittle throughout -soda burn. After getting some belts with totally differing shades of black/charcoal/gray while using the same batch of 'roon I gave up on it, might have been the tannin content of the different leathers but the way I think is that with dye I get the same result every time.

IIRC: 1) Should the Vig always smell like vinegar and steel? The smell will be minimized by saturating the vinegar with iron, always use more than you think you need (unless experienced). 2) How long should the soda dip be done? Very quickly or the leather will be 'burned'. 3) Should there be a smell after dipping? It always is when I 'roon projects, but then I tend to fail no.1 above... The smell wears of with time though.

Well, it's there for two reasons, aestethic and protection. When sewing through thick leather I tend to use pliers at times, and when not holding it I just put it on that cube shaped block (for lack of a better name). The leather then helps the pliers to stay in place and protects the wood from chipping when handling the tool.

You sit on it, so the best part with a custom stitching pony is that you get the perfect height to do your work at.

Thanks guys. I like the rustic look too, so I dyed it with Antique to get an uneven dye job, and on the left one I rubbed like crazy to get a kind of 'highlight' effect where the knife sits. It does have a belt loop, it's not in the pic but you can see where the top has been folded back to form the loop.

Very nice. You're right about the spring, would be very useful. I may put an old airgun spring (sawed off) in the middle.

One thing I'm considering is taking some epoxy paste and put over the wingnuts to round them off a bit, partly to make them more comfortable and also to make it harder for them to catch the thread. On the other hand, I don't really have any problem with it as it is so I'll leave it for now.

Thanks guys.

Made me a stiching pony. Was going to buy one, but then I saw what they charged for those pieces of wood...

Here are two sheaths for the Mora Lapplander 95.

Thanks, I like your gear cuff a lot.

Thanks!

I've been wanting to make a bracer for a while now, so with some time over I made this small one for myself. It's a '38' with flames on the sides, or supposed to be anyway 'cause I'm not a pinstriper or anything. As for the meaning of the 38, well, it's actually Chinese... I think it came out nice and it's very comfy to wear.

I made this one a while back, it's filled with no. 9 shot throughout and is very well balanced. It's heavy though (made for training) so if you want to carry one around use the "shot bag method" explained above, or cast a medallion as in Bill's excellent post above.

I'd like access too please.

Thanks!

My dad needed a new holster for his Remington 1858 NEW MODEL NAVY, so naturally I had to make one. Because it would go on a belt that is carved I also had to design a carving to fit to the old pattern, which was a first but went 'OK'. Only bad part about the whole thing is that I think I might have become addicted to holsters, I even got the 'Packing Iron' book and just can't wait to get a whole rig finished. The finished holster: