billymac814

As per a previous discussion here we seemed to conclude that Tan Kote is resin based and bag Kote is water based and on the bottle is says not to mix anything with Tan Kote, I don't know what would happen if it was mixed with water, I thought I did mix it at one point but I may not have. I only tried it a few times as a finish and never liked it, I just use it to thin antique. I would agree with everything in the previous post. I know some use Atom wax as a finish but its more of a polish/conditioner. Is says on the bottle that it cleans,softens, polishes and restores smooth leather. I myself used to use it as well as the MPB and Aussie Leather conditioner as more of a finish and had the same results, it just doesn't last. You may get away with it for certain items but it'll require repeated applications and if its an antiqued item it won't do much to waterproof the antique. Angelus has a line of acrylic finishes like resolene but they have varying degrees of sheen, 605 is a satin finish if you don't want a super glossy look. I find with the resolene mixed with water its not as shiny unless I get into multiple coats but it does have some shine to it. I oil most of my items prior to putting the finish on, I use pure neatsfoot. I know some people have good luck with the Olive oil but I personally will save that for my salad. I'm not saying it doesn't work and I don't want to get into any debates here I just feel better using the neatsfoot oil. Some use Mop and Glow too as a finish, I never tried it though so I don't know how it works. I also never tried any of the "Lacs", I don't think anything I make really calls for that but maybe someday ill try some. I'm assuming the harness dressing is similar to the MPB or other wax based water proofer/conditioner but I'm not sure exactly what it is.

I never heard of anyone air brushing leather balm with atom wax. I think it should be rubbed into the leather and then polished once dry. I never like tan Kote as a finish personally. I also don't think it can be thinned. I would try either Bag Kote, it can be thinned with water or resolene, I get better results with either of these when mixed with water.

No you're not too far away. I've never done any gun shows, I've pretty much been up to my eyeballs with work since I started selling them so I never have time to make any just to sell. Plus with molded holsters they are gun specific so I'd have to have a large number of holsters to sell any at a show. Its much easier to just sell online. Thanks though, if you're ever in the area stop by.

Yes, it's the craft oil pro. I'm not sure which one to tell you to get as I haven't seen them all in person. I got the 2044, its lightly checkered though and its a little larger. I ordered it very much without even taking a minute to look at them as I was finishing up an order that I was calling in and added it last minute. I'm gonna get a couple others next order. I'd go with a small one and a big one at least though.

Does anyone know where I can get long eyelets or grommets to go through about 2 layers of say 9-10 oz leather. They need to to have a small hole, around 3/16- 1/4". It seems every ones I find are all shorter and it also seems the length is somewhat proportional to the hole size in most cases.

I don't think you'll need to use a screwdriver. Those super clean lines that Christian does comes from lots of practice and in my opinion they look similar but way better than the Anvil embossed look because of the wider lines created with the embossing plates. The new Tandy stamps are a huge step up from their regular line and while they are twice as much or more than a regular Tandy stamp they are about half the cost of a BK one so they are a good choice for someone who wants decent tools but can't or don't want to spend the loot on the custom tools. Also I believe Christian once said he doesn't use any modeling spoons or anything like that. He claims to mainly use a beveler that is of an unknow manufacturer for just about everything.

I'm having a hard time seeing the logistics of it. Even if you have doubles or triples of tools if there's 30 people sharing them it'll take 6 hours to get through a case. I'd say you'd at least need 15 awls and sets of needles, and at least 7 or 8 machines so half the class can be machine stitching while the rest are hand stitching. You'd obviously need a helper as well. This may be easier to come by now that you mention it'll be a class full of girls:-). I'd stick with very simple projects. The cell case would be good if you had pre cut kits that they just had to stitch together. Maybe those hair Berets(sp?) that get laced together. Small change purses are simple enough too. I'm thinking you'll barely be able to skim the surface what you're trying to teach them. Would it be possible to just forget about the lacing and just lightly touch on hand stitching? Chances are that these students will likely go on to something that involves a sewing machine more often than lacing or hand stitching and those can both be self taught fairly easily with the books available and lacing varies greatly depending on style. If you teach someone a simple whipstitch it doesnt do them any good if they want to do a round braid or triple loop. its not quite as easy to read a book about machine stitching although this too varies greatly but at least they have the basics.

It sure looks like you have to unbuckle them to get into it. One could mount quick release buckles behind the straps though. This is done on a lot of saddle bags, it looks nice with the buckles but has the advantage of being quick to get into.

What all will you or they have access to as far as tools and machinery goes. Its just such a broad question that it could vary greatly. You'd almost need some time of pre planned project for them to complete and enough tools to supply the class unless you plan to just show them. I recently had a guy in my shop that I was trying to teach the basics of holster making in a single day. I had holsters completed at various stages so that he was able to at least see each step. We didn't get through near as much as I planned either as I didn't account for us BSing. Whatever you plan make sure you either follow a strict time frame or allow for some extra time to talk about things that may come up. It may not be a bad idea to see if you could round up a volunteer to help you, ecspecially if you don't have much experience in every aspect of what you're trying to teach. A lot of people are happy to help when they can. My suggestion would be to make a decision on exactly what you want to teach them and then ask others here how to teach them how to do that specific thing. I have a feeling that what you're asking is just too broad or vague for anyone to really be able to give good advice.

The one thing you'll soon realize pretty quickly is that nearly everyone here has their own concoction for finishing their items. You'll also find that different leathers take the dye and finish differently so you may have to modify your process to work with whatever leather you use. My method for my belts and holsters is to first dye them with Fiebings Pro oil dye. (If youre still using regular spirit dyes you should really try the pro Oil)When dry I oil with a light coating of neatsfoot oil then finish with a coat of resolene/water. I do one coat. If I'm doing a motorcycle seat Ill normally do the same process but when I apply the 50/50 mixture Ill normally spray it on lightly, then apply my antique then spray another light coat of finish and then follow up with some type of water proofing mixture like Aussie leather conditioner or Montana pitch blend. I've done these with or without the resolene but the antique wears off faster without it, the dressing type waterproofer does little for the antique. On occasion Ill use the leather balm with Atom wax but I've found it not to be quite as permanent as the resolene and it usually will need reapplied at some point, I think that its more of a conditioner/polish type product than a "finish" but it can be used as a type of finish considering it'll offer some layer of protection and adds a shine. I use Wickett and Craig leather and those steps work well with it. I've use other brands of leather before and some feel more porous and take the dye and finish differently sometimes with mixed results and often times ill have to follow up with another coat of resolene. Just experiment a bit and find a method that works for you and the items you're making. There's more right ways of doing it than wrong ways.

Its hard to say really, it almost looks like if you'd bevel both sides it would look similar to that or follow it up with the tip of a large modeling spoon to widen the bevel at the bottom. It may not look identical to that but it should look pretty close.

Not to take us back off topic but I'm not really diggin those. I finally had to go check out the key fob too. Now back on topic; a steep smooth beveler would produce results similar to the original picture, Tandy has a new line of bevelers that are steeper than their regular ones as does Barry King. I will take a lot of practice to get a nice smooth line without tool marks.

Yea I hear ya, there's a lot of people trying to sell those old singers for way more than they are worth, it doesn't mean they are selling them though. I paid 275 for a 29k-58 in good working condition and sold a 29k-51 in good condition for 325.00 and my 29-4 I got for 45.00. They are out there, if stick with the 29k-58 or later if I were buying one. Im not sure whwre youre located but I know Bob Kovar has a few and you'll know it works, I'm not sure the prices but I'm sure its reasonable.

Oh, I thought you meant Christian was getting 80 bucks for a key chain. I think Anvil advertises a lot too, I see his add in a lot of biker mags. That's really all I know about the dude but I'm glad he's getting paid, the people that undercharge bother me more. The people that get into magazines and tv get there usually because they either send their stuff to everyone they can hoping someone will feature it somewhere, or they pay to be there or they happen to be in the right place at the right time. I fell into the later category and was in about 5 magazines in the past few months. A woman came into my shop to have her shoe fixed and seen my holsters on display and turned out to be Dennis Adlers wife, he wrote John Bianchi's biography and a number of other books and writes for a few magazines, he liked my stuff and I just so happened to make exactly what he was looking for. I get much more business from customers posting good experiences on forums than I did with the magazines though. Here is one of Christians seats. He is an amazing artist, I don't even like looking at his work because it makes me feel like my stuff is crap. This is a small example of his work, aside from the tooling he does some fantastic molding on some other things. I'd definitely recommend checking out his work. I'd say with a good steep beveler and lotsa practice and you can make a tooling look like that. Or use embossing plates:-)

I'd say Christian is getting 80 bucks or so an hour, I don't know, I was just saying that his work kind of resembles that, he basically bevels everything and that's it but its super clean. My point was that most of us can't sell a key chain for 80 bucks, he is in the minority, so we need to do things that may keep the cost down. A lot of us is sewing machines because its a whole lot cheaper than hand sewing even though some would say that hand stitching is superior. I'd have to sell my holsters for double if I hand stitched them and i'd probably sell 1/4 of what I do now. Its the same deal with anvil using embossing plates, he's able to keep the cost down a bit and therefore sell more stuff and make more money. There is a definite l"line in the sand" though to where you cut too much and you're turning out junk. My only point was I understand why he would use the embossing plates, it doesn't mean that he puts out shoddy work(I don't know, never seen it). He may be able to do really nice hand tooled stuff but if it ends up that he makes more by using the embossing plates I can't really fault him for that. The OP obviously liked it enough that he wants to copy it, he didn't post my hand tooled work asking how to duplicate it!

You guys ever check out Christians work from Xian leather. His stuff kinda resembles that but its all done by hand. His though is followed up with some fantastic dye work that makes it all come alive. If Anvil is doing that with embossing plates I completely understand why, he's doing it for a living and needs to feed his family. Its hard getting money out of people to spend the required time to actually tool leather, sure some people can do it but most people are practically giving their time away. If you want to survive you got to be able to sell to as many people as possible, his way may be to offer a lower cost solution that to most people is perfectly acceptable. Not everyone can drop 600 bucks for a wallet or 800 on a seat, it really narrows your market down, if you can survive doing that then great but its a small percentage that can. I almost never tool anything anymore because no one wants to pay for it and i barely do really custom work either. I survive because I can reproduce my holster patterns over and over and am able to turn out a quality product in a reasonable amount of time which keeps my hourly rate high. My opinions changed on a lot of things now that I depend on this to pay bills and be able to eat. Its fun taking on the occasional custom item but its hard to get paid for all the time that goes into them. If I spend 25 hours on a seat there's no way I'm getting 80 bucks an hour, I'd be lucky to get 20 after materials and those people still think you're getting rich from a 700 dollar seat. I couldn't pay my rent on that.

I do, the picture looks great. I'm sure ill be back for more. What do you guys think would be better for the keychain, a split ring(normal key ring) or that ball chain stuff. The ball chain stuff is probably cheaper and would be easier to attach to my items. I think a key ring would be more likely to get used though, I just think with just a hole punched in it it won't lay in the same position as the keys unless I put a smaller metal loop in there first which I don't want to get that involved with this.

I do use an arbor press to stamp mine on when I can but with my holsters a press won't work so what I use is a pair of vise grips. I ground the teeth off of it and cemented a piece of leather on one side. This of course only works on the edge but you can use those other visegrips that have a bigger throat and get 5-6" or even more with the larger ones inside of something. You could even epoxy the stamp right on the one side depending on how big the stamp is. My larger stamp takes two squeezes, on on each end and since I use different stamps and different methods to stamp it I wouldn't want mine epoxied on but it could work. You could also do the mallet type but I don't really care for them, I have two that I never use, the one is rather large and I find it difficult to get a good clean strike consistently. I also had the whole second amendment put on a stamp, that one definitely requires a press. These flat press versions are cheaper than the mallet type too.

I had this stamp made up, I considered getting one that was more circular to fit the circle but I don't like circle stamps really so I wanted to be able to use it on other things too. I ordered this from the guy on this forum that was doing the Made in the USA stamps (I forget his username). I was very pleased with the quick service, I spoke with him this afternoon about it and he sent me this picture a few hours later and said its in the mail. . I've ordered about 5 or 6 from Brenda at lasergiftcreations and I've always been happy with hers as well but I figured I'd give this guy a try too. My only regret is that I should have ordered it before doing this project as it would have been a better stamp for those cases than the "McCabe" stamp.

I can't help you much as I've never had to give a lesson and never took any lessons to even know what's covered. I will say that if I was teaching handsewing I would use the Al Stohlman book "The Art of Handsewing" as a baseline. One could easily adapt the examples given in the book into lessons.

Here's mine. As you can tell I don't use it. I don't sew fast enough to create heat and the bonded nylon I use is pre lubed so I haven't found a need for it. I do have a wax pot on my landis 12 and my McKay stitchers that use linen thread though. If you decide you want one let me know and I'll sell this one. It'll fit the Cobra 4. This one is for the Cowboy 4500 so they are basically the same.

By the sounds of it about 30% sew. I'd either get one from Aunt Bonnie's locker and have it work right or just find a used singer or Adler in the same price range. I will say though that these are cool looking machines. If I had money to burn I'd buy one just to look at it all day. I have a powered Adler and a Singer on a treadle and a 29-4 that works but is a display so I doubt I'd ever use it though.

You may want to specify what kind of stitching and what you'll be stitching. There's so many different types of stitching from heavy machine stitching to lightweight leather stitching to saddle stitching etc. you may get more responses if you narrow it down.

Exactly. I think some will end up as promotional items depending on if I can get a stamp made cheap enough. The stamp I use for most of my items just says "McCabe" and I don't think a lot of people would use a keychain that just says my name. I only throw away the smallest of scraps. I use what i can and the rest I put in a bin and sell them for 10.00/lb. A lot of people buy them up for small projects and who knows what else for.

An othello board is a cool idea. I remember playing that on Atari. I'm probably going to stick with the simpler items due to time restraints. My son makes keychain a and bracelets and sells them in my shop so I may have him make a few with alphabet stamps. I modified an arbor press to take the stamps so he can do it without any help. He normally sells the key fobs for about 5 bucks but I think for most guys they are too big so maybe these little ones will be better for certain people. He could also stamp other things on them too, I have the Masonic symbol that fits perfect and other stamps that would fit. Any of those ideas are better than throwing it away.