camano ridge

Show us a picture of what you made and of the knife blade if possible. Did you use a welt. A welt is a strip of leather that goes between the front and the back of the sheath. The blade will hit the welt instead of cutting through the thread. Personaly I woud not kive the sheath to him. If the blade has cut through as you said it will probably continue to do so with every movement of the blade.

If you cut the border line like you are thinking then bevel that line. If the piece of leather is properly cased as you bevel the border line the line will be burnished and turn darker giving you a defined line with out using a marking pen.

Sorry to say it is not going to work on that finished leather. Again you can try it on a small out of the way area to prove me wrong The other thing it will not change the color of the stitching it is not a dye. It works on Vegtable tanned leather. It is not going to work on chrome tanned. Chrome tanning uses chromium salts in the tanning process. Veg tanning uses the tannins derived from thinks such as oak bark vegtable roots etc. The tannins are infused in the leather during the tanning process. The reaction of the tannins with the viegroon is part of the chemical process that causes the blackening. With out the tannins the blackening is not going to happen. Even if it was veg tanned leather the finish would not allow the vinegaroon to penetrate properly and if you got any colorationat all it would be splochy. Since it looks like it has already been dyed a light gray even on veg tanned leather the vinegaroon would not change the color again it is a chemical reaction not a dye. "Vinegaroon, or vinegar black, is a natural method of coloring leather using iron and vinegar that dates back to ancient Rome. The vinegar solution reacts with the natural tannins found in vegetable-tanned leather, creating a beautiful dark slate gray. As vinegaroon is not a dye process, the color never fades or rubs off. Its permanence was preferred by leather workers throughout the world for centuries until modern dye methods were introduced over the last 150 years."

YOu have some pretty big chunks of leather there. At about $8.00 or more a square foot it would be a shame to throw it out. Northmount outlined a pretty good process for cleaning it up. On the otherhand if your going to be dying it primarily dark colors. I would just get some conditioner/oil on it and start making projects.

Cheryl was a bit more direct then I have been. However I agree with Cheryl. I did say that you need to clean the steel wool with acetone or by burning off. I asked what type of leather because it is important. If it is Chrome Tanned the roon is not going to have the effect you want. I have read articles that say you can make a batch in an hour and half instead of two weeks by using hydrogen peroxide. If that were true eveyone would be doing it that way. If there is oil on the steel wool it will effecte how the vinegar reacts with the steel wool. Basically you are rusting the steel wool, oil will slow that process. You are not dying the leather you are chemiicaly changing the leather so if it is already colored it is not going to have the effect you want. Again do a test strip to see if it turns black. If you really want to try vinegarooning the coat do a test on a small area out of site, before you try vinegarooning the whole coat.

Here is some information that may help you. The biggest difference between Caiman and Alligator or Crocodile leather is that the Caiman leather is not near as durable. A Caiman fuscus crocodile have small bony plates – if you bend the leather across these plates you will see that the leather creases between the scales. While the skin is still pliable and very strong, these thick scales are the telltale signs that you have Caiman leather. A proper Alligator or Crocodile hide will not have these bony scales. A saltwater crocodile (such as the Nile Crocodile) and the American Alligator skins will have smoother, seamless bend without any spaces between the scales. o Caiman crocodile is an easy one to spot because it has noticeably different tiles. The skin is characterized by pock marks on the tiles and the tiles tend to be concave in shape. Also, the skin is drier and not as soft as the above two. While you may have to look for telltale signs like ISO pores or umbillicus or overall patterning, etc to differentiate between Alligator and Croc, Caiman sticks out like a sore thumb. - Caimans don't get as big as alligator or crocodile either, so often times you'll be looking at tiles that are about half an inch in width vs alligator or croc, depending on when the animal was harvested in its stage of growth can have tiles from half an inch in width all the way up to two inches in width. You might ask the seller who his source is and where they are located. You may be able to get documentation for verification through his source. Most American Alligator comes from the South Eastern United States.

It is difficult to tell you 100% just by looking at a picture with out being able to feel the leather and see the thickness. However I would ! am about 90% sure it is Caiman. I have some Caiman down in the shop I will post pictures of in a little bit. The Caiman I have looks pretty close to what you have pictured. I do not have any alligator back or tail right now just gator belly and Croc, so I can't take a picture for comparison. If you Go on line to Mark Staton Company or Rojes Leather you may find som pictures of Alligator back. Be aware it is not uncommon to have Caiman refered to as South American Alligator.

You can stir it. Your chunks of sttel wool look pretty big, I would have sheredded them up a little more. The fizzing is the reaction of the vinegar and your hydrogen peroxide on the steel wool. That process will continue until the mix has disollved as much of the steel wool as it can. It will not be over in just a few hours. Let it go through it's process for a couple of days undisturbed and then check with a piece of scrap leather to see if you get a good color change.

Ok, you said you are putting the roon on a coat? Do you know what kind of leather the coat is and what kind of finnish is on the coat? Before you apply it to the coat take a piece of scrap leather and dip in the roon to see if it turns the leather yet. You may have to apply a little neatsfoot oil or olive oil to get the nice rich black. Once you are ready to try it on the coat apply a small amount somwhere on the coat out of site to see if it works and you achieve the results you want. Again be ready to give it a bit of a baking soda bath and then a clear water rinse. It seems to me you are rushing the Vinegaroon process just a bit. Usually after you have reached the Ferrous acitate stage and have good roon you want it to off gas for a couple of days to get rid of some of the vinegar odor.

These were made for an NCOWS member (National Congress of Old West Shooters) He wanted them period correct (for the late 1800's) and not fancy. He wanted one plain and one with just some border tooling. The ranger style belts are just basic as requested by the customer. Each has 40 hand sewn cartridge loops. The first holster is based on one done by F.A. Meanea, pictured in Packing Iron. The border is my rendition of the one in the picture. The second holster is based on one being worn by a person named Edward Bronson in a picture taken about 1873.

Very well done

If you can make your own handles nothing wrong with that.

Just watch for the steel wool to disolve and keep adding wool until it does not dissolve any more. Have some scrap leather test strips handy. I don't know how quickly the hydrogen peroxide speeds things up I don't use it and try to avoid using chemicals if I can. So I just wait for mine. However if you do use the hydrogen peroxide wait a few days stick a piece of leather in the roon if it starts to change color you are on your way. Not sure what you mean by run out a standard bottle of vinegar will give you roon. When you do use the vinegroon make sure you give your leather a quick soda bath to neutralize the acid. I have been makinf vinegaroon and have never had a problem getting a good batch. Did you make sure to clean your steel wool either by burning or with acetone.

Morningstar, I make kniofe sheaths to as well as holsters and other gun leather with welts. Like they said get a good sharp awl , however in additon to getting a good haft and awl blade get an extra just awl blade. If you are doing large sheaths or belts the arthritis will kick in even with a sharp awl. I have a awl blade chucked in a drill press. Don't turn the drill press on just simply lower and raise the chuck to punch your holes just like when you drill them except the awl is not turning. It will pierce thick leather with little effort on your part.

Snubby, that's looking great.

What I meant is that both the vinegar and the downy are acidic neither are a base/alkaline so there should be no change to the PH. Neutralization or raising th PH would only occur if you were adding a base/alkaline. My only concern would be adding the hydrogen peroxide. I do not know if there is anything in the fabrissoftner that would react with the fabric softner. You never said how much you got in the roon.

That surprises me as vinegar is in the 2-3 range did not realize downy would be so acidic. As long as it is acidic it should not be a problem. The vinegar disolves the steel wool to form Ferric acatate. THe soap should not interfere with that process.

The only problem I could see from th soap is if it had a ph above 8. Neutral range for PH is 6-8. If the soaps PH is high enough and you got enough inthe mix it could change the PH of the vinegar mix and make it less effective. If you Know the brand of soap pull up the MSDS (material safety data sheet) on the computer. It will show the PH. Thatwould be the only concern Icould see. If you have the ability to test the PH (ph strips commonly sold for pool supplies) if the mix still shows a PH of 2-3 you are good to go. As an example Dial liquid soap has a PH of 5.8-6.9 that pretty much puts it in the neutral range and a little on the acidic side. It would have a negligable effect on the vinegaroon. There actually is an advantage to the soap in that soap is a surfactant and will allow easier penetraion of the liwuid into the laeather. Otherwise dump the batch out rinse the steel wool of good.Then start over. Vinegar is cheap. It will take you a couple of weeks to get a good batch of vinegaroon.

That looks similar to an 1804 British Pattern Cartidge box they were distributed to many of Englands european allies Spain, Portugal etc. during the Nepolionic wars. The buckles attached the the shoulder strap. These were not worn on the belt but on a shoulder strap similar to a baldric. ON the example you show there is a Sam Browne stud or button stud between the buckles. On the originals this would have been a leather button.

Bruno, looks great. When I do basket weave I usually use a little stteeper angle then you did. As I get near the border area I tilt the tool up so that the end near the border area is off the leather you will leave more or less a half impression. I use the border tool after I have done the basket weave.

Just found the pictures on your gallery. The scout knife sheath looks like about your best project so far. If you get a diamond awl plan on sharpening it. THere are some tutorials on sharpening a diamond awl. It is not dificult but necassary. You could use a little smaller drill bit use needle nose pliers to pull the needle and thread through the hole. The problem is that when you drill a hole the bit basicaly burnishes the hole and does not allow the leather to heal around the thread. That healing or closing up of the hole gives you a tighter looking stitch.

A few thing strike me right off. ON some of the items it looks like you either drilled punched or made your stitch holes with an ice pick on the holster it looks like they were made with maybe a lacing thong. I would invest in a diamond awl it will make nicer stitch holes that will heal up somewhat around the stitch line. It will improve the look of your project dramatically. I would also get either a pricking iron or and overstitch whell and stitch groover they will improve the layout and alignment of your holes. Your edges of course need a little work. Would like to see more of the knife sheath. As you said each project will get a little better and you will find ways to refine your molding techniques etc. It looks like you are off to a decent start just practice practice. I was in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, I have great respect for Corpsman they took care of me on more then one occasion.

Bobby, very nice work and nice designs.

ChiefStealth, Looks pretty darn good for a first one.

Yes I am familiar with the FN 5-7 just did not have handy a picture of a semi auto in a skeleton rig.