camano ridge

Nicely done.

The patterns are for building armor. This particular patter is armor for the torso.

http://www.palmgren.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=1+ton+arbor+press&x=0&y=0 these are US made, however they are about twice the price of Harbor Freight.

If you don't have a piece of marble and you have a cement floor in your garage use that. I prefer properly casing but just wipe the leather good with a sopping wet sponge wait a few minute for the color to staart to retun to almost normal. Then try stamping on marble, cement floor what ever you have that will not give you bounce. What are you striking your stamp with?

You might contact Bruce Johnson and or Wyoming Slick on these forums. Bruce Johnson has a fair amount of knowledge of old tools and stamps. Wyoming Slick has a lot of information about craftool and other stamps. He has an article on ebay regarding craftool and Craftool markings. the ones you described as a punch but have more like a dome sounds like they might be seeders, show us pics.

I am not sure how they are defining strong or to what attribute they are assigning that term. I can tell you that you can find many leather articles 100 - 150 years old or older that have copper rivet still intact. Neither is worth anything if not properly set. I like copper rivets because I can see that they have been properly set and peend over against the burr. I can't see the inside of a rpid rivet to know for sure it is properly set. I have on occassion had a rapid rivet I thought I had done a good job of setting pop off. Which rivet is used may depend on project use and accesability as well.

Looks like a very nice head stall with a lot of nice silver. Wether or not the silver can be used easily depends on how it is mounted, they are screw backs no problem, however if they are splash backs it makes re using them dificult. Below is a picture of a splash back. Splash back is a tube or stem that is musshed down or peened against a washer securing the concho etc in place. To re use a splash back you would basically have to clip that tube from the back, sand the back of the concho smooth and JB weld or silver solder a chicago screw to the back. I ahve sent yoou a PM see the little envolope at the top of your screen

If properly applied oilis apropriate for leather. Though I normaly oil after dying, it won't hurt if you dye before. If you oiled and then dyed right away you did not give the oil a chance to migrate through the leather and even out. You may see some of the blotchiness fade as the oil has time to even out. Hopefully you only gave it a finger tip aplication and did not saturate the leather. As has already been said rub off is normal. Just rub the heck out of it until you stop getting rub off. Let the piece set a couple of days before sealing the color may even out to some extent as the oil migrates through the leather. As to your question of getting an even coat the best way to do that is dip dye.

Yes you can get black and white thread any place but you cannot get black or white Tiger thread just anyplace. If you try a little and compare it to thread you can get from Tandy, Springfield etc. You will understand the difference. It is not just about color. However color is available just tell Stefan what color you want and he will get it if it is available.

It looks like it may have been airbrushed fading or feathering out from darker to lighter.

You might get a hold of Lobo, he went from a one man shop to having help. He may be able to give you some insight. lobogunleather.com he is also on these forums although I have not seen him on here for a while. As to making your own clicker dies, you might figure how long it would take you in man hours to make one dye (during which time you could be making a holster) add the material costs then call Texas Die company and compare their price to what it would cost you to make your own.. Also figure in the time you will spend locating and rounding up materials and tools you would need to make the die. Tandy has an edge dressing aplicator that actually works pretty well (at least for me). I m some what headed in the same direction you are.

Dusty Johnson Pleasant Valley Saddlery has a video on making chaps it comes with Full size patterns for cowboy and Motorcycle chaps. http://www.pvsaddleshop.com/BOOKS%20&%20VIDEOS.htm THe video and patterns are 19.95 Every detail is shown clearly and full explanations are given for making Batwings, Chinks, Shotgun and Motorcycle styles. Full size patterns for each style are included.

This is personal preference I like the top stamp design the best and think that the holster would have looked better if you had continued the same design the length of the holster. The veiner design in the lower two sections just looks a little to dijointed for me. Again just a personal opinion. If you like it thats what counts. Are you goin to lace the main seam? You may find it difficult to stamp a finished belt. Normally you take a unfinished belt blank with no sealer on it and case the leather before stamping then stamp dye and finish. With a finished belt you will have trouble casing the leather and your impressions will probably not come out crisp and clear if the belt will even take and hold an impression. If you are going to try it do a test right behind the buckle if it does not turn out it will be covered by the billet when the belt is buckled.

Chris, here is the post that Katsass (mike) commented on, on the 28th Have not heard from him since but we do have proof of life. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=52511

You make it sound as though all manufactures make all concealed carry belts with velcro on the back . Those that offer the velcro usually offer it as an option. Tucker offers a velcro but then puts it on a thinner belt. A quarter inc belt with velcro on it will be hard to thread through the slots on a OWB and some pant loops. Crossbreed also offers the velcro option. It is primarily used with V clips for IWBs the V clip attaches to the back of the belt by the velcro, making any attachment to the belt hardly noticable. Most makers make the concealed carry belt out of two layers like Dwight stated. If you do that take the inner layer stitch the velcro to it then stitch the inner layer to the outer layer you will not see the stitches for the velcro. Remeber to watch the total thickness of your belt with the velcro. Usually the loop part goes on the belt and the hook part is on the holster clip. The loop part is most of the time the thickest part of the velcro. If you are wondering why a two layer belt for concealed carry is better then a single. The two layers glued and stitched together will give you a much stiffer firmer belt with far less stretch over time then a single ply belt. As I was typing this someone else posted so if I duplicated any part of their answer I apologize.

I would go a head and stitch in addition to the glue there it may not add strength but it adds insurance and gives support to the glued areas. for the triangle to break away it would have to tear the glued triangles away from the seat. With the stitching it makes it almost impossible for that to happen. As to your stitching you may not be using the terminology the same way I do or vise a versa. I would use a saddle stitch which you may be calling a double stitch. Saddle stitch you have one piece of thread with a needle at each end you go through each hole with each needle from opposite sides. Look for Nigel Armitages you tube video on saddle stitching. Or do a search on these forums for it, it has been posted many times. I agree with Ikewineb oil is not a finish it is a treatment put the oiled leather out in the sun and the leather will get a nice light brown or golden tone to it. Depending on the leather. There are several things you cane use as a top coat. Montana Pitch Blennd and SKidmores cream are both natural products with oils beeswax and Montana pitch Blend has piune pitch in it. Theese products will help make the seats water resistant. Also there are acrylic finishes such as resolene super sheen etc.

Give buckleguy.com a try if you don't see exactly what you want give him a call, heres another one http://www.theleatherguy.org/HARDWARE-15892/Button-Studs-Buttons-140262.aspx As to color your choices are pretty much black, nickle, brass, antique brass and the second web sight have some with rhinestones inset in the top. I don't think I have seen a supplier of anodized ones. You might also check Weaver and see what they have.

Stefan, has posted a couple of times that he will special order what ever color you want. He started out with Black and White as he was sure those would sell. He had to put his money out there and jump through the hoops to get this stuff where we would be able to buy it. I am sure as time goes on and he gets a feel for what popular colors are he will probably stock more colors. For now I think we should thank him for taking the initiative to make this thread available in the US in any color.

I have two for chucking in my drill press, I also have two of there mauls. Ed and Berry do great work and provide good service. I could not be happier with their products.

DO a search on these forums, I believe there are a couple of patterns. Blackriverlaser.com has two different guitar strap templates.

It, depends on the phone if you look on Amazon you can find display phones for some models for about $10.00 http://www.amazon.co...s=display phone At hte bottom of the page you will find more models advertised. They are non working but are the actual shells so should work for what you want.

SHeath looks good, nice work.

Don't forget to deglaze- remove original finish. THe antique gel may not take otherwise. A good rubbing with a course cloth and denatured alcohol should work.

If you don't have Neatsfoot oil Extra veirgin olive oil will work as well.

Thee lemon juice is what I normasly use if I have to deal with metal spots. Any of those three should work however you will need to apply with a rag or sponge wetted with your choice and rub a bit . Stay away from the vinegar. Metal shaving and vinegar are what is used to create vinegaroon also called vinegar black and is used in place of black dye.